I Don't Need the Stress!

My cable company, which I abhor anyway, lost the NBC visual feed this afternoon about the time the Derby coverage started. Yikes! I finally talked myself down off the ceiling... I could HEAR just fine up there, thank you... and decided I would pretend I was back in the early 50s, listening to the race on the radio. I got to listen to all the pre-race stories and visual was restore about a half hour or so before the post parade.

As usual, MY horses did not do all that well... in fact, Take Charge Indy (who was second in my heart) finished 19th. So far no word on the problem, but he left the gate fairly well and ran decently for a while, right where I expected him to be. Since he wasn't pulled up, I'm hoping it just wasn't his day or he threw a shoe or something, nothing serious. My closest finisher, and closest to my heart, was Creative Cause who was 5th. Bodemeister ran all the way in front, ahead even of Trinniberg who was supposed to be THE speed demon. (He finished 17th.) But just before the wire, I'll Have Another decided he would and he won going away (which bodes, no pun intended, well for the Belmont which is a quarter mile longer than the Derby. And with a smaller field, he just might be able to break free of the herd a little earlier and take the Preakness which is 1/16th mile shorter than the Derby.) A Tripe Crown IS possible this year and more likely than in the passed few years. As for my other horses, Gemologist, who was tied almost neck and neck IN MY HEAD with Indy, was 16th. Daddy Nose Best, my fourth horse, was right in the middle of the mix at 10th. Went the Day Well and Dullahan, two of my honorable mentions, finished 3rd and 4th. The favorite, Union Rags once again had a problem race, something he seems prone to and ended up 7th while Hansen, another very well thought of colt, was 9th. He seemed very agitated starting in the paddock and was soaking wet before he got in the gate, so I don't think anyone was surprised. Another horse that was a little worked up before the gate was the "pony" who travels with I'll Have Another. He is Lava Man, a retired champion race horse (over $5 mil in winnings) and a big favorite in California where he and Another live. Lava Man is probably back in his stall trying to figure out why he never gets loaded in the gate any more! I have the complete order of finish for anyone who is interested.

A minor piece of trivia... I'll Have Another was purchased for... $11,000.

Blog
My friend, Karen, did not like the blog in white. So it is now blue.

Pups
Emy's are two weeks tomorrow. And to celebrate, I have a new camera sent to me by Marcy who is getting one of Peri's pups and wants non blurry pictures when they arrive. She's hoping I'll figure it out quickly!  I hope everyone appreciates my gift as much as I do!

Saturday!

I am SOOO looking forward to THE RACE tomorrow! This afternoon I found a website with various articles about the Derby mostly, but a few of general interest (if your general interest is horse racing.) And one of the authors is Kerry Thomas, THE expert in "emotional conformation profiling." He applies aspects of herd dynamics and individual psychology to how horses run their races. It was absolutely fascinating and I'll be watching the Derby with his comments in mind. By the way, he is really high on Union Rags and Went the Day Well, but his analysis of Creative Cause has not disuaded me from him. His observations of all 20 colts gave me so much new stuff to think about I'll be up all night. Something he said about one of the colts was reinforced when I went to the Zenyatta forum and they were talking about the same colt and problems he had with his mom. (It happens to the best of us!) It just goes to show that moms of any kind have a life long effect, positive and negative that often go unidentified as the basis of behavior. Don't get me wrong, I'm not big on psycological mumble-jumble, but some things just make sense.

Derby Weekend

But first... Take a look at this pup. See the areas of gray (silver) already showing up? Others are showing areas of lighter red or tan than their coat colors.

They are all doing so well, it's scary! The last day or so, they are trying to get up on their legs and if they keep going, they'll be walking before their eyes open! Plus, they have already experienced the coldest night of the year and the hottest day!

I hope Peri's pups are up for this challenge!

Derby Saturday
Well, it is another huge field of seemingly fairly equal so-so colts. No one stands out. Even the experts all have different picks. My four, NOT in order, are:
Take Charge Indy (post position 3 with Calvin Borel up)
Creative Cause (#8, he's bred for over a mile, he's gray and I love his "little guy" back story - his mom, and HER mom, are pretty much his 80 year old BREEDER/owner's only other horses and his 71 year old "small time" trainer says he's getting two Derbys this year... his first and his last!)
Daddy Nose Best (out of gate 10, Garret Gomez on board)
Gemologist (#15, since his daddy is Tiznow and his pedigree is a little "older" than many of the other colts.)
Also
Bodemeister (with Mike Smith up, out of post 6, is interesting because he was unraced as a 2 year old but, heart attack or not, I'm not a real Bob Baffert fan. The last time the Derby was won by a colt that didn't start racing until 3 was in... 1882.)

Union Rags(#4,) Dullahan (#5,) Went the Day Well (#13, LOVE that name!) and Hansen (#14,) are also well thought of. The early lead should go to Trinniberg (#9) but it's not likely he can go the mile and a quarter.
There are 20 horses in the field. If someone scratches, even at the last minute, there is an alternate entry. I would much rather see 12-15 horses, but no one asked me and I'm not paying any Derby nomination fees.
.
So I've listed half the entries...
and I have to admit, my heart is with Creative Cause.

Updates - Pups and Derby

Babies are doing fine. I started all of them on an antibiotic last night because Emy cut a couple cords really really short and I don't want to chance any umbilical infections. Rather than try to tell which pups had the buzz cuts, they're all getting the med... it's a lot faster!

And I lied! ONE pup has a single back dewclaw. It is the lightest blond male. I'm not taking him over to have it removed... it is attached by just skin, so it will be easily done when he is neutered. Or it can be just left alone (which is what I would do if he stayed here.)

Also, Cotton is 5 weeks along tomorrow and is still very iffy. She has some minor mammary swelling and is still a little puffy in the rear, but her ribs have not sprung and she's really acting just... normal. Of course, she did this the last time and there were 13 little buggers lounging around in there.... If I had to bet on it right this minute, I'd say she was NOT pregnant.

Kentucky Derby on Saturday
The filly is in.
AND she is the 3rd favorite!
The weather is supposed to be wet, looking for a sloppy track and Devil May Care moved up one or two spaces in the odds because she likes playing in the mud. Awesome Act has moved up to 4th for the same reason. Looking at Lucky and Sidney's Candy (MY favorite) are still at the top of the list but both have really bad post positions... Lucky is leaving from Gate 1 and Sid from #20. All things considered, I'd rather be in Sid's spot. Pletcher is saddling just 4 (just!) I hope Devil comes in for him! I'm also watching Super Saver and Line of David. No money on this, you understand!