One thing I noticed this past weekend while puttering around the yard was the volume of people walking their dogs. With old man winter pushed into hibernation for the next few months animals, like humans, love to be outside enjoying the weather. That includes horses. Soon the thoroughbreds will be thundering around the track at Marquis Downs in Saskatoon. A couple of times each season the family heads over there for an evening. I have no idea how to pick winners but it’s fun to try and it’s exciting watching the horses galloping full-tilt around the track. Apparently the reason New York is called the Big Apple has a horse racing connection. The phrase was first used in a 1909 book explaining the Midwest sentiment that New York received more than a fair share of the nation’s wealth. The author said New York was merely one of the fruits of that great tree whose roots go down the Mississippi Valley and whose branches spread from one ocean to the other. But the Big Apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap. Then, in the 1920’s, a sports writer heard it used by stable hands at the racetrack in New Orleans when referring to the New York racing scene, which they considered to be big time. The writer liked the phrase and titled his New York racing column “Around the Big Apple”. He wrote, “The Big Apple; the dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There’s only one Big Apple, and that’s New York”. This isn’t New York. It’s not even Biggar. But we do have thoroughbred racing starting June 1st.

That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.