Betty's Critters - & History Views

   I don't know whether people reading this will consider this a good thing, or a bad thing, but I'm back blogging again.  My close friend and rommate of many years was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2024, and I have spent the majority of my time since then making sure that my friend was not in pain, and that she could enjoy her life as much as possible.  I have just finished (90%) moving into a new residence. *******************     The 2026 Breeders' Cup Championship Races are taking place this year at Keeneland, outside of Lexington, Kentucky. This is the 43rd edition of the Breeders' Cup, and next year it will be held at the newly revamped Belmont Park Racecourse in New York.     There are a few ways for a Thoroughbred to be eligible for the Breeders' Cup races:      Most horses are nominated as weanlings or foals by paying a one-time nomination fee (e.g., $400 by October 15 of their birth year for North American-sire...

  The 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby was one for the record books today.  It was the first time a female trainer won the Derby.  It was the first time two brothers finished in first and second places.  It was an amazing day.   The morning started with a full field of 20 entries - then The Puma was scratched due to a skin infection that caused his leg to swell, leaving 19 runners.   Three of those entries were from the "also eligible" list.     There were 150,415 people in attendence for  the Derby - not counting track employees, workers on the backside, employees in the public areas, plus trainers and jockeys for all of the day's racing.   The Post Parade for the Derby and the warm-up went without a hitch.  But during the starting gate loading process, Great White, the first colt to draw into the field due to the scratch of Silent Tactic, reared up and crashed to the ground.  His jockey had bailed from the saddle...

   The first Kentucky Derby was run at the distance of 1.5 miles, as were the Epsom Derby in England and the Grand Prix de Paris.  The race was "invented" by Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., the grandson of Meriwether Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  The entire race day and advertising was allotted $640 (about $19,212 today).  On May 17th, 1875, Oliver Lewis rode Aristides to victory in front of a crowd of about 10,000 spectators, besting 14 other colts by 2 lengths, and setting a world record time of 2 minutes and 37.75 seconds for the one-and-one-half mile race.  The colt was trained by Ansel Williamson and owned by Hal Price McGrath.    The Kentucky Derby was raced at one and a half miles (12 furlongs) for 20 years.  In 1896, it was decided to cut the race back to 1.25 miles (10 furlongs), and has been run at this distance for the last 131 races.  The only year since 1875 that the Derby was not   on the runin May wa...

In 1925, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company began their management of the annual Pony Penning that had been taking place on Assateague and Chincoteague Islands in Virginia for over a hundred years.  Pony Penning was an annual event when the owners of the livestock, running free on both islands, were rounded up and identified.  The stock that the owner did not need in the foreseeable future, was sold off at an agreed upon price, and was usually removed from the islands.  It had been a well-known event for many years, with people gathering from the Carolinas, Virginia, Washington D. C., Delmarva, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.    When the CVFC began managing Pony Penning, they got county and state permission for a Carnival, set up games and different types of races (boating, swimming and horse and pony), as well as having the Pony Sale.  And the CVFC advertised the Carnival and Pony Penning events in newspapers.  It became a big event ....

 The horses that participate in the Breeders' Cup races each year are at the top of their games; they have to be nominated, and they have to earn points to qualify to enter such high profile races.  The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) became law after being passed by Congress in 2020.  HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of integrity and safety rules that are applied consistently to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility throughout the United States and it's territories. All horses, trainers and staff members that participate in the Breeders' Cup conform with HISA rules.    Rigorous veterinary checks are carried out on each horse that runs in a Breeders' Cup race.  Nine races were run Saturday at Del Mar in California.  Prior to the races, one horse in the Fillies and Mares Sprint was scratched by the trainer; in the Distaff, 3 of the ladies were scratched by the veterinarians; in...