Horse Racing Fun

I'm a sucker for a good sports story, and the Preakness featured one today. If you didn't know:

During the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks is also run, which features only fillies (girls). A horse named Rachel Alexandra destroyed the rest of the field. The same jockey rode her and the Derby winner that weekend, Mine That Bird. He claims the filly is the greatest horse he's ever ridden. So, her owner decided to enter her in the Preakness this weekend, but some other owners sought to block her by taking up the last remaining spots in the race. However, another owner decided to give up their horse's spot if that happened, so in the end no blocking schemes were employed and Rachel Alexandra was entered to compete against Mine That Bird and the rest of the boys. The aforementioned jockey had to choose which horse to ride for the race, and chose Rachel Alexandra, who became the favorite to win.

We were all home today, and I managed to get the girls excited about the race by painting the picture of the girl racing against the boys - it wasn't all that hard, really - with a name like Rachel Alexandra she could practically be a princess. I think I even got Lisa interested in the drama a little bit. So, it was fun to watch the two-minute race all together. Annika was tense and cheered her on the whole time, and then was very elated when Rachel Alexandra led the entire race and held off Mine That Bird at the very end. I enjoyed it too, especially in HD. Now, if the NHL could just show some more games on the big networks I could get the girls excited for the Red Wings too.