Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend
Neck and neck in the Qatar Prix du Cadran at Hippodrome De Longchamp, Paris. The Group I race is 20 furlongs, the longest flat race in France. Eleven horses ran the course in the Prix du Cadran.
French jockey Christophe Soumilion pulls ahead on the Spanish owned-and-trained horse Bannaby to win the race Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday, the annual Arc events culminate with the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe race. The Aga Khan-bred three-year-old filly Zarkava is the punters' favourite. Urban Sea in 1993 was the last filly to win the race. Other strong contenders are Youmzain, Soldier of Fortune, Duke of Marmelade and Schiaparelli.
Silk banners for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe festivities, now underway at Hippodrome de Longchamp, Paris.
Les chapeaux
Sunday is also the day ladies attending the races will be wearing stylish hats. I bought an Italian hat in San Francisco, intending to wear it to the Arc. But on Friday in Antwerp, Belgium, my friend Di Mackey and I stumbled upon a tiny little shop full of unusual hats, all created by a Dutch designer.
Di said my face lit up when I tried on the third hat. I just remember laughing, when looking in the mirror. Because it is the kind of hat that makes a bold statement. It definitely trumped the original hat I'd intended to wear. And I'm pretty sure it can hold its own among all those stylish French chapeaux. Now if only the weather will cooperate! Rain is forecast.
Pictures tomorrow! And lots of photos and tales of Antwerp, post-races!
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Update Saturday night, Paris time: Seems Sarah Palin and John McCain are increasingly desperate, as they've moved from repeating numerous misleading statements, error-strewn claims and outright lies to nasty, slanderous patently-false statements about Sen. Barack Obama.
John McCain has no workable plans to get America back on track or solve its problems. He's clueless about the economy, health care and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. So he and his neophyte Palin resort to trying to tear down Sen. Obama. Such despicable behaviour behooves no one, least of all the McCain campaign. Shame on them for their disgraceful, gutter-snipe politics. The American people deserve better than four more years of lies, failed policies, eroded civil liberties and lobbyist-led favours for special interests. McCain's dishonourable campaign just proves he offers more of the same rotten, self-serving government we've endured for nearly eight years now. No more!
And here's Glenn Greenwald's stark account of our "country in shambles," thanks to the Republicans.
Got questions about McCain and his ever-changing policies? Please go here for the facts.
