Casa de Soprano. Carmela and Tony are in the kitchen, standing close to one another by the stove. The mathematically inclined portion of my brain (which, to be honest, is very, very small and located somewhere behind the lobe in charge of remembering people's birthdays) wonders if it would be possible to devise a formula for measuring the emotional health of the Soprano marriage based solely on a geometric analysis of how far apart the director places Gandolfini and Falco. Carmela wants ten grand to invest in a medical stock her cousin Brian has been touting, but Tony insists that they "don't have that kind of money on hand." Then he reminds her about the sorry state of the economy, leading Carmela to get all passive-aggressive about the "wonderful opportunity" they're missing out on. Later that night, however, Tony sneaks out into the backyard in his robe (StR=792), and hurriedly retrieves what looks like much more than ten grand from the cash he hid amongst the bird feed. Perhaps he's found a "wonderful opportunity" of his own. And being ever mindful of this show's obsession with robes and meta-fictional references, I'm just going to assume he's found a sweet deal on a few hundred of these.

Oh, and before I forget, and just because I can, I'd like to wish my sister a happy birthday.

Cut to the stables at a local racetrack, where Joey Pants is leading Tony and a bunch of tertiary characters through the paddock. The only guy I don't recognize is puzzled by the presence of a goat mixed in with all the horses, and Hesh explains for us all that horses like to have other animals around for company. But you trivia buffs already knew that, right? They finally reach Joey's horse, and Tony gushes over what a beautiful animal she is. Joey, however, just rants and raves about how the horse has been losing races in the backstretch, despite the fact that the trainer insists nothing is wrong with her. Tony suggests holding her back a bit, so she'll still have something in the tank for a big finish. Trainer Lois disagrees, however, and the Rabbi Exposition of Bedminster makes clear that Lois is the bestest horse trainer in the whole wide world. Everyone agrees to defer to her judgment, although Joey does insist that she "tell that midget not to be shy with the whip." "If only his mother had taken that advice," snarks Hesh. Heh. I love Hesh. And given Joey's bedroom preferences, that last line may well have been exposition itself.