is the grass any bluer...

is the grass any bluer...
...in Cincinnati!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Rungs for the Roses

by Kim Thomas

I wrote this Derby watch bloggy-blog update late last night, so please forgive me for being brief and to the point. I had been up all day attending music recitals, listening to that music and praying for it to clear out my heart and clean out my house for the holy week to come, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. (You can find a complete listing of meaningful worship services at CCC - see Fronds a Lot or my prior blogs) :

I will be short and sweet, with no extra stuff to muck up the matter. Then I must retire and try to get at least a few hours sleep before Monday moanin comes... :)

In racing news this weekend in England:
Grand National
winner, Mon Mome, was a 100-1 longshot in this rowdy steeplechase race that is four miles and four furlongs in length! These are 6-year-old and up horses running such a long distance in a crowded field. French-bred Mon Mome is an amazing NINE years old!

It's never surprising when spills happen in the Grand National, but it's always a heartbreak when a horse breaks down. Hear The Echo apparently collapsed just a few hundred feet from the winning post. He was the fifth horse to die this year in the three-day meeting.


The Grand National has brought out the best in many a horse, though. Consider this historical tidbit: Soon after the turn of the last century, a horse called Moifaa was the remarkable winner in 1904 when a ship bringing him to the race from New Zealand was lost and the horse had to swim ashore, 50 miles it was said, to an island, he was later recovered and when on not only to run in the race but to win the Grand National! (Props to my friend Robert Shaw, on twitter known as RobertVShaw, for blog-tweeting during the Grand National -- good job!)

Derby Watch Weekend: Three Colts Impressed
Pioneer of the Nile (an Empire Maker colt) won the Grade I Santa Anita Derby.

I Want Revenge (by Stephen Got Even) took the Wood Memorial Stakes, another Grade I race, at Aqueduct in New York.

I still like Chocolate Candy (and who doesn't?) who finished second in the Santa Anita Derby. His sire is Candy Ride(Arg).




Frontrunner out of the Derby
The Pamplemousse
is no longer a Derby contender due to a concern over a tendon that was symptomatic of infection. Thank goodness owners and trainers of The Pamplemousse are showing some compassion and not putting the horse back on the track with contenders like I Want Revenge and Pioneer of the Nile and in a total possible field of 20.





pray for peace,
Kimmy


Kimmy

No comments: