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for those who aren’t sold on Kentucky Derby winner I’ll have Another adding the Preakness to his winning resume Saturday and setting up a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes, we present the Bodemeister scenario: beaten Derby favorite returns to avenge his defeat by not only winning the Preakness, but going on to take the Belmont.

There have been 18 Preakness-Belmont winners, but seven did not run in the Derby, including Man o’ War in 1920. Here’s a look at a handful of disappointing Derby favorites who came through in the next two legs of the Triple Crown.

POINT GIVEN (2001)

In Bob Baffert’s mind, Point Given was a cinch to give the trainer his third Derby win in five years. but the huge colt bumped with Monarchos early on, was eventually taken to the outside, had nothing left in the stretch and finished fifth as the 9-5 favorite. Monarchos won by 4 3/4 lengths. Point Given was the slight favorite in the Preakness and won by 2 1/4 lengths, with Monarchos finishing sixth. In the Belmont, the colt pulled away in the stretch and won by 12 1/4 lengths. “A man racing against boys,” Baffert has said.

HANSEL (1991)

Hansel went off as the 5-2 Derby favorite, but Strike the Gold rallied from way back and passed almost every horse in the field to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Hansel, who ducked in and brushed another horse in the stretch and finished 10th, made amends by edging Strike the Gold by a head in the Preakness, then won the Belmont by seven lengths over Corporate Report, the horse Hansel brushed in the Derby.

DAMASCUS (1967)

A strong 8-5 favorite, Damascus (with Bill Shoemaker aboard) was poised to pounce on the far turn, but had nothing left in the stretch as 30-1 long shot Proud Clarion pulled the upset and Damascus wound up third, four lengths back. In the Preakness, Damascus circled the field with a rush, took the lead at the quarter pole and won by 2 1/4 lengths (Proud Clarion was third). he won the Belmont three weeks later.

NASHUA (1955)

with Eddie Arcaro aboard, Nashua was the 6-5 Derby favorite, but Swaps (ridden by Bill Shoemaker) drew clear in the final sixteenth-of-a-mile to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Swaps did not run in the Preakness, and Nashua won it as well as the Belmont.

NATIVE DANCER (1953)

sent off as the 7-10 favorite in the Derby, Native Dancer was roughed up in the first turn by Money Broker, eased back in the pack, raced wide, was bumped again in the stretch and still closed with but lost by a nose to 24-1 long shot dark Star. Native Dancer came back and won the Withers, and then took the Preakness by a neck and the Belmont by the same margin.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Enjoy a presentation filled with humor, realism and parenting techniques around her concept of intentional parenting. Straus describes Intentional Parenting as thinking a whole lot more about how we live in the world, what we're modeling, …
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Throwing a baby shower for the mom-to-be is a snap with these fun games, gifts, recipes and ideas.

Throwing a baby shower for a special mother-to-be? Let us help with great games, gifts and food ideas from Country Woman magazine readers.

Throwing a Baby Shower: Guide to Games

1. now, That’s Cute! “Cute” has to be the most common word you hear at a baby shower—so why not have fun with it?  Give each arriving guest a diaper pin, a warning not to lose it if she wanted to win the prize, and a slip of paper with this verse, titled “Cute!”: place this pin upon your shirt (Don’t worry, it’s not going to hurt). and when you hear another say this special word here today — you get to take her pin away!  Tons of fun, especially when people who’ve collected several pins forget, say the word and lose them all! —Bonnie Hawkins, Burlington, Wisconsin

2. Beanie Bottle Fill a baby bottle with jelly beans, and ask guests to guess the total, giving a prize to the one who comes closest. —Mary Hamilton, Baltimore, Maryland.

3. Savings Start. Instruct guests, on the invitation, to bring a handful of quarters. When each arrives, give her a tag printed not with her name but instead, an item associated with babies, like rattle, diaper or blanket. Throughout the shower, everyone is to call each other by that name on her tag—or forfeit a quarter into a brand-new piggy bank for the baby. Guests who lose all their quarters and use the wrong name have to sing a lullaby, which gets recorded for the baby. Entertaining, and a good start for the baby’s savings account. —Wanda Anderson, Pikeville, Tennessee

4. Feeding Frenzy. this is great for a shower the expectant dad attends. the mom-to-be has to feed Dad a taste of each of seven jars of baby food, and he has to identify each. of course, you’ve previously removed the labels. Guests predict how many answers Dad will get right. —Carol Krueger, Chicago, Illinois

5. Letter Perfect. Make your gift a guessing game.  Fill a laundry basket with small, individually wrapped gifts, one for every letter of the alphabet. Make sure you label each wrapped gift with its initial.  “R” might be “rattle” and “Q” could be “Q-Tips.” (“L” is the laundry basket.) Guests make a list from A to Z guessing what each present will be. —Barbara Marchant, West Newfield, Maine

 Throwing a Baby Shower: Guide to Gifts

1. Basket Full. For a special niece’s baby shower, I filled a large wicker basket with clothes, diapers and bedding, and wrapped the whole basket in a new crib sheet, the way you’d wrap an Easter basket. I secured it with large diaper pins and pinned rattles, pacifiers, baby shoes and hair bows all around the top. she was thrilled not just with the presents, but also with the pretty basket, which she used to hold clothes and diapers. —Barbara Stanley, Blairsville, Georgia

 2. Keepsake Card. It’s easy to recycle a shower invitation into a card to give the guest of honor. I cut out pictures from the invitation, glue them onto card stock and write a personal message, sometimes including a Bible verse. —Connie Tanner, Sturgeon, Missouri

3. Wrap Artist. the wrapping is always part of my gift for showers. A receiving blanket is the perfect “paper” for a baby shower gift, and a rattle makes a cute trim. —Calleen Dunfee, Jacobsburg, Ohio

4. Laundry Line. this is a good group gift. buy a number of baby outfits in different sizes, then affix to a clothesline with tiny clothespins. Arrange in a laundry basket so that when the mom-to-be took out the first outfit, she pulls out a line full of clothes. —Shari Haskins, Roulette, Pennsylvania.

5. Get creative. Fold washcloths into chicks or bunnies, or crochet baby booties to make sweet, practical gift-toppers. Or wrap a baby in love with a handknit baby blanket, an angelic crocheted afghan or an adorable ducky bath towel. Find even more ideas here.

Throwing a Baby Shower: Guide to Remote Showers

When the mother-to-be can’t travel back home to see friends and family, bring the party to her. Reader Lynda D. Koehler of Paupack, Pennsylvania, recalls asking guests to bring their presents, unwrapped, for everyone to exclaim over, then to wrap the presents at the party. Once the guests left, Lynda packaged up the presents, decorations, favors, disposable cameras and leftover plates, napkins and cups, then sent them to a friend who lived nearby. she invited mutual friends and the mother-to-be for a surprise shower.

Similarly, Janice Williams of Anniston, Alabama, held a “Backward Shower” for which guests brought unwrapped gifts and wrapping supplies. she took video of each guest holding her wrapped present and saying a few words to the expectant mom. When the guest of honor watched the video, just before opening the gifts, she saw her mom cut the cake and heard all her friends’ warm wishes.

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The Lyric Stage Company of Boston

in association with Angelo Fraboni, Peter Martin,

Rick Newman, Eugene Pack, and Dayle Reyfel

CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY

One Night only!

Monday, April 2, 7:30pm

Tony® Award-winning actress (The Producers) & Iron Chef America judge

CADY HUFFMAN

with Boston and Lyric Stage favorites

Maureen Keiller, Robert Saoud, Timothy John Smith, Spiro Veloudos, Maryann Zschau

Tickets:  $35/$25:  regular seating

$75:  Premium seating with post-show champagne/hors d’hoeuvres reception with the artists

DESCRIPTION: 

Celebrity Autobiography is a night of non-stop laughter as audiences experience a variety of jaw-dropping vignettes torn straight from the pages of the most unforgettable celebrity tell-alls: from the “he said-she said” accounts of Burt and Loni . . . the Britney Spears diary . . . mr. T’s acting tips . . . the “poetry” of Suzanne Somers . . . Justin Bieber’s backstage confessions . . . the re-enactment of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson’s courtship . . . to the most famous Hollywood love triangle in history — Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, and Eddie Fisher.

And what’s most hilarious and astonishing — it’s all in their own words!  Truth IS funnier than fiction — we couldn’t make this stuff up!

Created and developed by Emmy Award-nominated writer-performer Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel, “Celebrity Autobiography” features a first rate comedic ensemble performing from the actual memoirs of a wide range of celebrities.  other major characters featured in Celebrity Autobiography include:   Sylvester Stallone, David Hasselhoff, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Ivana Trump, Vanna White, Star Jones, Neil Sedaka, Kenny Loggins, Madonna, and the Jonas Brothers.

Actual readings performed will be announced from the stage.

Running for three sold out years in new York, Celebrity Autobiography recently won the 2009 Drama Desk Award in the category of Unique Theatrical Experience and the 2010 Bistro Awards.  the show has been one of the most critically acclaimed productions ever in the Off-Broadway scene and one of the most “buzzed about shows” of recent years.

BIOGRAPHIES

Cady Huffman is perhaps best known for her Tony® Award-winning performance as “Ulla” in the Producers on Broadway. this led to her unforgettable recurring role on HBO’s Curb your Enthusiasm where she almost became Larry David’s 10th anniversary present. this success also brought her to the Food Network’s kitchen stadium where she has judged for 10 consecutive seasons on Iron Chef America.

Cady’s other Broadway credits are her Tony® Award-nominated performance as Ziegfeld’s Favorite in the Will Rogers Follies, La Cage aux Folles, Steel Pier, Dame Edna: the Royal Tour, and Bob Fosse’s last original musical Big Deal. she has had several guest starring appearances on television, including Law & Order: SVU, the Good Wife, Frasier, Law & Order: CI, Law & Order: Trial by Jury,  and Mad about you. she even showed up on daytime’s One Life to Live as the second Dr. Paige Miller.

On the big screen Cady was most recently seen in John Wells’ the Company Men opposite Ben Affleck and Chris Cooper.  other films include John Turturro’s star-studded musical film Romance & Cigarettes, Hero (with Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis and Andy Garcia), the Nanny Diaries and starring roles in the indie films Molly’s Theory of Relativity, dare, $20 Drinks, Billy’s Dad is a Fudgepacker, Space Marines and Throw the Hoolihan.  she also produced and stars in film festival favorite Sunday on the Rocks which won 2nd place Feature at the new Haven Film Festival.

Cady often lends her talents and resources to several charitable causes, including Creative Alternatives of new York, AIDS awareness, breast cancer research, women’s heart health, and animal rights.  as an advocate for the arts, she has traveled to Washington to speak to Senators and Congresspersons and has spoken on panels at Sundance Film Festival and Brown and Harvard Universities focusing on the arts and first amendment rights.  she is passionate about keeping the arts in public schools and helping young people realize their potential.

April 2: Boston favorites to join Cady Huffman in Celebrity Autobiography

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Eclipse Expectations

A solar eclipse is a big event. big. and perhaps because it involves forces far beyond our Earth, it seems to occur that much further from our control. it is huge, inevitable and unstoppable, like being run over by a glacier.

In 1979 when I was just developing my passion for photography, I traveled to the Columbia River gorge to shoot the last total solar eclipse visible from North America. the experience had a profound effect on me which changed the direction of my life forever. I admit I became so obsessed with standing in the moon’s shadow in subsequent years that I spent more money than I had traveling to places like Mexico, Kenya, and Papua New Guinea to get another brief dose of ‘eclipse adrenaline.’

Is it any wonder that over the years whenever I’ve felt common stress or anxiety, I have had the same nightmare: I step outside and suddenly realize that an eclipse is happening and I had not known it was coming. it is already underway, and I am not ready. I don’t have my camera and I am going to miss the great moment. So Wednesday, when I learned an annular solar eclipse was soon to appear in my own backyard, I feared the worst. I had precious little time to prepare, and nothing takes more preparation than astrophotography.

Photographing the sun requires some specific equipment. Mainly, I need a long telephoto lens or telescope, and very dense filters to cut down the sun’s intense light enough to see its details. Fortunately, the Bee photo department has a 600mm telephoto lens and teleconverter which–when coupled with a Nikon V1 camera–is perfect for this purpose.

The V1 camera uses a high resolution image sensor that is much smaller than the DSLR cameras the 600mm lens was designed for. this lens/camera combination results in what would be a 2,200mm lens on a DSLR.

Unfortunately, the solar filter I have used for years is much too small to fit on this enormous lens. Although there are cheaper alternatives, particularly a product called Baader film, most of the commercial suppliers are sold out of the stuff. Hoards of people have exhausted the stock of Baader film to use for another upcoming solar event, the transit of Venus. I have made makeshift solar filters in the past using fairly common aluminized mylar, so I bought a few samples of a similar product from TAP Plastic here in Sacramento. it proved to be dense enough, and after a few tests, I think it is also optically adequate. So now I will be using a $600 point&shoot camera with a $10,000 telephoto lens and a $0.39 filter.

NASA publishes detailed data about eclipses on their website and from this, I scouted what I think will be an ideal location from which to shoot. I will be at the Lassen National Park where the moon and sun will align most precisely. my hope is that I can also include a prominent recognizable landmark in the photo as well. In this case Mount Lassen. the park is expecting a crowd of people to view the eclipse from there, and I will try to photograph them as well. If everything works as it should, the Bee will have a nice assortment of photos to chronicle one of the rarest and most beautiful natural phenomena to come our way in years.

I encourage everyone to make an effort to experience the eclipse on Sunday. it is a rare opportunity you should not waste. and I am ready.

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