by Alan B. Gibson

No derby pick this year

Well, I never really claimed to be a horse racing expert, but I have picked a Kentucky Derby winner or two using my tried and true method of picking the horse with the best name (and prior to his retirement – any horse that Pat Day was riding).

This year, however, I’m going to claim “foul” since my favorite pick – Uncle Mo – was a no-show, scratching from the 137th Run for the Roses on Friday due to a stomach infection.

As a backup – I picked two other favorites on Saturday, and being totally honest here, neither ran much better than Uncle Mo. Went with Pants on Fire (9th) and Twice the Appeal (10th) as my backup picks.

This year’s winning horse, Animal Kingdom, was certainly a surprise first across the finish line – having never run a dirt track race before, and with only four races on his resume prior to Saturday’s race. Still, he had a very impressive kick coming down the stretch as he moved around the field on the outside to earn the blanked of red roses.

Perhaps I’ll fare better with the 138th running.

Local teams headed toward post-season thoughts

The Racket Dawgs tennis teams will be the first to officially see the 2011 season come to an end, as they head to post-season play with the regional tournament that gets underway next week.

The Lady Bat Dawgs and Bat Dawgs still have a full week of regular season games before they head to District Tournament action at Cumberland County during the week of May 23. Regional tournament action for both would get underway the following week, beginning May 30.