Mouse in House; Breeder's Cup

While speaking to my friend Kathryn in Florida last night, I was interrupted by the arrival of Lovey - she wanted attention, but (I could tell from her demeanor) she didn't want me to see what she had. It was a little field mouse, not even as big as my thumb. I quickly finished my conversation and went to the bathroom to collect the mouse jar. Lovey had, by that time, taken the mouse to the entrance hallway; she'd hold it still with a paw on its' tail, and then let it run... then stop it with a paw on its' tail again. Banichi was sitting less than a yard away and watching intently. After about three minutes I got the mouse in the jar, and, keeping the kits inside, I turned the little guy/gal loose back in the grass. I want to make it clear that Lovey did not catch the mouse inside the apartment; she caught it outside in the yard and brought it in.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I can't leave horses alone for any length of time; so, here goes: The Breeder's Cup has expanded. Horse racing's multi-million dollar race day has now become two days of racing. This year the event will be on Friday and Saturday, October 24th and 25th. With the expansion of the race-card (there are now 14 BC races on the schedule), I can see and agree with the spread of the races over two days; being a feminist, I'm not sure that I like the fact that all the Distaff Races are now on Friday, and all the races for males are on Saturday (with, of course, the exception of any female that wishes to tackle the males in the highest echelon of the races). Five races for the fillies and mares on October 24th; 9 races for the colts, geldings, and stallions on October 25th. It should be an exciting race weekend - but I'm still not sure how I feel about splitting the sexes into separate days... And speaking of girls that race against boys, we lost Genuine Risk on August 18th at age 31- she beat the boys in the 1980 Kentucky Derby. She was a gorgeous chestnut with a big blaze. More information on the Breeder's Cup races and a photographic tribute to "Gennie" may be found on The Bloodhorse website at: www.bloodhorse.com

I will head off to Niwot tomorrow to take care of Spike. And I need to find my long pants to wear tomorrow - the high is expected to be only 58, with rain. It's supposed to bounce back into the mid-70s for the weekend, though. And walking this morning was brisk - it was 47 outside, and I still had on shorts and a T.... silly me.