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years, of course, so there was little or no racing in the states. My uncle was a racing fan and a very well-connected fellow. He had taken me under his wing and I had the privilege of going with him to this most prestigious race at the Ascot Racecourse. The dress code during the meet required morning coats and top hats for men, and formal dresses and hats for ladies. That dress code stands to this day. Anyway, my uncle had arranged everything, and I was quite taken by the whole affair. The pageantry, the beautiful turf course, lots of attractive ladies, and some of the best racehorses in the world.”
    Gianni looked attentively at Duncker as he continued his story.
    “I had always loved horses, but now I was hooked. My uncle later employed me in his advertising agency. I stayed with that until I had enough money and enough courage to pursue racing full time and to ultimately start Bushmill. The horse that won the Queen AnneStakes that day was a horse called Royal Charger. That horse, Anthony, was the great, great, great grand sire of Chiefly Endeavor.”
    “The pedigrees are one of the things I enjoy most about this business,” Gianni said. “And of course, the marvelous animals themselves. Now, Chief’s grass pedigree comes from the top line primarily, right?”
    “Right. Although Dynaformer, as I’m sure you know, can run on dirt as well. In fact, we need to start thinking about that relative to his next race. If he can do on dirt close to what he does on grass, then we could potentially have a horse on the Derby trail.”
    “You really think so?”
    “I’d like to try him at a mile and a sixteenth or a mile and an eighth on dirt. More on that later. Will you join us for dinner, Anthony? We’re going to Joe’s Stone Crab.”
    “I’d love to if there’s room.”
    “I’m here alone so it will just be the two of us and Greg Jacobs, our Ocala trainer and his wife. I’m sure you’d enjoy speaking with them.”
    GIANNI DIALED his wife’s cell phone as he left Gulfstream Park.
    “Did you see the race?”
    “I had to show some houses. About all I could do was look at the chart online from my office. It was a close one, huh?”
    “Did you tape it at least?” Anthony asked.
    “I couldn’t, Anthony.”
    “You could have used the timer. Well, I’ll get the stakes tape from the track. A grade II win second time out—I want that one formy collection. Is someone in the car with you, Janice?
    “No, it’s a CD.”
    “It sounds like someone yelling.”
    “RULE NUMBER 14: ORIGINALITY CAN BE DANGEROUS. YES, ORIGINALITY MAY ACTUALLY BE DANGEROUS.”
    “It’s called Gorilla Marketing. It has some great ideas for promoting my real estate sales.”
    “Oh.”
    Gianni turned on the CD player in his rental car. The tape of theatre selections was still in the deck. A tune from
Song and Dance
played.
    Don’t want to know who’s to blame
    It won’t help knowing
    Don’t want to fight day and night
    The tape also continued in Janice’s Mercedes:
    “WEAPON # 16: DIRECT MAIL LETTERS. THIS POWERFUL TOOL...”
    “Can you hear me, Janice?”
    “Yeah, but it sounds like you’re in a wind tunnel.”
    “I have the top down and some music on.”
    “Where are you anyway?”
    “I’m headed south on Collins Ave. I’m meeting a few people for dinner at Joe’s Stone Crabs.”
    “Nice.”
    “You could have come, Janice.”
    “RULE 19: IDENTIFY AND CREATE YOUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.”
    “Well, I didn’t. When are you coming back?”
    Don’t run off in the pouring rain
    “My flight is due in around 5:30 Sunday.”
    “I’ll see you then,” she said.
    “WEAPON NUMBER 21: FAX ON DEMAND…”
    Take the hurt out of all the pain…
    Tell me on a Sunday please…
    “Bye.”

Chapter 7
    The security gate at Palm Beach Downs requires a code to be entered onto a keypad, but the code is posted in the window of the unmanned gate house. In years gone by, there must have been some need for a higher level of security. Now,