In 2007 Jimmy Buffett and several partners formed Last Mango Racing Stables, a horse racing owners group.

Last Mango is hoping to field their horse Daddy Forty Nine in this year’s Kentucky Derby:

A total of 366 three-year-olds are nominated to the Derby and the other Triple Crown races, from two-year-old champion Lookin At Lucky, to a long shot gelding co-owned by Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees, to a full brother of ill-fated 2006 Derby winner Barbaro.

The Derby field is limited to 20 starters, and it’ll be the prep races from Arkansas to Arcadia, Calif., New Orleans to New York, and Gulfstream to Keeneland that determine who ends up at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

The usual Derby-driven trainers dominate the list of nominees. Four-time Derby winner D. Wayne Lukas has 19 nominees, two-time Derby winner Nick Zito has 15 and three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert has 13. Todd Pletcher tops them all with 20 as he seeks his first Derby winner (he’s 0-for-24).

Brees’ Derby hopeful is Daddy Forty Nine. The gelding is owned by Last Mango Racing Stable, formed by New Orleans Saints vice president of communications Greg Bensel. Other partners include Saints coach Sean Payton, singer Jimmy Buffett and the Monday Night Football announcing crew of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden.

The owners group enjoyed limited success in 2008 with a horse named Pulaski County.

The TicketMaster presale for the May 22nd Jimmy Buffett show at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas starts this morning at 10 am CT.

Click here to purchase tickets through TicketMaster presale

To purchase tickets you’ll need to enter the following password when prompted: BIGTOP

The presale will end on Sunday and then tickets go on sale to the general public Monday morning at 10 am CT.

Good luck!

The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour awoke Tuesday afternoon to the sounds of Jimmy Buffett’s “Window On The World”. Mission Control sent up the music at 4:14 pm with the shuttle 220 miles up docked to the International Space Station.

Two American astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station today while crewmates inside the complex crank open for the first time shutters covering seven windows on the Italian-built Cupola observation deck.

“That song is very appropriate today,” said Endeavour mission specialist Kay Hire, who, like Buffett, is a native of Mobile, Ala. “On a day that we’ll be working on opening our new window on the world.”

This isn’t the first time Buffett’s music has served as an astronaut wake-up call. In 2006, the crew of Atlantis awoke to “Twelve Volt Man” and in 2008 it was “Oysters and Pearls” that was played to another Atlantis team.

Endeavour and its crew of six launched February 8th and are scheduled to return to earth on Sunday.

Update – You can listen to the recording of the song and astronaut Kay Hire’s reaction to it here (from NASA via @WAOTNC)

Both LiveNation and Margaritaville.com are confirming that Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band will perform at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York (Long Island) on Tuesday, August 31st.

Tickets go on sale Monday, February 22nd at 10 am ET through TicketMaster.

With this announcement, all shows that were rumored have now been confirmed.

There will be a TicketMaster presale for the May 22nd Jimmy Buffett show at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.

The presale begins Wednesday, February 17th at 10 am CT and run through Sunday, February 21st. Tickets will then go on sale to the general public on Monday, February 22nd.

Click here for the TicketMaster Direct Link

You will need a password to purchase tickets via presale. We’re told the password is BIGTOP.

(thanks to Julie for passing it along)