I have a favorite horse at the local racetrack. I go whenever she races and I've been watching her for about two years.
Today she was entered in a stakes race above her head. I figured originally that this entry was for some rather acceptable reasons. Her owners have a large stable of which she is the best and they have never had a stakes horse. The race was also low on entries.
She ran last. Took the lead early and stopped hard in the stretch. Not unexpected for a horse that is used to running in $10-20k claimers in a stakes race.
EXCEPT.
The winner stayed at her jockey's knee the entire race. She played the rabbit for that horse who easily pulled ahead too late for closers.
a) Although a speed horse earlier in her life, she has been a stalker/closer in all of her starts this year (except in a rather uncontested start). She's done much better with this approach.
b) The trainer of the eventual winner used to be her trainer. In actuality, he/she still is. Both trainers and very close, sharing clients and passing horses back and forth between barns. The winner of the race was owned by the biggest client of both trainers.
Now, I never expected the horse to win, but it makes me sad that they would potentially use her this way. She is a very honest horse who pays her own way (and the way of several of her stablemates). She doesn't deserve to be a better horse's rabbit
Most people wouldn't notice, but this mare is really what I imagine a racehorse to be. It broke my heart to watch her fall back and try to come back again in the early stretch only to find herself empty. She never leaves the track without using everything she has. I have seen her come back many of times. She's one of those few horses that will lose the lead in the stretch only to come back strong with something more before the wire. I imagine that if the race had been run differently (she hadn't been pushed to the lead... there was enough speed in the race for that to work.) she could have done better and wouldn't have looked so terrible afterwards.
~Adrienne
