A Painting

Although I won my bet, and Rachel Alexandra became the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years, I was wrong about the Derby winner, which finished second. Mine That Bird was no fluke. Apparently, the change in his running style, starting with the Derby, in which he is now taken back at the beginning of his races and urged to run in the last stages of his races, makes him much faster overall from start to finish. His radical change in competitiveness has me thinking about my horses. Before I give up on one of my young horses, I will want to talk with the trainer about the possibility of having the rider take it way back at the start of its next race (assuming that its temperament would permit it to be rated).

On Friday, for some reason or reasons I could not pinpoint (side effects of recent chemotherapy, being hobbled by leg and back pains?), my mood was a little down. On Saturday morning, my mood was lifted immediately upon opening my e-mail and reading several kind messages. Then my sister, Katie, arrived, with a present that really reminded me how kind people can be. As a favor, a friend of Katie's had painted from photographs an oil portrait of our two-year-old colt, Backslider. Katie, who lives in California, had flown to Maryland, where the artist, Ann Compton, lives, to bring me the painting. Moreover, Ann Compton had framed it beautifully. When the day ended with Susan, Katie, and I watching on television the historic victory of the magnificent Rachel Alexandra, how could I not feel blessed?