Graustark

When her many friends think of Ramona Bass, the first thing they picture is a smile as wide as all outdoors. And if you're used to the wide skies of South Texas, that is saying plenty. No country for old men, they call it, but from girlhood onward it has suited Bass just fine-and her own border story has instead been one that savors All The Pretty Horses. Its latest chapter concerns her "beautiful boy" Annapolis, who entered her life as the bonus in the package with the $4 million...

We all need a bit of inspiration now and then. Currently we need to look no farther than to yesterday's birthday boy, the great Ribot (GB) (Tenerani {Ity}) who was born 70 years ago, on Feb. 27, 1952 at the English National Stud in Dorset. In his early days, Ribot was dismissively referred to as 'Il Piccolo' ('The Little One') by his breeder Federico Tesio, who thought so little of him that he did not enter him for the Derby Italiano, a race with whose demands he was more than...