Photo: Charles Pravata /Eclipse Sportswire is deadly at Oaklawn Park and Lion of David had plenty to burn in the Arkansas Derby (G-1), leading every step of the way to post a neck victory over Super Saver in a final time of 1:49.37. In his first three starts, of David showed nothing over Cushion Track or Pro-Ride, but once they put the blinkers on and switched him to turf, he reeled off two straight wins. the confidence booster, his wily trainer John Sadler shipped the muscular chestnut colt to Oaklawn Park to win his third consecutive win and first graded stakes. Did the red comet take advantage of a track playing kindly to front running speed or is there something more to this cleverly named Line of David (Lion Heart – Emma’s Dilemma, by Capote) has an interesting pedigree.  His sire Lion Heart was aptly named, for he was all heart while running second to Smarty Jones in the 2004 KentuckyLion Heart, a son of graded stakes placed sprinter Tale of the Cat, won the Haskell Invitational

(G-1) at 1 1/8 miles over a weak field, but was at his strongest up to 1 1/16His progeny to date are precocious and win primarily between five furlongs and 1 1/16 miles.  is his first graded stakes winner. chandelier cad block elevationLion Heart has two crops of racing age andchandelier lietuviskai didn’t have adequate time to prove himself at stud in the U.S. before he was sent to Turkey thischandelier infusion cannula of David’s damsire Capote was a brilliant Eclipse champion two year old in 1986. The son of Seattle Slew had distance limitations as did his offspring. produced seven stakes winners at 1 1/8 miles and only one at 1 ¼ miles, which won a listed stakes race in Sweden.

only two crops to race, Lion Heart has produced three foals from Capote mares. All three are winners and with Line of David, he now has a graded stakesThis cross isn’t withoutThe Tale of the Cat/Capote cross has produced fifteen starters, eleven winners and one graded stakes winner, Cat Moves, who took the Prioress Stakes (G-1) at six furlongs. of David’s distaff family is full of class a few generations back.  His two half siblings only have two victories between them in over twenty attempts and his dam Emma’s Dilemma won once in eight tries, sprinting over dirt. She’s a half sister to Lil’s Boy, an IrishBut Line of David’s third dam Lillian Russell is a half sister to the legendary Mr. Prospector. Line of David has a RF (Rasmussen Factor inbreeding – inbred to a superior mare within five generations) to Gold Digger, through Lillian Russell and Mr. Prospector, who is Tale of the Cat’s damsire. what do these pedigree musings mean for Line of David and his chances to impact

the Triple Crown races?  running style adds to the already speedy lineup of front runners or pace pressers that will be headed for a Calvary charge into the first turn of the Kentucky Derby. He was all out to hold off Super Saver and Dublin at 1 1/8 miles and was aided by the Oaklawn surface, where two of four runners had previously wired the field going Arkansas Derby distance.  With his miler’s speed and ability to win over dirt or turf, Line of David could become a proficient middle distance (7 furlongs – 1 1/16 miles) stakes horse. Just keep him out of the way when the real running begins on May 1.   be sure to visit Horse Racing Nation’s 2010 Kentucky Derby contenders list. To find more great Kentucky Derby and pedigree coverage, visit Iron Maidens Thoroughbreds.Like what you see? Follow dc wrapped dates' Kim on Twitter for last-minute date ideas and other food news. 2010 RAMMY Nominee Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene, Washington City Paper's 2010 Best of DC (link) Logan CircleI had a desire to go see the DCist Exposed Photography exhibit and somehow I convinced Official Friend of DCWD Kelly to tag along.

Figuring I don't get out to Logan Circle that often, I decided to make an afternoon of it, and took her Birch & Barley/Churchkey. Arriving at around 5, and wanting to try some craft beer, we headed upstairs to Churchkey.Birch & Barley and Churchkey are two parts of the same establishment; Birch & Barley is the downstairs sit down restaurant, Churchkey is the upstairs bar where we ended up. While they share the same kitchen, it'd be unfair to rate B&B from the food upstairs, so that's the last we'll mention it. Churchkey is a place that revolves its menu around the beer it serves... and oh what a selection of beer they have. But we'll get to that later.Churchkey's bar is long, silver with gold leaf designs and lined with high red swivel chairs. In the far end of the bar area, is mostly booth seating, which is composed of oddly high-off-the-ground orange and yellow cushion benches, and is pretty dark, even in the early evening when we went. On the other side, where we sat, are full-length windows which let the sunset in, and is made up of two-tops with rustic grey metal chairs and mustard yellow couches that line the walls, and high tables in the middle of the room (lot of high furniture in this place).

One wall is just simple white brick, while the other is a bold crimson red paisley wall paper with teardrop crystal chandeliers on the wall. This contrasts with the hanging chain medieval candle chandeliers that otherwise light the room. There's a lot to love about the place, and I did. What's more, the bar was packed even at 5 in the afternoon.We were starving by the time we got there so we ordered a lot. I got the arrancini (butternut squash and fontina risotto balls), shrimp corn dogs, and the charcuterie plate, while Kelly ordered the fig and prosciutto flatbread, replacing the gorgonzola with fontina (apparently she doesn't like strong cheeses... I can't say all my friends are foodies, haha). We'll start with hers first; despite her omission of the intended cheese, it actually was a really pleasant dish, mostly because the figs were perfect. The shrimp corn dogs were good as well, with the house made tartar sauce (really just tartar sauce with a little Old Bay) working with it very nicely.

They were piping hot when I got them, but I wolfed them down just the same. Slightly better than that were the arrancini; they were just the right combination of crunchy and soft, melting perfectly in my mouth. The bonus part was finding pockets of fontina within the stuffing.As for the charcuterie plate, it had five things: cured beef, pork head cheese, duck rillette, slices of genoa salami, and thin sliced mortadella (I didn't write it down, so I could be wrong, but I worked in a deli, so I'm pretty sure that's what it was), with generous helpings of tiny pickles, lightly oiled and toasted bread, and mustard (and it was the potent seeded kindThis was pleasant enough, for a charcuterie plate, with the winner being of course the duck rillette (though not as good as the Blue Duck sturgeon one, but also pleasant.I should mention the beer list at this point. The draft list at Churchkey is prepostrous in its awesomeness; there must some 50 beers on tap. These are constantly rotated so you can go to Churchkey every day for a year and never seemingly have the same one twice.

The beer menu, which is just as big as the bar menu, is divided and then further divided again by beer tastes: roast, malt, smoky, soft and silky, spicy and meaty. There's even a secret menu for Churchkey, where you can order some bottles that have been aged by the beer director (beer, like wine, depending how it's made, can improve with age). On this trip, we had three beers, a Uerige Sticke (a real nutty beer, and Kelly's choice), a St. Idesbald Blonde, and an Allagash Victor Ale (both mine). Obviously the beer is the reason you would go to Churchkey in the first place, and it did not disappoint.There are some places where the quality of the drinks will add something to the quality of the food. Churchkey is one of those places. Don't get me wrong, the food was good. But it was the the beer, its rarity, its hyper-specificity on the menu which let you pair it well, and the wait staff's general knowledge of it, that makes Churchkey worth all the hype it's gotten. About the only downside is I could see how on a busy Saturday night, it'd be next to impossible to get a seat.