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.
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