Tree Down!

Gimpy, the squirrel, is sitting just inside my living room, eating peanuts, while Banichi and Lovey are watching him from the patio. Gimpy keeps talking to himself, and I can't blame him. Yesterday afternoon was very interesting. I heard thunder rumble in the distance about 12:30, so I took Rosie and Remy over to Kathy and Jim's, knowing that Suki does not like thunderstorms. I left all four dogs in the house, and since it wasn't raining yet, I cleaned up the kennel area... when I saw the flash of lightning nearby, I returned inside, and sat and read to the dogs. We had a weird little storm - first, the wind blew, then we had a few heavy rain drops, then we had light and sporadic hail, more rain, and then a lot more wind. It was during the second windy interval that we all heard a tremendous CRACK come from the kennel area. Rosie and Remy ran through the house to investigate the sound, while Suki tried to burrow under me on the sofa, and Boo was trying to crawl into my lap. I got up and went to investigate, and found that one of the big shade trees in the kennel area had split into three pieces at the base, and was lying sprawled out all over the yard. A good deal of the branches were smushed up against the sliding glass door that is used for egress. - There was no further storm damage at either the Rs' or the Snow house, but I heard late last night that visitor from Missouri was riding her bike on US 36 about a mile north of the house, and she was struck by lightning during the same storm. The bicyclist suffered no serious injury, and was treated and released by the community hospital. (Hurry up Thursday, I want to sleep in my own bed!)

Ninety-one years ago, in August of 1918, August Belmont, Jr. offered almost all of his young stock for sale at the Fasig-Tipton Thoroughbred sale at Saratoga. A new owner and hopeful breeder was there with his trainer, Louis Fuestal. The new owner was named Samuel D. Riddle. He purchased 11 yearlings for a total of $25,000. - One colt at $5,000, and the rest for $2,000 each. The $5,000 buy was a colt named Man o' War. If a colt is going to be offered in any major TB sale, at least 3 months are spent grooming him daily, putting a shine on his coat, and getting him used to intimate handling. Man o' War was offered on the spur of the moment, and was just shaking off a flu bug... he was rough-coated, slightly unruly, big-boned, and thin. But Fuestal chose Man o' War as the pick of that year's sale - and he was absolutely right. The Fasig-Tipton Sale at Saratoga has produced some of the best buys of all time - and it begins again this week.