I apologize for the slow uptake on the blog entry, but the last week has been filled with good times, new friends and even some polka music. Last Saturday, I attended the wedding of Laura’s brother Ryan and his new bride Jamie in St. Louis. It was a great day and everything went off perfectly. I even got to drive around some family relatives including Laura’s grandpa, who, wouldn’t you know it, is a harness racing fan! What are the odds of that? Not surprisingly, In Over My Head was making his return to the track after the last debacle (that led to the 5 Worst Experiences post) on Saturday night. So, I was obviously not going to watch the race. We had entered him in a non-winner of 4 races at The Meadowlands in New Jersey that went for a purse of $18,000. Not too shabby. This would be his first trip back at ‘The Big M’ since his huge 3rd place finish in the Junior Trendsetter Final last February. There is something very cool about being able to enter your horse to race at The Big M on a Saturday night. Although competition has increased at other tracks out east, it remains the première track in North America and being able to send a horse up there has kind of a feeling of pride to it. That pride can obviously disappear quickly if you don’t race well. Luckily for us, Mr. Mo did a good job in helping us forget the pain of the prior race.
Saturday night’s race marked the 5th time Mo has raced at The Meadowlands since we owned him. I love racing there, but I’ve only been able to watch him live once. Previously, I’ve missed races for a work conference in Phoenix, two basketball games and now a wedding. That’s the thing about owning a horse. It is so much fun to watch them (especially live at the track), but sometimes it just doesn’t work. Luckily for me, Greg and Danny were down at the usual spot in South Beloit and the plan was for Danny to give me text updates as they became available. I remember when the first one buzzed my phone. The problem was I couldn’t look at it. We were still in the middle of dinner and I didn’t want to be distracted. Of course, the text made me think. I thought back to the break he made in the Pennsylvania Sire Series on July 16th, I thought back to all the breaks he made as a 2 year old. What happens if he did it again? Another last place finish? What would we do? Maybe he was hurt after all. The fun of the wedding was able to push those thoughts out of my head until about 15 minutes later when the next text buzz occurred. Five minutes later, there was another one. At this point, dinner was winding down and my mind was racing (no pun indented). It was time to take a peak at my phone. My heart rate went up a few notches as I pulled up the texts. The first just said ‘about 15 minutes to post time’…guess I could have read that one when I got it. The next one carried the important message: ‘3rd raced good’. Whew…what a relief. And that’s what it was, a relief. This race wasn’t about celebrating or even hoping for a win. It was about making sure that In Over My Head was still healthy, still strong and still the racehorse we hoped he was. It turns out he just missed 2nd place (by a neck). He reminded us why we think so much of him.
Mo proved to us that he belongs amongst the top 3 year olds. Not the upper crust, but the next tier. He can complete and rack up top 3 finishes. The horses he raced against on Saturday night were virtually all 2nd tier stakes horses. Now, after being knocked out of contention in the Pennsylvania Sire Series due to nothing more than a fluke race in which he was tipped out too soon, we have formulated our backup plan. It is a plan that was validated by his competitive race on Saturday. Although a Plan B, the new plan hopefully will end up being a lot of fun as it will include a trip back to the Land of Lincoln (a place Mo hasn’t raced since that sad Thursday night last October talked about early in the blog). We will take him down to Springfield and Duquion to race in the 3 year old open events going for $30,000 - $40,000. I think he’ll be competitive and the cool thing is we can ditch South Beloit and go watch him race live. One more race next week out east first before he ships home. Heres to hoping the new plan actually turns out better than the old one.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Top 5 worst race experiences ever (which, unfortunately, includes last night)
I have to be honest, last night was too painful. I can’t write an entire blog on the race. It was the racing equivalent of being hit across the face with a 2x4. Maybe worse. I think I would have rather taken a 2x4 to the chops to be honest. It is at least a tie. No, the more I think about it, I’d take the 2x4. At least I could sit and watch the replay over and over while nursing my busted up face. That would make me happy, although it might hurt to smile. Anyway, from the ‘misery loves company’ department, here are my top five worst racing moments ever. Enjoy:
5 – This wasn’t specifically tied to a race, but it involved my first ever horse, Arizona Attack. We claimed Attack back in the summer of 2003 and put him back into race the next week. He finished 6th, which was kind of a tough way to start as owners, but that was just the start of it. The next morning, he banged a front leg somewhere (maybe the stall, it is hard to tell for sure) and was out injured for a month. So we buy him, race him once, make no money, then get shut down for a month and have to pay extra vet bills. I’m sure the 3 guys I brought in with me on that venture were veeeery pleased. Luckily for us, Attack came back to race pretty solid to lessen the overall financial pain.
4 – It was the summer of 2004 and I was living in Chicago. She Grins Again was coming off a strong 5th place finish going for $40,000 in Springfield (she was only beat a length in a very bunched up finish) and was down in Duquoin to race for similar money. I rented a car from someplace downtown after work on Friday and got up early Saturday morning to head down. Duquoin is at the very southern tip of Illinois, and is about a 4.5 to 5 hour drive each way. Undeterred, I cruised on down, hoping to see something good. I got down there, found Grinny back in the barn and watched a couple of races. There were only two races to go before her start when it started to rain. The fast moving storm blew over in about 15 minutes and the horses got back on the track. Five minutes later, it started to rain again. Another ten minutes later, they cancelled the rest of the races and I drove 5 hours back to Chicago. If I ever did a ‘trips that didn’t go as planned’ list, this may be #1. As if this wasn’t enough, they rescheduled the races for the next day and Rob Cook and I headed down to the betting parlor on Weed Street to watch Grinny go. She had drawn the rail and had a good chance at a nice chunk of that purse. Instead, she made a break at the start and finished last. My stomach literally just turned over thinking about it. Now that is a bad racing weekend, but it still does not crack the top 3.
3 – In one of our first big trips as horse owners, my brother, Rob, Schlitz and I headed down to Indianapolis to watch She Grins Again (Grinny with the not so great notoriety of making this list twice) complete in a $100,000 two year old event. We knew she had a very slim (to no) chance of winning, but for $100,000, even 5th place gets you $5,000. After leaving well to start the race, she found the perfect spot behind the heavy favorite, Arts Bid, just after the first quarter. John Butenschoen turned to me and said ‘we’ll see how long she can follow the leader’. Unfortunately for us, not quite long enough. She faded badly in the stretch and finished 6th. In case you are keeping track at home, 6th is good for exactly 0% of the purse money. My favorite quote of the night was from my brother. After heading to a bar afterward and putting back a couple of fruity shots at the suggestion of the waitress, he just turned and said ‘you got anything stronger than this?’ Whisky followed. It did the trick.
2 – Would have to be last night. We were in position to get a 2nd over trip and In Over My Head was full of pace with a half mile to go. Instead of safely tipping outside to catch cover (a move that would have landed him either a win or a second place finish…that is not an exaggeration, it was his race to take at this point), the driver pulled him too early and his front right leg clipped the wheel of another bike. This sent him into a gallop and he finished last, knocking us not only out of the race, but out of contention in the Pennsylvania Sire Series. Pretty sickening. It was so upsetting I could hardly talk afterward for about a half hour and still haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the replay. An enormous opportunity missed that we won’t get back. Ugh.
1 – Even after feeling completely deflated after last night’s race, I still have to say the worst ever was the Orange and Blue final back in 2007. The week before, Westside Gritty had won her elimination in 1.52.2, tying a 10 year old track record set by Ohyouprettything. In doing so, she beat the two best horses in her division, giving us hope that Gritty was actually the best. The Orange and Blue went for $260,000 and while I was only a 10% owner, a win would be a significant payday. Even more, the week before (after her big win in the elimination) a Madison paper did a small story about her. We were riding high as a kite, which made the ensuing crash the most painful ever. She drew outside that night and after leaving toward the front, no one opened up a hole for her to drop into. Sam Widger, in particular, absolutely screwed us that night by hanging us outside. Yes, I remember who the driver was and if you ask me 50 years from now, I still will. Anyway, she had no choice but to try and fight all the way to the front and she did her best, but the pace was too fast and she eventually succumbed to fatigue (any horse would have) and finished 8th. I remember another partial owner who had made the trip from Madison asked if we could go back to the barn and see the horses afterward. Reeling from my then shattered hopes and dreams, I responded with, ‘nope, I’m going home’ threw down my race program, got in my car and took off. Sorry KC, that was a jerk move on my part.
There you have it. The top 5 worst racing experiences ever. Hopefully there will be another good one soon so I can write the top 5 best moments. The feels like a million miles away right now. Ugh.
5 – This wasn’t specifically tied to a race, but it involved my first ever horse, Arizona Attack. We claimed Attack back in the summer of 2003 and put him back into race the next week. He finished 6th, which was kind of a tough way to start as owners, but that was just the start of it. The next morning, he banged a front leg somewhere (maybe the stall, it is hard to tell for sure) and was out injured for a month. So we buy him, race him once, make no money, then get shut down for a month and have to pay extra vet bills. I’m sure the 3 guys I brought in with me on that venture were veeeery pleased. Luckily for us, Attack came back to race pretty solid to lessen the overall financial pain.
4 – It was the summer of 2004 and I was living in Chicago. She Grins Again was coming off a strong 5th place finish going for $40,000 in Springfield (she was only beat a length in a very bunched up finish) and was down in Duquoin to race for similar money. I rented a car from someplace downtown after work on Friday and got up early Saturday morning to head down. Duquoin is at the very southern tip of Illinois, and is about a 4.5 to 5 hour drive each way. Undeterred, I cruised on down, hoping to see something good. I got down there, found Grinny back in the barn and watched a couple of races. There were only two races to go before her start when it started to rain. The fast moving storm blew over in about 15 minutes and the horses got back on the track. Five minutes later, it started to rain again. Another ten minutes later, they cancelled the rest of the races and I drove 5 hours back to Chicago. If I ever did a ‘trips that didn’t go as planned’ list, this may be #1. As if this wasn’t enough, they rescheduled the races for the next day and Rob Cook and I headed down to the betting parlor on Weed Street to watch Grinny go. She had drawn the rail and had a good chance at a nice chunk of that purse. Instead, she made a break at the start and finished last. My stomach literally just turned over thinking about it. Now that is a bad racing weekend, but it still does not crack the top 3.
3 – In one of our first big trips as horse owners, my brother, Rob, Schlitz and I headed down to Indianapolis to watch She Grins Again (Grinny with the not so great notoriety of making this list twice) complete in a $100,000 two year old event. We knew she had a very slim (to no) chance of winning, but for $100,000, even 5th place gets you $5,000. After leaving well to start the race, she found the perfect spot behind the heavy favorite, Arts Bid, just after the first quarter. John Butenschoen turned to me and said ‘we’ll see how long she can follow the leader’. Unfortunately for us, not quite long enough. She faded badly in the stretch and finished 6th. In case you are keeping track at home, 6th is good for exactly 0% of the purse money. My favorite quote of the night was from my brother. After heading to a bar afterward and putting back a couple of fruity shots at the suggestion of the waitress, he just turned and said ‘you got anything stronger than this?’ Whisky followed. It did the trick.
2 – Would have to be last night. We were in position to get a 2nd over trip and In Over My Head was full of pace with a half mile to go. Instead of safely tipping outside to catch cover (a move that would have landed him either a win or a second place finish…that is not an exaggeration, it was his race to take at this point), the driver pulled him too early and his front right leg clipped the wheel of another bike. This sent him into a gallop and he finished last, knocking us not only out of the race, but out of contention in the Pennsylvania Sire Series. Pretty sickening. It was so upsetting I could hardly talk afterward for about a half hour and still haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the replay. An enormous opportunity missed that we won’t get back. Ugh.
1 – Even after feeling completely deflated after last night’s race, I still have to say the worst ever was the Orange and Blue final back in 2007. The week before, Westside Gritty had won her elimination in 1.52.2, tying a 10 year old track record set by Ohyouprettything. In doing so, she beat the two best horses in her division, giving us hope that Gritty was actually the best. The Orange and Blue went for $260,000 and while I was only a 10% owner, a win would be a significant payday. Even more, the week before (after her big win in the elimination) a Madison paper did a small story about her. We were riding high as a kite, which made the ensuing crash the most painful ever. She drew outside that night and after leaving toward the front, no one opened up a hole for her to drop into. Sam Widger, in particular, absolutely screwed us that night by hanging us outside. Yes, I remember who the driver was and if you ask me 50 years from now, I still will. Anyway, she had no choice but to try and fight all the way to the front and she did her best, but the pace was too fast and she eventually succumbed to fatigue (any horse would have) and finished 8th. I remember another partial owner who had made the trip from Madison asked if we could go back to the barn and see the horses afterward. Reeling from my then shattered hopes and dreams, I responded with, ‘nope, I’m going home’ threw down my race program, got in my car and took off. Sorry KC, that was a jerk move on my part.
There you have it. The top 5 worst racing experiences ever. Hopefully there will be another good one soon so I can write the top 5 best moments. The feels like a million miles away right now. Ugh.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Not Even Jim Thorpe Won Every Time
Did you realize there is a town in eastern Pennsylvania named Jim Thorpe? Well, there is and guess what? Jim Thorpe never set foot in the town…well at least not until he was died. Upon his death, his family looked for a town in which he could be burred and renamed to memorize the early twentieth century star. He was called the greatest athlete in the world at the 1912 Olympics and later was considered the Athlete of the Century (a title Terrell Buckley attempted to take from him as a cornerback for the Packers…it didn’t go too well). Jim Thorpe is now a small tourist town and was part of the tour de Pennsylvanian Laura and I took last week. The trip also included a short stop in Scranton (no sign of Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute or Jim and Pam) and a night at Pocono Downs to watch In Over My Head battle in the second leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes.
When the draw came out for this race, I knew Mr. Mo was going to be in for a real challenge. First, we drew post position 8, the farthest outside. Second, our field was full of more than capable challengers including River Shark (a real speed demon), Bunkmeister (finished second in the first leg of the series) and Picassos Boy among others. We hoped that we would be able to leave the gate aggressively and get toward the front within the first quarter of a mile. Doing so would allow us to avoid having to make up a lot of ground from the back, which is difficult to do when facing such a tough field. Sometimes the best plans just don’t work out the way you hope.
The trip to Pocono Downs started with Laura and I heading back to some of the on site barns to see John Butenschoen and In Over My Head in his regular home. He looked ready to race by the time we got there as he was just about to head up to the paddock (where the go before the race). From there we headed back toward the track and grabbed an outside table near the finish line for a couple of pre race brews. I was surprised how calm I was for the first race or two. Maybe is was the fact we didn’t have as much to lose that night. I was very hopeful for a big race out of Mo, but I also knew he was up against a tough group with the worst post position. Maybe Laura kept me calm, I’m not too sure. I do know that by the start of the 3rd race (we were in the 5tt) all of that short lived calmness quickly disappeared. The pre race tension was back in full force and we headed down to find a spot right on the fence.
Just like every race, the nervous anticipation in the last 15 minutes or so is just crippling. It is hard to even put together a full coherent thought. All this buildup for 2 minutes of race and as an owner, you have no control over what is about to happen. There is lots of pacing back and forth and looking at the program, which in reality just is a jumbled mess of letters and numbers at that point. It is hard to process much information that close to the start of the race. Laura and I watched him warm up and chatted about how I hoped the race would unfold. Hope, unfortunately, is not a strategy.
So after 14 hours of driving and a few hours at the track, I knew within the first 5 seconds that we really had almost no chance to win. Kind of a bummer, huh? The horse inside of us (the #7 horse) was acting up going to the gate to the point that our driver couldn’t take the chance to charge at the gate and attempt to get toward the front like we had hoped to for fear he might get run into. What a horrible stroke of luck that was. He had to institute plan B, which was to simply fall to the back and hope to make up as much ground as possible. A few seconds into the race, we were already over 10 lengths off the lead. As they made their first trip past the grandstand (where we were standing), I got a quick hint of hope: Pavia had tipped Mo to the outside and he was really building up a head of steam. He went from 8th to 6th and was on the move. At this point I was thinking we had a tiny chance, but things need to pan out perfectly. We needed a horse from the inside (preferably a top one like River Shark) to also tip to the outside and we would follow them towards (and hopefully all the way) to the front. Well, that is kind of what happened. Unfortunately for us, the timing didn’t work in our favor. River Shark did, in fact, tip outside, but he did so at a much slower pace then we were currently going (remember, we had already began our charge and he was just starting his). This caused our driver to have to pull Mo up and break his momentum. Imagine driving down a two lane highway. There are two cars in front of you that you want to pass. Your plan is to build up a head of steam and go past both of them all at once. Then, at the last second, the second car also moves out to pass and you have to hit the breaks. That’s kind of what happened and it was the last straw in our chance to make a major move.
In the end, Mo raced big and finished strong in a time of 1.52.1 (his personal best) to finish 5th. Fifth is still good for 5% of the purse money, so at least that helped. In the end, Bunkmeister won it in 1.50.4. I truly believe that Mo can race with any of those horses, but he isn’t necessarily better, so things kind of have to break your way sometimes. It is like an old saying Barry Alverez used to use: good on good. When Wisconsin football was at its best under Coach Alverez, they won a lot more than they lost, but sometimes you would face another good team that would just beat you. Good on good. That night, he just got beat. It happens, but he’ll be back, that’s for sure.
The next stop in our journey will be back at The Meadows on July 16th for the 3rd leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Series. This is really a big one. After the first two legs, we are currently ranked 15th per my unofficial ranking. That would put us in the $50,000 consolation in mid September. The top 9 make the $200,000 final, with the next 9 in the consolation. We have some pretty serious work to do to have a shot at the final. In reality, we need a win. Hopefully, we will get a little race luck to go our way on the 16th.
In other news, Danny and is now the winningest driver in the history of Wisconsin…at least when looking at overall win percentage. He is one for one! He piloted Mr. Prince to victory at the Mineral Point Matinee on Sunday June 29th. After getting to the lead and going a blistering first quarter pace of 37 seconds (sorry Danny, I had to throw one jab about that), he held off a couple of challenges and coasted home for at 2 length victory. Nice work!
When the draw came out for this race, I knew Mr. Mo was going to be in for a real challenge. First, we drew post position 8, the farthest outside. Second, our field was full of more than capable challengers including River Shark (a real speed demon), Bunkmeister (finished second in the first leg of the series) and Picassos Boy among others. We hoped that we would be able to leave the gate aggressively and get toward the front within the first quarter of a mile. Doing so would allow us to avoid having to make up a lot of ground from the back, which is difficult to do when facing such a tough field. Sometimes the best plans just don’t work out the way you hope.
The trip to Pocono Downs started with Laura and I heading back to some of the on site barns to see John Butenschoen and In Over My Head in his regular home. He looked ready to race by the time we got there as he was just about to head up to the paddock (where the go before the race). From there we headed back toward the track and grabbed an outside table near the finish line for a couple of pre race brews. I was surprised how calm I was for the first race or two. Maybe is was the fact we didn’t have as much to lose that night. I was very hopeful for a big race out of Mo, but I also knew he was up against a tough group with the worst post position. Maybe Laura kept me calm, I’m not too sure. I do know that by the start of the 3rd race (we were in the 5tt) all of that short lived calmness quickly disappeared. The pre race tension was back in full force and we headed down to find a spot right on the fence.
Just like every race, the nervous anticipation in the last 15 minutes or so is just crippling. It is hard to even put together a full coherent thought. All this buildup for 2 minutes of race and as an owner, you have no control over what is about to happen. There is lots of pacing back and forth and looking at the program, which in reality just is a jumbled mess of letters and numbers at that point. It is hard to process much information that close to the start of the race. Laura and I watched him warm up and chatted about how I hoped the race would unfold. Hope, unfortunately, is not a strategy.
So after 14 hours of driving and a few hours at the track, I knew within the first 5 seconds that we really had almost no chance to win. Kind of a bummer, huh? The horse inside of us (the #7 horse) was acting up going to the gate to the point that our driver couldn’t take the chance to charge at the gate and attempt to get toward the front like we had hoped to for fear he might get run into. What a horrible stroke of luck that was. He had to institute plan B, which was to simply fall to the back and hope to make up as much ground as possible. A few seconds into the race, we were already over 10 lengths off the lead. As they made their first trip past the grandstand (where we were standing), I got a quick hint of hope: Pavia had tipped Mo to the outside and he was really building up a head of steam. He went from 8th to 6th and was on the move. At this point I was thinking we had a tiny chance, but things need to pan out perfectly. We needed a horse from the inside (preferably a top one like River Shark) to also tip to the outside and we would follow them towards (and hopefully all the way) to the front. Well, that is kind of what happened. Unfortunately for us, the timing didn’t work in our favor. River Shark did, in fact, tip outside, but he did so at a much slower pace then we were currently going (remember, we had already began our charge and he was just starting his). This caused our driver to have to pull Mo up and break his momentum. Imagine driving down a two lane highway. There are two cars in front of you that you want to pass. Your plan is to build up a head of steam and go past both of them all at once. Then, at the last second, the second car also moves out to pass and you have to hit the breaks. That’s kind of what happened and it was the last straw in our chance to make a major move.
In the end, Mo raced big and finished strong in a time of 1.52.1 (his personal best) to finish 5th. Fifth is still good for 5% of the purse money, so at least that helped. In the end, Bunkmeister won it in 1.50.4. I truly believe that Mo can race with any of those horses, but he isn’t necessarily better, so things kind of have to break your way sometimes. It is like an old saying Barry Alverez used to use: good on good. When Wisconsin football was at its best under Coach Alverez, they won a lot more than they lost, but sometimes you would face another good team that would just beat you. Good on good. That night, he just got beat. It happens, but he’ll be back, that’s for sure.
The next stop in our journey will be back at The Meadows on July 16th for the 3rd leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Series. This is really a big one. After the first two legs, we are currently ranked 15th per my unofficial ranking. That would put us in the $50,000 consolation in mid September. The top 9 make the $200,000 final, with the next 9 in the consolation. We have some pretty serious work to do to have a shot at the final. In reality, we need a win. Hopefully, we will get a little race luck to go our way on the 16th.
In other news, Danny and is now the winningest driver in the history of Wisconsin…at least when looking at overall win percentage. He is one for one! He piloted Mr. Prince to victory at the Mineral Point Matinee on Sunday June 29th. After getting to the lead and going a blistering first quarter pace of 37 seconds (sorry Danny, I had to throw one jab about that), he held off a couple of challenges and coasted home for at 2 length victory. Nice work!
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