The Train Keeps Rollin

I haven’t checked in for awhile here at the blog, but things have been going quite well for Mr. Mo and his quest to become the greatest racehorse stabled at Pocono Downs, trained by John Butenschoen and owned by two guys who live in Wisconsin (a relatively small pool of horses). First before I get into racing, note the title of this entry. A couple of friends and I took in the Areosmith show at Alpine Valley a couple of weeks ago and I have to say, those dudes can still bring it. Great show that I’d highly recommend. Anyway, since his big 2nd place finish in the first leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Series, he has come back for two tightners and finished a strong 2nd on June 16th and was back in last night.

Last night was a fun one. Our group of three (plus race fan Jeremy Schlitz), headed down to our South Beloit off track betting parlor hangout to watch the race. I had missed the race the week before due to contractual obligations as the first basemen of the Urban Achievers, our men’s slow pitch softball team. It hasn’t been the best year for the Achievers, so I was glad when the race fell on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday so I could partake in both. It was steak night on Wednesday, but Schlitz said afterward we made a good decision getting a hamburger. Anyway, we were enjoying a night of losing virtually all of our bets until Mo’s race. We were all pretty nervous because we knew he had a legit chance to win (although he was the 2nd betting favorite). Even with a good horse wins are very hard to come by and this field had enough talent in it to knock us off.

The race started very well for us as driver Joe Pavia got Mo right off the gate and to the front with relative ease. Coming around the first turn into the first of three straight-aways on a 5/8s mile track, a long shot was coming up on our outside as he didn’t find a place to drop on the rail. This was concerning. He was going to try and make it all the way to the front so he wasn’t hung out the entire mile. We didn’t want to let him go since we didn’t want to be stuck behind a long shot. The result was that we had to work a bit harder than we hoped on the front end to continuously fend him off. Around the 2nd turn we slowly pulled a length in front, which also helped as the favorite, Precious Medal, was behind the long shot. Just after the half mile mark, Precious Medal got anxious and went around the long shot who was beginning to fall back. I thought the challenge would come from the outside, but the real challenge was sitting right behind us. Rapid Centurian had the perfect trip, following right behind Mo the entire way. Going into the last turn, it became clear that the betting public picked the wrong horse as Precious Medal began to fall back and Mo started to pull away from everyone…everyone except Rapid Centurian. As they turned for home, it became a two horse race. Rapid Centurian came up the inside and Mo dug in as we hollered at the 10 inch TV and hit the table in support of our colt. As they hit the wire, Rapid Centurian’s bid for an upset fell a neck short and Mr. Mo had his first win under our ownership. It wasn’t a major victory, but half of a $9,500 purse is nothing to shake a stick at…and we finally get to order a win picture (which I will post once I get it).

You would never guess what happened after our mini celebration and cashing of winning tickets. The song came on. What song you ask? ‘Over My Head’ from the Frey. Honestly, I remember hearing it out in Pittsburgh when Danny and I walked into the casino. And now RIGHT after our race at an off track betting parlor in South Beloit! Are you kidding me??? A little bit eerie if you ask me. The other kind of ‘strange’ thing that happened was right before our race, we heard a familiar name being called over the speaker of a nearby TV. Blue Man Group. Blue Man is In Over My Head’s half brother (the story of that is back in an early blog post). I haven’t heard his name in a long time, but he was racing at Ocean Downs in Maryland last night and we just happened to hear his name being called. Also kind of eerie. Blue Man finished 3rd, which is a good finish for the little guy. Just a quick backtrack, if these two brothers were humans, Mo would be about 6’3” and Blue Man would be about 5’6”.

So now we are all set for leg 2 of the Pennsylvania Sire Series to be raced next Tuesday at Pocono Downs. I will be heading out with the lovely Laura as she gets her first taste of live horse racing. I’m sure she’ll enjoy watching me in my standard panicky freaked out nervous state of mind before the race starts. Some of the big dogs from last time, Lis Again (winner), Johnny Z (2nd) and Arctic Warrior (3rd) are all in Toronto racing in the consolation of the North American Cup that goes for $100,000. A special good luck to all those connections especially since they are not racing against us! The final of the North American Cup should be very interest as it is one of the richest events of the year and showcases the best 3 year olds in the US and Canada. The purse of $1.5 million turns a lot of heads. One horse to watch is Annieswesterncard. In Mo’s first lifetime start back at Hawthorne last July he made a very strong move near the end of the race to nearly get his nose in front at the wire, but who do you think was flying up on the outside for the victory? That’s right, Annieswesterncard. Best of luck to those connections as well.

In other racing news, my cousin Danny is about to eclipse a personal milestone this coming Sunday: his first ever start as a driver. Danny will be driving Mr. Prince, a 3 year old colt Greg owns in the Mineral Point matinee. Best of luck to Danny and hopefully he can get his driving win percentage up to 100%!

A Successful Trip to The Meadows

Danny and I are back from Steel City and luckily for us, our trip to watch In Over My Head in his first stakes action of the season was well worth it. It has been months since I got a chance to see him race in person and I kind of forgot just how nervous I get at the track. It is nearly crippling. In a goofy way, though, that is exactly why it is fun to own a horse. Danny was doing better than I was, but I think my negative nervousness ended up bring him down just before post time. We can laugh about it now, though. Our horse performed admirably.

We got in at about 11am after an early morning flight and immediately went to the Meadows track, or what used to be the Meadows track. It is now a track/ casino and I have to say, the facility is a perfect example of what a racing venue should look like in the 2000s and beyond. Gone are the massive grandstands. They simply aren’t needed anymore. With off track betting, internet betting, video replays, on track patrons just don’t flock like they used to. They have nice seating outside, a large apron, seating inside with views of the track from numerous dining areas (from a food court to a higher end restaurant). The casino blends nicely into the race area and the first level also includes a Vegas style off track better area. The casino has multiple bars with lounge acts at night. It not just a track. Not just a casino, but a blended entertainment facility. It is clean, bright and welcoming. If Illinois could stop arguing and put a facility like that at Maywood Park, the results would be off the charts. I digress. Back to the trip.

I put a call into our trainer, John Butenschoen, when we got there to ask what barn he was in so we could come up and see the horse, but he wasn’t at the track yet. He was broke down on the side of the road. He was riding in with another trainer and they had a trailer full of horses, including our Mo. That was not exactly what I expected to hear. As it turned out, a third trainer John knew was nice enough to stop on the side of the road. He had room for one more horse in his truck and since Mo was in the back of the trailer attached to the broken down rig, so he got to go. John’s wife Jackie got the nerve wrecking job of leading a racehorse from one trailer to another on the side of the interstate as cars and semis flew by at 70 mph. She got him in the other trailer and when I called her shortly thereafter, she and Mo had just arrived at the track. Problem diverted. At least for us.

I’m not real proud of where my mind when next, but I guess I’ll chalk it up to human nature and I think Danny will agree he was in the same boat. In the trailer, still stuck on the side of the road was a horse named Upfront Hoosierboy. Hoosierboy was in our race and was the favorite to win. I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this. Our number one competitor might just end up spending the day on the side of the road and could possibly miss the race. What a selfish thought, but we joked about it possibly happening. Well, Hoosierboy ended up making it well before race time and we were taught a bit of a lesson.

I’m not sure if this trip was just chalk full of omens or I was just overly perceptive, but as we walked out of the casino to head over to the barn to see Jackie and the colt, Over My Head from the Frey was playing over the casino speakers. That song has nothing to do with horses, horse racing or trips to Pittsburgh and I’m not saying it was any kind of omen, but just saying I heard it and the precise time we were walking over to see our horse who shares a similar name. That’s all.

We got back over to the barn to get our first look at the horse we had not seen since buying him at the Meadowlands sale four and a half months before. Boy, that colt looked good. He really wasn’t any larger from a height perspective (maybe a little), but he had really filled out. Looked much stronger, fuller and well balanced. He personality was also a little different. When I saw him previously, he was pretty calm, but he had matured into an aggressively playful young colt. He spent the next 15 minutes trying to bite Danny and I as we caught up with Jackie. That is another reason I like going to the track. It is always fun to see John and Jackie and catch up.

It was time for lunch and after driving around for about 10 minutes, Danny spotted a Chinese buffet and we agreed a big lunch of sauced up deep fried food would be a great idea. The buffet was pretty much as you’d expect it, but the end was a little more than interesting. As our two fortune cookies sat wrapped on the table, Danny said, ‘here it is Shawn, time to get our fortunes.’ Given the fact we had traveled as far as we did and we were about 6 hours to race time, the fortune held much more meaning than a usually trip to eat chicken and broccoli. Danny opened his up first and the fortune was, well, interesting. It said, ‘don’t gain happiness from other people’s sorrow.’ Upfront Hoosierboy was stuck in a trailer on the highway as our horse happily ate lunch in his stall and we were thinking that might help us get into the winners circle. Kind of eye opening, don’t you think? I then grabbed my cookie and snapped it open. ‘Get in your car and go home, nothing good will happen to you here.’ Just kidding, but that’s what I told Danny it said. I then actually read it and got a bit of a chill. ‘Chances are present to make huge personal gains.’

The time between lunch and the race is kind of a blur. We went back to see Mo one more time. Played a few slots. Had a brew or two and before you knew it, the races were on. We were in the 8th race and I swear that the first seven races went by in about 10 minutes. Danny and I found our spot on the rail and watched the horses in our race parade out. Mo looked good on the track. He was being driving by Doug Snyder, who we didn’t know much about and weren’t sure how he would do. Any concerns we had were quickly forgotten once the race started. As we watched him go by again in the warmup, the nervousness was crippling. We used the tension to crack jokes about the race. I was hoping that Mo would finish. Danny thought I was being too negative. We leaned over the rail as if the tension was causing us to lose our lunch. Watching a race on TV is tense. Being at the track adds a multiplier. This was his first big test since it his time off. Was In Over My Head as good as we thought he was? Would he rise to the occasion or crumble under the weight of increased competition he was facing? In addition, a $42,250 purse is no joke. Snagging a chunk of that would go a long way towards paying for his summer racing and maybe even getting to the point of playing with house money so to speak.

After all of this buildup, the race was, quite frankly, kind of melodramatic. Snyder masterfully took Mo off the gate and to the front in the blink of an eye. After holding the lead for just a short time, the aforementioned Upfront Hooiserboy (now bet down to a heavy favorite) took the lead. Danny and I looked at each other with guarded excitement. We had the two-hole trip and all we had to do was play follow the leader and a big chunk of that purse would be ours. The second favorite, Big Ten Champ, moved on the leader between the half and three quarter mark, but as they turned for home, Hoosierboy began to pull away from his first over challenger and Mo was happy to keep on following closely. The stretch run was simple. Hoosierboy went on for the win by about 2 lengths. We took 2nd, clear of the 3rd place horse by about 2 more lengths. In Over My Head raced great and proved he belonged in this class of stakes colts. In only his second start, he went an even faster mile (1.52.4). We have the horse that we had hoped we would when we bought him that brisk January day nearly four and a half months before.

After a good race, it is time to get on the cell phone and start calling everyone who was waiting on the report. I started with my brother, as I always do. Actually, Kirk is really one of the only people I will call whether I goes good or bad. He knows the game better than I do and always has a good piece of advice or shares his congratulations. Then Mom and Dad and Laura. The calls are a lot of fun. Danny and I then headed over to the paddock to see our buddy. He was probably the only horse in the barn that got the rock star treatment of having his picture taken a dozen or so times. He was much more calm and didn’t try and bite us…guessing he was a little tired. We helped John and Jackie get everything back to the original barn and said our goodbyes. Assuming everything goes as planned, we’ll get to see them again at the end of June when Mo has his next stakes event at their home track of Pocono Downs.

Danny and I celebrated the great race by having a couple of cold beverages and trying to hit the Wheel of Fortune slot machines (it didn’t go too well), but it didn’t matter. We were there for the race and the race had gone great. Sometimes a normal life event can teach you a new lesson, or in this case, remind you of one you already knew. Now, I’m not saying that those slips of paper in those cookies were anything more than coincidence. However, it was a little eerie if you ask me. Don’t gain happiness from other people’s sorrow. Had Hoosierboy been stuck on that highway longer, we may have won, but it wouldn’t have been right. The right horse did win that night and we were a game 2nd. Two fortunes were fulfilled that night.

Sire Series Leg 1 Draw

It is amazing just how nerve-wrecking this can be and the nerves don't just kick in for the actual race. Today was a good example of that. At 9am this morning, they drew for the fields in the 1st leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Series to be held at The Meadows racetrack near Pittsburgh this Thursday. They way they do it in the series is to draw even groups of horses. So, if 48 horses enter, you end up with 6 divisional races with 8 horses in each. As you could imagine, there can be a rather large difference in talent depending on where you draw.

There are a number of horses in this event with gaudy winning marks and eye popping earnings on the year including:

- Johnny Z: $176,000 in earnings
- Rusty's All In: $99,000
- Artists Rally: $90,000
- Dan Carter: $50,000 and a mark of 1.50.3

So back to the draw. It was completed with morning starting at about 9am and then it is a waiting game to see when it gets posted on the ustrotting.com website. I went into the 'entries' section and kept hitting refresh until it finally came up at about 1pm. I had a rock in my gut and slowing scrolled down revealing one division after another. When I got to the 8th race, I saw our colt nicely situation in the #5 post position and all of the big names above were not going to be joining him in Thursdays race. Whew.

At the end of the day, you never want to be in over your head (pun intended). You want to ‘fit’ the group you are racing against. That doesn’t mean you will win, but it simply means that if you are feeling right, you can complete. At first glace, I think Mo can compete with this group. This group is not easy (no PASS event ever will be), but again, I think he can compete. That’s all an owner can ask.