Odds & Ends

St Nicholas Abbey, the Irish thoroughbred race horse, has been put down.  He broke his right fore pastern while galloping in July, and underwent surgery.  In October, he began to develop laminitis in his left fore; that seemed to have been contained with minimal damage.  Earlier this week, he developed a severe case of colic; corrective surgery found a massive strangulated amount of intestine, and it was decided to put him down.  Most people can't believe how fragile a horse actually is - St Nicholas Abbey's case only goes to prove the point that horses are a fragile animal, even with round-the-clock monitoring.
   We've had a twelve-year-old boy  fire a .20 gauge shotgun in the gymnasium of his middle school in New Mexico this week, two people were hospitalized;  a couple of teen-aged boys set off an explosive chemical reaction in a Colorado Charter school, sending 5 classmates and a teacher to the hospital for treatment; a high school student in Longmont threw a party while his parents were out of town - a 20 year-old man is in custody for killing two teens and stabbing a third (he was an acquaintance invited by a friend of a friend). What's happening?  Once again, I ask, are we becoming a nation of non-caring people, or is the news that much more pervasive these days?
   The maintenance man just wandered by with a huge ladder...  Nedi ran and hid under the bed; Lovey just looked and blinked.  The patio door is closed, but Jim and some of my neighbors are making an awful lot of loud noises.
  Around here, everyone seems to be in the grip of "Broncos Fever."  I'm definitely supporting the local team and will be verbally cheering against the Patriots - but enough is enough.  It's a professional football game - men are paid to beat the crap out of one another and place an inflated pigskin either across a certain line, or through a set of uprights.  I won't cry if the Broncos lose the game, and I'll be happy if they win, and can go on to play in the Super Bowl.  But this game is not my end-all and be-all.
  This weekend, the Denver National Stock Show is open, and the Native American Convention is also taking place in Denver.  Football is fun, but it's not all....
 

BC3 Thoroughbreds

Let's see...  Boulder's high temperature yesterday was 40 degrees - and then the wind began.  We had gusts that ranged between 50 and 75 mph; highway 36 between Boulder and Estes Park was closed, as was Interstate 25, from Longmont to the Wyoming border.  Tractor trailers were being blown over, and anyone with a high-profile vehicle was warned not to leave their drive way.  It was the first day in eight straight that the temperature was above freezing.
   On the laminitis front:  St Nicholas Abbey is progressing well.  If his left fore continues to stay stable, then he will be able to follow plans to exercise and build up the strength in his broken right pastern, as well as being able to remove some of the strain from his left fore.  Jimmy, the half-brother of Black Caviar and purchased for $5 million as a yearling, is also showing guarded improvement.  He was bitten by a poisonous spider, and developed laminitis in both of his forefeet during a reaction to antibiotics administered for the toxin.  He is still be evaluated on a twice daily basis.
  The big news in Australian racing is that the BC3 Thoroughbreds syndicate, the group that purchased Jimmy and multiple other race horses, has not paid Inglis (the bloodstock agency that handled the sale) for the colt. Inglis Bloodstock holds a mortgage on eleven of the BC3 horses, including Jimmy.  Bill Vlahos, the spokesman for BC3 Thoroughbreds, has also been accused of mishandling  more than $190 million that belongs to an exclusive betting club.  There is supposed to be a bank account for the group, named The Edge, that should have a little over $194 million in it - the bettor's funds and winnings.  The bank says that the account does not exist.  Mr Vlahos told a court hearing on Friday that he had only learned that morning that the account did not exist - he stated that his Dubai-based business partner had been in charge of the betting monies.  Multiple entities are considering the possibility of suing Mr Vlahos.  In the meantime, Mr Vlahos was beaten at his home on Sunday night, and a car was torched in his driveway.  Vlahos was treated and released at the scene, while it took 4 fire engines to put out the blaze.
    Here in the Americas and in Europe and Asia, thoroughbred race horse owners, trainers, fans, and bettors are trying to make the game more open, transparent, and quite visibly honest.  Now we have a spoiler like Mr Vlahos and his multi-million dollar scams to disgrace the Sport of Kings, again....

Breeders Cup Information - Part 1

First and foremost, I made a mistake.  Yesterday the pre-entries were given to Santa Anita Race course for the fourteen Breeders Cup World Championship races.  Post positions for all races will drawn on Monday, October 28; they were not drawn today.  But at least I can share with you the pre-entries for the races, and a few thoughts.  One hundred and seventy-two horses are pre-entered, compared with 180 last year.  One of the reasons for the lower number is, in part, due to the six ladies pre-entered in the Distaff - no one else wants to run against these six fillies and mares.
  Horses designated with an * won a Breeders Cup Challenge Race are are guaranteed a post position.

  The first Breeders Cup race to be run will be the Marathon, covering a distance of one and three-quarters mile on the main track, and with a purse of $500,000, open to any horse aged 3 or older.  There are ten pre-entries:
 Blueskiesnrainbows
 Cease
 Commander
*Ever Rider (bred in Argentina)
 Indian Jones
 London Bridge
 Old Time Hockey
 Pool Play
 Suns Out Guns Out
 Worldly
      I really like the horses that run in the marathon - they are stayers, like the original thoroughbreds - and I really believe that their purse should be $1 million, as well.

The second race will be the Juvenile Turf, for two-year-old colts and geldings, racing one mile on the grass for a purse of $1,000,000.  There are 18 pre-entries:
 All Cash
 Aotearoa
 Arpinati (bred in Great Britain)
 Bashart
*Bobby's Kitten
 Bon Accord
 Dance With Fate
 Diamond Bachelor
 Giovanni Boldini
 Got Shades
 Home School (bred in Ireland)
 Ontology
 Outstrip (bred in Great Britain)
 Poker Player
 Shamshon (bred in Great Britain)
 Smarty's Echo
 We Miss Artie
 Wilshire Boulevard (bred in Ireland)

The Dirt Mile is the third Breeders Cup race on Friday, with three-year-olds and up running one mile on the main track for a part of the $1,000,000 purse.  There are 15 pre-entries:
 Alpha
 Broadway Empire
 Brujo de Olleres (bred in Brazil)
*Centralinteligence
 Easter Gift
*Fed Biz
 Golden Ticket
 Goldencents
*Graydar
 Holy Lute
 Hymn Book
 Laugh Track
 Pants on Fire
 Taptowne
 Verrazano

Fourth Breeders Cup race will be the Juvenile Fillies Turf, for two-year-olds, covering one mile on the grass track, for a purse of $1,000.000.  There are 17 pre-entries:
 Al Thakira (bred in Great Britain)
 Chriselliam (bred in Ireland)
 Clenor (bred in Ireland)
 Colonel Joan
 Dancing House
 Flying Jib (bred in Great Britain)
 Granny Mc's Kittens
*Kitten Kaboodle
*My Conquestadory
 Nesso
 Ready to Act
 Ria Antonia
 Rosalind
 Sky Painter
 Street Sailing
*Testa Rossi (bred in France)
 Vorda (bred in France)

Ending the Breeders Cup races on Friday will be the Distaff, 3-year-olds and up, fillies and mares, run at one and one-eighth mile on the main track.  There are 6 pre-entries for the $2,000,000 purse:
 Authenticity
*Beholder
 Close Hatches
*Princess of Sylmar
*Royal Delta
 Street Girl

For the information that I use to make my betting choices, go to:   http://www.bloodhorse.com/  and scroll down to the green Breeders Cup section, and then down to the grey section that reads Breeders Cup Divisions.  Click on the race that you are interested in, and then click on the name of the horse that catches your eye - here you can view the horses's "Bio", with trainer, jockey, owner and breeder information; then look at the pedigree (I like the expanded "Five Cross Pedigree"), and then you can see the horse's auction history, if he/she isn't running for the original breeder....  You find the horse's birth date, where it was born, and what it's registered coat color is.  Once the post positions are drawn (on Monday), you can also see the silks the jockey will be wearing in the race.

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Two items of note:
 Jockey Calvin Borel's mount in a race at Keeneland yesterday, broke down in the first flight of horses.  Borel was struck by the horses following; and the race was declared a no contest.  Calvin was taken to the hospital, where it was announced that he had broken the fibula in his left leg.  He will not be riding in the Breeders Cup.  (Sonic Dancer, his mount, had suffered catastrophic leg damage and was euthanized.)
     After a seemingly miraculous recovery period, having suffered a broken pastern and then colic, St Nicholas Abbey has developed a mild case of laminitis in his left fore.  He broke the right pastern during a training gallop.  Vets are disappointed that, now that the colt is able to walk on his casted right fore, he has developed the early signs of laminitis in the opposite foot.  His condition will be monitored closely.

Animal News

The mother bear and her two cubs vacated their tree on Uni Hill soon after dark last night, and ambled west, back into the Foothills and Open Space of Boulder County.  That's a big relief to me, because the Denver news stations kept on broadcasting that the bears would be killed if they weren't out of the tree by midnight...

Bear cub in tree on University Hill in Boulder, Colorado

Irish horse-racing star St. Nicholas Abbey is progressing well, now, after yet another set back.  The handsome bay colt broke the pastern of his right fore during a gallop, and had surgery to place a weight-bearing pin in the bone.  Two days later, he had emergency colic surgery, and his status was "guarded."  A week ago, he appeared to be in pain, and his pastern was X-rayed; the pin and screws had separated, so he had to have surgery on the leg yet again.  He is currently on his feet, with a cast on his broken pastern, and a cast covering his opposite hoof, in order to keep his legs and feet at the same height, to fight laminitis.

St Nicholas Abbey at the equine hospital in Ireland

Back to Boulder for another chapter in the story of Edward, the Mapleton Elk, who was killed by an on-duty police officer, without cause.  Samuel Carter, the ex-officer, who killed the trophy elk out of season in a residential yard had asked, several weeks ago, for a change of venue, stating he wouldn't get a fair trial in Boulder.  A judge today denied the change of venue request.  Two ex-officers were involved in the conspiracy to kill Edward; the other was Brent Curnow, who ran a taxidermist business from his home. Curnow had called in sick for his work shift the night Edward was killed, but arrived soon after Carter telephoned him, to load Edward's body into his covered pickup truck, to start the taxidermy work on the big elk.  The Boulder Prosecutor's office offered Curnow a plea deal last week, which he accepted yesterday. He will be under house arrest for 60 days, must perform 120 hours of community service and will be on probation for one year, but will serve no jail time.  This was because he pled guilty to the felony charge of tampering with evidence, and four misdemeanors involving the death of the trophy elk.  I'm afraid his plea deal is a slap in the face to Sam Carter (hee-hee!)...

Edward the Elk, in a yard on Mapleton Avenue, 3 days before being gunned down by a policeman