Every horse racing enthusiast dreams of hitting that magical Pick 6.  In some cases it can pay $1,000,000 and be a life changing event.  Unfortunately, horses don’t run consistently, so picking six winners in a row is a real challenge.

So one of my best friends is Sean Gerson (www.gersonracing.com).  When we sold our software company (SRD) to IBM, I called Christian trainer Mike Mitchell and told him I wanted to buy race horses.  My only request?  No crooks!  Mike was kind enough to introduce me to Sean, and we have been best friends and horse racing partners for the last four years.  Sean is, bar none, one of the best people I ever met.  Never gets angry, always honest and ethical, and we share a passion for horses.  A few years back, Sean recruits Peter Miller to train our horses, and we are literally off to the races.  Last year we had a horse in the Breeders Cup (World Championship of Horse Racing).  This year we have a Kentucky Derby candidate.  Does not get much better than that!

Here is the one and only drawback of hanging out with Sean Gerson.  He has a tendency to give out lousy horse picks, then at the end of the day exclaim, "hey, I hit the Pick 6!"  How is that possible?  You gave me five losers buddy!  How can you possibly have the Pick 6?  Sean has more stiffs than the Cryptkeeper.  Passes out horses that break from the starting gate, run over to the turf course and stop to graze.  How many times has he told me, "Miyadi (trainer) loves this horse", then the horse finishes up the track at 2-1? 

Well, kharma has a strange way of catching up to you.  This week Sean starts the Pick 6 with a 6-1 and 15-1 winners.  That knocks most of the people out of the pool.  By the way, that 15-1 winner was a first time starter from our trainer Peter Miller that neither of the brothers shared with me.  Long story short, Sean has the first five in a row in the Pick 6.  He has Peter Miller’s horse singled in the last race.  If Peter’s horse wins, Sean’s ticket is worth $400,000.  Peter’s horse breaks beautifully and challenges for the lead.  Turning for home Peter’s horse takes a 3 length lead!  Oh my gosh, Sean is going to hit a $400,000 ticket!  In horse racing, you never ever yell out "you got it buddy" when your horse is way out in the front.  It’s considered a major jinx.  So Sean is maybe 100 yards away from $400,000, and I swear to you I did not yell out "you got it buddy."  I was in too much shock that he was about to win $400,000.  Hmmm…maybe he’ll share it with me.

With just a few jumps to the wire, and firmly in command, Sean’s horse tires and ends up out of the money. Sean ended up with the consolation (5 out of 6) of $41,000, which is still pretty darn good.  And he is still the best handcapper I ever met.  I did take the opportunity to send him an email stating, "this just in from God – that is what you get for stiffing Brother Wayman with all those losers!"  Just kidding buddy!

Greetings from Lone Grove, Oklahoma!  Just another sultry day in paradise.  Heading to Las Vegas for a week to see some folks and host a Cigar Smoker at the Stirling Club.  Here is an update on upcoming Godfather events:

·         CIO Mixer at Hollywood Park was rocking!  We had 25 CIOs.  It was so much fun that we are doing it all again at Del Mar August 11 in the Bing Crosby Celebrity Suite.  For my CIO/CTO friends and clients, email me for the official invitation.

·         “Sit Down” at House of Blues West Hollywood was a sell out. Awesome turnout of 70 executives, entrepreneurs and celebrities.  Next event is at the San Diego Yacht Club in July.  Executives, entrepreneurs and celebrities.

·         Dallas “Sit Downs” are selling out as well.  My ranch is only 90 minutes north of Dallas, which has some of the best people in the world.  We are really enjoying the Midwest culture and lifestyle.  A church on every corner!

·         Big Brown not winning the Triple Crown was a shocker.  The up side is that our two year old colt, Backbackbackgone, now has a shot at history next year in the Kentucky Derby.  Thirty two years since a horse has won the Triple Crown.  BBBG has two of the ten fastest times in the world this year.  He was a little sore after winning the Willard Proctor Stakes at Hollywood Park, so we are giving him two months off.  I think he could end up being very special.

·         We finally purchased a house in Lone Grove.  We were going to build, however there is a huge boom in Oklahoma right now, so we’ll sit it out until prices come down.  Picked up several parcels of land, including a nice piece of land with a bass lake.  Fishing every day!

·         Looking for several talented financial executives.  A CFO with extensive SEC experience at highly recognizable companies (high tech preferred – comp is $300K+), CFO at $200K for an international assignement and a VP, Investor Relations for a Las Vegas based organization.  If you know anyone that would be a strong fit, send ’em! 

That’s it from Lone Grove, Oklahoma.  If I can help in any way, please feel free to call!

Giddyup! Our colt “Whatever Whenever” runs tonight at Hollywood Park.  You just have to love a horse named Whatever Whenever.  Tomorrow we send out my wife’s namesake, “Princess Susan M”.  She was pretty fast last year, but has not run much in 2008.  We have a new rule – no naming horses after loved ones!

I will be in Las Vegas for a couple of weeks to catch up with friends and clients, host a small cigar smoker and host a Christian Businessman’s Breakfast.  And speaking of events, the Godfather "Sit Down" at the House of Blues Dallas this week drew a pretty impressive crowd of 22.  We have CEOs, venture capitalists, private equity firms and entrepreneurs.  Thank you to House of Blues for the hospitality and CareerBuilder for sponsoring.

Upcoming events:

     House of Blues Dallas (July)

     San Diego Yacht Club (July)

     Del Mar (August)

Greetings from Lone Grove, Oklahoma!  As many of you know, Susan and I are splitting our time between Las Vegas and Oklahoma.  I have family here, and we just love all the nature and wildlife.

This month we had a few interesting encounters on our property.  First, we were out at one of the ponds and a wild turkey walked by.  Friends, these are not your average turkey.  They stand about four feet high and probably weigh 50 pounds.  Typically you see 40 or 50 of them walking single file through the fields.  The next evening we encountered a skunk the size of a St. Bernard.  Last week was Susan’s week for wildlife encounters.   She met her first Water Moccasin at the pond.  They took one look at each other and headed in opposite directions.  Then there was the morning we saw a large coyote cutting across the property.  We also have bobcats, mountain lions, snakes deer, wild boar, snakes, turtles, birds…and more snakes.  Did I mention all the snakes?

In closing, I’m happy to announce that we FINALLY purchased a house here in Oklahoma.  We were going to build one, but fell off our bar stools when we were quoted $115 a square foot for a low end residence.  Huh?  We decided to look at existing houses and came up with one we really liked.  It’s on 5 acres in the middle of nowhere.  Check it out HERE.