If I could draw up a picture perfect Saturday, it might look something like this: sleep in, get some breakfast, hop in my car, drive down to watch In Over My Head race, drive back to Madison, go to a Badger football game with friends/ clients, take in some postgame fun afterward. That is exactly how Saturday was supposed to work out, but due to an intervention by Mother Nature, we had to do a little bit of improvising. Luckily, it all worked out just fine.
In Over My Head was set to make his second Illinois State Fair start in DuQuoin in the 3 year old open Hayes Memorial Stake race. It was a similar race to Springfield with a little larger purse ($46,000) and a couple of new arrivals to make the race noticeably more difficult. Nob Hill High and Ideal Danny joined the fray and along with our regular rival My Boy Luke. This event proved to be a real test to Mo’s ability.
The morning line oddsmakers didn’t seem to have much faith. Despite a favorable post position of 3, he was picked 5th in the program at 8-1. I could understand Nob Hill High and Ideal Danny being at lower odds. They have raced in some of the largest national events this year. Ideal Danny had a mark of 1.49.4. It made sense, but Mo was also picked behind My Boy Luke (who he had beat two times in a row) and Boccio, an untested colt with a very limited resume. We were getting the Rodney Dangerfield treatment, but it didn’t matter too much. The race would set everyone straight eventually.
So the plan was simple: drive to South Beloit, watch the races and then drive back to Madison for the football game. The plan was thrown off as soon as Danny and I arrived down in South Beloit. Instead of sitting down to watch the 1st race, we were watching a screen that simply said the races had been postponed due to rain. We got a hold of John and he said the plan was to reevaluate the track at 1pm (in about a half hour) to see if they would try and race or just cancel the races. The thought of canceling was not a good one. In Over My Head need a race and we thought we had a good chance at a big chunk of that purse given how sharp he had been. We also had Andy Miller at the reigns, which had proven to be an excellent combination. That also changed at 1pm when we found out that the races were being moved back 5 hours to a 5pm start. Also, Miller (along with other top drivers Brian Sears, Tim Teitrick and others) were leaving. There was a huge race card up in Canada that night and they couldn’t risk missing those events. We were driverless.
I’d like to thank Tyler Butenschoen for keeping us informed and being down at DuQuoin to secure a driver for us. After the group left for Canada, there were only a couple to choose from. We ended up landing Dale Hiteman, a long time veteran of the Chicago circuit. While we didn’t know how he would work with In Over My Head, we at least knew we had a guy who had been through rigors of a race many times over. Once this was all figured out, it was time to hit the road. Danny and I had to get back to Madison for the game. Unfortunately, my brother Kirk and Dad also met us in South Beloit only to turn around and head home almost as soon as they got there. On the way back to Madison, Danny and I agreed this was just something you have to roll with. One of those things in life you can’t control, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. The delay, the driver change, uncertainly of more rain that could wash the race away. Expectations for the day had dropped.
Danny and I felt our new plan was rather workable. He conveniently lives just a block from Camp Randall Stadium. I was going to do my duty entertaining clients at the game and at the end I would say my goodbyes and head over to his house for an internet viewing of the race. Greg, unfortunately, didn’t have that luxury and got to spend his entire day in the greater Beloit area. Twelve hours of waiting to watch a 2 minutes race. Now THAT is dedication! Per my timing, I expected the race to go off at about 9pm, which was perfect. The Badger game would be about over and it would be no problem to head out. Also, Bucky was surprising their somewhat skeptical fan base (myself included) by jumping out to a big lead on Northern Illinois. After a frustrating season in 2008, this was looking much better…even if it was just Northern Illinois.
In the middle of a conversation, my phone buzzed, but I didn’t bother to look until 20 minutes later, which is when my heart rate began its standard pre race climb. Apparently, they were getting through the races faster than expected and the text was from Danny, “When are you coming? They are on the 8th race”…and that was 20 minutes ago. I quickly got back to him and found out it was 10 minutes to post. I had a decision to make. The game was only just starting the 4th quarter and all my guests were still in the suite. Do I skip the race? Do I just leave and explain myself later? I decided to do what most rational people would think is the right thing: stay at the game and entertain your clients. The race can go on without you. It is your paycheck after all that allows you to own race horses. The next 60 seconds was filled with swirling thought of In Over My Head racing for $46,000. Heart rate increasing….sweat beginning to form…mind continuing to race in 50 different directions, which lead to. “Guys, I’m really sorry, but I have to go…I have a horse racing in like 10 minutes…glad you could make it.” With that, I was gone. No one ever said owning a race horse is rational anyway.
As soon as I reached the bottom of the elevator, my phone buzzed again “5 mtp”. Damn, I just skipped out of the game, now I CAN’T miss the race. So, I started to run. Running and weaving through the scattered red clad fans all looking at me with the look of ‘where the hell is he going’ on their face. I came to my only real obstacle, which was a lighted intersection. It flipped to walk right as I jogged up to it. I’m in the clear. I rang Danny and met him in back of his house before being ushered around a few party patrons to his room where he had the computer all set up. It was at 2 minutes to post when we all got settled (Danny, his girlfriend Kasey, his sister Kim and myself). Now it was time to sit back and see what was about to unfold.
We all agreed before hand that getting In Over My Head off the gate was a key to the race for us. He has such good gate speed that you have to use it to help get into position and despite being on him for the first time, that is exactly what ‘The Hitman’ Hiteman did. He got Mo out of there beautifully and took him to the top. It was déjàvue all over again when My Boy Luke came sweeping up from the outside to take the lead. We sat second and the other two big names sat patiently behind us. Mo continued to follow My Boy Luke past the half, which is when Nob Hill High (who was the favorite at post time) went first over and was followed gamely by Ideal Danny (2nd favorite). In Over My Head had got unexpectedly loose in the pocket a couple of times down the backstretch, which really worried us. Was something wrong? Was he off today? Maybe a bit sick? I was hoping none of the above and remembered John telling us one time that Mo is such a relaxed horse in the pocket that you sometimes have to chase him a bit to keep in on the horse's back in front of him. Given Dale’s lack of experience with the horse, I was hoping that’s all it was. As they came out of the final turn and into the stretch, Mo was back up to My Boy Luke and looked ready to strike. At that point, Nob Hill High had pulled even with My Boy Luke and Ideal Danny was about to tip out to challenge him. We were in fourth and as we entered the stretch and was expecting a powerful charge from In Over My Head, but it didn’t come right away. He was pacing hard, but we were unsure if he could make up enough ground against this talented group in front of him. Over the next 12 or so seconds, I had accepted a 4th place finish. The other horses had a bit of a head start and were just too fast to sprint past. Luckily for us, Mo had one more move in reserve. With no more than 100 yards to go, the top four horses were nearing a bunch and we were still in the back. Mo was chewing up ground and with one incredibly quick speed burst shot from 4th, to 3rd and right at the wire, he inched past Ideal Danny and into 2nd place. While he didn’t get to the winner (Nob Hill High), we were thrilled.
In Over My Head had just put up another incredibly strong effort. He again showed why we love watching him race. He showed heart and guts to go along with his speed. With the exception of the race back at the Meadows when he clipped a wheel and broke, he is always flying in the stretch. He paces beyond the wire every time. He had that same look that he did at Balmoral the race before when we watched the replay. Head swaying side to side with each step as he goes after any horse in front of him. You can almost read his mind “I’m going to catch that son of a gun if it’s the last thing I do.” Much to our liking, he usually does and in the last couple of races, he’s been beating some very solid horses. We beat Ideal Danny. We just got beat part of a length to Nob Hill High who is heading off to the Little Brown Jug to face the premiere 3 year olds in North America. In Over My Head always races with his head up, like he is full of pride. After our last few races, the owners are feeling a sense of pride too. We know now he is no fluke. We are proud that our risky purchase has gone from an immature speed horse with a propensity for making multiple breaks to a fast, gutsy and easy to handle racehorse. We aren’t sure how much better he will get. We still aren’t totally sure how fast he is. He hasn’t put up that gaudy 1:50 mile yet, but he hasn’t had to. All he does is race hard and beat other horses. I’ll take that any day.
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