A Look at Golden Tempo's Win

I wrote this in yesterday's post about Tim's win in the Derby Watch Party toilet paper derby:

Tim won his race and walked around with his blue ribbon hung on his shirt button. I would not be surprised to see him wearing it to church today, again on a shirt button and hidden under his tie.

And... he did.

Belle and her kids thought it was absolutely hilarious and so did Craig and I. 

The Kentucky Derby was one of the most exhilarating and surprising I have ever watched. Probably second only to Secretariat's win at the Belmont in 1973 by 31 lengths.

Golden Tempo was dead last by 5 to 6 lengths for the first part of the Derby . 

At times, he was not even onscreen and barely mentioned by the announcers.

He is very last in this screenshot but he has begun to move closer.

Beginning to catch up as they come around the far turn.

The announcers had not mentioned Golden Tempo since the earliest part of the race. I think he came on so quickly that he caught them totally by surprise.

He had to go around the pack and at this point, seemed to just explode and overtake every horse ahead of him.

The announcer suddenly noticed that Golden Tempo was blistering past the other horses. I could hear the surprise in his voice at the horse's sudden appearance and realization that the horse was now a contender for the lead.

Neck and neck for 4th place but that only lasted a moment as Golden Tempo blew past Renegade. (Whose jockey was Golden Tempo's jockey's brother.)

Now in the lead and approaching the finish line.

At 2:22 (in the video) the announcer had finally noticed him and seven seconds later at 2:29, Golden Tempo crossed the finish line and was the winner of the 152nd Kentucky Derby.

What a wild ride it was for everyone. And, history was made in that Cherie DeVaux, the trainer of Golden Tempo, was the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby.

I sure hope Golden Tempo, his jockey, and his trainer go on to win the Preakness. I will be rooting for them.

Stay 'tooned!

A Double Blue Ribbon Day

I remember getting a new Breyer as a child and peeling off the blue ribbon sticker that used to come with Breyer's early pieces. I'd play with those blue ribbons just as much as I played with the models they accompanied. And now all those blue ribbons are gone. I did not save a single one.

Once in a while I purchase a vintage piece just because it still has its blue ribbon sticker, so when this elephant was listed on an online sales site, I snagged it. 

Along with having its sticker, the price was good and the piece was in great shape.

But when I actually had the elephant in hand and could take a good look at it, I could tell right away that it was different from my other elephants.

It was a grayer color, but then color variations among Breyer are very normal. Was it a chalky? The paint did not feel thick, but just in case, I shone a flashlight through it. The light was blocked. Excitedly, I shone the light through the other two elephants, just to compare, and it shone through as expected.

So, the elephant blocked light like a chalky would, but it did not have the thick base coat of paint under its grey coloring. I then flipped it on its side to check its feet.

There was my answer - the feet were a solid grey color - the elephant had been made with grey plastic. This happened during the oil crisis of the early 1970s when Breyer had difficulty getting the right materials to manufacture models.

You can see the difference between its feet and my other two elephants. (They have drain board patterns on their feet which is also pretty cool.) And if you look at its tusks, you can see that they are unpainted grey plastic while the other two have white tusks.

Super thrilled to have gotten the double bonus of a blue ribbon sticker and grey plastic to add to my vintage collection!

Recycling Show Ribbons

Many collectors recycle the ribbons that they win at live shows. Some shows such as my own Happy Trails as well as Great Lakes Congress, hand out recycled ribbons to class winners, a practice that saves money and reduces waste. On Pinterest are many creative ideas for using horse show ribbons beyond the show ring (quilts, wall hangings, tote bags, and more - go check it out!)

The day after Thanksgiving I found another way to recycle ribbons.

Our family always has a gingerbread house decorating competition during the holidays.

This year's completed entries on display in my living room.

We purchase the gingerbread house kits and tons of decorating supplies. These are set out on my kitchen island for everyone to use.

Pony Pal Kate helped me make mine. (All that candy was a huge motivator!)

This year we added a Junior division - I'd found a Mario Brothers gingerbread kit online and we set it out for Ian, Julie, Mila, and Kate to decorate.

They were very serious about making their gingerbread house.

Pepper quickly figured out that the best place to hang out was under the kids' table where she could eat all the crumbs and sprinkles that fell onto the floor. Smart doggie!

After we finished, the judges came in to check out our creations and pick this year's winner. (As you can tell by their expressions, they take their judging responsibilities very seriously.)

We were all anxious to hear what they thought, especially those in the junior competition.

Kate, Ian, Julie, and Mila were so excited to participate and very proud of their creation.

Giggles as they listen and wait. Then, the announcement was made that the Mario gingerbread house had placed first in the Junior division!

And, surprise!! Blue ribbons were awarded to all the Junior entrants! Pony Pal Julie exclaimed, "Oh, I have always wanted to win a blue ribbon!" That made me glad that I had been able to slip out and run upstairs, open my tub of ribbons, and grab one for each of the entrants in the Junior division.

The winning (and only) entry in the Junior division was most definitely worthy of that blue ribbon.