Kentucky Derby Countdown - 24 days 9 hours 42 minutes

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In less than three weeks the week long Kentucky Derby festival, the pride of Southern hospitality, takes over the Blue Grass horse country of Kentucky.

But first there is the final Derby prep race this weekend in Lexington, the Blue Grass stakes to help whittle down the final Derby field to 20 horses.

As of today here are the money winnings of the top 25 Derby nominated horses.

.	1	Hansen	$1,400,000
.	2	Daddy Long Legs	$1,294,030
.	3	Union Rags	$1,170,000
.	4	Creative Cause	$836,000
.	5	Wrote (IRE)	$756,630
.	6	Gemologist	$703,855
.	7	Take Charge Indy	$698,400
.	8	Hero Of Order*	$615,500
.	9	Sabercat	$601,429
.	10	I'll Have Another	$601,000
.	11	Daddy Nose Best	$545,558
.	12	Secret Circle	$470,000
.	13	Yang Tse Kiang (FR)	$422,211
.	14	Dullahan	$405,000
.	15	Liaison	$393,000
.	16	Alpha	$380,000
.	17	Prospective	$365,452
.	18	Trinniberg	$324,500
.	19	Done Talking	$310,000
.	20	Drill	$300,000
.	21	Went The Day Well	$282,000
.	22	Rousing Sermon	$269,000
.	23	Mark Valeski	$260,000
.	24	El Padrino	$250,000
.	25	Excaper	$240,736

Three thoroughbreds are already millionaires and we haven't started the triple crown races.





Hansen - $1,400,000

Daddy Long Legs - $1,294,000

Union Rags - $1,170,000

Finally, here are the horses nominated for this weekends final Derby tune up, the Blue Grass stakes.

Headed by champion Hansen and Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) winner Prospective, there are 11 probable starters for the April 14 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland, according to racing secretary Ben Huffman April 2.

The Blue Grass will be run at 1 1/8 miles on the Polytrack surface at Keeneland.

Dr. Kendall Hansen and Skychai Racing’s Hansen, who has won four of five career starts, would become the first reigning champion 2-year-old male to contest the Blue Grass since Street Sense used the race as his final prep for victory in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

Among the 10 that could face Hansen is John Oxley’s Prospective, who worked five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 on a fast track April 2 at Churchill Downs.

Another graded-stakes winner being pointed toward the Blue Grass is Donegal Racing’s Dullahan, winner of the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity (gr. I) as a 2-year-old in 2011 and a half brother to 2009 Derby winner Mine That Bird. Dullahan will be seeking to join Round Table (1956-57) as the only horse to complete a Breeders’ Futurity-Blue Grass double.

Also under consideration for the Toyota Blue Grass are Adirondack King, Drill, Ever So Lucky, Gung Ho, Holy Candy, Howe Great, Politicallycorrect, and Raconteur.

Derby Prep - Blue Grass Stakes - April 14 - Lexington

Rank	Silks	Horse / Sire	Rating	Trainer / Jockey	Last Start	Status
6		Hansen Tapit	8.00	M. Maker R. Dominguez	1st, 2012 Gotham (G3)	Probable
112		Prospective Malibu Moon	7.62	M. Casse L. Contreras	1st, 2012 Tampa Bay Derby (G2)	Probable
215		Dullahan Even the Score	7.40	D. Romans K. Desormeaux	2nd, 2012 Palm Beach (G3)	Probable
339		Howe Great Hat Trick	7.30	H. Motion J. Velazquez	1st, 2012 Palm Beach (G3)	Probable
		Hero of Order Sharp Humor	7.18	G. Dorochenko E. Martin	1st, 2012 Louisiana Derby (G2)	Probable
		Ever So Lucky Indian Charlie	7.01	J. Sheppard J. Bravo	3rd, 2012 Swale (G3)	Probable
		Heavy Breathing Giant's Causeway	6.85	T. Pletcher J. Castellano	3rd, 2012 Spiral (G3)	Probable
		Russian Greek Giant's Causeway	6.74	G. Dorochenko C. Nakatani	8th, 2012 Spiral (G3)	Probable
		Scatman Scat Daddy	6.23	M. Lauer L. Quinonez	3rd, 2012 Rebel (G2)	Possible
		Holy Candy Candy Ride	6.06	J. Sadler J. Rosario	1st, SA MSW (3/23/2012-R4)	Probable
		Midnight Crooner War Chant	6.06	B. Baffert C. Nakatani	3rd, 2012 Pasadena (LS)	Probable
		Gung Ho Kitten's Joy	5.34	M. Maker J. Castellano	2nd, 2012 Rushaway (LS)	Probable
		Politicallycorrect Kitten's Joy		W. Ward E. Trujillo	1st, GP AlwOC (2/26/2012-R6)	Probable

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Tim Tebow's Brother Love Traveling Salvation Show Hits Texas

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The media anointed leader of the Super Jock God Squad took his Brother Love Traveling Salvation Show to Georgetown, Texas and drew over 30,000 faithful.  Here is what the local news had to say about the event which was barely mentioned in the national media.

by JADE MINGUS / KVUE News

GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Easter is the Superbowl of Sundays for churches, and an NFL star turned Celebration Church's outdoor service into a semi-sporting event.

Church goers wore Tim Tebow's jersey and his iconic eye black, complete with his favorite scripture -- John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life," Dakota Shipman recited.

Tebow didn't exactly preach; instead, the pastor of Celebration Church interviewed Tebow. He asked questions ranging from leadership to his famous prayers on the football field.

"I really don't think I was the first athlete to get on a knee and pray," Tebow said. "I had the same routine for the last seven years, and this past year they called it 'Tebowing,' which I have no idea why."

A crowd of roughly 30,000 listened from lawn chairs and blankets. The atmosphere was more of a rock concert than a quiet church service.

The logistics of putting on this massive service was incredible. The church rented 110 buses to shuttle people to the event from six nearby parking lots.

"We're going to have a lot of people here who normally wouldn't be at church on Easter Sunday," Collin Sanford said.

Tebow only briefly mentioned his move from Denver to New York.

"Kind of got traded. I'm on another team -- excited to be a Jet," Tebow said.

A devout Christian, Tebow's main focus Sunday was his faith.

"Regardless of what happens, I still honor my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because at the end of the day, that's what's important -- win or lose," Tebow said.

Tebow is An NFL quarter back, not passing up the chance to share his faith with willing receivers.

"We need to get back to one nation under God, and be role models for kids," Tebow said. He went on to say that he hopes one day high school athletes will feel okay getting down on one knee on the football field.
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Bubba Blasts into Master's History as America's newest Hero

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Humble, Squeaky clean, Christian and wants to change his adopted son's diapers.

Bubba, 33, is a popular guy on tour, part of the new crop of younger, Christian players dubbed the God squad. So maybe it was the golf-gloved hand of God that lifted him to victory on Easter.

Here he was, locked in a sudden death overtime, well it's called a play off in golf, when he blasted a miracle shot from in the woods around a tree to within 12 feet of the cup on the final playoff hole.

Man, woman and child, it was the kind of shot that makes legends of commoners and heroes of the deserving. Here at the Master's Tournament, the 78th Masters, a Bubba came out of Florida, played golf at the Unversity of Georgia, than patiently waited his turn to join the legends such as Palmer, Nickolas and Player. 

There is just something magical to have a guy named Bubba win golf's most prestigious tournament at a club so blue blood they don't even allow women to join.

When he sank the final putt he hugged his caddy and cried, then hugged his mother and cried. No shame, no braggadocio and total humility.

It's hard not to like a guy who uses a pink driver and chooses his wardrobe to help raise money for children's charities.

Need one more reason to think he might be the next household name in golf? Bubba Watson owns the original General Lee hot rod from the Dukes of Hazard television and movie fame.

Here are a few more reasons to like America's newest hero.

Bubba has never had a golf lesson in his life.

Bubba has never had his golf swing electronically analyzed in his life.

Bubba has never had a golf coach in his life.

Bubba is one of the few left-handed golfers on tour and is known for the tremendous length of his drives. In fact five of the last ten Masters winners were left handed but no left hander had won before 2003.

Bubba was nicknamed for former professional football player Bubba Smith.

Bubba is married to Angela P. "Angie" Watson, née Ball, a 6'4" former basketball player. In 2009, she was diagnosed with an enlargedpituitary gland which accounts for her extreme height.

On March 26, 2012 Watson and his wife adopted a one month old baby boy named Caleb. They spent four frustrating years trying to adopt.

Watson's father, Gerry Lester Watson, Sr., died on October 15, 2010 of throat cancer. Watson's mother is Molly Marie Watson and he has a sister Melinda Watson Conner.

Watson is currently one of four golfers in the PGA Tour exclusive boy band "Golf Boys". (The other three are Rickie Fowler,Ben Craneand Hunter Mahan.) The Golf Boys currently have a popular YouTube video for the song "Oh Oh Oh".

Watson recently purchased the original Dukes of Hazzard's 'General Lee' that he uses to raise money for charitable purposes.

All that and then there is Bubba Watson the Christian who shares Tim Tebow's love for the Lord and is not afraid to say it.

Did I mention Bubba and Tebow are friends and will be doing a joint fund raiser for children in a couple of weeks.

Don't you think the PGA, after the prowling Tiger controversy these past few years, would love to have a faithful father and Jesus loving hero?

Welcome Bubba to the short list of modern American heroes.

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Obamaville April 6 - Holy Week in the Nation's Capitol

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WHAT IS HOLY WEEK?

Holy Week is the final week of Lent. It commemorates the events of our Lord's last week before His death. The chief festivals of Holy Week are Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil (Holy Saturday). Holy Week, together with Easter, is the most sacred part of the Christian calendar -- the celebration of the death and resurrection Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Palm Sunday

With the nonsense over a Romney campaign staffer mention of Etch A Sketch last week finally subsiding, Holy Week began with an international focus.

Today our favorite new leader of the feminine movement to save the world from men, Aung San Suu Kyi, was elected to parliament in Myanmar.

Monday

President Obama, along with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon hold a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House April 2, 2012 in Washington, DC.

During questioning about Obamacare the President testily warned the Supreme Court not to strike down his health care law, a move that stunned political veterans.

Of course no mention was made of the controversial Keystone Pipeline from Canada to the US or the 45,000 Mexicans murdered by the drug cartel supplying illegal drugs to the US. But they must have talked about something.

Sarah Palin beats Katie Couric in ratings in the battle for network morning show Nielsen ratings even though Jack Rafferty of CNN, yet another GOP hater, guaranteed that Katie would easily beat Palin.

Kentucky wins 8th NCAA National Championship over Kansas.

Tuesday

Obama meets with news editors and openly attacks GOP nominee Mitt Romney for the first time, signaling an early start to the fall presidential election.  The president delivers blistering partisan attack on modern Republican Party.

Not even waiting until a GOP candidate is nominated to oppose him, Obama could no longer resist getting into the political fray attacking Republicans Romney and Paul Ryan, the only person in Washington to have a federal budget get approved by just one house of congress.  Obama should try it.

Romney wins three more primary elections in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, DC.

Baylor beats Notre dame in Women's NCAA National Championship.

Wednesday

Hollywood movie studio chieftain Jeffrey Katzenberg says he just wants President Obama to have a fair shot at a second term.  Katzenberg, the chief executive of DreamWorks Animation gave $2 million last year to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action, which was almost a third of the $6.5 million raised by the political action committee through February.

Thursday - Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is observed during Holy Week on the Thursday before Easter. Also referred to as "Holy Thursday" or "Great Thursday" in some Christian denominations, Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper when Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples on the night before he was crucified.

President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act at the White House.

President Obama celebrates the feast of the Last Supper attending major fund raisers for his presidential campaign.

Good Friday

The President uses the feast of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross to host a White House conference on women Friday to highlight steps his administration has taken to improve opportunities and access for women in areas such as education, business and health care.

This political forum enabled the president to take advantage of his attacks on the GOP contraceptive issue while avoiding a discussion of the abortion issue.

And that is Holy Week in Obamaville.

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Profiles of Heroes and Heroines - Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma

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Standing five feet four inches and weighing 100 pounds probably soaking wet, our heroine this week is Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma or the Republic of Myanmar.

This heroine was elected to parliament in Burma in a historic election April 1, a first step toward democracy that could lead to her election as president in the next couple of years.

Since few people know her story here is a profile from the BBC News published April 1, 2012.

Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi

Like the South African leader Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi has become an international symbol of peaceful resistance in the face of oppression.

The 66-year-old spent most of the last two decades in some form of detention because of her efforts to bring democracy to military-ruled Burma.

In 1991, a year after her National League for Democracy won an overwhelming victory in an election the junta later nullified, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The committee chairman, Francis Sejested, called her "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless".

She was sidelined for Burma's first elections in two decades on 7 November 2010 but released from house arrest six days later.

On 1 April 2012, she stood for parliament for the first time, arguing it was what her supporters wanted even if the country's reforms were "not irreversible".

Political pedigree

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the country's independence hero, General Aung San.

He was assassinated during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence.

Aung San Suu Kyi was only two years old at the time.

In 1960 she went to India with her mother Daw Khin Kyi, who had been appointed Burma's ambassador to Delhi.

Four years later she went to Oxford University in the UK, where she studied philosophy, politics and economics. There she met her future husband, academic Michael Aris.

After stints of living and working in Japan and Bhutan, she settled in the UK to raise their two children, Alexander and Kim.

But Burma was never far from her thoughts.

When she arrived back in Rangoon in 1988 - to look after her critically ill mother - Burma was in the midst of major political upheaval.

Thousands of students, office workers and monks took to the streets demanding democratic reform.

"I could not, as my father's daughter remain indifferent to all that was going on," she said in a speech in Rangoon on 26 August 1988.

Ms Suu Kyi was soon propelled into leading the revolt against the then-dictator, General Ne Win.

Inspired by the non-violent campaigns of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King and India's Mahatma Gandhi, she organised rallies and travelled around the country, calling for peaceful democratic reform and free elections.

But the demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the army, who seized power in a coup on 18 September 1988.

The military government called national elections in May 1990.

Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD convincingly won the polls, despite the fact that she herself was under house arrest and disqualified from standing.

But the junta refused to hand over control, and has remained in power ever since.

House arrest

Ms Suu Kyi remained under house arrest in Rangoon for six years, until she was released in July 1995.

Aung San Suu Kyi

• 1989: Put under house arrest as Burma junta declares martial law
• 1990: NLD wins election; military disregards result
• 1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1995: Released from house arrest, but movements restricted
• 2000-02: Second period of house arrest
• May 2003: Detained after clash between NLD and junta forces
• Sep 2003: Allowed home after medical treatment, but under effective house arrest
• May 2007: House arrest is extended for another year
• Sept 2007: First public appearance since 2003, greeting protesting Buddhist monks
• May 2008: House arrest extended for another year
• May 2009: Charged with breaking detention rules after an American swims to her compound
• August 2009: Sentenced to 18 months further house arrest
• November 2010: Released from house arrest
• April 2012: Stands for parliament for first time

She was again put under house arrest in September 2000, when she tried to travel to the city of Mandalay in defiance of travel restrictions.

She was released unconditionally in May 2002, but just over a year later she was put in prison following a clash between her supporters and a government-backed mob.

She was later allowed to return home - but again under effective house arrest.

During periods of confinement, Ms Suu Kyi busied herself studying and exercising.

She meditated, worked on her French and Japanese language skills, and relaxed by playing Bach on the piano.

At times she was able to meet other NLD officials and selected diplomats.

But during her early years of detention, she was often in solitary confinement. She was not allowed to see her two sons or her husband, who died of cancer in March 1999.

The military authorities offered to allow her to travel to the UK to see him when he was gravely ill, but she felt compelled to refuse for fear she would not be allowed back into the country.

Her last period of house arrest ended in November 2010 and her son Kim Aris was allowed to visit her for the first time in a decade.

When by-elections were held in April 2012, to fill seats vacated by politicians who had taken government posts, she and her party contested seats, despite reservations.

"Some are a little bit too optimistic about the situation," she said in an interview before the vote. "We are cautiously optimistic. We are at the beginning of a road."

However she added: "Many people are beginning to say that the democratisation process here is irreversible. It's not so."

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