Two Super Mares

On Friday, April 9th, Zenyatta kept her winning streak unsullied, staying behind her four rivals for most of the race, and then roaring up on the outside to pull ahead and win, under a hand ride by Mike Smith. On the same day, Personal Ensign, the undefeated mare who won the 1988 Breeders Cup Distaff in the mud and muck of Churchill Downs, passed away. Zenyatta is now undefeated in 16 starts, while Personal Ensignwas retired after 13. Both are, and were, super girls. And over the weekend, two longshots won the Blue Grass Stakes and the Arkansas Derby; Super Saver won the Derby at Oaklawn - and I love his pedigree (Maria's Mon out of an AP Indy mare); and Stately Victor, a California-based shipper, paid out $83.60 on a $2-to-win ticket in the Blue Grass. It made for an interesting weekend of racing. (And I enjoyed Phil Mickelson's win at the Masters, even though I was rooting for Tiger.)
I discovered a football-sized hornets/wasps/yellow-jackets nest on the ceiling of my patio yesterday; and for the second time in two years, wrote out a maintenance request. It's probably been there since last summer, but I don't want to take any chances with myself, Lovey and/or neighbors. Lovey continues to look for Banichi, and whenever she hears a noise from the direction of the hallway door, she goes on alert. I could have sworn I heard him meowing, and dragging his shoestring over the tile floor a couple of times this morning.... I'll be off shortly to take Rosie and Remy out for their daily walk; and I dug out my floppy sun hat last night, as I've gotten a light sunburn since Thursday.