This and That

Two months away, the Kentucky Derby is already getting a lot of news coverage.  It is the best known race in the United States, and this is the normal hyperbole, but it seems that this year,again, the Derby is a wide open race...  El Areeb, Irish War Cry, and Beasley have recently been in the headlines surrounding the Derby, and there are 9 stakes races at Gulfstream Park today.  There have also been a spate of stallion deaths, including the 11-year-old Giant Oak, a son of Giant's Causeway.
   The Chincoteague Pony Spring Round-Up will take place on April 7 and 8 this year.  The ponies of the north and south herds will be rounded up and checked for any problems, plus they'll get blood drawn for testing, annual vaccines, and the equine veterinarian will give each and every pony a check-up and evaluation.The buy-back ponies from last summer's auction have been staying at the Carnival Grounds on Chincoteague, and they will be released back onto Assateague on Saturday, 8 April. Hopefully, my filly, Surfer Princess will be taken back to the north end of the island to be separated from her full-brother, Riptide.  She managed to get back down to the south end of the island after Christmas, and joined her brother's herd.  (I wouldn't worry if she were running with Maverick or the Don Leonard Stud II - but she's with her brother.)
    Rosie continued improving yesterday, and wandered around the back yard on her own when I took her for her daily outing.  I got some really good photos of her.  I wasn't sure this past Tuesday if she'd survive until the end of the week, but it looks like she'll definitely hang on until next weekend, when the son of the family will return home from College for his spring break.  That will make all of us humans very happy.
    Had a great time playing with Tipsi last night and again this morning.  His people went cross-country skiing and took the two dogs, so Tipsi is at home by himself (since Pounce passed away last month).  We played with the laser light, and tossed catnip toys, watched birds and squirrels in the back yard - and he ate like a little piglet.  He's tangled with other critters (cats or raccoons) three times in the past year and ended up with an abscess and surgeries each time.  He is now an indoor cat, and does not like it.
    And now the idiot "45" is claiming that President Obama tapped all of Trump Towers during his, 45's, run for office. What a hoot!  As Nancy Pelosi called him, he's the "Deflector-in-Chief" for trying to get folks to stop asking questions about his and his associates ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin.  As a top United States Security man stated, a wiretap cannot be directed at a U.S. facility, without finding probable cause that the phone lines or Internet addresses were being used by agents of a foreign power - or by someone spying for or acting on behalf of a foreign government. "You can't just go around and tap buildings," the official said.  -  And any wire-tapping must be approved by a Federal judge...
    Hope you have a great weekend!