News & Notes: 11/30

[Kasept]

11/30/06: Server Improved; We Hit 600; Hooves Blows Up..

ARE WE BEING SERVED?: Our server, ("A Small Orange", Atlanta, GA), got back regarding the recent outages, and much of it may have been from the high traffic serverwide from "Cyber Monday", the online version of "Black Friday". As part of a shared server platform, we are a bit at the mercy of traffic to other sites we "share" the server with, and E-commerce portals got clobbered the past week as online Xmas shopping went into high gear. They couldn't explain the bizarre "Account Suspended" outage for 10 minutes the other day though, and are working on an explanation. Using a shared server is a tremendous bargain, and while getting on a dedicated server is an option should problems arise, the cost is 10X what we pay now... Overall, A Small Orange's service has been great, and I wouldn't hesitate to suggest using them to anyone thinking of mounting a site...

CHARGE OF THE DT BRIGADE: Wednesday marked the arrival of registered Derby Trailer #600 ("Echo Farm"), and I thank everybody for their ongoing contribution(s) to making the site and Forum fun and successful. The follow-up to the server issues embarassingly made me aware of a control panel that I had not yet explored, and it provided me with a ton of information about our cyber stats that I hadn't seen from a second CP.

In the first 6 months of the free-standing Derby Trail, 24,000 "unique visitors" have visited the site from 20 countries around the world. 4,000 interested parties are coming here a month. I take that as a great compliment to the quality of the conversation on the DT Forum as generated by the fans and industry types that spend a portion of their day here. We have owners, trainers, exersize riders, stable managers, breeders, racing media members, sales agents, backstretchers and trackgoers all mingling daily, and exchanging opinions on everything from Pick Sixes to Motion Pictures. The personal relationships being formed daily are particularly pleasing to me as host, and I look forward to more organized "on track" get-togethers for Derby Trailers in the coming year. If there's one thing I encourage everyone to do to support DT, it's to bring serious or casual racing friends to the site and get them to register and contribute...

IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN 'HOOVES': If the topics of conversation don't motivate lurkers to register, maybe a chance to thank Matt Dugger ("Hooves") personally for his work should... "The Kentucky Killing Machine", as recently as Sunday frustrated by an off day of selections on Churchill's meet-ender, delivered one of the year's top tabs Wednesday night in the Late P3 at Turfway. Matt-O, one of the most unique capper-players I've met, offered readers a shot at the $11,500 9th race trifecta simply by boxing his 2-3-7-14 selections. A $1 exacta box ($12) brought you back $483.40, while the $1 tri box ($24) returned $5,781.30, when insane overlay Monarch's Rule (15-1 ML) won at 43-1 ($88.00). Using his 4x4x4 P3 approach ($64) also scored out the $1,241.40 race trio mutuel...We know at least 2 readers were on the plays, 3 with Matt himself, and I'm sure there are others who took advantage who have yet to come forward. Hooves was the only player I know who grasped the nuances of playing the recent Keeneland meet, and continues to reward those who utilize his insights.

I can attest to how hard it is to cap cards daily and remain positive and confident when the horses "don't run for you", so I know I speak for everyone when I say that Matt's generous offerings are greatly appreciated. And he's not alone...

Harry ("HWJB") lays out successful International selections in his betting diary;

Kevin O'Bey ("GPK") has been hosting Mountaineer maraudings and Balmoral blastings, and will renew his Tampa terrorizations soon;

Gus Alonso ("Bogey"), who got me on ATRAB when he moved to Chicago, is constantly delivering P4 pot-snatchers and spot-on spot plays;

Mike Pawluck ("Oracle") regularly offers up invaluable insights, multi-race tickets and spot hits;

And "Bellsbendboy", an accomplished racetracker with years of experience, provides affordable plays with a serious perspective on how to approach P4's especially...

Plus Mermaid, DaHoss, Hoff..

I'm certainly forgetting others that have been reliable and profitable contributors to the Selections Room, but those above and experienced working industry professionals Cannon Shell, blackthroat, Rupert Pupkin, Honu, Linny and Paisjpq, all help make the atmosphere at Derby Trail what I'd like to think is the most unique Horse Racing-related community on the Web. And I thank everybody for what they "bring to the party"...

Steve