Flashy Gray Scratched From Oaks

Flashy Gray, the daughter of Flashy Bull and grand daughter of Holy Bull, has been scratched from running in Friday's Kentucky Oaks.  She suffered a bruised right heel during a work out yesterday, and trainer Bill Mott doesn't want to race her when she is at less than 100 %.  This leaves a field of 10 fillies in the Oaks.
  Will the snow storms of Colorado and the mid-west cause rain at Churchill Downs?  There is a twenty % chance of rain forecast for Friday, but on Saturday, the rain chance will be between 40 and 60%.  The last Derby run on a sloppy track was in 2010.
  For the Derby, there will be a full gate of 20 horses, unless two entrants scratch; as one alternate entry, Fear the Kitten, is at Churchill Downs and is working as if he will run (in case some one does scratch).  Most of this years entries were foaled in Kentucky, including Aidan O'Brien trained Lines of Battle, who flew in from Ireland yesterday. Giant Finish was bred in New York, Falling Sky is from Pennsylvania, and Fear the Kitten, the alternate, is from Illinois.  All of the entrants are colts, except Vyjack, a gelding.  There are three chestnuts, two grey or roans, and the rest are bays or browns (although Black Onyx is dark enough to be considered black).  I haven't really kept up with Derby prep races, so I really don't know any of the contestants.  I'll decide by Saturday morning where I want to place my bets.
  After receiving 12 inches of snow yesterday, we have a bright blue sky outside, even though it's only 21 degrees outside.  I'll be heading off to walk Rosie soon, as Remy has an acupuncture appointment today. My kits ran in and out several times yesterday, and both are out on the concrete patio in the sun this morning. Our local PBS station showed an episode of Nature last night that was centered on the Lippizan horses of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.  The horses are a declared treasure of Austria, and, watching them train and perform, it is obvious as to why.  They are gorgeous.