Bits and Pieces

The head and chest cold that hit me Thursday is starting to subside.  My nose runs and my lungs are full of gunk, and I keep coughing stuff up, but I no longer feel as if my head will explode each and every second.  Now the question is when will the sun shine and when will it get warm?  It's been raining for the past week, and the temperature have been running about 20 degrees (F) below normal.  It's 8:20 a.m. MDT, on May 20, and it's 36 degrees outside.  I'm in my apartment wearing a T-shirt, jeans, wool socks (and sneakers), and a cotton sweater - and I'm still chilly.  A large part of this is due to my cold, I know.
  Surfer Dude, my favorite Chincoteague pony stallion, had his death publicized in the New York Times yesterday.  It's odd how the love of millions of people can make a single pony famous - especially in death.  I bet his foals that are born this year bring high prices at the annual Auction of foals during Pony Penning at the end of July this year.
   My local horse track, in Aurora, (Arapahoe Park) will begin live racing on Friday, May 22.  They offer betting on races daily, and the live racing card will feature thoroughbred, Arabian, and Quarter-horse racing.  I just might have to go visit sometime soon.
   All the colts that ran in the Preakness Stakes on 16 May returned sound and in good shape, except Danzig Moon who had heavy coughing spells for 48 hours after the race.  Possible starters in the Belmont Stakes, run over the distance of 1.5 miles, with all three-year-old colts carrying 126 pounds, include:  American Pharoah, making a try for the Triple Crown championship;  three colts trained by Todd Pletcher, Madefromlucky, Carpe Diem, and Materiality; Mubtaahij, the horse with international connections; Tale of Verve, who finished second in the Preakness; and new-comer Conquest Culinate.  We'll see who is actually running as the 6 June running date gets closer.
   And, finally, both of Zenyatta's colts, Cozmic One and Ziconic, are on John Sherriffs shed row at Belmont Park.  Cozmic One ran poorly in his first race - finished last in a field of seven.  I think he was just having a good time, out playing, in the afternoon.  Hopefully he'll develop the need and drive to finish ahead of other horses.  Ziconic has just finished his breaking and training at Mayberry Farms in Florida.   Think the younger can teach the older what racing is all about?

Fourteen Days To the Kentucky Derby

First, a small aside about a handsome young colt.  Zenyatta's eldest colt, Cozmic One, made his racing debut at Santa Anita Park on Friday.  As the promising son of Bernardini, and the only once-defeated mare, Zenyatta, expectations were high.  I was just happy to see him appear on the race course, myself.  His first race was a mile in distance, for young horses that hadn't raced before, and with all entries carrying a very low weight.  Coz broke out of the number one starting gate, on the inside, in a field of seven.  He dropped back early, made up a little distance during the stretch, but didn't "fire."  He finished last in the race, and was never a challenger.  Disappointing?  Yes.  But - not all horses bred for racing have that drive, ambition, and fire needed to win races.  According to his trainer, John Shirreffs, and his rider, Victor Espinoza, Coz has the fire within him.  He might still be a little too immature, mentally, to run well.  His mom, Zenyatta, ran her first race as a three-year-old in November; Coz started in April.   Breeding a race horse is risky business.  As the old adage says, you breed the best stallion to the best mare, and hope for  the best.   Hopefully, Cozmic One will become a great race horse.  He might become a great turf racer, or a steeplechaser.  He might never win a race in his entire career, and just be retired to stud with folks wanting to breed into his bloodlines.  He might become a Champion like his mother, and a renowned sire, like Bernardini.  Only time  will tell.

Cozmic One being exercised

  Today I've looked at the pedigrees of the five top-scoring fillies and colts running in the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby.  The fillies will run on Friday, 1 May; they will carry 121 pounds over a dirt track for a distance of one and one-eighth miles (or 9 furlongs).   The top five contenders in the girls' race, by points, are: Condo Commando, I'm a Chatterbox, Stellar Wind, Birdatthewire, and Lovely Maria.  Condo Commando and I'm a Chatterbox are tied in points, with 161 each.  Condo Commando, with five wins in six races, looks great on paper and on the track.  Stellar Wind is a daughter of Curlin; Lovely Maria has raced 7 times and is a Grade I winner.  Birdatthewire has won two races.  Just looking at the photos of the horses, their pedigrees, and their race history - and if everyone gets a clean, unhampered run - I think that Condo Commando will nose out Stellar Wind for the win, and Lovely Maria will run third.   (And that's only looking at the top five point earners.)

  In the Kentucky Derby, on Saturday, 2 May, the boys will travel one and one-quarter miles (or 10 furlongs) on the dirt track, and will carry 126 pounds apiece.  There will probably be a full starting gate - which means twenty rambunctious three-year-olds, all at their tip-top shape.  These are the current point standings for the top five colts:  International Star has 171, Dortmund has 170, Carpe Diem has 164, American Pharaoh has 160, and Frosted has 113.  Mike Battaglia, the Churchill Downs handicapper, is trying to decide who will be the betting favorite, when the the tote opens.  At the moment, he sees Dortmund and American Pharaoh as being equal.  He said the other day that "a dime doesn't separate them."  I think they'll start out as co-favorites on the board.

   International Star is the brilliant son of Fusaichi Pegasus; Dortmund is the son of Big Brown; Carpe Diem is the son of Giant's Causeway; American Pharaoh  is the son of Pioneerof the Nile; and Frosted is the son of Tapit.  Top race horses, top stallions.  I personally prefer, for bloodlines only, Dortmund and Carpe Diem.  I believe that American Pharaoh will be the public's betting choice, based on his romp home in the mud in the Rebel Stakes, as well as his run-away win on a fast track in the Arkansas Derby.    In just looking at the top five runners - I have the feeling that Frosted will win by a head over American Pharaoh, with Dortmund and Carpe Diem fighting it out for third….   

   But these are just my opinions at the moment - without knowing who is starting, what position they draw, and how they look and act on race day, every race is a wide-open door.

Inmate? Poor House Living; Cozmic One To Race Friday

Zenyatta's first foal, Cozmic One (known to family and friends as Coz), will begin his racing career on Friday.  It's a special weight race for maidens, and Coz has drawn the number one, inside, post.  In the outside post will be a son of Blame, the only horse to defeat Zenyatta.  Hopefully Coz has matured enough to put his mind on running and will have a great racing career, like his mom.  Trainer John Shirreffs, who trained Zenyatta, believes that her son, sired by Bernardini, is ready for competition.  Victor Espinoza will be in the irons on Friday when this promising colt makes his debut at Santa Anita Park.
   I'm still working on the Busey part of my family tree.  Yesterday, I was looking for information regarding Andrew Jackson Busey; he was the fourth son of Samuel Andrew Jackson Busey and America King Busey.  Andrew was listed as a child, under his father's name in the US Federal Census. In the 1870 and 1880 Census, he was working as a farm laborer on his eldest brother's farm.  Samuel married at the age of 39, and he and his wife are listed in the 1900 Census as a farmer and his wife in Carroll County, Indiana.  In glancing further down the search return, I was amazed to see that Andrew was listed as an "Inmate" in the 1910 and 1920 Census.
  Now, when I see the word "inmate" I think of three places - a local jail, a state prison, or an asylum for the mentally deficient.  I was puzzled, then when I searched the records and found, in the 1910 Census, that both Andrew and his wife, Mary,  were listed as "Inmates" in the Carroll County Infirmary.  Andrew was aged 64, Mary aged 66.  In the 1920 US Census, Andrew was listed as a widower, and an "Inmate,"  in the Howard County Infirmary, aged 74.  Both of these Infirmaries were in the state of Indiana, and Andrew was born (and died in) Howard County.  So, what the heck was an Infirmary of the County in the state of Indiana?
   I found the answer in a master's degree thesis that was posted on-line: "In the first half of the twentieth century, the county home was a fixture in each of Indiana’s ninety-two counties. Known by a variety of names, such as poorhouse, poor farm, county farm, poor asylum, or county infirmary, the county home offered shelter to those unable to provide for themselves. Residents included the mentally and physically disabled, those with mental illnesses, unwed mothers, the aged, and orphaned children, along with whole families too poor to live independently. The county home was the original homeless shelter, foster home, mental institution, and rehabilitation facility. This institution was publicly owned and managed at the county level, and it preceded any state or federal government welfare policies. Most counties built large, stately, institutional-style brick structures to serve this purpose. Poverty, until the Great Depression, was mainly a local problem. "
  I could not find a grave site, or marker, for Andrew's wife, Mary.  I suppose she was buried in a potter's grave in Carroll County, Indiana.  Andrew got a marker - and I think that other family members contributed for  the cost.  Andrew is in the Chittick Cemetery, in Miami County, where his parents are buried.  He was the fourth born of seven children, all of whom lived and married - and I'm surprised that he was in the county poor house for over 10 years prior to his death.

Cozmic One and Painted Patchen

Zenyatta's first foal, the colt named Cozmic One, is in training at Belmont Park.  He'll be three years old on January 1, and, as he is a large, fast-growing colt, the owners and trainer don't want to race him until he is more athletically mature.  Here are his latest photos:

The colt that caught a lot of eyes at the Fasig-Tipton Keeneland Sale this past week was hip number 1093, a son of Thunder Gulch.  The colt was bred at Patchen Wilkes Farm in Kentucky, which is known for their white thoroughbreds.  This colt, Painted Patchen, was born with a chestnut medicine hat and freckles; however, since his predominant coat color is white, he is registered as a white thoroughbred.

Thoroughbred Horses

The Grey Gatsby defeats Australia in the Irish Champion

Black Caviar and her new Exceed and Excel filly

Zenyatta and ZPrincess

ZPrincess

Ziconic

Cozmic One on the Belmont Park training track

Assorted Photos

Sunrise over a barge on the Chesapeake Bay

Cozmic One on the track at Saratoga Springs, New York

A baby fox in a hunt cap

My newest granddaughter, London Noelle

A piebald fawn

Samuel, my second cousin, at the Swim Back to Assateague

Anniversary Celebration

Yesterday was my sister and brother-in-law's 33rd wedding anniversary - and I remember their ceremony and reception very well.  We celebrated by having supper at the Cheesecake Factory - and we arrived before the end of Happy Hour, so all of the appetizers were half price.  Other than having to ask to see the Happy Hour menu, we all had a great time and super food - so much so that everyone took home leftovers.
  I am able to relax a bit, since I'm currently caring for Cyrano de Biggercat and Pounce de Leon, and walking Rosie, only.  I was able to spend 5 hours with my own kits yesterday, and I'm hoping for six hours today.  I was surprised to find a boxed book inside my mailbox this morning; I had to dismantle the cardboard box inside the mailbox to be able to remove the book.  Then I was able to fold the box enough to withdraw it from the mailbox - I wonder how much force the mailman had to use to get the package to go into the box?  It took me 5 minutes to get it out....
  Kathy is beginning to get excited about next year's family reunion on Chincoteague during Pony Penning.  Our first cousins Aleda and Kathy Ann live on the island, along with their spouses, kids an grandkids; first cousins Nancy, Peter and Johnny live nearby with their spouses and kids and grandkids...  Kathy and her Snow clan will be there, and I'm hoping I can get a couple of my step-children and grandkids to also attend (they're in the DC area)...   It will be grand!  I might have to change our reservations and get a larger house for the week.
   I am still upset with the suicide of  Robin Williams.  This morning I heard that he had been recently diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, according to his wife.  I wish that he had been able to contact Michael J Fox and speak with him about the effects of Parkinson's...  I know that it's an uncomfortable disease and diagnosis; my Mother had it, as well as Alzheimer's.  Perhaps that diagnosis was what put Robin "over the edge" to the point that he felt suicide was better than survival.  All I know is that I am still melancholy due to his passing.
   Thoroughbred horse racing...  Both the son of Zenyatta, Cozmic One, and the son of Rachel Alexandra, Jess's Dream, are continuing their training at Saratoga Springs.  I hope to see these two colts race against each other next year.  What I have to admit is that I don't like Rachel's eyes; so I have always preferred Zenyatta to RA.  I think I'm favoring Cozmic One over Jess's Dream already.
 
 

Zenyatta & Her Breedings

Zenyatta won 19 of 20 races under jockey Mike Smith

She was bred to Bernardini first,

and produced

Cozmic One:

Tapit was the sire of

Zenyatta's second foal, the yearling

Ziconic:

 

War Front is the sire of 

this year's foal, a filly,

born Easter morning:

The Moss Family has asked for suggestions from Zenyatta's fans about

breeding her this year.

Giant's Causeway is my first choice.

Medaglia d'Oro is my second choice. 

Horses, Assateague Lighthouse, Chincoteague Ponies

Zenyatta with Mike Smith up.  Copyright by Barbara Livingston

Cozmic One, Zenyatta & Bernardini's colt, training in Florida

Ziconic, Zenyatta & Tapit's yearling colt

Assateague Lighthouse is having it's Grand Reopening Ceremony today 

Spring Round-up on Assateague, 11 April 2014

New Chincoteague pony foal,  11 April 2014

Colorado, Clouds & Cozmic One Photos

Full moon over the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, taken yesterday morning

Glen Haven (Colorado) Town Hall and General Store one month after the 100 Year Flood

This is the rear of the Glen Haven Town Hall one month after the 100 Year Flood

I love this cloud formation.  What does it make you think of?

Cozmic One, the eldest son of Zenyatta, learning to work on the lunge line at Mayberry Farm in Ocala, Florida

Cozmic One with his first rider.  First mounts are done in the horse's stall when training a young race horse - the horse feels more comfortable in it's "home" and, generally, will relax much more quickly.

Horses, Snow Leopards, and Water Views

CoZmic One, son of Zenyatta, on his way to the training center

Mare and foal on Assateague Island

Snow leopard mother and cub

Trains and traffic pass under this canal

                           

Ichetucknee Springs under flood lights at night

(Ichetucknee Springs State Park in Florida)