Foal 53 Is Here - Plus Photos of Other Foals In the CNWR

Foal fifty-three arrived on June 5, along with two others.  The 53rd baby is a filly out of Shy Anne (also known as Half 'n' Half) and was sired by (probably) Ajax, but possibly by Neptune.  (Neptune hasn't had any documented foals in about 3 years - he covers and breeds the mares, but no babies appear, so we believe that he's become sterile.) 

Foal 52 is out of Black Pearl and sired by Maverick - a solid black filly...

And some photos of the older foals...

Foal 4 - a filly is the first Misty of Chincoteague descendant born

in the wild on Assateague; out of Moon, by Don Leonard Stud II

Foal 7 - a buckskin colt; out of Miracle's Natural Beauty,

sired by Tornado's Legacy

 Foal 37 - a colt; out of Friendly Girl (aka Witch Kraft).

sired by Chief Golden Eagle

 Foal 39 - a filly born at the Carnival Grounds; out of Judy's Little Smooch,

sired by Tornado's Legacy

Foal 45 -  a colt; out of Randy, sired by Surfer's Riptide

Foal 50  - a colt; out of Poco's Starry Night, sired by Riptide

**  My thanks for the use of the above photos to the people and entities who took them!  **

Kentucky Derby Preview - and Foal Four

Well, it's 26 days to the Running of the Roses - The 144th annual running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Kentucky.  Other races and other sporting events did not take place during the years of World Wars I and II, but the Kentucky Derby continued each and every year.
   Currently, The Kentucky Derby is run over a distance of 1 1/4 miles (10 furlongs, or 2,012 meters); it has always been run on the main dirt track; the field is open to 3-year-old thoroughbreds only (and they must qualify via a point system); colts and geldings (the males) carry 126 pounds, and, if a filly runs in the Roses, she carries 121 pounds.
   For the first 20 years of the Kentucky Derby, the distance was 1 and 1/2 miles.  Aristides won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, a year after Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr started the Louisville Jockey Club. The fastest time for the 1 1/2 mile Derby was run by Spokane in 1889, in a time of 2:34.5.  In 1896, the length was shortened to 1 and 1/4 miles, and the fastest time recorded for this distance was clocked by Secretariat in 1973, at 1:59 2/5.
   A few facts:  The greatest winning margin in the Kentucky is 8 lengths, which has been accomplished by four horses: Old Rosebud in 1914, Johnstown in 1939, Whirlaway in 1941, and Assault in 1946.  Two jockeys have each won 5 Kentucky Derbys: Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack.  The trainer with the most wins is Ben A Jones, with 6.  The owner with the most wins is Calumet Farm with 8.  And the longest betting odds for a winner was on Donerail, who won in 1913.
   With the Kentucky Derby limited to only 20 starters, the point system came into being.  Most of the Kentucky Derby prep races have been run, but there are still two left - to be run on Saturday, 13 April - the Arkansas Derby and the Lexington Stakes.  In the meantime, here are the current top 25 leaders in the point system.  The current number in the standings, followed by the name of the horse, followed by the name of the trainer:
  1.   Tacitus     Bill Mott
  2.   Vekoma    George Weaver
  3.   Plus Que Parfait    Brendan Walsh
  4.   Roadster    Bob Baffert
  5.   By My Standards    W Bret Calhoun
  6.   Maximum Security    Jason Servis
  7.   Game Winner    Bob Baffert
  8.   Code of Honor    Shug McGaughey
  9.   Haikal      Kiaran McLaughlin
 10.   War of Will    Mark Casse
 11.   Long Range Toddy    Steve Asmussen
 12.   Tax     Danny Gargan
 13.   Cutting Humor    Todd Pletcher
 14.   Win Win Win    Michael Trombetta
 15.   Gray Magician    Peter Miller
 16.   Spinoff     Todd Pletcher
 17.   Bodexpress    Gustavo Delgado
 18.   Signalman     Kenny McPeek
 19.   Omaha Beach    Dick Mandella
 20.   Bourban War     Mark Henning
 21.   Somelikeithotbrown     Mike Maker
 22.   Instagrand     Jerry Hollendorfer
 23.   Anothertwistafate     Blaine D Wright
 24.   Country House     Bill Mott
 25.   Sueno    Keith Desormeaux


In other news - Chincoteague pony news, that is -  the second foal born on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge this spring, the bay pinto baby out of Danny's Girl Splash, and sired by Hoppy, is a filly.  (Photo copyrighted by DSC Photography)

  And Captain Dan Davis came through again, on the Foal Patrol, spotting the fourth foal - a gorgeously marked pinto sired by the Don Leonard Stud II (DLSII) and out of the Misty-family mare, Moon.  Captain Dan had to take the photos looking into the sun, so they aren't the greatest - but the baby is very nice!!  Looks like a bald face, a white butt and backs of the hind legs with a dark tail-tip, and white markings on the neck and withers...  A bay pinto, I think (but maybe a dark chestnut).

   

Miscellany

The past several days have been a television viewing pleasure - Clint Watts has been interviewed multiple times, as has Malcolm Nance and Naveed Jamali.  Several appearances by Richard Painter, and some of my favorite Congressmen and Congresswomen have also sweetened the view.  I did not watch the State of the Union address last night, but I did watch Joe Kennedy's Democratic rebuttal.  And I loved Joe Biden's tweet about Joe's speech.  I also laughed myself silly when Sarah Suckabee Sanders said that polls show that "no one" in America is interested in the Russia investigation....  What a hoot!
   Anyway, we've had warm weather and wind the past few days, but there is still snow and ice in the parking lot here.  It was 62 degrees yesterday, but then 26 last night...  Today, clouds are clinging to the tops of the Flatirons, while there are mostly clear skies to the north and east.  Besides our filled bird feeders, Bea tossed out raw almonds for the birds and squirrels this morning.  The usual ravens and blue jays were here, and then a flock of about 100 starlings appeared, but they left after ten minutes.  Tipsi, the white tail-tipped squirrel, has been much in evidence the past few days; and our usual sparrows, finches and chickadees are abundant.
  Tonight is the really wild and crazy lunar event - there's a "super" moon, a "blue" moon, a "blood" moon, and a total lunar eclipse.  My brother-in-law and his neighbor are planning out the best place to be, at the best time, to take photos of the event...  I plan on sleeping.  I'll see all sorts of wonderful photos via the internet tomorrow.
   I finished reading Emergence, the latest C. J. Cherryh Foreigner series book.  - And I want another new one, immediately, as usual.  Last night I finished reading the latest Pendergast novel, City of Endless Night, by Preston and Child - and I want another new book in that series, too.  I'm starting to re-read all the Pendergast novels, in order, again.
   And - just to be silly -  Enlighten yourself!  Go read a new book!
 

Fascinating Photos

Arches National Park

Easter Island sunrise

Western storm

Buddha catch

Moon jellyfish

Olympic moon

Adriatic Sea waterspouts

Assorted Scenes

Juvenile ringbill seagull eating a crab

Mount Graham red squirrel

Big horn sheep, Rocky Mountain National Park

Moon over Chincoteague Island.  Photo by Patty Ann Vamvas

Grey squirrel at leisure

The Dedication of Rocky Mountain National Park on 4 September 1915

Around the World Again

The moon over Untervas, Switzerland

 

On the beach at Bora Bora

 

The Namibia Desert

 

Rainbow over an Irish lake

Look UP Tonight (Friday)

Yikes!  I allowed my tirade against Jesse Palmer to deflect one item that I wanted to mention.  Look up tonight at the full moon.  It's the last "blue moon" we will see until July 2015.  A blue moon happens when there are 2 full moons during one calendar month; they are rare, hence the expression, "once in a blue moon." 
   The other request is that you wink at tonight's blue moon in a respectful salute to Neil Armstrong, who was the first man to step onto the surface of the moon.  It would be a nice tribute to him, his family, and NASA.  Thank you.

Indian Gulch Fire Grows

Geez... The Indian Gulch fire has now burned over 1,200 acres and is only 15% contained; 100 homes have been evacuated; and the federal government is now in charge. They are expecting winds up to 75 mph today around Mount Galbraith, so the hopes of water drops and slurry from air tankers are just about nil. There was also a small wildfire along Soda Creek, near Evergreen, yesterday, but that has been totally contained. A third wildfire has also been extinguished. I can tell you that my cough is definitely not any better with all the smoke and particulates floating around in the air! If I look south-southwest from my apartment, I can see the smoke from Indian Gulch - and anyone can smell it. It made the dogs tense this morning while walking. It got up to 75 degrees here in Boulder yesterday, and police broke out a window in a parked car to save a puppy that had stopped moving and was barely breathing - it was 98 degrees inside the car. The puppy is at the vet clinic at the Humane Society and the owner has been ticketed and charged with animal cruelty. The local police also responded to two other instances of dogs locked inside cars yesterday. Those owners are idiots.
Nedi wanted to be picked up and made much of when I arrived home this morning - it was nice, but seemed odd: he's usually quite an independent little guy. Lovey has walked all over me and helped me unpack, and started purring when I put my alarm clock back on the bedside table. She is one smart little queen. I see Dr. P today and tomorrow afternoon I'll (finally) get DirecTV installed - I have kept moving the date back because of pet-sitting and the surgery.
The "Super Moon" that showed on Saturday, 19 March, was very beautiful. I can't really say that it looked any larger or brighter to me, but it was a glorious sight. Since I was small, I have always seen a rabbit on the moon and not a "man in the moon." I still see a rabbit in the moon and was interested to read that the ancient Maya also "saw" a rabbit in the shading on the moon. Does that make me any weirder than I usually am? Does it make the Maya weird? Actually, does anyone else see a rabbit up there? Or do you see something else? Let me know...