"Celebrate the Horse", July 5 & 6

Tomorrow is my birthday and my hubby asked what I wanted to do to celebrate. I couldn't think of anything exciting or different, so decided to look online to see what our two closest fairgrounds had to offer in the way of horse-related events. "Celebrate the Horse" will be held this weekend at the Western WA Fairgrounds in Puyallup. I told hubby that's what I wanted to do, so we're going on Saturday the 5th! I bought the tickets online today. (You print your own out.) I've never been to anything like this, so it should be an interesting, fun time!

LOTR Horse "Shadowfax" on the Beach (with music)

Natural Horsemanship Tricks (with music)

Horse Plays With Umbrella (with sound)

Exciting Hobby News!

The 2009 North American Model Horse National Championships will be held in Portland, OR in June. I will finally be able to compete in person at this! I've been waiting since 1999, when I started showing model horses, to compete at a Nationals that would be held within a day's driving distance. Back in 2002, a friend proxy showed a custom model of mine at Nationals in Pamona, CA. That model won a large Top Ten rosette ribbon. So far, I have 9 models qualified for the 2009 Nationals, but I'd like to get a few more qualified. I'll need to try to show some before next May, to meet the deadline. I haven't shown at all this year, so far.

Another Triple Crown Loss

The Triple Crown Championship will have to wait at least one more year. Big Brown lost to Da' Tara in a huge disappointment to his fans, owners, trainer, jockey, etc. He doesn't seem to be hurt, but had to be pulled up in the last turn, because his jockey had no horse left.

I love this quote in the paper by jockey Kent Desormeaux, "I had no horse...there's no popped tires, he was just out of gas!" The jockey was concerned for him, so he did the safe thing in pulling him back to a canter across the finish line. Big Brown came in last out of 9 horses.

There are many unanswered questions, but I think mostly people are stunned and disappointed. Some are turning angry, thinking they were duped out of "a sure thing" and lost a lot of money on betting. I don't bet or even attend horse races, but one thing for sure is that there are NO sure things in racing! There are way too many variables that can affect the outcome.

My thoughts are that the heat, humidity and lack of some recent workouts, might have played a large part in Big Brown's loss. From what I've read, I doubt the lack of a steroid shot in mid-May had much to do with it. He also might have been too rank and bumped around too much at the start trying to get into a good spot. I don't think Big Brown likes that sort of thing, and he looked to be in a "mood" yesterday.

Unless there is something physically wrong with Big Brown, I feel he will come back to win more races before he's retired to stud. Personally, I'd like to see Big Brown go up against Da' Tara again (he beat Da' Tara by 23-1/2 lengths in March's Florida Derby) and also have the Japanese horse Casino Drive, in that race. Then we might get a better idea of who's the "best" 3-year-old, this year. But then again, there are just so many variables.

Ready for the "Big Brown Race"? (Belmont Stakes)

I haven't been following the sports news on the race tomorrow, but heard from my son 2 nights ago that there's another strong contender for the Belmont Stakes besides "Big Brown". He's a Japanese-owned horse called "Casino Drive". We could see another upset this year for the Triple Crown, but I still think Big Brown has the better record, experience, and late speed to win it all (his overdrive gear!). If he does win the Belmont tomorrow, he'll be the first horse to win the Triple Crown (the 3 races including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes) since 1978! "Smarty Jones" almost won the crown in 2004, but took 2nd in the Belmont. Only 11 horses since 1919 have won the Triple Crown, many more have failed in the final race at Belmont.

My son was born in 1979, so he has never seen a Triple Crown winner. He's a people sports fan, not horse racing, but he knows the rarity of a winner. We're having him over tomorrow to watch the race on our high definition big screen. Should be a very interesting race and commentaries, especially with "Big Brown's" steroid controversy.

UPDATE: I just read at http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0645596020080606 that Casino Drive has a bruise and might end up being scratched from the Belmont tomorrow.