When Will They Learn?

You’d think she’d learn by now, but for the third consecutive summer, my dog got skunked. Yes, we live in within city limits, but it’s pretty darn woodsy when it comes to animals. Deer, raccoons, even a bear was removed from the vicinity of a local neighborhood playground not too long ago. And then there is the skunk. I think it is a solo presence, as I’ve seen him early in the morning on garbage day parading down our street, sniffing out a snack or two. He’s pretty gnarly, like he’s been around the block. He sneaks into our fenced-in yard by slipping underneath through a rabbit hole, I believe, and apparently hides under our deck in wait of our nosy dog. The first summer it was an all-over spray, while last year it was just on the lower part of her muzzle. This year: full-in-the-mouth. Yuck! At least we now have a big ole bottle of Petastic Skunk Odor Eliminator on hand. Still, there isn’t a fouler smell than skunk.

Tangentially, Love Dubai is running on Thursday in an optional claiming n3x turf race at Monmouth. You may remember my lamenting last year his owner Equirace.com’s horrendous decision to run him in the G1 Blue Grass one week after finishing dead-last in the G2 Illinois Derby. Talk about a horse being overly-ambitiously placed! They then tried him on turf, the G3 Colonial Turf Cup (5th, 4-1/2 lengths back), the G2 Virginia Derby (8th, 9-1/2 lengths back), and the G1 Secretariat (5th, 9 lengths back). Two more turf races, and two on Polytrack, with only a third-place showing in nine races since coming to the U.S. from England—and lifetime earnings of only $79,755. At least be grateful Equirace.com didn’t toss him into the G2 Firecracker. They have moved him from Michael Maker to Jane Cibelli and I hope she can help this poor horse find his groove.

That same race at Monmouth also features 8-year-old gelding Hotstufanthensome (in for a $50,000 tag) and 4-year-old Duveen who finished 5th (6 lengths back) behind Einstein in the G1 Turf Classic on Kentucky Derby day.