Horse Racing; March Madness

What an interesting sports weekend! The Wichita State University Shockers have made it to the Final Four in March Madness; the Florida Gators, however, fell to the Michigan State Wolverines by 20 points. - Ouch!! - Will be rooting for the Shockers next weekend. The other participants are Louisville and Syracuse.

  Thoroughbred horse racing had a big weekend, also. In the South African Classic, Love Struck overcame an objection by second-place finisher Tellina to get the winners purse, while Gitiano was third. Tellina and Love Struck had a ding-dong battle down the stretch, which Love Struck won by a short head. Tellina's jockey objected that Love Struck's jockey had struck Tellina over the head with his crop during the tightly contested stretch run. The stewards did not uphold the objection.

   In the Dubai World Cup day of racing at Meydan in Quatar, there was $27 million up for grabs. The richest purse was in the Dubai World Cup, worth $10 million. An American racer won this year - Animal Kingdom, the chestnut colt who won the 2011 Kentucky Derby, was the winner. He was followed by Red Cadeaux and Planteur. .... In the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic, Coolmore colt St. Nicholas Abbey was the winner, with Gentildonna of Japan second, and Qatar runner Very Nice Name in third. .... In the other Dubai races, the winners were: in the Al Quoz Sprint, Shea Shea was best; in the UAE Derby, Lines of Battle; in the Gold Cup, Cavalryman crossed the line first; and in the Godolphin Mile, Soft Falling Rain.

   Down south, in the USA, Orb was the winner of the $1 million Florida Derby. Itsmyluckyday ran second and Merit Man was third; the Juvenile champion Shanghai Bobby ran fifth. In the $1 million Louisiana Derby, the winner was Revolutionary, with Mylute in second, and Departing in third.

Go Gators! Go Shockers!

It's a gorgeous, sunny morning with temperatures near 50 degrees already. The kits are running in and out, and I've enjoyed two walks, with Boo and Finn. Skippy slept with me again last night, but decided to use guerilla tactics to try and make me get up at 5. I did get up, but I placed him out in the hall and closed the door, going back to bed for another hour.

  Today is a big money day in thoroughbred racing - the Florida Derby, the Louisiana Derby, and the $27 million races in Dubai are happening today. .... But, on the down side, the Governor of Oklahoma signed a new law yesterday - Oklahoma's 50-year-old ban on horse slaughtering was lifted Friday when the governor signed a new law that will allow facilities to process and export horse meat, despite bitter opposition by animal rights activists. - Many horses today have been given anti-biotics, steroids, and other drugs that help the horse, but should not be consumed by people or pets. Does the Oklahoma slaughter house have a way to test these poor horses prior to killing them? Will they test them? Or will it be another nail in the coffin for unwanted horses that can be given away, or purchased cheaply, and then sent to die for a profit? It's just plain sick and inhuman.

   The Florida Gators have made it to the Elite Eight in the March Madness Basketball Tourney. Today I'll be cheering for the Wichita State Shockers...

Weather, Sports, & Critters

It's chilly out this morning - 28 degrees - but the sun is shining. We had a ten minute rain shower yesterday afternoon, but that was all that happened; more wind than rain. The news services are still going crazy here about the killing of our Prison Systems head, a Denver-area pizza delivery man, and the man in the wild chase and shoot-out in Texas. Besides that, Colorado has just approved Civil Unions for same sex couples, and we have more stringent gun laws that will take place on 1 July. We are expecting rain or snow tonight, with up to 10 inches of snow falling during the weekend. Even if we get that amount, it won't make a dent in the amount we need to get our snow and water levels up to the accepted normal....

   Black Caviar cruised to her 24th straight racing win in Australia today. She won easily by 4 lengths, and goes into another thoroughbred racing history entry. .... The CSU Rams (Fort Collins) won last night in their first "March Madness" round and they will play again tomorrow night. The CU Buffs, from here in Boulder, are scheduled to play this afternoon. .... And a rare baseball card, printed in 1909, has a current bid of $1.4 million.... And, if you live in a state that has the Power Ball lottery, tomorrow's drawing is expected to be for about $320 million. I think I'll buy a couple of chances...

   I slept with Skippy last night; wasn't the same as sleeping with Lovey and Nedi. They were very happy to see me yesterday evening and again this morning. I miss them - and I've become used to sitting at my desk, using my PC, and having the TV on, so I can listen to it and glance up and watch it. I can't do that at Finn and Skippy's - the computer is in one room, and the TVs are in other rooms, while the fireplace, which I might use over the weekend, is in another room (the parlor), where the only thing I can do is sit and think or sit and read.... Decisions, decisions...