Louisville made it big in the news today (CNN, WEATHER CHANNEL ETC.) as it rained up to six inches in a little over an hour. The general area got anywhere from 3-6 inches depending where you were. Churchill Downs got hit very heavy. We knew we were going to get a rain, but at 8:30 this morning it just started pouring with the rain coming down sideways for a good two hours. Extreme lightening and thunder. Some of the back barns at Churchill had to be evacuated after the rain quit due to flooding. The electricity had gone out and the stalls had 6-8 inches of water standing in them.

 

U of L campus is close to the downs and sustained a great deal of damage. Parking lots full of cars were total immersed in the water. The library's lower level was totally under water. So many  buildings basements filled with water and left people stranded everywhere.

 

I have never been in a storm of that magnitude that happened quite that quickly. We have had a little over 9 inches of rain in the past week. Usually we are begging for any rain this time of year as the grass is normally brown and crunchy and we would worry about the horses getting dehydrated. Now the fields look like May green. Weed eaters and mowers cannot keep up with the growth!

 

This has been a July for the record books. We never reached 90 degrees the entire month, which has never happened since they began keeping weather records.

 

We are expecting more showers tonight and this weekend and our temperatures will climb into the 90's.

 

Here is a little look.    http://www.wlky.com/video/20279276/index.html

The
Preakness is tomorrow and it very well could rain there. It could
change my expert picks, but, as of now with a fast track I will give
Musket Man a big chance. He ran big in the Derby and his last three
races have been very good and very consistent, so I think he will run
good in the Preakness. I give Mine That Bird a shot to hit the board. I
do not think he was a one horse fluke. I think Papa Clem ran a big race
in the Derby. I think he is a little more suited to the Belmont as he
is a bigger courser horse. I think Pioneer of the Nile will be a part
of the trifecta again.

Rachel Alexander I think is a great filly. She ran a great race in
Louisville, against not the best Oaks bunch. (As the second and third
horses were both eligible for NW2.) I see her running third or fourth.
Her post position is not the best, but in a way it might be better than
the inside where she might get pinned or in trouble. I think she might
also bounce a little.

Another horse that scares me is Larry Jones horse, Friesan Fire. He is
by far not as bad as he ran at Churchill and he has come back and
breezed quite good. A win by him would not surprise me, but I guess you
have to put him in your tri somewhere.

Now that I have covered half of the field, you don't know much more than when I started this note.

1. Musket Man
2. Pioneer of the Nile
3. Friesan Fire
4. Rachel Alexander

Luck to All
Mike