Rachel A, Zenyatta, and Pony Penning

Rachel Alexandra won the Lady's Secret Stakes this afternoon, but she had to work very hard to do so; and that was not expected as none of her 6 opponents were Stakes winners. She won by 3 lengths under regular jockey Calvin Borel, but she dueled with the leader (and second place finisher) for a quarter mile before she started to gain the lead. The public was treated to an unexpected, but very real, race. Rachel was such an overwhelming favorite that a $2 bet returned only $2.10. ... Zenyatta had a stupendous workout earlier this week at Hollywood Park. Will these two ever meet? ... And today the salt water cowboys, also known as the Pony Committee of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department, began placing herds of ponies from the north end of Assateague Island into the holding pens beside Tom's Cove in preparation for this week's annual Pony Penning. Each and every foal, mare, and stallion will be checked by the veterinarian for the anticipated one-eighth mile swim across the Assateague Channel to Chincoteague on Wednesday. All equines will have blood drawn; all immunizations will be made; hooves will be trimmed; and any pony deemed not to be fit enough to swim the Channel will be trailered over to the Carnival Grounds on Chincoteague. During the last 5 Pony Pennings, visitors to Chincoteague have been numbered between 40,000 and 65,000 each year. That's a lot of visitors at one time for an island that's 7 miles long and 1.5 miles wide (including the marshy areas).
Neddy and Lovey have been super kits. We have loved and played and cuddled for several hours each day this past week. I miss not being with them all the time. Yesterday evening, Nancy and I took the Rs out for a walk, and ran into Ed, the new neighbor, with Danny and Shama (his Dachshund and Springer Spaniel). Ed let me know that his wife and kids are away on vacation, and asked if I'd walk the dogs in the mornings and let them out for a potty break in the afternoons, as he's working 11-hour days. Of course, I said yes. So today besides walking Yoshi and Aiko at 6, I walked the Rs at 8, and then Danny and Shama at 9:30. Then I went home to spend time with the kits - Lovey ran out to go potty and then spent the next 3 hours in my lap. Neddy ran out twice, then came in and stayed beside me, nursing on my forearms... I do love them!