Gone to Disneyworld

Louie and Julie's guy joined them on Friday the 21st and is now living near Orlando. This boy had not told them his name the last time I heard from them and was busy trying to figure out how all the changes in his life could be put to good use. He weighed in at 13.8 pounds.

Another pup... my only girl... is on her way to New York City.

Two others are still unspoken for BUT have stirred some interest in several potential families.

Rachel Alexandra
In case you haven't heard, this spectacular Thoroughbred filly has been named Horse of the Year for 2009, beating out the 6 year old mare, Zenyata. This is the first time the final competition for HOY was two females and both were deserving of the honor. Horse racing powers-that-be are working to have the two girls face off... more than once... this year. Zenyata's retirement has been put off just so this can happen. Z's people also own Curlin and plan to breed her to him. If she were mine, I'd be going to Rachel's dad instead!

My Girl, Rachel

She did it again! Everyone knows I'm in love with the Thoroughbred filly, Rachel Alexandra, and with good reason. She's beautiful. She's talented. And she's better than everyone else! For people who do not follow horse racing, Rachel is the 3 year old girl who trounced all the other 3 year old girls by winning the Kentucky Oaks by 20 lengths and THEN beat the top 3 year old boys in the Preakness. Those boys included Kentucky Derby Winner, Mine That Bird. Her next race was another one against the little boys, the Haskell Invitational, which she won by 6 lengths. Those boys included Summer Bird (yes, Mine That Bird's half brother) who won the Belmont. This weekend, Rachel was in the Woodward Stakes... the ONLY 3 year old (either sex) entered and she made certain ALL the older guys followed her home. Not only is she the first filly to win the Woodward, she is one of very few 3 year olds to win it. Not even the great Secretariat could do it as a 3 year old. (He finished second.) Yestersay, Rachel's people said she was obviously tired but not sore and was eating well. Most likely she is done racing for the year and the folks trying to push her into a race against the 5 year old super mare, Zenyata, are going to have to wait until next year. (Rachel has already run in more races than Zenyata has in her life time.) If Horse of the Year does not go to Rachel Alexandra, there'll be some 'splain' to do!

A Belmont without Rachel

Rachel Alexandra is NOT going to run in the Belmont and I'm totally in agreement with the decision... fooled you, right? She looked terrific after the Preakness, didn't appear overly hot BUT her jockey said she had a rough trip and she was on the verge of overheating. I know with people, when you get so hot you stop sweating, you're in trouble and since the filly wasn't even lightly lathered, her jock was probably right. And the fact that her owners have made this decision earlier than what they thought they would leads me to believe she really needs the time off. So her jockey, Calvin Borel, is back up on Mine That Bird, the KY Derby winner... setting him up with a huge opportunity to be the first ever jockey to win all 3 Triple Crown races in the same year on different horses. What would be REALLY cool is if he were up on a THIRD horse... say Pioneerof the Nile or Mr Hot Stuff... and won. Also pretty cool is how much Chip Woolley, Bird's trainer, has "grown up" since the Derby. He and the owners waited for Rachel's people to make up their minds so Calvin could ride Bird if she didn't run... they obviously had a number of fine riders ready and willing to hop on board... so a big gold star for them. I'm looking forward to next Saturday... hope to see Bird make that "gotta fly now" run passed everyone else and cross the finish line first one more time.

Oh, and Cotton and the kids are fine.

Thoroughbred Shenanigans

So it's not just the dogworld where people don't play fair. The outstanding filly, Rachel Alexandra, who won the Kentucky Oaks on May 1st by over 20 lengths, may be kept out of the Preakness because a number of the colts' owners think they'll have a chance to win IF she's not in the race. (Like, duh!) According to the race rules, she (or ANY unnominated horse) can enter ONLY if fewer than 14 nominated horses do. Several of the owners have said they're going to enter second horses, even though they are not expected to do anything, just to keep her out. Calvin Borel, who regularly rides Rachel and who was on her for the Oaks, also rode Mine That Bird in the Derby. HE has said if he has to choose, he'll stay on the filly. Shame on the owners who are taking part in this. And shame on Rachel for scaring them so badly!