Breaking News! Eclipse Awards 2008 Announced!

Yesterday, the 2008 Eclipse Awards were announced and Violet's darling, Curlin, earned Horse of the Year for a second consecutive year, the first horse to do so since Cigar won a second Eclipse during 1995-1996. Curlin also earned Champion Older Male, and his trainer, Steve Asmussen earned Champion trainer. Curlin has now retired to stud for a first year fee of $75,000 at Lane's End in Versailles, but hasn't figured out his new job. Here's what his dad, Jess Jackson, had to say, "Curlin still wants to run. He's running around the ice-hardened floor of his Lane's End paddock, and when he goes into the stable, he gets depressed. He doesn't know what he's up for. I think he's going to be very pleased." Here's a photo of him at his new home taken just this year by Terence Dulay.

Big Brown earned Champion 3 year-old Male and a nod for Horse of the Year and Zenyatta, the undefeated filly who took the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic, was also a nominee for Horse of the Year!

Proud Spell earned Champion 3 year-old filly, and Midshipmanand Stardom Bound earned Champion 2 year-old male and filly respectively. My sweet Indian Blessing earned Champion female sprinter and Adena Springs yet again won Outstanding Breeder. These are just a few of the results for an intense year of racing!

Breaking News! Renny's Weight and Other Equines!

All right, so soon, September 3rd, Renny will have to have his first dewormer. So, Monica at Westview Veterinary called me recently to talk about setting up an appointment for Fall shots. She conferred with Dr. Z about baby's weight and he told me the secret formula to figure out his weight for medicine dosages. Get a tailor's measuring tape, measure his heart girth, substract 25, and divide by .07. So, this morning, I go out to the stable to weigh my little guy. I have a tailor's tape AND a regular horse weight tape because I want to take two measurements with two devices. I was impressed. I got within 5 lbs using both measures.

Baby Renny weighs somewhere between 287 and 292 pounds. My baby is a big boy! And a naughty one. This morning, he gave Derek a hassle about being turned out, he sneezed snot all over himself, he danced around like a ballerina while I was trying to measure him, and he generally just showed impatience about everything EXCEPT the carrot treats that I brought him. Grandma is cool when she has treats, but she's become a drag when she expects baby to behave! Can you believe that my little man who was just a scrap of flesh and bone a few scant weeks ago in May is now a 292 porker! Way to go!

In other news, Better than Honour is going to go on the block at the Fall Fasig-Tipton sale! Hill 'n Dale is dispersing their stock and reorganizing their business and because they are in a double partnership, they felt that selling their stock was the only fair way to handle a division of assets. Unbelievable. She is expected to earn between 12 and 15 million, as she is the producer of back-to-back Belmont winners, the first filly to win the Belmont in 105 years, and a current G1 stakes winner, Casino Drive. She's not surprisingly a Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. Sure wish I had spare change. I would put on my best southern belle hat, my kid gloves, and go to that sale to buy that perfect girl!

Also, in other news, the trainer for Big Brown dissed Curlin the other day, saying his horse BB was much better because he could win the Derby, win the Haskell, win on turf, and had never been beaten by a filly. So, today the owners of Curlin put up good money for a charitable cause (for child care for Belmont Park workers) to get Big Brown to enter the Woodward Stakes on August 30th for a showdown between the big boys. I think this would be good because it would answer once and for all which of the two would make a good sire for Violet's first baby! ;)

Breaking News! Big Brown Wins Preakness!

Yesterday, Big Brown became the fourth horse in history to win the Preakness Stakes as an undefeated horse. He won without much effort and with lots of get up and go leftover. His trainer said that he didn't need to even get "on his belly" so that means that he'll have energy to burn for the Belmont Stakes! He won by 5 1/4 lengths without push, without whip, without effort.

His jockey, Kent Desormeaux, said, "What a lovely ride I had, an armchair ride with a big button. It was just the easiest win ever. Woo!" And his trainer, Rick Dutrow, said, "He's a freak! He's a champ!"

The other horses who won the Preakness Stakes as undefeated horses were Majestic Prince (1969), Seattle Slew (1977), and Smarty Jones (2004) . I hope that Big Brown wins the Belmont Stakes because we currently have no living Triple Crown winner. Good luck to this big boy!

Breaking News! Proud Spell and Big Brown Win Big!

Over the weekend, Proud Spell won the Kentucky Oaks by swimming to a victory on a very wet track. And Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby, proving that he wasn't a fluke, but instead a big fabulous super horse. He broke from the 20th position and was loose, relaxed and floppy-eared as he checked out his competitors. He selected a horse to his left to pace himself off, and then, when the time was right, in the final turn, he ran his own private race. He simply floated away from the rest of the field to a very fast driving victory. Today Proud Spell and Big Brown have happy families!