I'm one day late with this post but... whatever.

January 19th was the second anniversary for And Down The Stretch They Come here at SB Nation. As a result, I'd like to take a quick moment to thank all of those that have stopped by to read, comment or post during that time.

This site isn't the largest of the SB Nation community but it's one that I'm very proud to be a part of. During 2011, site visits increased 190% when compared to 2010, with a 133% increase in page views. But beyond the raw numbers, I'm happier that this community has always been a place where we can discuss the game that we love without some of the usual problems that one finds on the internet on a regular basis. Whether your a life-long racing fan, or just recently found a love for the sport, I'm honored that you would take the time to visit this community.

To all of the readers: Thank You!

This site rarely wades into any kind of political discussion (for good reason, we want to talk about horses, not policy) but recently there has been a lot of attention directed towards Washington from the internet community. I'm sure most of you have read at least something about the bills in Congress aimed at preventing on-line piracy: SOPA and PIPA. SOPA has received the most attention in the press in recent weeks, including protests today by Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and other sites, due to what most feel are overly-vague and burdensome provisions.

SB Nation and its parent company, Vox Media, officially opposes SOPA.

New media companies see the legislation as a Web killer that threatens their very existence, as the key to engaged communities is the freedom to contribute to the conversation, including the contribution of relevant content. As a new type of media company that invests heavily in both developing our own premium content and providing our communities of readers with powerful tools with which to express themselves, Vox Media is in a unique position to understand the conflict raised by the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA.

You can read the official statement from Vox at the link above, along with any comments or discussion.

To all of the readers, commenters, and contributors to this site: Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. May St. Nick bring you a year of winning tickets.

I touched on this the other day, but here's the official announcement from SB Nation on the updated iPhone App:

Continue reading this post »

A happy Tuesday to everyone.  

SB Nation would very much like to hear your opinions and feedback on the user experience on And Down The Stretch They Come.  SB Nation are always trying to improve user experiences, navigation and brand integrations and your feedback is valuable in this process.  All responses will be kept confidential and the entire process will only take a few minutes. Also, as incentive to participate, for the 3 SB Nation sites with the highest percentage of completed surveys, SB Nation will make a $500 donation to the charity of our choice, in our name.

Since we're a horse racing community, I have chosen Old Friends as the designated charity for this site.  Old Friends is a retirement and rescue facility for thoroughbreds located in Georgetown, Kentucky.  The mission of Old Friends is "to bring at risk racehorses--those whose racing and breeding careers had come to an end--to Old Friends, provide them with the dignified retirement they deserve, and open the space to the public."

Thank you in advance.

To take the survey, click here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MWM6363

That cool chill you felt this afternoon wasn't hell freezing over.  No, it was launch of this site's Facebook page. 

I'm one of those people that's old enough to shy away from things that make me realize I'm not in my 20s any more, but young enough that I like to embrace new(ish) technology. Facebook is kind of like that for me.  There are some really cool things about social networking and media, and then there are things about it that makes me feel like the 1980s and 90s were an awfully long time ago. (Do I really need to be connected to everyone at all times? Does anyone else remember when you had to mail everything, even "letters" to your friends and family? Does anyone care where I'm eating lunch? And if they do, why?)

A lot of the sites here at SB Nation have corresponding Facebook pages, something I've resisted for quite some time because... well, I can't think of a good reason other than I spend enough time just updating this site. Facebook will only add to that. Annnnyway, long story short, And Down The Stretch They Come now has a Facebook page.

The big advantage of the Facebook page is the ability for me to post and share photos directly to that platform (like my photos from England), even when I'm at the track.  I can't really do that right now.  There is also some extra mobile functionality that Facebook provides that we just don't have yet for SB Nation's main website or our mobile applications.

So, if you like the interactivity that Facebook provides, jump on over and "Like" the new page.  If you hate Facebook and think it's the central source of evil in the world, you're in luck because I won't be writing about this in the future and you'll never have to know it exists! (Just don't look on the lower right sidebar.) If you're ambivalent about Facebook, you'll probably still be ambivalent. 

Sorry for the horrible Brady Bunch reference, I caught a rerun the other day and it was the classic Peter Brady voice-chaniging episode and now I can't get that song out of my head.  What are you going to do?

As we begin to roll through the dog-days of the horse racing summer, I made a couple of changes to the site that you would only notice if you scrolled all the way to the bottom of the pace and looked at the masthead.  Readers TFTribe and JPFanshawe were moved up to "Author" status, which essentially means that I got tired of having to go in and manually put their posts on the front page. I figured I'd save some time by elevating them to author status. I don't know if that makes me lazy or efficient.  Probably a little of both.  Seriously though, both of these guys have produced some cool pieces and I wanted to make sure they don't get buried over on the sidebar.

As you have read in the past, TFTribe brings an owner's perspective to the site, and one that's involved in pedigree analysis and auctions.  He's had some great pedigree posts over the past few months.

JPFanshawe participates frequently in handicapping tournaments and provides an excellent view of this increasingly popular side of horse racing.  He also has some excellent thoughts on pace handicapping and wagering strategies.

I'm back home after a few days of camping on the Columbia River where the weather was hot, the beer was cold, the wind was blustery, and the rattlesnakes were plentiful.  I'll have a Travers Day preview up in a few hours, as well as a Pacific Classic preview later on tonight. In the meantime....

The SB Nation iPhone app is now available in the App Store! And it's Free!

Now you can stay on top of all the latest news and commentary for And Down The Stretch They Come and all 300+ SB Nation blogs from your iPhone. With the SB Nation iPhone app you can:

• Get the latest, breaking sports news as it happens
• Customize your news with your favorite teams, sports and blogs (including And Down The Stretch They Come)
• Get notified of updates to the stories you choose to follow on SBNation.com, regional sites, Baseball Nation, and MMA Nation
• Read and reply to comments

Here's how to get it:

Go to the App Store on your iPhone and search for "SB Nation"

-- OR --

Go here and click "Download Now"

FAQ

1. An Android version of the app is coming soon. Hopefully by the end of the year (which is good, since I'm an Andrioid user!)
   
2. The app is free.
3. Comments are basic read-and-reply, but SB Nation has plans to enhance them in future updates.
4. You can use your existing SB Nation user name and password to log in to the app.

Any questions, feedback, comments? E-mail support@sbnation.com.