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.
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.
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.
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