Going Purple: Pedicures for a cause

Paul Reddam and wife Zillah, owners of Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another, are hoping to see plenty of purple at Belmont Park on Saturday when their Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner goes postward in the Belmont Stakes. So much so that they have put their support and charitable dollars behind a fund-raising effort on behalf of Thoroughbred Charities of America that grew out of a challenge among a few friends on Twitter involving purple pedicures. In this case, purple has become the color of money.

It started when Jen Roytz (Twitter: @jenroytz), marketing and communications director for Three Chimneys Farm, Midway, Ky., excitedly Tweeted Sunday night: “I'm thinking purple toenails in support of @Ill_HaveAnother – who's with me?”  She pinned her Tweet with the hashtag, “#IllHaveAnotherPedicure.”  That salvo struck a blow in Chicago, where racing fan and writer, Patti Davis (@ShuveeIL), sitting with her iPad open on her lap, was monitoring Twitter in-between occasional glances at the NBA Eastern Conference finals on TV.

Davis saw that Ray Paulick (@raypaulick) of The Paulick Report was sending out some updates on Twitter, and the time seemed right for a throw down. She Tweeted back to Roytz: “I will donate $100 to the TCA if BOTH Ray and Jen paint their tootsies IHA purple and POST PICS! Who's with me?”  Paulick, by way of a re-Tweet, accepted the challenge.

Out of this, Davis and Roytz hatched a plan to encourage others to paint their “piggies” as a show of solidarity for I'll Have Another's bid for racing's Triple Crown. Roytz made a few calls and Mr. and Mrs. Reddam, along with Team O'Neill, pledged a $20 donation to Thoroughbred Charities of America for anyone who would paint their toes in Reddam Racing's eggplant-hued racing colors and post it on the I'll Have Another Pedicure Facebook page.

Anyone can celebrate this quest for the crown by painting their toenails purple and post photographic evidence to the I'll Have Another Pedicure Facebook page anytime before midnight, Saturday, June 9, 2012.  Share the Twitter hashtag, #IllHaveAnotherPedicure, with friends and followers, and post photos on Facebook.

Grateful thanks to the Reddams, Team O'Neill, and Mario Gutierrez for their support.  We hope they enjoy looking at feet!