The Junior Varsity Squad

[henthorn]

This week the weather was great and I finally got out to the Oklahoma farms where my younger horses are located. This is a picture of the paddock group of 3yo Starlight Bay, 2yo Dreams on the Wind, and 2yo Island Flair at the Oak Ridge Training Center near Arcadia, OK. The only other horse of racing age is Ghost Hunt, who is in training at Oaklawn Park at Hot Springs, AR. (sorry, no picture)



Starlight Bay is a filly by Sligo Bay ex Shake On It

Dreams on the Wind is a filly by Millennium Wind ex Vivid Dreams

Island Flair is a gelded son of Petionville ex Hop to It

The other two pictures are registration photos for the two yearling colts by Vicar--the chestnut is Agent Red ex Shake On It, and the dark bay is Busy Season ex Hop to It.





I'm really happy with the development of all five of these pictured and looking forward to their racing futures.

[henthorn]

Thought I'd add comparison photos from their baby shots just for the fun of it. You'll recognize some of these from days past. ENJOY!

AGENT RED





BUSY SEASON





STARLIGHT BAY



DREAMS ON THE WIND



ISLAND FLAIR

[spex4me]

thank you for posting. I am fascinated with the growth process in TB's.... my walking horses literally look like ragamuffins until at least 4. Tb's seem to grow into an elegance much easier. I love it..... I have been googling trying to find a pictorial of a horse growing from month (birth onward) to month. All I can find is a human baby growing from month to month, and that is sooooooo not what I am looking for!!!

[imnumberjuan]

Great pictures henthorn!

[henthorn]

Did any of you astute observers notice what I did when I compared the baby pix with the paddock photo of the bay filly Starlight Bay? It's not the same girl! The paddock photo distinctly shows at least two legs with white markings, and the second baby photo of the filly definitely shows NO WHITE.

It turns out that when the filly was sent to the training facility in August, one of the farm owner's TB fillies was switched by accident. We have now switched out the girls again, and are ready to break my 3yo filly. I guess my plans for her winning on the grass this spring look a little premature now. Summer, maybe.

I am of the school of "all things happen for a reason", so we'll accept this little hiccup and go forward.

[imnumberjuan]

Henthorn,

That reminds me of a horse named Sassy Linda. Now she ran against my mare knocking heads in open claiming for a summer, when half way through meet (August?) they announced prior to a race that post position # Foxy Belle was formerly named Sassy Linda.

I thought "what the hell?" and called my partner to see if he had heard it (we live 4 horus apart - we race in Vancouver but live in Alberta) and he said he missed it and told me to tighten the lids on my markers

On his next trip to Vancouver he got the story - the mare Foxey Belle was supposed to have gone to the breeding shed and Sassy Linda was supposed to return to the races - and it didn't get caught until the hair sample to the Jockey Club was sent in

[henthorn]

Juan, I seem to be prone to mixups. That's why I'm trying to simplify my horse business. A couple years ago the consignor sold the wrong horse as my yearling colt. The people in these two stories are totally unconnected and I don't have a big stable.