In The Interim…

I have indeed been slack in posting of late. Blame the renovations as they distracted me more than I thought possible and made me disinclined to write.

Anyway the renovations are long completed, all the furniture moved back in and the boxes unpacked.  The new floor is a 100% on the old one – polished boards vs carpet looks far better and is easier to clean.

Here’s a before and after photo of the living room.

The old fire place is gone and a new flame fire gas heater has replaced it.

A large ornate Art Nouveau dresser used to dominate the right hand wall of the living room, but now it stands in the spare (aka computer)room, along with my sweet little escritoire and an antique oak chair I souvenired  from a flat I rented in the 1960s, when the building was about to be demolished. These three items of furniture appear to go together nicely.

Actually, I’d forgotten what the escritoire looked like, as it had been hidden in the bedroom for years, covered with B’s clothes. So it was a surprise to rediscover it and find it a pleasing and pretty piece.

Art Nouveau Dresser


Chair and escritoire.

So the computer room is a mix of old and new – antique furniture with metal filing cabinets and a computer of course.

Willy the cat coped well with the renovations, hardly stirring a whisker at the turmoil and noise. These days he’s become more sedate in his habits, spending the bulk of the day asleep on the bed or on my lap  (if I let him) pestering me until he gets his way.  Today, while eating his  breakfast he was monstered by a mob of Indian Mynahs, forced by the birds to abandon his plate and flee, and yesterday he caught sight of the feisty young Piccolo in the back yard and slunk back inside, reluctant to tackle her head on.

Here’s a photo I shot of him yesterday evening.

Willy

Despite not writing my usual previews of the Spring racing, I have been following them closely and have attended a few race meetings.  First I went to Caulfield on a soggy day in August for the PB Lawrence Stakes and did manage to get a photo of Heart of Dreams, who has since been retired.

Heart of Dreams

In September I attended Dato Chin Nam Stakes day at Moonee Valley and was interested to see that Linton’s coat has lightened considerably. Here are two photos of him, one taken in February 2010 after he won the Alister Clark Stakes, the other taken this September.

Linton  - February 2010	Linton – September 2012

Most of the horses I planned to follow this spring have resumed  quite a few with wins. More Joyous, now 6 years old, has accounted for her opposition easily in two runs back.

Shoot Out started his Spring campaign in the Group One George Main Stakes with a striking win. He will be contesting the Group One Epsom Handicap this coming Saturday and could well be successful again. He’s the last of the High Chaparral boys of 2010, the others, Descarado, Monaco Consul and So You Think all having retired to stud. 

Star colt Pierro has had two runs this season and won them both. He raced at Moonee Valley last Friday night in the Bill Stutt Stakes. He handled the track as if he’d been racing there for seasons, and blitzed the rest of the field with his stunning turn of foot, winning by 5 lengths. I contemplated going to the meeting, specifically to see Pierro, but the miserable weather put me off. I might attend Caulfield Guineas day in mid October, which is next on Pierro’s agenda. He has now won all eight of his starts and is yet to be beaten.

All Too Hard has been very disappointing this spring, failing to gain a place in his last two runs. Also Mosheen has failed to fire so far, perhaps not fully recovered from a throat operation she underwent mid year. And Manawanui has been banned from racing for three months after bleeding in his first run back.

The good news is that Black Caviar will return to the racetrack next autumn, all going well.

There are five Group One races scheduled this coming Saturday which will no doubt give some early pointers to likely winners of the BIG three – Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup.

And lastly, I’m currently reading (for the second time) Michael Chabon’s new novel Telegraph Avenue, a wonderfully written exuberant novel set in the Berkeley/Oakbank area of California that covers such arcane subjects as 1960s/70s black music, jazz, funk, and blaxploitation movies. The novel is centred around a second hand vinyl record store called Brokebank Records, run by two friends Archy Stalling and Nat Jaffe, which is under threat from a projected giant multimedia development called Dogpile to be built close by.

Telegraph Avenue is replete with dazzling prose and colourful, likeable characters, one of which is a parrot. There is also a cameo appearance by Barack Obama and a 12 page sentence that is quite extraordinary to read. No wonder I felt like reading the book twice in succession.

Spring is in the air despite the rotten weather

RIP Typhoon Tracy

The spring racing season is gathering pace judging by the race card at Caulfield this coming Saturday, where three races have caught my attention; so much so I might venture out that way this weekend to take in the action.

But before considering the up and coming races, I feel I must comment on the tragic death of Typhoon Tracy earlier this week. She died, after delivering her first foal, from a suspected ruptured broad ligament. The foal, a colt by Street Cry, survived and is by all accounts doing well – there are some lovely photos of him on Peter Moody’s twitter - and he looks just like his mum. Tracy’s death is very sad news for those of us who followed her career until her retirement in 2011 after winning the Orr Stakes for a second time. She was one of my favourite racehorses at the time and she retired with six group one wins under her belt and as 2010 Horse of the Year.  I was looking forward to seeing her children race in the future, but now who knows if her foal, if he survives, will hit the racetrack. I like to think of her running around in horse heaven, part of a herd of class mares along with Sunline, Hot Danish and Pinker Pinker etc.

Other news of a disappointing kind, is that Atlantic Jewel will miss the spring season due to a tendon injury and Manawanui could well miss it as well, having performed under par during recent hit outs. And of course Black Caviar will not be seen this spring either, though there is a faint chance she will return in autumn next year if she is not retired.

So on to the racing card at Caulfield…

Races 3 and 4 are 1100 metre sprints for three year olds, the first being the Listed Vain Stakes for colts and geldings. The Travelling Man is one of the field of nine contestants. He ran third to Planet Voyage in his first run for the season, leading for most of the race to tire at the end. Planet Voyage is also running in the Vain Stakes and will most likely start favourite. Other chances are South Australian gelding Psychic Mick and Underestimation, who both have good form from autumn.

The Quezette Stakes is the fillies equivalent of the Vain Stakes and the exciting Samaready will be starting off her spring campaign in this.  She won the Blue Diamond Stakes then ran third in the Golden Slipper, before being spelled, so it will be interesting to see if she returns in winning form. Her main competition appears to come from Elite Elle, who is yet to be beaten after three starts, the last on heavy going and Ephemera, one of Peter Moody’s stable with Luke Nolen in the saddle.

The Group Two PB Lawrence Stakes (formerly the Liston Stakes)  is the feature race of the meeting, and has attracted a classy field of middle distance runners. Heart of Dreams is one, Rekindled Interest is another, as is last start winner Ready To Rip. But interest will be focussed on Western Australian, Luckygray, who has been going great guns on his home turf with 10 wins from 13 starts. Also of interest is Seville, an European import and Zamorar who has only been narrowly beaten in his last three starts though expectations in each case were high. I have never seen Heart of Dreams in the flesh, though I have been following him for years, so am looking forward to seeing him live and maybe getting a good photo.

There’s also a nice mare’s race – the Group Three Cockram Stakes - following the PB Lawrence Stakes with the likes of Yosei, Glows, Lucky Penny and Le Societe among the chances.

In Sydney, All Too Hard will be kicking off his spring campaign in the San Domenico Stakes, a Group Three race over 1100 metres for three year olds. He faces a small but select field of five other runners, which include Driefontein and Snitzerland who was a close second to Pierro in the Golden Slipper Stakes in the autumn.

The weather in Melbourne has been cold and wet in the main over the past week or so, so the Caulfield track will most likely be rated on the slow side, especially as tomorrow’s weather prediction is for more rain. However it is likely to clear on Saturday, so a pleasant day at the races is not without hope and the light should be good for photographs.

Anticipation & Recollection

I have been remiss in posting of late, but the renovations, despite not actually living at the house, have distracted my routine. Being obliged to use my notebook computer for composing blog posts, I miss my super illuminated keyboard and feel uncomfortable with the cramped keyboard on this notebook.

Considering the photo above, you will have gathered that this post will be about racing and you’re not wrong. It will be anticipating the coming Spring racing season and reminiscing about Australian racing history.

The photo above is of Dhaulagiri, my favourite racehorse  of the early 1960s, which was when I first developed my interest in the sport. I scanned the photo from a book I recently purchased. It came to my attention on a racing forum and is called Major Australian Races and Racehorses 1960 - 1980 by Peter Pringle.  I found a copy going at a reasonable price on Ebay and promptly bought it. It is a handsome leather bound hard cover and filled with invaluable information on noted Australian racehorses from 1960 to 1980. It records all their races with such details as weight carried, winning margins and who ran what place. It also has black & white photos of each horse’s most prestigious win.

One of the abiding memories I have the early 1960s racing scene, when I was following the fortunes of  Dhaulagiri, was a series of consecutive races involving Dhaulagiri and two other great racehorses of the period, these being Tulloch and Lord, where they raced against each other in great three horse races.  I can’t remember whether there were other runners in the field - the book does not note field sizes - all I recall are these three.  In the image below I have highlighted the race details of the consecutive races that have stuck in my memory all these years and have been confirmed in this wonderful book.

 

Dhaulagiri ran twice in the Cox Plate, losing to Tulloch by ½ length in  1960, but he won the 1961 Plate from New Statesman and Sky High who were both fine racehorses at the time. Sky High was the grandson of the famous racing mare Flight.

The racehorses of the past appear to be made of tougher stuff than today. Despite being stallions, many of them raced through from two years of age to six or seven years and the geldings often raced on until their ninth year.  They carried huge weights – up to 10 stone, which in metric terms is 63kg.

I lost interest in horseracing during the late 60s/ 70s, being too busy with University and the other obsessions of my youthful existence, but judging by the book Major Australian Races and Racehorses 1960 – 1980 I missed out on some classic runners like Kingston Town  for example.  I was delighted to come across familiar names in breeding circles, Denise’s Joy for one who is of course one of the famous matriarchs of Australian turf history, being the grand dam of Tuesday Joy and More Joyous.  Premier Group races are named after other notable runners in the 1960s/70s – Manikato, Storm Queen and Vain for instance.

My interest in horseracing revived in the 1980s and I’ve been following it ever since.

Which brings me to the impending Spring racing season…

The Group Three Bletchingly Stakes is the first group race of the spring season and is to be run this coming Saturday at Caulfield, though the actual spring season doesn’t officially start until after August 1st. This year’s version of the Bletchingly Stakes has attracted an interesting field that includes former Asian galloper Green Birdie and did include old favourite Heart of Dreams, but he has been scratched.  The early favourite is three year old Zamorar, but  Ready to Rip is worth consideration, having the Luke Nolen – Peter Moody factor in his favour.

I’m also interested to see how The Travelling Man fares in the Natalie Hunter Handicap a race over 1000 metres for two year olds.  He hasn’t raced since finishing 6th in the Blue Diamond. Having seen him in the flesh, I was impressed with his good looks so take an interest in his career.

The big guns have not been drawn as yet, but it won’t be long before the stars of autumn begin their spring campaigns.

My Horses to Watch for in the spring.

Old favourites – Shoot Out, More Joyous, Lights of Heaven
New favourites – Manawanui, Atlantic Jewel, Mosheen, Pierro, Sea Siren, All Too Hard and Pear Tart and more...

Black Caviar’s future is yet to be decided. Will she race on or head for the breeding barn?

In the Pink – A Cox Plate Day At The Races

 
Black Caviar salutes her adoring fans after winning the Schweppes Stakes

What a day! And it was an enjoyable one at that, despite the big crowds and the threatening weather.

I arrived at the course earlier than I anticipated, shortly before race 2 the listed Essendon Jeep Stakes. Putting a quick bet on Euryale passing through the Bookies area, I ventured out to the public lawn. Normally I would grab a spot on the fence near the finishing post, but this time it was impossible – too crowded – so I wended my way to the top of the straight and insinuated myself into a vacant spot there. It wasn’t bad as places to watch go, as I did manage to photo runners going past to the barriers.

Torah – winner of Race 2 on her way to the barriers.

Rather than stay by the fence, I decided to head to the parade ground to check out the runners for race 3, particularly Karuta Queen. I discovered that the parade ground area wasn’t half as crowded as other parts of the course, so I retreated there in between races for some relief from boisterous revellers.

 
Karuta Queen pausing to eyeball a few admirers.

Karuta Queen started favourite in the Australia Stakes and won easily from Miss Stellabelle & Amah Rock. She’s a very pretty filly, almost palomino in colouring. In the following photo you can see her showing a clean pair of heels to the runners up, in the straight.

I had my money on her and she was the first of four straight wins for me.

The next race on the cards was the Mitchelton Wines Vase, for three year olds over the Cox Plate distance of 2040 metres. Manawanui was the one I was looking forward to seeing, and he didn’t disappoint.

Manawanui parades before the running of the Vase

Manawanui, as if we didn’t already know, proved he was one of the best three year olds racing this spring, easily winning over the distance, unlike his great rival Helmet who failed to run 2040 metres in the Cox Plate.

Manawanui overtaking Collar in the straight

Speaking of Helmet, he spent a great deal of time in the stalls near the parade ground. I photographed him in his stall, while waiting for Black Caviar to grace us with her presence.

Helmet in holding stall

Race 5 – the Schweppes Stakes - was of course the one in which Black Caviar would win her 15th race in succession. A big crowd gathered to see her parade…

… but not where I was standing, on the stall side of the parade ground.

Here she comes – glamour mare Black Caviar

And what a big girl she is! Very calm and composed and well behaved, she has enormous presence.  In reality she is just a large brown mare with a big bum, but she has captured the Nation’s attention with her extraordinary ability.

I hastened back to a spot on the fence to see her proceeding to the barriers.

Naturally she won easily by 6 lengths from Doubtful Jack and Here De Angels.

Black Caviar steams ahead in the straight

The Moonee Valley Cup was the next race on the card, so I was keen to get a photo of Americain, winner of the 2010 Melbourne Cup, and judging by his run in the Moonee Valley Cup, quite possibly the winner of the 2011 edition.

Americain parading before the Moonee Valley Cup

He won by 2.3 lengths with Tullamore and Illo filling the minor placings.

The Crystal Mile was next, but I didn’t photograph any of the runners, just watched them parade trying to make up my mind  on who to back. I finally settled on He’s Remarkable the New Zealander who ended up starting favourite. He managed to run third, so at least he covered the bet.  Testa My Patience won the bikkies with Hawk Bay running second.

My spot on the fence near the top of the straight.

As the feature race drew near, the weather, which had been fairly pleasant most of the afternoon, became dark and threatening. A storm warning announcement came over the loud speakers, and I for one feared a similar situation to that which occurred in March 2010 at Flemington.  As the horses paraded before the event, flashes of lightning – which at first I thought were camera flashes – and lowering skies sent the crowds scurrying for cover. I hung out at the parade ground for a while taking photos of the horses, until the light deteriorated to the extent it was pointless to continue. However, I did manage to get a few reasonable shots before giving up.

Helmet

Efficient

Sincero

Jimmy Choux

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a shot of Pinker Pinker the Cox Plate winner. And alas I didn’t have any money on her either. I was however delighted that she won, another victory for locally bred horses and one for the girls as well. Her trainer Greg Eurell was over the moon, and I’m pleased for him. He trained my old favourite Apache Cat who won the Schweppes Stakes in 2009. Craig Williams deserves plenty of accolades for his perfectly judged and executed ride.

For the Cox Plate the barriers are placed at the top of the straight, so I had a good view of the start and witnessed Jimmy Choux breaking free early. He’d barely run 100 metres before being pulled up.

Cox Plate Barrier Stalls with grey sky behind

As for the race itself, it was as exciting and enthralling as you’d expect. Though the storm held off until after the race, tragedy struck Lion Tamer who broke a leg during the race and was put down soon after it was over. I didn’t witness this as I left directly after the race, not wanting to miss the last bus home and didn’t hear about it until later.

The above -  rather murky - photo of the finishing dash down the straight, shows Jimmy Choux in the lead, having overtaken Helmet. Pinker Pinker is looming just behind them. Jimmy Choux hung on for second place and Rekindled Interest, who was seriously held up in the closing stages, ran third.

This post is turning into a marathon, but it was a long day. I witnessed seven races in all, picked the winner in four of them and won third place in two, so all up it was a good day on the punt and I came home with almost as much money as I had when I left.

Though the course was crowded, the punters were in high spirits in more ways than one, and the atmosphere was cheerful and raucous. I actually enjoyed the afternoon and would certainly attend the Cox Plate meeting again.  I didn’t take many photos of the crowd, but there were girls dressed in flimsy frocks and high heels, with ridiculous concoctions of hats, guys dressed in loud suits – I spotted two guys wearing a purple and a pink suit apiece. 

And of course salmon pink with black spots was everywhere.  I was amused to see two guys with fairy wings attached to their backs being questioned by security up near the entrance gates. Who knows what they’d done to cause such interest, though I noticed one of them was clutching a rubber chook.

You may well ask how I was dressed, but I don’t dress up to go to the races, being totally uninterested in fashion. I wore my purple cord jeans with a charcoal hemp long sleeved t-shirt and sensible (waterproof) lace up shoes.

As mentioned before, the storm rolled in shortly after the running of the Cox Plate. By that time I was on the bus stop. Fortune smiled once again when the bus, I and several others were awaiting, pulled up across the road on its way to the terminus (where it turns around and comes back). The driver welcomed everyone to climb aboard for the ride, so when the rain came down in earnest, and the thunder rolled, and the lightning flashed, I was cosily on the bus with a cheerful crowd of race goers. By the time I got home the rain had started to ease, so my umbrella remained furled.

PS: Click on photos for a larger version (in most cases)

Red Rumped Grass Parrot

While sauntering up High Street towards Clifton Hill about an hour ago, I observed these wonderful little grass parrots, which I’ve identified as Red Rumped Grass Parrots. I had observed them in the same place – a grassy strip just next to the road – earlier this week, so took my camera with me this time just in case they were still inhabiting the area.

And there they were, totally ignoring the roaring traffic and passersby alike. They don’t fly away when you stop to look, so I was able to get a few photos of them.

A male and female together

Male parrot perched on the footpath

And just because I had my camera with me I decided to photograph the lilac bush in the front yard. It always flowers in October and the bush is a descendent of a lilac tree that grew in the backyard of a house I lived in the early 1980’s. When I left that place I planted a sucker in a pot, and eventually transplanted into the front yard of our present residence. It took about 20 years for it to produce flowers, but every October nowadays it is full of blooms and the exquisite scent floats out into the street, so you can smell it as you walk by.

Ah, the wonders of nature in springtime, even here in the suburbs.

Spring Is Here – The Makybe Diva Stakes

Maluckyday resumes in the Chelmsford Stakes

Another fine day of racing to look forward to this Saturday at both Flemington and Warwick Farm with a number of intriguing Group Two competitions on the cards.

First among them is the Makybe Diva Stakes, a WFA race over 1600 metres.  Most of the acceptances are tried and true stayers, but the ones that interest me the most are *Maluckyday, who is finally starting his build up to the big Spring cups in this. He was disappointing in the autumn, but Spring might the season where he finally finds his form. Lights of Heaven, is another.  She resumed in the Lawrence (Liston) Stakes three weeks ago with a narrow second to Whobegotyou after being badly hampered in the straight, and will be out to redeem her record and at this distance could well win. Also in with a chance is the Western Australian Horse of the Year, Playing God. He kicked off his Spring campaign in the Goodwood at Belmont, running a very creditable second.  Also worth consideration is Glass Harmonium, and Littorio, a good horse in his day – he won the BMW back in April 2010 - might scrape a place. There’s somewhat of a hoodoo on this race in that, in the previous 25 runnings, only 4 horses (Northerly, Sky Heights, Marble Halls & Weekend Hussler) have managed to win another race in the carnival following success in this race. Still, jinxes are there to be overcome, and an outstanding performer will do so.

* Maluckyday was nominated for both the Makybe Diva and the Chelmsford. He will now start in the Chelmsford Stakes in Sydney.

We welcome back star colt Sepoy in the Danehill Stakes, a race for 3yos over 1200 metres. It’s pretty well a forgone conclusion that he will repeat his winning performance in the Vain Stakes three weeks ago. His only defeat so far in his career was in the Manfred Stakes in autumn when he was pipped at post by Smart Missile. Smart Missile proved last weekend that the Manfred Stakes win wasn’t a fluke with a stunning victory in the Run to the Rose, beating Foxwedge and Helmet.  Whether we’ll ever see Smart Missile and Sepoy head to head again is uncertain. Sepoy will be restricted to sprint races, whereas Smart Missile is Golden Rose and Guineas bound.

The Group Two Let’s Elope Stakes for mares over 1400 metres, has classy field of well credentialed mares like Brazilian Pulse, Parables, Mid Summer Music, Zaira, Pinker Pinker etc.  Mid Summer Music has won her last two starts and is the obvious pick, despite a query over the distance, along with Parables, who will be out to avenge her defeat by Mid Summer Music in the Cockram Stakes two or so weeks ago.

Bel Sprinter, so far unbeaten in his short four race career, adds interest to the Group 3 Bobby Lewis Quality. Can he do it again? It’s a much tougher field than he has faced before, with a number of Group One winners also entered. For instance Toorak Toff, who won the 2010 Golden Rose, though admittedly not much since, Coolmore winner Aloha , three time Group One winner, Yosei and other smart sprinters like Dubleanny and Response.

The Sydney meeting was originally scheduled to be run at Randwick, but it has been switched to Warwick Farm due to safety concerns in relation to the grandstand roof.

The feature race is the Group Two Chelmsford Stakes, a standard WFA  race over 1600 metres. The surprise import of the autumn, My Kingdom of Fife resumes in this. He will be hard to beat as he goes well fresh. Old trouper Black Piranha may be in with a chance, and if the track is heavy Sacred Choice may race better than she did last start. 

Last spring’s star performer, So You Think, has his fourth start in the Northern Hemisphere in the Irish Champion Stakes early Sunday morning our time, so it’ll all be interesting to see how he fares – i.e. by how many lengths he will win.

And Black Caviar is the feature of Australian Story on ABC TV on Monday night. It is the first time, in the history of the program, that a non human is the subject of a story. Click the link to view the preview.

On the subject of Black Caviar, she now has a website and - believe it or not - a blog, which is highly amusing.

Cat Politics Progress Report

Pictured above, is Timmy lounging around in the backyard. As you can see, he feels quite at home.

Not so the other cats, though they haven’t as yet packed up their bags and left home.

There has been quite a bit of argy bargy in the realm of cat politics over the past week, with Timmy starting to assert himself. He has miserably failed to win the affection of the either Lizzie (fat hope!) or Willy. They won’t have a bar of him. He makes them nervous and Lizzie is positively hostile to him. There have been several fiery close encounters between Lizzie and Timmy with neither cat actually gaining anything, though Lizzie put on such a fierce wild-cat display the other day, it caused Timmy to back away. We are woken in the early hours by the occasional shriek, but more often growling and hissing.

This morning all three cats were on the bed, though Willy climbed under the sheets. Two persons were between the other two who were glaring at each other venomously.

Peace only descends at meal times. Timmy must have been used to some other regimen, as at first he didn’t seem to like any food we put before him. Now, realising that he gets fed regularly, morning and night; he hoes in readily and eats a variety of cat food.

This situation is interesting for observing cat behaviour and marvelling at their intelligence in handling tricky situations. I observed Lizzie the other day. She wanted to get past Timmy, who was sitting directly in her path. She was under the impression that he would spring on her as soon as she moved, so she waited until B walked between the two of them, and used his brief buffer zone to get past the danger area. It reminded me somewhat of getting through tricky spots in a computer game. Willy, being younger and more agile can slip past Timmy before he realises that he’s been dodged, but has to put up with Timmy stalking him, with what intent we are uncertain, but Willy regards this pursuance as potentially hostile.

How long this state of affairs will last is hard to fathom. They’ll eventually sort it out and live in relative peace with each other, hopefully sooner than later.

Update on Spring Racing Carnival

Saturday’ s race meeting in Melbourne went ahead as anticipated and there is still no sign of the EI virus in Victoria, so it’s looking good for my day at the races in a week or so.

I had a few modest wagers on Saturday and was quite successful – 3 winners and 1 second place. My super stable balance was boosted by $140,000+ in virtual earnings. Haradasun was pipped at the post by the amazing Miss Finland who travelled from Adelaide the day before the race, but still managed to put up a good fighting finish.

Spring’s looking good again racing wise, all going well as far as the virus is concerned.

As it’s now officially spring, here’s another spring photo – the backyard resplendent with plum blossom, seen here through the boughs of the fig tree.

Introducing Timmy

I managed to get a photo of Timmy today. As you can see he's quite a pretty cat, though the resident cats Lizzie and Willy are not impressed. Handsome is as handsome does, is their general opinion.

Timmy has settled in really well and, even though he has had ample opportunity to run away, has not taken it upon himself to do so. He has a nice nature and appears to be nonaggressive, so no fur has flown since he has arrived. Lizzie and Willy still regard him with suspicion, with Lizzie glaring and hissing at him on sight and Willy giving him a wide berth. Initially Willy was friendly towards Timmy and appeared hardly fazed to have a new cat in the house. Something must have happened during the past week, to make him nervous of Timmy, though he appears not have any wounds. We can only speculate on them encountering each other one night and facing off. Timmy is, however, nervous of Lizzie. You just don't mess with old lady cats!

It's a relief that this adoption of Timmy has not been as traumatic for him or us as we initially feared.

So things have returned to normal after a really quite stressful week. I couldn't think straight last week, so I am glad B's mother's funeral is behind us. It was a good funeral as funerals go - small and intimate - with a simple service.

Other stuff.

Below is a photo of plum blossom with a bee and lots of sky. You can see that it was a lovely day today. Spring is well and truly on the way.

Not so the Spring Racing Carnival, which has been affected by an outbreak of Equine Influenza in New South Wales. All races and horse events on the Eastern coast were cancelled yesterday for a period of 72 hours, to prevent the virus from spreading and to try and establish the source. Australia has been free of this virus until now. It really couldn't have happened at a worse time as it will indeed have an impact on how the Spring Racing Carnival pans out, or indeed if it happens at all.

As a racing fan I'm pretty devastated. I was so looking forward to seeing my favorites fight it out in upcoming races and also keenly anticipating my annual day at the races in September. Let's hope the virus is contained and that racing will resume soon.

PS: My review of the Ryan Adams concert is now up on the Nu Country web site.

Spring is on the way

Early this morning I snapped this photo of almond blossom on the tree in the backyard. Fresh and sweet it is when it first appears, before the winds blow it all away. Spring tends to be very windy here in Melbourne which detracts from days when we can expect a little warmth and sunshine.

I've been having fun checking out the capabilities of my new camera. All the photos shown here were taken with it.

Another sign of impending Spring are the irises starting to bloom...

...and the jonquils.

I was pleased with this shot of a knot in the fig tree - I love the texture.

Another good sign of Spring is the build up to the Spring Racing Carnival.

Last weekend two of my favorite horses competed against each other in the Bletchingly Stakes. Apache Cat proved too speedy for Haradasun and won by a good margin. It was a short race -1200m, which suited the Cat. Haradasun will improve, I'm sure, over longer distances.

Next weekend the racing build up continues with several interesting races on the cards. Another horse in my Super Stable, El Segundo, will be running.