Hoppertunity Out of Kentucky Derby

The second-betting choice of Saturday's Run For the Roses has been withdrawn from the $2 million race.  Hoppertunity has what trainer Bob Baffert hopes is only a bruised left fore foot.  The colt jogged well, but took several "off" steps while cooling out.  His shoe was removed, and he displayed tenderness in his left quarter.  In hopes of running in the Preakness, Hoppertunity was scratched from the Derby.
  Pablo Del Monte is the next colt on the eligible list.  His connections - owners and trainer - were discussing whether to enter him or not for Saturday's race.

Weather, Vikings, and the Derby

I know that the Midwest, South, and East coasts have all be experiencing terrible weather.  Our weather folks said we'd have lots of rain and snow from Saturday night through noon today.  We've had two very brief rain showers (less than 5 minutes each)  and we are having some wind - nothing bad yet in Boulder, but they're having 50 to 70 mph winds up in the mountains.
   It was nice to get home last night and climb into bed with my kits.  Nedi had to nurse on my right arm, as usual, while Lovey hasn't let me do anything unaccompanied.  I've spent 90 minutes with Sasquatch and Tugger on Redwood this morning, and walked Rosie and played with Boo.  I've also swept my patio, fed my squirrels, and have my supper planned.  I'll head back to Tugger and Sasquatch again tonight, and then early tomorrow morning.  Then I'm free for 48 hours - I was going to go down to Denver, but I'm going to stay at home and vegetate (mostly).
   I just received notice that the History Channel is going to do a marathon showing of the second season of Vikings tomorrow, which is Tuesday, 29 April.  The viewing will begin at 2 p. m. and all 9 episodes from this season that have previously been aired, will show again, in order.  Of course, this is the big lead up to Thursday night's season finale - which has King Horick telling Floki he must kill Bjorn (Ragnar's oldest son) and telling Siggy that she must kill all of Ragnar's younger sons in the Main Hall.   -  Somehow, I don't think it happens....
   In Saturday's Kentucky Derby, Ring Weekend has spiked a fever of 102, and will not run.  Since Midnight Hawk is also not running, that means that, at the moment, both Harry's Holiday and Commanding Curve are now included in the top 20 contenders.

Weather, and Little Bits

Eighty degrees today, and snow tomorrow night...  Colorado weather can't be beat!  The mountains are expecting 4 to 16 inches of snow Sunday afternoon, evening, and Monday morning.  The weather forecasters say we'll end up with 1 to 2 inches of slush on the ground by noon Monday.  And then we'll have highs in the mid-50s for the rest of the week - well, it is still April; and last year we did get 12 inches of snow on 2 May.   Rosie and I had a great time yesterday, and I visited Sasquatch and Tugger to see how their new pill-gun works.  There is a robin building a nest on one of the deck lamps at Rosie's, so I've turned off the switch, so the light won't bother any chicks (with Nancy and Joel's permission, of course).
  My court appearance for April 29 and 30 has been cancelled - the case has been settled out of court with a plea bargain.  But I believe that I'll take the 30th off anyway, and go down to Denver for the day - wander through the shops on the 16th Street Mall and possibly hit the library for some research.
  I managed to get Joel's laptop cleaned up and running nicely after 3 days.  Last night I clicked "Shut Down" after looking at Kentucky Derby contender pedigrees.  This morning, the laptop states that it is no longer connected to the internet.  I've un-plugged and re-plugged all the connectors, and the power source.  The little so-and-so still says it's no longer connected to the internet.  I went upstairs and disconnected and re-connected all the cables to the main frame, and re-started it.  The laptop still says it's not connected...  I guess I'll leave it up to Joel to "fix" when he returns...
  A week from the Derby!  I'm starting to get excited, and am looking forward to a clean race with no injuries and no objections...  A couple of the colts are still pretty green, so there might be objections, especially with the crowd noise at Churchill Downs.