News, Etc.

When somebody as awful as Rahm Emanuel leaves the administration, you KNOW there is a crisis afoot.
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Rachel Alexandra's sudden retirement from racing following a sensational workout requires some explanation, but one probably isn't forthcoming.
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Michigan's resident batshit assistant AG has been suspended following a ton of negative publicity surrounding his seeming 24/7 harassment of a gay student body president.
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A D.C. rally crowd of a couple hundred thousands is a pretty good crowd, in my view.
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WP's Valerie Strauss is usually on the money, but her opinion on the L.A. teacher suicide is off the mark. The comments following the piece, however, are by and large worth reading.

News, Etc.

A day after a workout at Saratoga, Rachel Alexandra's handlers decided that since she wasn't up to her 2009 form, she would be retired from racing.
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I am surprised 26 people have won the Oregon "Win for Life" lottery. A Medford couple became the first in the area to win the top prize.

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As we know, the U.S. income gap is the widest it has been in history--and as a matter of policy. The WSWS takes a look at the grim statistics.
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Underreported rather than "censored" describes this list. There are few surprises.

And which story made the top of the list? You guess it: Our Congress is bought and paid for by Wall Street. The most disturbing is the fact Democrats decided to ditch its old constituencies in order to get bribery money from Wall Street and big business:

Author Matt Taibbi writes that some of the most egregious selling of the US government to Wall Street happened in the late nineties, when “Democrats, tired of getting slaughtered in the fundraising arena by Republicans, decided to throw off their old reliance on unions and interest groups and become more ‘business-friendly.’ Wall Street responded by flooding Washington with money, buying allies in both parties.” In the ten-year period beginning in 1998, financial companies spent $1.7 billion on federal campaign contributions and another $3.4 billion on lobbyists. Wise political investments enabled the nation’s top bankers to effectively scrap any meaningful oversight of the financial industry.

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I can't believe the principal wasn't fired for this. What in the hell was he thinking?

Instead, this idiot got promoted to superintendent. It figures.

Horse of the Year: Rachel Alexandra

The Preakness winner had a great season, but Zenyatta was really the better choice, having gone through a career undefeated and beating males in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the first female horse to do so:

In one of the most highly anticipated announcements in Thoroughbred racing history, Rachel Alexandra was named 2009 Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards Jan. 18 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The announcement was made just before 10:30 p.m. EST by Alex Waldrop, head of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association in front of a packed house at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and on live television on TVG and ESPN News. Before opening the envelope that held the winner, Waldrop asked for the audience to give them one last round of applause. The crowd gave both participants a standing ovation.

Horse of the Year

honors will likely go to Rachel Alexandra, who piled up yet another victory beating colts in the Woodward.

When there is a video available I will post it.

Video:

Rachel Alexandra Won Today's Haskell Invitational

against the likes of Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird, who finished second:



It's possible she will be in the Travers.

Belmont Stakes 2009

Since she almost ran out of gas in the Preakness, Rachel Alexandra, not surprisingly, will not be running in the Belmont next Saturday.

More.

Friesan Fire, the favorite in this year's Kentucky Derby, will not run, either. He has been sidelined with an injury.

Rachel Alexandra's not the only one who's run out of gas. I drove from Medford to Reno and back to pick up my bike and a few other things. I am going to be up here for another three or four weeks, at least.

Rachel Alexandra

may be entered in the Belmont Stakes, which is in three weeks. Whether she can go the distance remains to be seen.

While she won yesterday's Preakness almost from wire to wire, if Mine That Bird hadn't been forced wide at the far turn, he probably would have caught her at the wire. He was very close for being so far out of it.

More Preakness

Calvin Borel seemed to have made the right decision by riding Rachel Alexandra, but quite honestly, Mine That Bird was forced wide and had to make up a ton of ground in the homestretch.

Mine That Bird came damned close to winning today.

She took the lead early and held off MTB's late charge.

More Preakness coverage can be found at the Baltimore Sun site.

Rachel Alexandra

became the first filly in 85 years to win the 134th Preakness Stakes. Mine That Bird, however, closed in very fast to place second. Another couple of jumps and he would have nipped the filly at the wire.

It is number two for Calvin Borel. I wonder if he wins the Belmont whether he will get the Triple Crown trophy.

Here is the video, courtesy of yours truly and my brother:

134th Preakness

I wish her connections hadn't entered her, but Rachel Alexandra is the heavy favorite for this afternoon's race.

And how do turf writers see it?

Answer here. Not all of them believe she will win:

However, a swift sale after the Oaks to new owners, a change of trainers, taking on colts for the first time and the widest draw in post 13 are all factors that add to the imponderables Rachel Alexandra must face in the Preakness. She will be very poor value for the wagering dollar on Saturday as the masses jump on her bandwagon.

The filly may very well be better than the 3-year-old colts this season, but she will have a tough trip and faces by far her sternest test to date.

With the Derby winner unlikely to repeat and a false favorite in Rachel Alexandra, this edition of the Preakness shapes up as a great betting race.

The 135th Kentucky Derby [Updated]

And the winner is...

Longshot Mine That Bird in a spectacular upset. Pioneerof the Nile was second, and Musket Man finished third.

He was 50-1. Not only that, but the horse was a true Cinderella story, for he had been purchased for $9,500. His pedigree, however, isn't obscure, for he was sired by 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, who in turn was sired by 1996 Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone. Another grandsire was 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled.


It's a double for jockey Calvin Borel. He won yesterday's Kentucky Oaks aboard Rachel Alexandra as well as today's race:



The race: