Tevez.
Moderators: Roguelet, WaveMaster, Diane, K~2
Little late to the party here but I had forgotten this thread existed until a couple of days ago. What a wonderful blog. Wilf, this reads like Josh Pons "Country Life Diary" It embodies the the passion and love derived from this sport. Looking forward to following your racing season..
"Politicians should be limited to two terms, one in office and another in jail." Anonymous
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- Breeder's Cup Contender
- Posts: 1882
- Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:50 am
- Location: Ocala, Florida.
Thanks Zinn, I shall give it a shot again this year and the horses leave thursday to a farm where I rent stalls just 5 mins from Mountaineer. They have a great equiciser and a swimming pond which can keep the horses fresh and happy and actually is cheaper than stabling on the track if you count the costs of beddding ,hot walkers and riders. I just haul in now and then to work or give a decent gallop but there's no way that I would stable there in that pigsty. Pigeon shit everywhere and not a blade of grass to be found and of course I can ship anywhere I like without answering to the racing secretary which is a bonus. Thistledown is 2 hours, Presque Isle 2 1/2, Fort Erie is 4 so I have plenty of choice. All you can do is hope for the best and keep your options open.
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- Breeder's Cup Contender
- Posts: 1882
- Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:50 am
- Location: Ocala, Florida.
The horses are in shock ,going from 85 deg F to 18deg F the next morning but to be honest with blankets on and plenty of feed they all seem to have come around and enjoyed galloping this morning after 4 days to settle in. The weather looks awful for the next 7 days so I shall have to pick out my days to ship in and gallop or work; or maybe just sit chilly and clean tack. At least spring is around the corner and hope is in the air.
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- Breeder's Cup Contender
- Posts: 1882
- Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:50 am
- Location: Ocala, Florida.
Well I am taking Tevvy on a road trip to Fort Erie for his first start of the year as there are no suitable spots anywhere until Presque Isle starts. Saturday is opening day up there and I threw him into an allowance going 5/8ths to tighten him up and get him road-wise again. I have been very easy on him as regards works as Mountaineer is an unforgiving surface to a crooked horse . I raced at "The Fort" for many years and enjoyed the historic track's great surface and turf course. It is on the dirt so I don't expect too much but I will get all the licence paperwork done as I want to run there often this year. I also have many friends still there to look up. Hopefully we won't be embarrassed but his stablemates Congaway and Peanut Express ran well over the weekend so maybe it's infectious. It's only 4 hours to the border and 5 minutes from there.
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- Breeder's Cup Contender
- Posts: 1882
- Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:50 am
- Location: Ocala, Florida.
Well a good day was had by all! I pulled out onto the highway at 4.44 am so I knew right away Tevvy would finish 4th,and he did! The road trip is beautiful this time of year as the roads are still pretty quiet in early May but the patchwork quilt of the countryside of Ohio,Pa and upstate NY is coming alive and it's as pleasant a drive as one could wish for. The border crossing was made easy by having zero trucks to sit behind and the correct paperwork on my console. The weather was perfect and the track was in great shape. Into the recieving barn by 10.30 am and a very deep bed of clean shavings until race time. He was a little sharper than usual as it was 6 months since he last ran and moved up to 3rd on the turn but just got a little tired in the last furlong as may be expected from his soft training regimen,however he got a lot out of it and will be much better and fitter for the run. Great to see many old friends and get the licences out of the way so that next time I will have less running around to do. Tevez was lucky enough to have a friend to share the ride home with in the back and I watched the sun sink over the south shore of Lake Erie as I drove down Hwy 90. Back in his stall by 10 pm,not bad at all! How long it will take me to recover is debateable but I blew the fog out of my head this morning by getting stuck into the stalls that were not done very well yesterday and Tev looked good grazing this morning . All being well it will be Presque Isle next time and maybe we will be competitive then!
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- Breeder's Cup Contender
- Posts: 1882
- Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2004 10:50 am
- Location: Ocala, Florida.
OK time to get serious now as Presque Isle is off and running and he moves well over that Tapeta surface <against slower horses that is>. They put up a couple of extras on the overnight and both races filled up so Tevvy gets to go up with his stablemate Peanut, the maiden with the dropped pelvis and compromised body. It's funny as they were both late foals and spent their 2yr old summer out at grass together down in Fla. The morning line has them both lukewarm favourite choices but I am sure that by post time people will have come to their senses and sorted out some others. I thought that both races were very competitive on paper and unfortunately both are closers which is not generally a good thing at Presque Isle with much traffic to negotiate. So let's hope for a bit of luck !