After thinking about this for a couple of days, I’m not going to do much race discussion. We were very excited that In Over My Head got a chance to face the best in Chicago and as you will see in the video below, he more than held his own. The trip didn’t go the way we wanted it to and if he had been able to shake free a bit sooner, he would have been right there at the wire. He is in post position #1:
After the race, it was a little bittersweet. He raced great, but a 4th place finish doesn’t feel great. It left us wanting more, but in the end, we decided not to deviate from our plan and will be giving him a mini break. After what he has been through to get to this point, he certainly deserves it.
I’m going to put that last race aside now and think more about what happened in 2011 in order to show proper perspective as to just how far we have come. I was thinking and thinking about how to do that, when Danny sent me an email that jolted me back to a year ago. It was a very sad way reminder of what the mood was like in late 2010.
Here is a portion of our exchange that took place just after we found out that In Over My Head, who had been off for 10 months at that time and was down in Florida attempting to train down to racing shape, was struggling to even do 3 minute training miles. His injured leg was not holding up well. We thought the worst was behind us and once we sent him to Florida everything would just work out from there. We were wrong and he was on a truck back to Illinois shortly after this exchange for more rest and more treatment. Luckily, we had Danny to be the positive voice in the group at the time:
“Times are tough...Greg and I didn’t have much to talk about this morning. Each day it gets mostly easier. The one thing he said that hit home was that we probably won't ever have a horse as good as him again, which is a painful, but very possibly true statement. You are right, though, all you can do is keep grinding away…”
We will never have a horse as good as him again. We were being forced to accept the fact his career was nearly over and that was a BRUTALLY truthful statement. For a couple of guys who make a run at a horse once every year or two, to get one like In Over My Head is very rare. Heck, it’s rare to find a free for all horse when you spend tons of money buying them every year. We had climbed the ladder as owners and just when we were starting to enjoy the view from the top, we were about to climb back down.
And on Saturday we were a little miffed at a 4th place finish because the trip didn’t go well??? After Mo had made his way all the way up to the Invitational and was racing against the best in Chicago? A horse that couldn’t break a 3 minute training mile 12 months early who was facing a forced retirement??? Ahhh…on second thought, that 4th place finish can roll off our back like water off a duck.
Given the fact this will be my last entry of the year, I’m going to look back a bit. What did we learn about In Over My Head since he came back to the track? Here are some things I came up with.
• Mo still has it. He won twice, showed some high speed last quarters, raced against top level foes and showed he belonged at that high level again.
• He is a people horse (much like a people person). That guy is a social animal and loves to have friends and visitors. I think Penny is definitely his favorite, but he will put on a show to anyone who wants to come and say hello.
• He races better when he has fans at the track. Danny and Kacy win the award for most races attended (5 of the 7). Other trackside supports include Laura’s grandparents, Laura’s parents, Kim and Jamie and Danny’s friend Aaron. Thanks to all who came to cheer him on.
• He may have a deeper vocabulary than originally thought. When I asked him after the race Saturday if he wanted to keep racing, he clearly nodded his head! No joke! We had plenty of witnesses and I’m kicking myself for not trying to get that on video. Maybe we’ll try again next year.
• He’s due for some good trips, which will lead to more high place finishes.
• He’s still the greatest horse who ever lived…well at least as far as we are concerned. And while we are obviously as biased as possible, Mo has made a few new fans this year who all seem to enjoy his story.
I have noticed that readership of this little blog space has jumped since he made it back to the track and I really hope you all enjoy our little story. Please feel free to share it with anyone who is interested in horses and racing. Like I said above, Mo loves his fans! This whole thing was started as simply a blow by blow account of what it is like to own a racehorse and it has taken on a mind of its own…all thanks to the best greatest horse who ever lived of course.
Also, since this is the last post of the year, we wanted to send a couple thank you to the people who make this comeback possible:
- The Butenschoen’s (John, Jackie and Tyler) – For being Mo’s trainer from the beginning and never giving up hope he could make it back
- Penny Perrin – For taking care of Mo and being his best buddy
- Dr. Tony Petrowitz – I still don’t know how you did it, but without you, Mo doesn’t have a second racing career.
- Marcus Miller – For all your drives, not only the winning ones, but all those qualifiers and training miles back when we weren’t sure if he’d even make it back.
- Casey Leonard – For playing a big part in helping Mo make it back by taking care of him at your facility and driving him twice during the comeback
- John Delong – For stepping in and taking the reigns this last Saturday
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Team In Over My Head. Thank you for following along this year. Please check back in early January when I’ll give some updates on future plans. He likely won’t be off for too long, so we will have more races to talk about soon and we can once again cheer him on.
Let’s Go Mo!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
An Invite to the Invitational
I’ve generally been on a one entry per race schedule when it comes to putting up blog posts, but our current situation merits an extra entry. I’m going to keep it short and sweet. In summary, we got bumped up to first class this week. However in racing, first class isn’t necessarily the best thing! The class we raced in last week filled up with other horses, so our only option was to race in the Invitational (the highest level). After a slight initial dose of disappointment, we have all embraced the change and are extremely excited about the challenge.
Since it is the last race, here is a quick trip down memory lane for the later part of 2011:
• A little over ninety days ago, we were about ready to retire Mo. He had almost left us with no choice…then in a shocking training mile, he left us with no choice but to keep pushing on.
• The first three races started with pure excitement and ended with more questions than ever. 7th, 5th, 7th…was the dream of a comeback just that? A dream?
• True to form, Mo reminded us who he really is. Back to back wins in impressive fashion. We were on cloud 9 and feeling rather invincible.
• Last week, a bit of a return to reality. A nice solid race, which many In Over My Head followers know generally throws us for a loop. Mo isn’t about good solid races. He’s all or nothing! OK, he’s not always that way, but sometimes it sure seems like it.
• Now, we try and enter into the same field where we thought we’d be a favorite, but instead get bumped to the highest level against a daunting group of horses. A field that we would be confident we could beat a couple years back, but now…who knows? Well To Do Guru has only been beaten twice in his last seven starts: once by a horse in this field and once by a horse that went in 1.48.4. It doesn’t get much better than that.
How should we approach this race on Saturday? What should our expectations be? Should we be hoping for a win? Top 3? Top 5?
As some of you may know, I’ve been a basketball coach at Memorial high school for the past 8 years. The melding of basketball and horse racing is really fun to me and when I was thinking about expectations, one thing immediately came into my head. Instead of trying to explain to you what we should expect on Saturday, I’m going turn it over to the coach of one of the greatest underdog stories ever. After being the favorite the last couple of weeks, In Over My Head is right back where he belongs…as the underdog. The fine handicappers at Balmoral Park picked him for dead last and added the clever little comment: “In Over My Head….That appears to be the case.” Well handicapping guru, they said the same people thing about old Hickory High! Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDJS9rFGCHE
It doesn’t matter what happens on Saturday. We shouldn’t even be here! We are already winners! And for one last time in 2011, the year of the comeback:
LET’S GO MO!!!
Since it is the last race, here is a quick trip down memory lane for the later part of 2011:
• A little over ninety days ago, we were about ready to retire Mo. He had almost left us with no choice…then in a shocking training mile, he left us with no choice but to keep pushing on.
• The first three races started with pure excitement and ended with more questions than ever. 7th, 5th, 7th…was the dream of a comeback just that? A dream?
• True to form, Mo reminded us who he really is. Back to back wins in impressive fashion. We were on cloud 9 and feeling rather invincible.
• Last week, a bit of a return to reality. A nice solid race, which many In Over My Head followers know generally throws us for a loop. Mo isn’t about good solid races. He’s all or nothing! OK, he’s not always that way, but sometimes it sure seems like it.
• Now, we try and enter into the same field where we thought we’d be a favorite, but instead get bumped to the highest level against a daunting group of horses. A field that we would be confident we could beat a couple years back, but now…who knows? Well To Do Guru has only been beaten twice in his last seven starts: once by a horse in this field and once by a horse that went in 1.48.4. It doesn’t get much better than that.
How should we approach this race on Saturday? What should our expectations be? Should we be hoping for a win? Top 3? Top 5?
As some of you may know, I’ve been a basketball coach at Memorial high school for the past 8 years. The melding of basketball and horse racing is really fun to me and when I was thinking about expectations, one thing immediately came into my head. Instead of trying to explain to you what we should expect on Saturday, I’m going turn it over to the coach of one of the greatest underdog stories ever. After being the favorite the last couple of weeks, In Over My Head is right back where he belongs…as the underdog. The fine handicappers at Balmoral Park picked him for dead last and added the clever little comment: “In Over My Head….That appears to be the case.” Well handicapping guru, they said the same people thing about old Hickory High! Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDJS9rFGCHE
It doesn’t matter what happens on Saturday. We shouldn’t even be here! We are already winners! And for one last time in 2011, the year of the comeback:
LET’S GO MO!!!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Just Short of a Win Streak...
Everything appeared to be setting up perfectly.
At the head of the stretch on Saturday night, In Over My Head had almost pulled even with the leader after coming first over. As we all sat watching on our respective TV or computer screens, we were probably thinking the same thing: roughly 27 seconds from now, Mo will be on a 3 race winning streak.
Unfortunately for us, recent history did not repeat itself this time. For awhile, it looked like In Over My Head would power past everyone, but as they hit the wire he ended up finishing 3rd. It wasn’t a bad third by any means; the two horses that beat him were tough racehorses with around $250,000 in career earnings. However, there is a feeling of invincibility that builds after a couple of impressive wins and I was definitely feeling it before the race. After sitting there for a couple of minutes after the race, all I could think was, “what happened?”
What happened could have been any number of things. He moved up in class. This was certainly a tougher bunch. He had to leave a little bit this week instead of just floating off the gate and waiting to make his move. He again came first up, which is a tough trip normally, but the strong headwind on Saturday made it tougher this week. He is generally better off one week of rest than two like he had this time. That is what it is…can’t race him every week. Lastly, maybe it just wasn’t his night for any number of reasons. I always make the point to remind people that horses are not robots. Some days they are just better than other days. It is exactly the same as a human who likes to run 5ks on the weekend. Some weekends you feel like a million bucks…some other weekends you battle to get one foot in front of the other and there isn’t always a clear cut reason why.
Regardless of what happened, he still raced well and we are excited for this Saturday which will be his last race of the season. He will be back in the same class with a similar bunch of horses. We expect him to be sharp and it would be sooooooooo cool to end our little mini season with a win.
The other positive takeaway from Saturday is it really feels we are getting back to normal now. Danny made a good point. In Over My Head has never won 3 in a row and usually doesn’t even go three real good races in a row. He is the preverbal roller coaster, which in reality is part of what makes him so special to us. Mo’s always keeping us on our toes! I wish I would have thought of that before I placed my bets on Saturday, but as they say, you win some and you lose some.
After he two recent wins, I was thinking that maybe In Over My Head was a little different this time around. Maybe he would become an ultra consistent horse that was a bit more predictable. As it turns out, we have another data point that shows New Mo is just like Old Mo and that suits us just fine.
Lets go Mo!
At the head of the stretch on Saturday night, In Over My Head had almost pulled even with the leader after coming first over. As we all sat watching on our respective TV or computer screens, we were probably thinking the same thing: roughly 27 seconds from now, Mo will be on a 3 race winning streak.
Unfortunately for us, recent history did not repeat itself this time. For awhile, it looked like In Over My Head would power past everyone, but as they hit the wire he ended up finishing 3rd. It wasn’t a bad third by any means; the two horses that beat him were tough racehorses with around $250,000 in career earnings. However, there is a feeling of invincibility that builds after a couple of impressive wins and I was definitely feeling it before the race. After sitting there for a couple of minutes after the race, all I could think was, “what happened?”
What happened could have been any number of things. He moved up in class. This was certainly a tougher bunch. He had to leave a little bit this week instead of just floating off the gate and waiting to make his move. He again came first up, which is a tough trip normally, but the strong headwind on Saturday made it tougher this week. He is generally better off one week of rest than two like he had this time. That is what it is…can’t race him every week. Lastly, maybe it just wasn’t his night for any number of reasons. I always make the point to remind people that horses are not robots. Some days they are just better than other days. It is exactly the same as a human who likes to run 5ks on the weekend. Some weekends you feel like a million bucks…some other weekends you battle to get one foot in front of the other and there isn’t always a clear cut reason why.
Regardless of what happened, he still raced well and we are excited for this Saturday which will be his last race of the season. He will be back in the same class with a similar bunch of horses. We expect him to be sharp and it would be sooooooooo cool to end our little mini season with a win.
The other positive takeaway from Saturday is it really feels we are getting back to normal now. Danny made a good point. In Over My Head has never won 3 in a row and usually doesn’t even go three real good races in a row. He is the preverbal roller coaster, which in reality is part of what makes him so special to us. Mo’s always keeping us on our toes! I wish I would have thought of that before I placed my bets on Saturday, but as they say, you win some and you lose some.
After he two recent wins, I was thinking that maybe In Over My Head was a little different this time around. Maybe he would become an ultra consistent horse that was a bit more predictable. As it turns out, we have another data point that shows New Mo is just like Old Mo and that suits us just fine.
Lets go Mo!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
This Is Starting to Feel Very Familiar
Thanks to the wonders of technology, I am again starting with In Over My Head’s race video. As I said last time, it does the best job explaining what happened. Also, the volume should be a little better this time
(He leaves from the #4 spot, is wearing #5 and again can easily be spotted with Marcus’s bright pink bike).
Another week and another first over victory, this time into a rainstorm on a sloppy track, with a last quarter of 26.1. We all uttered a collective ‘wow’ after that one.
After a rather auspicious start (a 5th place finish and two 7th’s), Mo has taken the last two races to pound a very important point back into our heads: he’s pretty darn good. For the umpteenth time in his career, he has followed this simple little formula: the formation of doubt + a chance to race = a clear reminder that we never should have started to doubt him in the first place.
Saturday’s race was very interesting and so much fun for us to watch and be a part of. However, it was ALMOST about 100 times more interesting…and could have been quite stressful for one Danny Carey. Danny, Mo’s unofficial owner with Greg and I/ occasional warm up driver/ operator of his Facebook page/ creator of his 3 year old highlight video, had a plan. A plan to make a very important moment in the lives of Kacy and himself a public event to be presided over by none other than In Over My Head. As some of you could probably guess, he had considered traveling down to Balmoral with Kacy with a sparkly piece of jewelry in his pocket. Once Mo took care of the field and made his way to the winners circle, Danny would then get down on one knee and propose to Kacy. Now I’ve been pretty nervous before races, but I think it is a pretty good assumption that Danny would have had butterflies in his stomach that transcend horse racing. In the end, Danny decided to pick a spot a little less public to ask for Kacy’s hand in marriage and they were already engaged by the time they hit the winners circle on Saturday night. From what I understand, Mo was rather disappointed he wasn’t able to be there for the moment, but said he really likes the ring and thinks that Danny and Kacy are a perfect couple. Not surprisingly, I agree with Mo 100%. Congrats to you two!!!
(also of note, instead of a proposal, you got to see Danny doing the Rodgers belt celebration…or the discount double check…at the end of the video above)
As for some other parts of the In Over My Head team, Greg and I had other obligations that kept us from heading down to Balmoral this week. The thing is, we never really planned for Mo to be racing this late in the year, but as they say in horse racing you don’t have a hard schedule, just a plan that will probably have to be modified. Greg was able to watch the race at home and I watched it on a computer in the back of JoJo’s Pizza in Milwaukee with Laura and her parents. Thank goodness for Wi-fi. We were there for Jamie Michalski’s birthday party (the same Jamie who is married to Larua’s brother Ryan who’s first horse race was the Windy City Pace). Jamie is a big St. Louis Cardinal’s fan and after the race, she decided that In Over My Head’s return to racing success is kind of similar to when the Cards turned things around late this summer when they were 10 or so games out of playoff contention. Given the fact they just won the World Series all I can say is that may be the best comparison I’ve ever heard!
And for you stat junkies out there, that makes 6 wins in 9 starts for Marcus and Mo. I can’t really explain why, but those two just get along quite well. I don’t think Marcus reads this little blog, but if so, thanks again for piloting In Over My Head to victory.
This win has produced another interesting question: what the heck do we do now? After nearly 3 months of thinking ‘we just have to make it to next week’, Mo has now gone out and won two straight in rather impressive fashion. He’s healthy again, he’s feeling good and appears to be as fast as he ever was. For a long time, we have hoped he could return to his old form (or something close to it) and just like that, we’re here. After talking to John this week, we’ve all decided that it is time to start thinking a little bit longer term. Not too much, but with winter approaching (or being here depending on your tolerance for cold weather), we can at least think about the next couple months and that plan is pretty simple. Mo will get to race a couple more times against a tougher bunch of horses (he has to step up on class after the 2 wins) and we’ll see how he fares. After that, it will be time for a mini break since we don’t really want to race too much in the dead of winter. So good news In Over My Head fans, you get a couple more chances to hear about his races starting a week from Saturday. I’m sure I’ll check in between now and then and in the meantime…
Let’s Go Mo!
(He leaves from the #4 spot, is wearing #5 and again can easily be spotted with Marcus’s bright pink bike).
Another week and another first over victory, this time into a rainstorm on a sloppy track, with a last quarter of 26.1. We all uttered a collective ‘wow’ after that one.
After a rather auspicious start (a 5th place finish and two 7th’s), Mo has taken the last two races to pound a very important point back into our heads: he’s pretty darn good. For the umpteenth time in his career, he has followed this simple little formula: the formation of doubt + a chance to race = a clear reminder that we never should have started to doubt him in the first place.
Saturday’s race was very interesting and so much fun for us to watch and be a part of. However, it was ALMOST about 100 times more interesting…and could have been quite stressful for one Danny Carey. Danny, Mo’s unofficial owner with Greg and I/ occasional warm up driver/ operator of his Facebook page/ creator of his 3 year old highlight video, had a plan. A plan to make a very important moment in the lives of Kacy and himself a public event to be presided over by none other than In Over My Head. As some of you could probably guess, he had considered traveling down to Balmoral with Kacy with a sparkly piece of jewelry in his pocket. Once Mo took care of the field and made his way to the winners circle, Danny would then get down on one knee and propose to Kacy. Now I’ve been pretty nervous before races, but I think it is a pretty good assumption that Danny would have had butterflies in his stomach that transcend horse racing. In the end, Danny decided to pick a spot a little less public to ask for Kacy’s hand in marriage and they were already engaged by the time they hit the winners circle on Saturday night. From what I understand, Mo was rather disappointed he wasn’t able to be there for the moment, but said he really likes the ring and thinks that Danny and Kacy are a perfect couple. Not surprisingly, I agree with Mo 100%. Congrats to you two!!!
(also of note, instead of a proposal, you got to see Danny doing the Rodgers belt celebration…or the discount double check…at the end of the video above)
As for some other parts of the In Over My Head team, Greg and I had other obligations that kept us from heading down to Balmoral this week. The thing is, we never really planned for Mo to be racing this late in the year, but as they say in horse racing you don’t have a hard schedule, just a plan that will probably have to be modified. Greg was able to watch the race at home and I watched it on a computer in the back of JoJo’s Pizza in Milwaukee with Laura and her parents. Thank goodness for Wi-fi. We were there for Jamie Michalski’s birthday party (the same Jamie who is married to Larua’s brother Ryan who’s first horse race was the Windy City Pace). Jamie is a big St. Louis Cardinal’s fan and after the race, she decided that In Over My Head’s return to racing success is kind of similar to when the Cards turned things around late this summer when they were 10 or so games out of playoff contention. Given the fact they just won the World Series all I can say is that may be the best comparison I’ve ever heard!
And for you stat junkies out there, that makes 6 wins in 9 starts for Marcus and Mo. I can’t really explain why, but those two just get along quite well. I don’t think Marcus reads this little blog, but if so, thanks again for piloting In Over My Head to victory.
This win has produced another interesting question: what the heck do we do now? After nearly 3 months of thinking ‘we just have to make it to next week’, Mo has now gone out and won two straight in rather impressive fashion. He’s healthy again, he’s feeling good and appears to be as fast as he ever was. For a long time, we have hoped he could return to his old form (or something close to it) and just like that, we’re here. After talking to John this week, we’ve all decided that it is time to start thinking a little bit longer term. Not too much, but with winter approaching (or being here depending on your tolerance for cold weather), we can at least think about the next couple months and that plan is pretty simple. Mo will get to race a couple more times against a tougher bunch of horses (he has to step up on class after the 2 wins) and we’ll see how he fares. After that, it will be time for a mini break since we don’t really want to race too much in the dead of winter. So good news In Over My Head fans, you get a couple more chances to hear about his races starting a week from Saturday. I’m sure I’ll check in between now and then and in the meantime…
Let’s Go Mo!
Monday, November 21, 2011
A Win Two Years In The Making
Not all of these blog entries have been fun to write in the past weeks, months (years), but this one is really fun and I wasn’t sure how to start it. Then it hit me…just let In Over My Head give the intro:
(Mo starts in post position #3. From there he falls into 5th place for the first half of the race. His driver, Marcus Miller, has a bright pink race bike that will help you follow him throughout the race)
That may say enough, but I’ll keep going anyway.
When explaining our horse racing adventures to other people I often like to use analogies. They seem to do the best job driving home what just happened and what it means to us. Sports analogies are usually the easiest comparisons to make. For this most recent win, I was really struggling to find the right one. Take a second to think about it: name a player that achieved some wonderful things, only go to away for awhile, then to come back and rekindle the flame of his former self. From there, find the moment when the player you followed for so long did something that reminded you that he still has it. It happens so rarely that when it does, it literally gives fans goosebumps.
My first thought was Michael Jordan. While his return hit some speed bumps (the non Jordan-like days when he was wearing #45) before finding those ‘wow’ moments again, his circumstances for leaving were just too different. It didn’t seem to fit our story.
What about Brett Favre? The old gunslinger had quite a run with us Wisconsin folks and certainly rekindled the old flame in…gasp…Minnesota! No, that won’t do at all. That would be like In Over My Head coming back and getting a win with a new owner, trainer, driver, etc. That is a disgusting thought.
Back to a basketball analogy, this clip kind of captures it. Great player dealing with injury, with an emotional comeback for an incredibly loyal fan base. Try this on for size:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQpWgcUaeh4
As cool as that little clip was, it really didn’t do. Bird was only knocked out for part of a game. It just didn’t fit.
So, to finally find a way to how to share our latest Mo story, inspiration was found in…a horse story. Some of you may be thinking, how can you use a horse story to describe a horse story? Well, the reason is this horse is known by millions of people (no offense to In Over My Head and the 25 readers of this blog). To be honest, I thought I knew the story of this particular horse very well from reading a book and watching a movie about him numerous times. However, when I came across this clip, it literally gave me chills. I had missed a very important detail that wasn’t really described in the book or the movie…specifically the type of injury this famous horse had suffered:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OErHcm5QWsI
There is another interesting detail about Seabiscuit’s comeback that isn’t talked about in that clip. While it was well known that the focus of his comeback attempt was to try and win the ‘Hundred Grander’, it took awhile for him to get back to his old form. It wasn’t until his third race back that he again found the winner’s circle. Which brings us back to last Saturday night…..
A lot was riding on In Over My Head’s race last Saturday. The draw came out on Wednesday, which is the usual time to start the pre race chatter. After one look at the field, all of us independently came to the same conclusion. It didn’t matter who he was facing. If he was in fact going to get back to his old self, he would have to beat this field. That’s all there was to it.
As luck would have it, our standard crew of Danny, Kacy, Laura, her Grandparents and myself were joined by Laura’s parents. There were numerous ‘signs’ this week we all had noticed that tipped us off we could be in for a special night, but the Michalski luck was a very late addition. Not that I’m a big believer in luck, but I’m just going to state facts: The first race that Laura ever attended was when Mo won down in Springfield. Her brother Ryan and his wife Jamie’s first trip to the races was the Windy City Pace. So, with another set of Michalski’s in tow you would think it would add to the confidence level. I can’t speak for anyone else, but all it did was make me more nervous.
Since Mo did all the talking in the first part of the entry, there is no reason to describe the race. The only real important thing to note is the trip he had. As I’m sure you noticed, In Over My Head was the first horse to come off the rail and start the outer flow. In racing that’s called going ‘first over’ and is certainly a more challenging route for a horse to take. As the race played out on Saturday, Marcus didn’t really have much of a choice. Had he stayed on the rail, they would have gotten shuffled back and had no chance to win. To make matters worse, there was a 20 mph headwind in the stretch that Marcus and Mo would drive right into the teeth of. While Greg was down in Beloit watching the race on TV, Danny was hanging by the building outside Balmoral watching both live action and the TV feed and I was wandering aimlessly around on the apron we all had the same thought when Mo came first up: this is it. After all this time we are about to find out how good he is. As he charged down the stretch Mo left little doubt. He’s as good as ever.
When Mo crossed that finish line first, it was as if a dam broke that had been holding back 21 months of emotions. Right after he got hurt, we all would theorize how we would act when he got his first post injury victory. Then he started to hit some setbacks...and then those setbacks got progressively worse. A few times we highly doubted that he would ever race again much less win again. The formerly fun ‘how would we act’ discussion faded away. What was the point? Things were so bleak that thoughts of a future win was just a depressing exercise in unreachable hopes and dreams. However, we didn’t give up. We kept trying to find a way and gave Mo the time he needed to do it. When he finally won again on Saturday night, the winner circle was probably even a little more emotional than the night of his biggest career achievement (winning the Windy City Pace). After all, this win had been nearly 2 years in the making.
But why? Why so much emotion for a simple horse race? I don’t even get it myself sometimes. However, the question was probably answered best by someone else after we went back to see Mo in the barn post race. Danny and I were just hanging out with him, petting him, discussing the race, asking him why he didn’t win by a larger distance and Andria (Laura’s Mom) said it was like he was one of our kids. In the Seabiscuit clip, they talked about how owner Charles Howard took Seabiscuit back to his place for a nice long rest after his injury. Greg did the same thing. He took care of Mo every day when he was recovering. The same can be said for Penny and Tyler and everyone else who has been involved for these many months. The fact is, he is a kid to all of us, which aptly explains the connection.
The 3 hour dive back to Madison had to be one of the most enjoyable in memory. Danny and I talked endlessly about the race and came to the realization that Marcus Miller, who has driven Mo off and on since he was 2 years old, is an incredible 5 for 8 with him. Of the three non wins, one was his first lifetime start, one was his first start back off a 20+ month layoff and the other was when Mo got hit in the face with a whip (not Marcus’s) and made a break! That just doesn’t happen. We got to talk to Greg on the phone for another fun retelling of the race. It seems like the drive home went by in 3 minutes instead of 3 hours.
In order to properly appreciate the comparison I made above, I must state the obvious: In Over My Head is not Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit is widely regarded as one of the greatest race horses of all times. He broke numerous records over his career and had a movie made after him for God’s sake! The reason that the comparison rings perfectly true is that In Over My Head is OUR Seabiscuit. When I say our, I mean everyone that is invested in him. He matters to so many people and it was yet again evident after the win last night. While we don’t have a focused plan to being Mo back to a big stakes race that is equivalent of the Santa Anita Derby, we do hope that this is just the start. If he stays sound, he’ll make his way back out east eventually start taking on some of the toughest horses out there. Horses he used to beat. I realize this comeback remains very fragile and you never want to get too boastful after one good experience, but there is has to be more to come. I can’t say how it will pan out, or what the final time line will look like, but it certainly feels like the story of In Over My Head has another peak to it. Another chance for him to line up against the best and, likely at long odds, make them all taste defeat. Defeat from a horse that probably shouldn’t be there anyway, but made it back because he is surrounded by so many people that care about him. I think he realizes that and wants to pay us back with exciting races. Either way, we are all in it together until the end…an end we all hope is still a long ways away.
I usually end entries with ‘Let’s Go Mo!’ but after that win on Saturday, on behalf of all of us, we’d like to say thanks Mo. Thanks for continuing to battle through injuries and give us memories we will not soon forget. Now if we could only get you a computer that is compatible with hooves, you can maybe start to read your own blog…
(Mo starts in post position #3. From there he falls into 5th place for the first half of the race. His driver, Marcus Miller, has a bright pink race bike that will help you follow him throughout the race)
That may say enough, but I’ll keep going anyway.
When explaining our horse racing adventures to other people I often like to use analogies. They seem to do the best job driving home what just happened and what it means to us. Sports analogies are usually the easiest comparisons to make. For this most recent win, I was really struggling to find the right one. Take a second to think about it: name a player that achieved some wonderful things, only go to away for awhile, then to come back and rekindle the flame of his former self. From there, find the moment when the player you followed for so long did something that reminded you that he still has it. It happens so rarely that when it does, it literally gives fans goosebumps.
My first thought was Michael Jordan. While his return hit some speed bumps (the non Jordan-like days when he was wearing #45) before finding those ‘wow’ moments again, his circumstances for leaving were just too different. It didn’t seem to fit our story.
What about Brett Favre? The old gunslinger had quite a run with us Wisconsin folks and certainly rekindled the old flame in…gasp…Minnesota! No, that won’t do at all. That would be like In Over My Head coming back and getting a win with a new owner, trainer, driver, etc. That is a disgusting thought.
Back to a basketball analogy, this clip kind of captures it. Great player dealing with injury, with an emotional comeback for an incredibly loyal fan base. Try this on for size:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQpWgcUaeh4
As cool as that little clip was, it really didn’t do. Bird was only knocked out for part of a game. It just didn’t fit.
So, to finally find a way to how to share our latest Mo story, inspiration was found in…a horse story. Some of you may be thinking, how can you use a horse story to describe a horse story? Well, the reason is this horse is known by millions of people (no offense to In Over My Head and the 25 readers of this blog). To be honest, I thought I knew the story of this particular horse very well from reading a book and watching a movie about him numerous times. However, when I came across this clip, it literally gave me chills. I had missed a very important detail that wasn’t really described in the book or the movie…specifically the type of injury this famous horse had suffered:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OErHcm5QWsI
There is another interesting detail about Seabiscuit’s comeback that isn’t talked about in that clip. While it was well known that the focus of his comeback attempt was to try and win the ‘Hundred Grander’, it took awhile for him to get back to his old form. It wasn’t until his third race back that he again found the winner’s circle. Which brings us back to last Saturday night…..
A lot was riding on In Over My Head’s race last Saturday. The draw came out on Wednesday, which is the usual time to start the pre race chatter. After one look at the field, all of us independently came to the same conclusion. It didn’t matter who he was facing. If he was in fact going to get back to his old self, he would have to beat this field. That’s all there was to it.
As luck would have it, our standard crew of Danny, Kacy, Laura, her Grandparents and myself were joined by Laura’s parents. There were numerous ‘signs’ this week we all had noticed that tipped us off we could be in for a special night, but the Michalski luck was a very late addition. Not that I’m a big believer in luck, but I’m just going to state facts: The first race that Laura ever attended was when Mo won down in Springfield. Her brother Ryan and his wife Jamie’s first trip to the races was the Windy City Pace. So, with another set of Michalski’s in tow you would think it would add to the confidence level. I can’t speak for anyone else, but all it did was make me more nervous.
Since Mo did all the talking in the first part of the entry, there is no reason to describe the race. The only real important thing to note is the trip he had. As I’m sure you noticed, In Over My Head was the first horse to come off the rail and start the outer flow. In racing that’s called going ‘first over’ and is certainly a more challenging route for a horse to take. As the race played out on Saturday, Marcus didn’t really have much of a choice. Had he stayed on the rail, they would have gotten shuffled back and had no chance to win. To make matters worse, there was a 20 mph headwind in the stretch that Marcus and Mo would drive right into the teeth of. While Greg was down in Beloit watching the race on TV, Danny was hanging by the building outside Balmoral watching both live action and the TV feed and I was wandering aimlessly around on the apron we all had the same thought when Mo came first up: this is it. After all this time we are about to find out how good he is. As he charged down the stretch Mo left little doubt. He’s as good as ever.
When Mo crossed that finish line first, it was as if a dam broke that had been holding back 21 months of emotions. Right after he got hurt, we all would theorize how we would act when he got his first post injury victory. Then he started to hit some setbacks...and then those setbacks got progressively worse. A few times we highly doubted that he would ever race again much less win again. The formerly fun ‘how would we act’ discussion faded away. What was the point? Things were so bleak that thoughts of a future win was just a depressing exercise in unreachable hopes and dreams. However, we didn’t give up. We kept trying to find a way and gave Mo the time he needed to do it. When he finally won again on Saturday night, the winner circle was probably even a little more emotional than the night of his biggest career achievement (winning the Windy City Pace). After all, this win had been nearly 2 years in the making.
But why? Why so much emotion for a simple horse race? I don’t even get it myself sometimes. However, the question was probably answered best by someone else after we went back to see Mo in the barn post race. Danny and I were just hanging out with him, petting him, discussing the race, asking him why he didn’t win by a larger distance and Andria (Laura’s Mom) said it was like he was one of our kids. In the Seabiscuit clip, they talked about how owner Charles Howard took Seabiscuit back to his place for a nice long rest after his injury. Greg did the same thing. He took care of Mo every day when he was recovering. The same can be said for Penny and Tyler and everyone else who has been involved for these many months. The fact is, he is a kid to all of us, which aptly explains the connection.
The 3 hour dive back to Madison had to be one of the most enjoyable in memory. Danny and I talked endlessly about the race and came to the realization that Marcus Miller, who has driven Mo off and on since he was 2 years old, is an incredible 5 for 8 with him. Of the three non wins, one was his first lifetime start, one was his first start back off a 20+ month layoff and the other was when Mo got hit in the face with a whip (not Marcus’s) and made a break! That just doesn’t happen. We got to talk to Greg on the phone for another fun retelling of the race. It seems like the drive home went by in 3 minutes instead of 3 hours.
In order to properly appreciate the comparison I made above, I must state the obvious: In Over My Head is not Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit is widely regarded as one of the greatest race horses of all times. He broke numerous records over his career and had a movie made after him for God’s sake! The reason that the comparison rings perfectly true is that In Over My Head is OUR Seabiscuit. When I say our, I mean everyone that is invested in him. He matters to so many people and it was yet again evident after the win last night. While we don’t have a focused plan to being Mo back to a big stakes race that is equivalent of the Santa Anita Derby, we do hope that this is just the start. If he stays sound, he’ll make his way back out east eventually start taking on some of the toughest horses out there. Horses he used to beat. I realize this comeback remains very fragile and you never want to get too boastful after one good experience, but there is has to be more to come. I can’t say how it will pan out, or what the final time line will look like, but it certainly feels like the story of In Over My Head has another peak to it. Another chance for him to line up against the best and, likely at long odds, make them all taste defeat. Defeat from a horse that probably shouldn’t be there anyway, but made it back because he is surrounded by so many people that care about him. I think he realizes that and wants to pay us back with exciting races. Either way, we are all in it together until the end…an end we all hope is still a long ways away.
I usually end entries with ‘Let’s Go Mo!’ but after that win on Saturday, on behalf of all of us, we’d like to say thanks Mo. Thanks for continuing to battle through injuries and give us memories we will not soon forget. Now if we could only get you a computer that is compatible with hooves, you can maybe start to read your own blog…
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Time to Regroup
This blog entry was almost written on Sunday morning and it would have taken a more frustrated tone that day. While I’m always trying to capture the moment with this thing, it just didn’t make sense since we had too many questions unswered at that point. As of today, they are not all answered, but we have a little better sense…and a better feeling about moving forward.
In short, Saturday’s race was a huge dissapointment. I kept worrying all week that we had built it up too much. Hopes were high and we were probably a little overconfident. However, we were long overdue and we felt like he was the best horse in the field. Why question it? If one of your favorite teams is expected to win a game, why sit and worry about potentially losing? Just enjoy the ride. Our ride was going perfectly all the way until about the ¾ pole. Casey Leonard had carved out a perfect trip for In Over My Head. He had been second over and was flipping to the outside as they field turned for home just a length or two off the lead. As Danny and I watched from the apron at Balmoral Park, the thought process was simple. Game over. We might as take a leisurely stroll to the winner circle now because no one was beating Mo.
As it turned out, someone did beat Mo. To be more accurate, six other horses beat him although all were within 2 lengths at the finish line. His last quarter time of 29.0 simply wasn’t him. There was a headwind that night in the stretch, so a repeat of a 26.2 last quarter was very unlikely, but something in the 27’s was easily in his reach if he was right. Something was obviously wrong. Standing outside after the race the horrible thought burrowed into my head: was this the last race of In Over My Head's career?
The nice thing about being at the track is you can get a better feel for what is going on by heading back to the barn after the race. Unfortunately, it didn’t yield a ton of new answers. He wasn’t sick. He didn’t bleed. One positive was that it appeared to all of us that his leg was totally fine….not different than any of his other previous starts. So what happened? We still don’t know for sure. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone three weeks in a row with him after that long layoff. It was something we thought about and decided he would be fine, but maybe it was a bit too much too soon. Also, he had been showing some possible signs of soreness in his front left foot. That would offer some explination as well. Maybe it was a number of things that just added up to a bad night. I gave Mo his chance to let us know after the race and flat out asked him what was going one. His response: silence. No miracle Mr. Ed moment.
We missed out on an opportunity on Saturday and it took a few days to get over that. The flip side is that if that leg is still OK, maybe, just maybe In Over My Head has at least proven that a second career is a real possibility. What caused him to flatten out on Saturday was hopefully an unrelated issue. He’ll get this week off and we will try him back the following Saturday. It still feels like he is ready to pop…ready to put up that game mile that gets a win and we can start thinking about the future again. Until that time, we have to keep it week to week. It is kind of frustrating, but at least we are still in the game. No reason to give up now. Stay tuned and stay positive. I don’t think he’s done just yet.
Let’s Go Mo!
In short, Saturday’s race was a huge dissapointment. I kept worrying all week that we had built it up too much. Hopes were high and we were probably a little overconfident. However, we were long overdue and we felt like he was the best horse in the field. Why question it? If one of your favorite teams is expected to win a game, why sit and worry about potentially losing? Just enjoy the ride. Our ride was going perfectly all the way until about the ¾ pole. Casey Leonard had carved out a perfect trip for In Over My Head. He had been second over and was flipping to the outside as they field turned for home just a length or two off the lead. As Danny and I watched from the apron at Balmoral Park, the thought process was simple. Game over. We might as take a leisurely stroll to the winner circle now because no one was beating Mo.
As it turned out, someone did beat Mo. To be more accurate, six other horses beat him although all were within 2 lengths at the finish line. His last quarter time of 29.0 simply wasn’t him. There was a headwind that night in the stretch, so a repeat of a 26.2 last quarter was very unlikely, but something in the 27’s was easily in his reach if he was right. Something was obviously wrong. Standing outside after the race the horrible thought burrowed into my head: was this the last race of In Over My Head's career?
The nice thing about being at the track is you can get a better feel for what is going on by heading back to the barn after the race. Unfortunately, it didn’t yield a ton of new answers. He wasn’t sick. He didn’t bleed. One positive was that it appeared to all of us that his leg was totally fine….not different than any of his other previous starts. So what happened? We still don’t know for sure. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone three weeks in a row with him after that long layoff. It was something we thought about and decided he would be fine, but maybe it was a bit too much too soon. Also, he had been showing some possible signs of soreness in his front left foot. That would offer some explination as well. Maybe it was a number of things that just added up to a bad night. I gave Mo his chance to let us know after the race and flat out asked him what was going one. His response: silence. No miracle Mr. Ed moment.
We missed out on an opportunity on Saturday and it took a few days to get over that. The flip side is that if that leg is still OK, maybe, just maybe In Over My Head has at least proven that a second career is a real possibility. What caused him to flatten out on Saturday was hopefully an unrelated issue. He’ll get this week off and we will try him back the following Saturday. It still feels like he is ready to pop…ready to put up that game mile that gets a win and we can start thinking about the future again. Until that time, we have to keep it week to week. It is kind of frustrating, but at least we are still in the game. No reason to give up now. Stay tuned and stay positive. I don’t think he’s done just yet.
Let’s Go Mo!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Race Day
Today is yet another first in the story of In Over My Head’s comeback: he is picked to win. The oddsmakers set him off as the 7-2 morning line favorite and Mike Paradise has also picked him to be the winner tonight. We will see how much money the betting public puts down on him tonight, but it is kind of fun to be viewed by others as the one to beat.
This was close to the case last week as well, but the race didn’t go at all as we had hoped. A simple summary: didn’t get off the gate great, shuffled to last, finally found some open racetrack in the stretch and flew home faster than anyone else in the race. All too similar to the week before. He finished 5th and got us his first check in a long time (a cool $375…less driver and trainer fees!), but we were disappointed. Luckily for us, he came out of the race very well, which allowed us to get him back in this week. There is no better way to get a disappointing race off your mind than to just enter in another race.
Tonight, we will gather the same group we had two weeks ago to head down to the track: Danny, Kacy, Laura, her grandparents and myself. One change for the evening is that Danny will be warming Mo up…something that hasn’t happened since his Windy City Pace win nearly 2 years ago. Maybe that will be the little bit of extra luck we need to make that elusive trip back to the winners circle.
Very few things are more unpredictable than horse racing and sometimes nights when you are the favorite can end up being the most disappointing. However, once in awhile things just break in your favor and why not tonight?
Let’s go Mo!
This was close to the case last week as well, but the race didn’t go at all as we had hoped. A simple summary: didn’t get off the gate great, shuffled to last, finally found some open racetrack in the stretch and flew home faster than anyone else in the race. All too similar to the week before. He finished 5th and got us his first check in a long time (a cool $375…less driver and trainer fees!), but we were disappointed. Luckily for us, he came out of the race very well, which allowed us to get him back in this week. There is no better way to get a disappointing race off your mind than to just enter in another race.
Tonight, we will gather the same group we had two weeks ago to head down to the track: Danny, Kacy, Laura, her grandparents and myself. One change for the evening is that Danny will be warming Mo up…something that hasn’t happened since his Windy City Pace win nearly 2 years ago. Maybe that will be the little bit of extra luck we need to make that elusive trip back to the winners circle.
Very few things are more unpredictable than horse racing and sometimes nights when you are the favorite can end up being the most disappointing. However, once in awhile things just break in your favor and why not tonight?
Let’s go Mo!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
We Did It
On Saturday night, In Over My Head reached a new milestone in his racing career. It wasn’t a new fastest time, a big win or anything along those lines. The new milestone for his career was that, once again, he HAS a career. For the first time in a long time, we know that Mo is still the horse that he once was. What we don’t know is how long that will last, but that’s OK. After seeing him flying home in the stretch on Saturday night, I think we can all say it was worth the wait.
It was a long wait. We had 20 months to ponder what that first race back would be like. What would we feel like the week before? The morning of the race? When we arrive at the track? Right before the race? I can’t speak for others involved, but it was by far the most nervous I’ve ever been before a horse race. More on that later. The day itself was great. Danny, Kacy, Laura and I drove down from Madison to Chicago and stopped to pick up Laura’s grandparents on the way, which was very special given the fact they really enjoy horse racing, but haven’t been to the track in 8 years. We got dinner up in the clubhouse and bet some races. It wasn’t until Tyler took Mo out for his first warmup that it really set in…it was almost race time.
The next 30 minutes or so were just so tense. Thinking back at it now actually makes me laugh. It isn’t life or death, it just a horse race! Sometimes I wonder why we get so worked up, but I think it is just because for better or for worse, we are emotionally invested. We have a small stable, so each race is magnified somewhat. This is something that has been in our family for many years, so there is a desire to continue the success. And lastly, Mo is just special. He’s like a member of the family. I know that is violating rule #1 of horse ownership, but who cares. We’re all in with Mo and I think a lot of the tension simply came from a general concern for him. He LOVES to race and while he was finally back to the track, the whole thing remained very fragile. Anyway, with the exception of Danny making a practice sprint to the winner’s circle, I can’t think of a time when we really laughed, which for us is VERY abnormal. As the minutes to post ticked down, all we could do was look on and hope. It was just Marcus and Mo out on the track. And when the announcer said “the starter calls the field” everything kind of went blank.
Looking back, our group was a disjointed mess to watch the race. We had Laura inside with her Grandparents so they could sit down (but positioned close to the winners circle just in case), Danny was on the phone with Greg because he couldn’t make it down, Kacy and I were on the rail for awhile, but then I started to wander around on the apron because there was just no way to stand still. The horses came to the starting line and off they went. The plan was to watch the race from outside, but look in at the TV’s through the window so we could see better given the fact it is hard to see the backstretch on a mile track. The first real cohesive thought I remember having was that I didn’t need to look at the TV’s because Marcus’s bright pink race bike sticks out so much I could see exactly where Mo was the whole time! The second thought was when they announced the opening quarter of 28.4, which was a bad sign. The pace was slow and our best chance was for the leaders to beat themselves up a bit so it would set up for a closer. From there, it was rather uneventful until the field turned for home. That was when we would find out if New Mo was going to resemble Old Mo.
Many horses have certain traits that show up in every race and In Over My Head is no different. When he turns for home and he’s raring to go, he’ll have his head cranked to the inside almost as if he’s sizing up who is in front of him and who he has to get past before the finish line. The second trait is when he digs in the stretch he gets his head going side to side as if he’s getting every single last bit of push from each step. Generally speaking, when those traits show up after a long lay-off, that is a good sign. From my viewing spot halfway down the stretch it was becoming apparent that New Mo was looking pretty similar to another Mo that I know. The last thing he did, and what really separated him from his competition, was his ability to find another gear in that last eight of a mile. I’ve always said, that’s where he makes his money. Unfortunately, he was just too far off the lead going into the stretch on Saturday, but he made up a ton of ground in that last eight of a mile. I don’t have any scientific formula to prove this out, but I have a feeling if the race was longer, Mo would have caught them all. In the end, he finished 7th, but was just 3+ lengths from the winner. His 26.2 last quarter was the fastest of anyone in the race and as Danny pointed out, it was the second fastest in his career. Not bad for a first time back after 20 months. Old Mo, meet New Mo…I think you two have a lot in common.
The feeling after the race wasn’t exuberance; I mean it isn’t like he won. However, after Marcus turned him and was headed back to the barn, he let us know Mo was feeling good and wasn’t favoring his bad leg at all. He was more or less totally sound. That’s when we became all smiles. There was a feeling of relief given the fact he raced well, finished huge and came out healthy. There was also a feeling of accomplishment that we got him to where he is today. The running joke was that we were the happiest bunch after a 7th place finish in a mid level conditioned race in the history of Balmoral Park racetrack. I guess that’s what happens after fighting so hard to make it back. We all deserved to smile a little bit.
We all met up at Mo’s stall after Penny gave him his post race bath and he was back to his old ways pretty quick. Usually the only time you get to see Mo calm is after a race when he’s worn out, but that wasn’t really the case on Saturday. He was ready to show his fans that he is still boss and if you don’t believe that, he’ll give you a nice bite mark to make sure you remember. Luckily we were quick enough to avoid his playful attacks.
So what happens next? Well, we don’t really know for sure. We are still looking at this thing on a week to week basis. Next week, we will enter him back into the same race. What we do know is that we did it. We saved Mo’s career and I can’t overstate how awesome that is. After all this time and all this effort by so many people, In Over My Head is back doing what he loves: racing. And we are doing what we love: watching him race. He’s a special case and I can’t totally explain why. He just matters to a lot of different people. Everyone who has helped along the way is responsible for getting him back to the track. We are like one team now. Team In Over My Head, which may be the goofiest team name in the history of team names. That’s OK, this whole story is goofy and as I finish this entry, it is kind of hard be believe that I’m still writing. This should have been over about 3 or 4 times already, but round and round we continue to go…where it stops, nobody knows. We’ll all just buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Let’s go Mo!
It was a long wait. We had 20 months to ponder what that first race back would be like. What would we feel like the week before? The morning of the race? When we arrive at the track? Right before the race? I can’t speak for others involved, but it was by far the most nervous I’ve ever been before a horse race. More on that later. The day itself was great. Danny, Kacy, Laura and I drove down from Madison to Chicago and stopped to pick up Laura’s grandparents on the way, which was very special given the fact they really enjoy horse racing, but haven’t been to the track in 8 years. We got dinner up in the clubhouse and bet some races. It wasn’t until Tyler took Mo out for his first warmup that it really set in…it was almost race time.
The next 30 minutes or so were just so tense. Thinking back at it now actually makes me laugh. It isn’t life or death, it just a horse race! Sometimes I wonder why we get so worked up, but I think it is just because for better or for worse, we are emotionally invested. We have a small stable, so each race is magnified somewhat. This is something that has been in our family for many years, so there is a desire to continue the success. And lastly, Mo is just special. He’s like a member of the family. I know that is violating rule #1 of horse ownership, but who cares. We’re all in with Mo and I think a lot of the tension simply came from a general concern for him. He LOVES to race and while he was finally back to the track, the whole thing remained very fragile. Anyway, with the exception of Danny making a practice sprint to the winner’s circle, I can’t think of a time when we really laughed, which for us is VERY abnormal. As the minutes to post ticked down, all we could do was look on and hope. It was just Marcus and Mo out on the track. And when the announcer said “the starter calls the field” everything kind of went blank.
Looking back, our group was a disjointed mess to watch the race. We had Laura inside with her Grandparents so they could sit down (but positioned close to the winners circle just in case), Danny was on the phone with Greg because he couldn’t make it down, Kacy and I were on the rail for awhile, but then I started to wander around on the apron because there was just no way to stand still. The horses came to the starting line and off they went. The plan was to watch the race from outside, but look in at the TV’s through the window so we could see better given the fact it is hard to see the backstretch on a mile track. The first real cohesive thought I remember having was that I didn’t need to look at the TV’s because Marcus’s bright pink race bike sticks out so much I could see exactly where Mo was the whole time! The second thought was when they announced the opening quarter of 28.4, which was a bad sign. The pace was slow and our best chance was for the leaders to beat themselves up a bit so it would set up for a closer. From there, it was rather uneventful until the field turned for home. That was when we would find out if New Mo was going to resemble Old Mo.
Many horses have certain traits that show up in every race and In Over My Head is no different. When he turns for home and he’s raring to go, he’ll have his head cranked to the inside almost as if he’s sizing up who is in front of him and who he has to get past before the finish line. The second trait is when he digs in the stretch he gets his head going side to side as if he’s getting every single last bit of push from each step. Generally speaking, when those traits show up after a long lay-off, that is a good sign. From my viewing spot halfway down the stretch it was becoming apparent that New Mo was looking pretty similar to another Mo that I know. The last thing he did, and what really separated him from his competition, was his ability to find another gear in that last eight of a mile. I’ve always said, that’s where he makes his money. Unfortunately, he was just too far off the lead going into the stretch on Saturday, but he made up a ton of ground in that last eight of a mile. I don’t have any scientific formula to prove this out, but I have a feeling if the race was longer, Mo would have caught them all. In the end, he finished 7th, but was just 3+ lengths from the winner. His 26.2 last quarter was the fastest of anyone in the race and as Danny pointed out, it was the second fastest in his career. Not bad for a first time back after 20 months. Old Mo, meet New Mo…I think you two have a lot in common.
The feeling after the race wasn’t exuberance; I mean it isn’t like he won. However, after Marcus turned him and was headed back to the barn, he let us know Mo was feeling good and wasn’t favoring his bad leg at all. He was more or less totally sound. That’s when we became all smiles. There was a feeling of relief given the fact he raced well, finished huge and came out healthy. There was also a feeling of accomplishment that we got him to where he is today. The running joke was that we were the happiest bunch after a 7th place finish in a mid level conditioned race in the history of Balmoral Park racetrack. I guess that’s what happens after fighting so hard to make it back. We all deserved to smile a little bit.
We all met up at Mo’s stall after Penny gave him his post race bath and he was back to his old ways pretty quick. Usually the only time you get to see Mo calm is after a race when he’s worn out, but that wasn’t really the case on Saturday. He was ready to show his fans that he is still boss and if you don’t believe that, he’ll give you a nice bite mark to make sure you remember. Luckily we were quick enough to avoid his playful attacks.
So what happens next? Well, we don’t really know for sure. We are still looking at this thing on a week to week basis. Next week, we will enter him back into the same race. What we do know is that we did it. We saved Mo’s career and I can’t overstate how awesome that is. After all this time and all this effort by so many people, In Over My Head is back doing what he loves: racing. And we are doing what we love: watching him race. He’s a special case and I can’t totally explain why. He just matters to a lot of different people. Everyone who has helped along the way is responsible for getting him back to the track. We are like one team now. Team In Over My Head, which may be the goofiest team name in the history of team names. That’s OK, this whole story is goofy and as I finish this entry, it is kind of hard be believe that I’m still writing. This should have been over about 3 or 4 times already, but round and round we continue to go…where it stops, nobody knows. We’ll all just buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Let’s go Mo!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Two Dollar Bill
Flash back to Friday, November 26th, 2010 at Crocus restaurant on the south side of Milwaukee. We were enjoying a nice traditional Polish meal with Laura and her extended family. Laura and I were seated at a table of folks that included her Uncle Justin and Aunt Lori. We were having a great time talking about this and that when Justin asked, ‘how are the horses doing?”
To any horse owner, that can be either a really good question or a difficult question. At this point, it was kind of difficult. In Over My Head was still a long ways away from doing anything other than jogging. Seanie was starting to train down some, but an actual race was off on the distant horizon. Despite the lack of any real good news, I gave Justin the run down on what was going on. At the end, he reached into his wallet and said ‘guess what I have?’ My first thought was maybe enough to pay our most recent vet bill. All jokes aside, Justin pulled out a $2 bill.
Rather rare in today’s standard circulation of money, but Justin knew that the lowest and most well known horse bet is $2. Even though we were an unknown months away from a race at that point, Justin gave me the $2 bill and we agreed that I would put it down as a win bet on the first night that In Over My Head raced…even though there were no guaranty that day would ever come.
That $2 bill has sat on my desk at home in our bedroom, next to an engagement picture of Laura and I. Every morning when I’d grab my keys and wallet, I’d take a look at it and wonder when the time would finally come that we could use it...
Flash back to reality: Mo is entered to race on Saturday. I’ll go ahead and repeat that for effect…Mo is entered to race on Saturday. He is in a conditioned race against a rather tough bunch and he drew an outside post (#8). He had a good qualifier last week, but in looking at how this race has gone in recent weeks, Mo is going to have to go maybe as much as 2 seconds faster or more to win the race. I’m not sure how many people will be betting their hard earned money on him, but I can guaranty that he will have at least $2 down on him to win…compliments of Uncle Justin.
Stay tuned for more updates…this is shaping up to be the most exciting racing week we’ve had in a long, long time!
To any horse owner, that can be either a really good question or a difficult question. At this point, it was kind of difficult. In Over My Head was still a long ways away from doing anything other than jogging. Seanie was starting to train down some, but an actual race was off on the distant horizon. Despite the lack of any real good news, I gave Justin the run down on what was going on. At the end, he reached into his wallet and said ‘guess what I have?’ My first thought was maybe enough to pay our most recent vet bill. All jokes aside, Justin pulled out a $2 bill.
Rather rare in today’s standard circulation of money, but Justin knew that the lowest and most well known horse bet is $2. Even though we were an unknown months away from a race at that point, Justin gave me the $2 bill and we agreed that I would put it down as a win bet on the first night that In Over My Head raced…even though there were no guaranty that day would ever come.That $2 bill has sat on my desk at home in our bedroom, next to an engagement picture of Laura and I. Every morning when I’d grab my keys and wallet, I’d take a look at it and wonder when the time would finally come that we could use it...
Flash back to reality: Mo is entered to race on Saturday. I’ll go ahead and repeat that for effect…Mo is entered to race on Saturday. He is in a conditioned race against a rather tough bunch and he drew an outside post (#8). He had a good qualifier last week, but in looking at how this race has gone in recent weeks, Mo is going to have to go maybe as much as 2 seconds faster or more to win the race. I’m not sure how many people will be betting their hard earned money on him, but I can guaranty that he will have at least $2 down on him to win…compliments of Uncle Justin.
Stay tuned for more updates…this is shaping up to be the most exciting racing week we’ve had in a long, long time!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Winner
After thinking about this for quite awhile, there is really only one way to start this blog entry.
In Over My Head won today.
There was no purse money, no crowd, just a handful of people both on and off the track who were anxiously awaiting the results of the qualifier. Predictions were probably pretty mixed after last week’s disappointing finish. It was another one of those ‘make or break’ events for Mo. If it had gone poorly, we would have had to seriously start thinking about the end again. However, each time that has occurred in the past few weeks, Mo has hit it out of the park. Today was no different.
What was a little bit different this week was that Mo was up against some accomplished horses including I Kill Time (winner of $170,000+ in just 16 lifetime starts) and Native Hotspur (winner of over $450,000 in her 4 year career). Now, each horse in a qualifier has different motivations…some may be looking to hit a certain speed or just go easy, but nonetheless, these two had talent. At the end, however, it was Mo responding to Marcus’s urging as he darted past the finish line, a full 4 lengths ahead of the second place finisher for the win in 1.54.3. First to cross the line, which means Mo is back where he belongs.
When the news came out, we all felt like winners. Marcus (obviously, he drove him), Tyler, John, Penny, Dr. Tony, the Leonards…all the people who take care of him on a day to day basis and of course his very proud ownership team and anyone else who just refused to give up on Mo. There have been PLENTY of opportunities, but everyone took their turn picking others up when they were down. Initial indications were that he came out of the qualfier well, which means that In Over My Head’s the next step in his rehab is that rehab is over. It’s RACE TIME BABY! The loose plan is that he will be in a week from Saturday at Balmoral in a conditioned race. If Mo has taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected. However, things are looking good for a loooooooong awaited trip back to the track for a real race.
Now, there is at least a little disappointment about one thing today: Mo didn’t get his picture taken in the winner’s circle and from what I understand, he was a bit disappointed. Unfortunately, he was not aware that you don’t get win pictures for qualifiers (how can you blame him…it’s been awhile). Well, luckily, I was able to obtain a picture of Marcus and Mo just as they came off the track from someone that was down there and have posted it below…hopefully Mo can get his Ipad fired up tonight in his stall and see the great pic:
In Over My Head won today.
There was no purse money, no crowd, just a handful of people both on and off the track who were anxiously awaiting the results of the qualifier. Predictions were probably pretty mixed after last week’s disappointing finish. It was another one of those ‘make or break’ events for Mo. If it had gone poorly, we would have had to seriously start thinking about the end again. However, each time that has occurred in the past few weeks, Mo has hit it out of the park. Today was no different.
What was a little bit different this week was that Mo was up against some accomplished horses including I Kill Time (winner of $170,000+ in just 16 lifetime starts) and Native Hotspur (winner of over $450,000 in her 4 year career). Now, each horse in a qualifier has different motivations…some may be looking to hit a certain speed or just go easy, but nonetheless, these two had talent. At the end, however, it was Mo responding to Marcus’s urging as he darted past the finish line, a full 4 lengths ahead of the second place finisher for the win in 1.54.3. First to cross the line, which means Mo is back where he belongs.
When the news came out, we all felt like winners. Marcus (obviously, he drove him), Tyler, John, Penny, Dr. Tony, the Leonards…all the people who take care of him on a day to day basis and of course his very proud ownership team and anyone else who just refused to give up on Mo. There have been PLENTY of opportunities, but everyone took their turn picking others up when they were down. Initial indications were that he came out of the qualfier well, which means that In Over My Head’s the next step in his rehab is that rehab is over. It’s RACE TIME BABY! The loose plan is that he will be in a week from Saturday at Balmoral in a conditioned race. If Mo has taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected. However, things are looking good for a loooooooong awaited trip back to the track for a real race.
Now, there is at least a little disappointment about one thing today: Mo didn’t get his picture taken in the winner’s circle and from what I understand, he was a bit disappointed. Unfortunately, he was not aware that you don’t get win pictures for qualifiers (how can you blame him…it’s been awhile). Well, luckily, I was able to obtain a picture of Marcus and Mo just as they came off the track from someone that was down there and have posted it below…hopefully Mo can get his Ipad fired up tonight in his stall and see the great pic:
I know what you are thinking…how can this be real? Marcus isn’t that much taller than Mo, right? The answer is simple, Marcus is simply standing a little closer to the camera, so it has the appearance that he is taller. A lot of smiles in that picture. Not surprising…I would have been smiling too. And I will tell you this, we have a real glimmer of hope that Mo will be back in the winner’s circle for real. Maybe not off his first or second start, but he’ll find his way there, I just know it. The smiles that day will be even bigger…reflective of an exciting end of a long tough journey back home.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
A Week of Missteps
This week made me think back. Not back to In Over My Head’s best days, but back to his more frustrating days. Here is one of my not so favorite flashbacks:
http://inovermyheadracehorse.blogspot.com/2009/10/keystone-classic-colossal-letdown.html
I have to say that after reading that post, it conjures up more good memories than bad simply because we were pretty down at that time, but things got better not long after.
Back to the present day.
After the excitement of his 9/21 qualifier that was somewhat doused last week’s rainout we got knocked back a bit more this week. Literally and figuratively. Coming out of the final turn at Balmoral on Wednesday, Mo was sitting behind the leader who suddenly made a break, which caused Mo to jump off stride as well. As good as he has been, Mo was never the type of horse who could handle another horse making a break in front of him. Marcus Miller had to check him up and he did end up pacing to the wire. However, because of what happened, we have to go back and qualify again next week. Looks like our dream of getting In Over My Head back to the races has to be put off a bit longer.
At this point, I’m hoping that history does repeat itself as far as Mo is concerned. In the past, virtually ever time something bad happened in a race, it was followed up with a good race. So, for the next few days, that is exactly what we will be using to stay positive. After last week, I said what is one more week after waiting 20 months…well, we will stick with that mantra yet again.
Let’s go Mo!
http://inovermyheadracehorse.blogspot.com/2009/10/keystone-classic-colossal-letdown.html
I have to say that after reading that post, it conjures up more good memories than bad simply because we were pretty down at that time, but things got better not long after.
Back to the present day.
After the excitement of his 9/21 qualifier that was somewhat doused last week’s rainout we got knocked back a bit more this week. Literally and figuratively. Coming out of the final turn at Balmoral on Wednesday, Mo was sitting behind the leader who suddenly made a break, which caused Mo to jump off stride as well. As good as he has been, Mo was never the type of horse who could handle another horse making a break in front of him. Marcus Miller had to check him up and he did end up pacing to the wire. However, because of what happened, we have to go back and qualify again next week. Looks like our dream of getting In Over My Head back to the races has to be put off a bit longer.
At this point, I’m hoping that history does repeat itself as far as Mo is concerned. In the past, virtually ever time something bad happened in a race, it was followed up with a good race. So, for the next few days, that is exactly what we will be using to stay positive. After last week, I said what is one more week after waiting 20 months…well, we will stick with that mantra yet again.
Let’s go Mo!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Wednesday Rainout
I don't have much to report this week with In Over My Head. We had planned to qualify on Wednesday down at Balmoral, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Shortly before it was his time to hit the track, the track was hit with an extended heavy rain. The decision was made to not risk Mo on a sloppy, slick track at this point so we will just wait a little longer. What's another week after waiting 20 months, right?
Luckily, the day wasn't a total loss. Once the rain cleared and the track got a bit better, Mo got a good trianing mile in and he was excellent. More reason for hope.
The plan now is to try again on Wednesday. Early weather report looks good and since the predictions of weather are never wrong, we are feeling pretty good.
Stay tuned for more updates. I noticed that my hit count was up last week and I think it was due to a link on barntowire.com. Thanks to all of those interested in In Over My Head's comeback attempt!
Luckily, the day wasn't a total loss. Once the rain cleared and the track got a bit better, Mo got a good trianing mile in and he was excellent. More reason for hope.
The plan now is to try again on Wednesday. Early weather report looks good and since the predictions of weather are never wrong, we are feeling pretty good.
Stay tuned for more updates. I noticed that my hit count was up last week and I think it was due to a link on barntowire.com. Thanks to all of those interested in In Over My Head's comeback attempt!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Great Success
I just wanted to make a quick post...no long stories or strange occurances this time (we will save that for next week). In Over My Head completed a successful qualifying mile on Wednesday with Marcus Miller in the bike. He went pretty easy to the 3/4 can came home strong. Unlike last time, he paced through the finish line with plenty left in the tank. All in all, a great report.
Plan is to make one more qualifier next week to get him into race shape and if that goes well...dare I say...it will be RACE TIME! However, like I said in the last post, we are looking one week at a time. This week was good and we can hope for the same next week.
To see his result, you can click below and search for his name:
http://racing.ustrotting.com/
Plan is to make one more qualifier next week to get him into race shape and if that goes well...dare I say...it will be RACE TIME! However, like I said in the last post, we are looking one week at a time. This week was good and we can hope for the same next week.
To see his result, you can click below and search for his name:
http://racing.ustrotting.com/
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
At Long Last...It is Time to Qualify
We’ve been thinking a lot about In Over My Head the last couple of days due to the expectation that he is going to qualify tomorrow at Balmoral Park. We were excited when the time finally came to get into usta.com to see the entries. My plan for this little blog was to pull up the entries, see his name and assume something profound would just come to me and I’d start writing. However, the opposite happened.
Danny actually scooped me on this one (it is always a race to see who can find the official entries first) and let me know via a text message that he was in fact listed in a qualifier. I raced back to my desk to see it for my own eyes and when I did, I was totally speechless. It was boarderline emotional to see him listed down in that qualifying race. It had been 579 days since he last raced and there was “In Over My Head”. I just stared at it for awhile. In some ways, it was more special than when we saw his name in the entries of his biggest races. It didn't matter that it was just a regular qualifying race on a Wednesday morning at Balmoral.
You can see it for yourself. Click on the link and just type in "In Over My Head"
http://racing.ustrotting.com/
Outside of this really cool sense of accomplishment for In Over My Head and everyone involved that has worked so hard to get him back, there is another feeling that has set in: fear. I am totally freaked out. It has just become very real…we are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO close to have him back racing again and we all know that it also could end tomorrow.
By the time you read this, the race will probably be over. Marcus Miller is driving him and hopefully he will come back to the barn with good news that he felt great and finished the mile strong. He was a little bit sore afterward, but nothing too bad and seemingly nothing the Butenschoen’s and Dr. Tony can’t work with. Or…he could come back and say it went poorly and that is obviously hurting…maybe too much to go on with him. Which one will it be? We really have no idea. We just have to listen to Mo. He’ll let us know if he can keep going. And if the answer is ‘yes’, we’ll have at least one more week of anxiously awaiting entries, more talk of how he still has it and more hope he can regain his old form. One week at a time...I sure hope we get at least one more week. Let’s go Mo!
Danny actually scooped me on this one (it is always a race to see who can find the official entries first) and let me know via a text message that he was in fact listed in a qualifier. I raced back to my desk to see it for my own eyes and when I did, I was totally speechless. It was boarderline emotional to see him listed down in that qualifying race. It had been 579 days since he last raced and there was “In Over My Head”. I just stared at it for awhile. In some ways, it was more special than when we saw his name in the entries of his biggest races. It didn't matter that it was just a regular qualifying race on a Wednesday morning at Balmoral.
You can see it for yourself. Click on the link and just type in "In Over My Head"
http://racing.ustrotting.com/
Outside of this really cool sense of accomplishment for In Over My Head and everyone involved that has worked so hard to get him back, there is another feeling that has set in: fear. I am totally freaked out. It has just become very real…we are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO close to have him back racing again and we all know that it also could end tomorrow.
By the time you read this, the race will probably be over. Marcus Miller is driving him and hopefully he will come back to the barn with good news that he felt great and finished the mile strong. He was a little bit sore afterward, but nothing too bad and seemingly nothing the Butenschoen’s and Dr. Tony can’t work with. Or…he could come back and say it went poorly and that is obviously hurting…maybe too much to go on with him. Which one will it be? We really have no idea. We just have to listen to Mo. He’ll let us know if he can keep going. And if the answer is ‘yes’, we’ll have at least one more week of anxiously awaiting entries, more talk of how he still has it and more hope he can regain his old form. One week at a time...I sure hope we get at least one more week. Let’s go Mo!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Return of Optimism
I have to apologize for pulling a disappearing act for the past few weeks. I wasn’t trying to dodge the blog (and my loyal 8-10 readers), but this is one of those things that just has to happen naturally. The writing and stories aren’t exactly that of a skilled technical writer (which is painfully obvious when I go back and read some past entries), but a fun way to capture a rather interesting experience. As you can probably tell by the title, things at In Over My Head Headquarters have not been great recently. As a matter of fact, we had all began to accept the sad fact that it was over. Mo would have to be retired. I had already begun to outline in my head how to write the final chapter to this whole story. That was until Sunday night.
You may remember a couple of entries ago, we had gotten to the point where a final schedule to racing had been set. Any material deviation from that schedule would more or less mean the end of Mo’s racing career. On August 10th, Tyler took him down to Balmoral for a training mile. He was to go in about 2:05 and set himself up for a qualifying mile shortly thereafter. In short, it didn’t go well. We gave him some time and waited for Tony to come up to take a look at him. We were all being hit very hard with reality: Mo wanted to be his old self again…it was obvious to Tyler or anyone else who sat behind him, but his body was getting in the way. We could have quit then, but decided to give him another week to 10 days off, swim him and bring him in for one more training mile. John came in town jogged him. He agreed that one more chance to a fast training mile wasn’t going to hurt anything. The plan was to do it at Maywood Park, the site of his greatest achievement, on Thursday September 1st. We would go down and watch him train in what very well would be his last mile.
For a number of reasons, it turned out the Thursday did not work for us. That timed with the fact that Dr. Tony thought it would be best to go on a mile track (something John always wanted to do anyway) ended up moving his training mile to this past Sunday at Balmoral. I was up in Fox Lake with Laura and her family that night and did everything I could not to think about. We were out with some friends the night before and one asked how Mo was doing. My answer was that tomorrow is make or break. If he can’t finish the mile, we have to retire him. It was a very sad thing to say, but we had all come to grips with it. Greg had told me a few days before he was having a good feeling. I gave up trying. When he struggled on the 10th, it was a crushing blow that is kind of extinguished all the optimism I had left.
When Tyler and I finally connected at about 10:30, the news was not at all what I expected. Mo was solid on his first trip. Buzzed a last quarter in 29 seconds. No issues. Marcus Miller took him the second trip. To the half in 1:01 to the three quarters in 1:31 and came his last quarter in 27 seconds. He said it so calmly.
“Wait a second…what did he go in?”
“Went in 1:58”
“And a last quarter in what?”
“27 seconds”
He then went onto tell me that Mo was definitely sore afterward and despite the good mile, we would just have to wait and see how he comes out of it. At least I think that what he said because I couldn’t really pay attention. All I could do was envision Mo charging down that home stretch and ripping off a 27 second last quarter all by himself. The old boy still has it, I thought. Despite the fact it could still be his last mile, I had a smile from ear to ear. If that was it, he went out with at least a little bit of a bang. It was amazing how good that made me feel that our beloved race horse who loves nothing more in life but to race was able to go out and fly to the wire one last time.
With some surprisingly good news in hand to mix in with bad news, I was kind of a jerk and strung Danny along when giving him the update. “Well…some good and some bad….” I said before giving him the run down. “Wait a second…what did he go in?” That seemed to be the repeating line of the night. To be clear, Mo hadn’t really accomplished anything that anyone outside of our little group would care about. So he trained a good mile. So what? Well, after a year and a half of setbacks it was just an awesome feeling that he busted through a hurdle. At that point, it was just going to be a waiting game to see how he came out of it. My prediction was he’d be sore, have filling in his leg until later in the week and we’d have to make a decision as to what to do next (if anything). Well, I was wrong again.
Today, Dr. Tony was back up at Marengo and Mo was feeling good enough to go out and jog…and he jogged 4 miles showing no signs at all of any soreness whatsoever. Tyler said it was the best he’s been since he got him months ago. Greg told me that just about an hour ago and I nearly fell out of my chair.
The thought going into last weekend was that if Mo had one more miracle in him, now was the time. He was literally down to his last chance. To be clear, Mo isn’t out of the woods yet. I mean, he hasn’t even got to a qualifier, much less an actual race, but this is an exciting turn of events. As I mentioned earlier, I had not only began to think about the final entry to this blog, but I had accepted it. On Monday morning, while out for a run, I got to thinking how nice it would be to end by emphasizing that final training mile. I would try and paint the picture of Mo in full stride with the wind blowing back his mane as he battled through some pain to hit the wire in front of his invisible competitors. As I got to Chief Kuno Trail and started to turn for home about a half mile out, my Ipod flipped to a new song. There were 430 songs in that list on random and when his unofficial theme song came on (Over My Head from The Frey), I stopped thinking. I took that mental story outline, crumpled it up and threw it into my mental garbage can. This thing isn’t over quite yet. We’re already on borrowed time and maybe only have one more week before something bad happens again, but so what. We finally got some good news and it was a heck of a lot of fun. If somehow, someway, Mo can make it back to the winner’s circle just one more time after everything we’ve been through…well, words can’t describe just how special that would be. Danny and I decided we’d carry him back to the barn like a football team carries their coach off the field. Might almost be time to get your cameras ready.
You may remember a couple of entries ago, we had gotten to the point where a final schedule to racing had been set. Any material deviation from that schedule would more or less mean the end of Mo’s racing career. On August 10th, Tyler took him down to Balmoral for a training mile. He was to go in about 2:05 and set himself up for a qualifying mile shortly thereafter. In short, it didn’t go well. We gave him some time and waited for Tony to come up to take a look at him. We were all being hit very hard with reality: Mo wanted to be his old self again…it was obvious to Tyler or anyone else who sat behind him, but his body was getting in the way. We could have quit then, but decided to give him another week to 10 days off, swim him and bring him in for one more training mile. John came in town jogged him. He agreed that one more chance to a fast training mile wasn’t going to hurt anything. The plan was to do it at Maywood Park, the site of his greatest achievement, on Thursday September 1st. We would go down and watch him train in what very well would be his last mile.
For a number of reasons, it turned out the Thursday did not work for us. That timed with the fact that Dr. Tony thought it would be best to go on a mile track (something John always wanted to do anyway) ended up moving his training mile to this past Sunday at Balmoral. I was up in Fox Lake with Laura and her family that night and did everything I could not to think about. We were out with some friends the night before and one asked how Mo was doing. My answer was that tomorrow is make or break. If he can’t finish the mile, we have to retire him. It was a very sad thing to say, but we had all come to grips with it. Greg had told me a few days before he was having a good feeling. I gave up trying. When he struggled on the 10th, it was a crushing blow that is kind of extinguished all the optimism I had left.
When Tyler and I finally connected at about 10:30, the news was not at all what I expected. Mo was solid on his first trip. Buzzed a last quarter in 29 seconds. No issues. Marcus Miller took him the second trip. To the half in 1:01 to the three quarters in 1:31 and came his last quarter in 27 seconds. He said it so calmly.
“Wait a second…what did he go in?”
“Went in 1:58”
“And a last quarter in what?”
“27 seconds”
He then went onto tell me that Mo was definitely sore afterward and despite the good mile, we would just have to wait and see how he comes out of it. At least I think that what he said because I couldn’t really pay attention. All I could do was envision Mo charging down that home stretch and ripping off a 27 second last quarter all by himself. The old boy still has it, I thought. Despite the fact it could still be his last mile, I had a smile from ear to ear. If that was it, he went out with at least a little bit of a bang. It was amazing how good that made me feel that our beloved race horse who loves nothing more in life but to race was able to go out and fly to the wire one last time.
With some surprisingly good news in hand to mix in with bad news, I was kind of a jerk and strung Danny along when giving him the update. “Well…some good and some bad….” I said before giving him the run down. “Wait a second…what did he go in?” That seemed to be the repeating line of the night. To be clear, Mo hadn’t really accomplished anything that anyone outside of our little group would care about. So he trained a good mile. So what? Well, after a year and a half of setbacks it was just an awesome feeling that he busted through a hurdle. At that point, it was just going to be a waiting game to see how he came out of it. My prediction was he’d be sore, have filling in his leg until later in the week and we’d have to make a decision as to what to do next (if anything). Well, I was wrong again.
Today, Dr. Tony was back up at Marengo and Mo was feeling good enough to go out and jog…and he jogged 4 miles showing no signs at all of any soreness whatsoever. Tyler said it was the best he’s been since he got him months ago. Greg told me that just about an hour ago and I nearly fell out of my chair.
The thought going into last weekend was that if Mo had one more miracle in him, now was the time. He was literally down to his last chance. To be clear, Mo isn’t out of the woods yet. I mean, he hasn’t even got to a qualifier, much less an actual race, but this is an exciting turn of events. As I mentioned earlier, I had not only began to think about the final entry to this blog, but I had accepted it. On Monday morning, while out for a run, I got to thinking how nice it would be to end by emphasizing that final training mile. I would try and paint the picture of Mo in full stride with the wind blowing back his mane as he battled through some pain to hit the wire in front of his invisible competitors. As I got to Chief Kuno Trail and started to turn for home about a half mile out, my Ipod flipped to a new song. There were 430 songs in that list on random and when his unofficial theme song came on (Over My Head from The Frey), I stopped thinking. I took that mental story outline, crumpled it up and threw it into my mental garbage can. This thing isn’t over quite yet. We’re already on borrowed time and maybe only have one more week before something bad happens again, but so what. We finally got some good news and it was a heck of a lot of fun. If somehow, someway, Mo can make it back to the winner’s circle just one more time after everything we’ve been through…well, words can’t describe just how special that would be. Danny and I decided we’d carry him back to the barn like a football team carries their coach off the field. Might almost be time to get your cameras ready.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Strange Happenings Are Back
I’m a big fan of the movie The Matrix. I found the two sequals to were focused on the ever deepening story and special effects, but the original that was just close enough to real life (at least in the beginning of the movie) to make it feel more real. One part of the movie that sicks with me is when Neo sees a cat cross a doorway not once, but twice. He blew it off as déjà -vu, but in the land of human vs. machine, it is not déjà -vu. It is a glitch in the Matrix that can mean impending danger. Why bring up an obscure scene from a 90s movie in a horse blog you ask? Just to point out that often times things go on around us that we don’t notice. It may or not mean something. Call it a coincidence, a fluke, maybe some sort of impending fate or maybe nothing at all, but sometimes things happen that simply make you go hmmmmmm…
Now, this used to happen all the time two years ago with Mo. It seemed like every race something would happen that made us scratch our heads or pause and wonder if something bigger than us was pulling the strings on the puppets around us. I’d refer you back to some specific blog post, but I just realized how long this thing has become. Sixty-eight posts over three years. Where the hell did I find the time to write all of this??? Don’t ask my boss that question. At some point I’ll sit down read this thing start to finish, but I might as well wait until our run with Mo is over (hopefully 4 or so years from now).
Anyway, we went down to watch Seanie race on Wednesday night. It was his 3rd lifetime start in a non- winners of 2 race going for $11,000. We were tense as usually, but not off the charts. We had a nice crew down at Beloit including Greg, Danny, his friend Aaron, my friend Schlitz and myself. Now, for the record, we haven’t had any of those ‘hmmmmm’ moments in quite awhile. I honestly can’t remember the last one (guess I can go back and read the blog!), but things were different last night. Consider the following:
• The Meadows racetrack was on a TV near us and we could head the great Roger Huston’s race calls. It reminded Danny and I about the time we went down there to see Mo race his 3 year old year. We had a great time. Mo finished 2nd that day after brushing to the front and not quite being able to get up to the eventual winner, Upfront Hoosierboy.
• Our driver that night was Doug Snyder, a regular driver at the Meadows. He was great that night…not so much later on in the year as we still joke about.
• In the race before Seanie’s Wednesday night, Greg pointed out that none other than Doug Snyder was driving. Kind of strange as he only had TWO drives at Pocono ALL YEAR and both were that night. His other 192 drives were all at the Meadows.
• About 5 minutes before the start of our race, Danny gave me a look like he was half spooked. “Listen to the song,” he said. I couldn’t hear it. It was the background song that Pocono Downs feed had going on in between races. He turned it up: “Over My Head” by the Frey. It is a song that will forever make us think of In Over My Head (obviously). That was a little more than a hmmmm moment for me. Not ‘make the hair on your arms stand up’ either, but somewhere in between. Popular song, I though, but rather interesting timing.
• So the race starts and Seanie leaves out of the 5 hole for the top (as you could probably guess by now, Mo had the 5 hole that day at the Meadows and went right to the top). He sits behind the leader the whole race and couldn’t get to him in the stretch, finishing 2nd by about 2 lengths and besting the 3rd place horse by even more than that. Mo finished 2nd by about 2 lengths and bested the 3rd place horse by more than that as well.
• Now the times weren’t a spot on match: Seanie was in 1.53.3 and Mo was in 1.52.4 that day, but since the Pocono track was about a second off last night due to sloppy conditions, that’s pretty damn close.
Now doesn’t all that strike you as at least a little strange? I think it does, but have absolutely no idea what it means. Does it mean that Seanie is going to take a similar arc to success as Mo? Does it mean that all these subtle references to Mo mean he will be back soon? Is it just a way to remember him and that great year he had? Those questions can only be answered in time, but there has to be something there. This whole blog started on a hunch…a feeling that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but for whatever reason I felt totally compelled to start tracking a story that at the time had yielded nothing more than a 5th place finish in a nw2 by a horse we had just dropped $28,000 on. Since then we have experienced completely unexpected highs (like what we never even imagined highs) and utterly devastating lows (like it was almost time to close up shop lows). And during all those times, these strange little occurrences kept happening. Maybe we were looking so hard for them that we kind of created something out of nothing. On the other hand maybe we just became a little more aware because of the excitement and camaraderie that we felt following our four legged friends.
So I’m going to end this post with another hunch. This thing isn’t over. Far from it. I’m telling you I woke up Thursday morning absolutely jacked about the race. It was just a second place finish…we picked up about $2,500…so what??? Well, just call it another hunch. I don’t know exactly what form it will take, but I think we are heading back up. Seanie will continue to get better and keep the fire burning until the Champ returns. That’s when this thing can really take off….it will be like déjà -vu all over again.
Had to add this special addition to my own post since I finished it yesterday…I was thinking a lot about Mo this afternoon after talking to Tyler Butenschoen on the way home.. I was just feeling so much confidence that things were going to be OK….that he WILL be back like he was before and that our ride is about to take off again. So I get home and decide to go for a run. About 3 miles into it, I come up to a rather long hill, which was a little bit intimidating. At about the same time, my Ipod finished up one song and started another. The song?
“Over My Head” by the Frey.
I can’t make this stuff up. Let’s go Mo!
Now, this used to happen all the time two years ago with Mo. It seemed like every race something would happen that made us scratch our heads or pause and wonder if something bigger than us was pulling the strings on the puppets around us. I’d refer you back to some specific blog post, but I just realized how long this thing has become. Sixty-eight posts over three years. Where the hell did I find the time to write all of this??? Don’t ask my boss that question. At some point I’ll sit down read this thing start to finish, but I might as well wait until our run with Mo is over (hopefully 4 or so years from now).
Anyway, we went down to watch Seanie race on Wednesday night. It was his 3rd lifetime start in a non- winners of 2 race going for $11,000. We were tense as usually, but not off the charts. We had a nice crew down at Beloit including Greg, Danny, his friend Aaron, my friend Schlitz and myself. Now, for the record, we haven’t had any of those ‘hmmmmm’ moments in quite awhile. I honestly can’t remember the last one (guess I can go back and read the blog!), but things were different last night. Consider the following:
• The Meadows racetrack was on a TV near us and we could head the great Roger Huston’s race calls. It reminded Danny and I about the time we went down there to see Mo race his 3 year old year. We had a great time. Mo finished 2nd that day after brushing to the front and not quite being able to get up to the eventual winner, Upfront Hoosierboy.
• Our driver that night was Doug Snyder, a regular driver at the Meadows. He was great that night…not so much later on in the year as we still joke about.
• In the race before Seanie’s Wednesday night, Greg pointed out that none other than Doug Snyder was driving. Kind of strange as he only had TWO drives at Pocono ALL YEAR and both were that night. His other 192 drives were all at the Meadows.
• About 5 minutes before the start of our race, Danny gave me a look like he was half spooked. “Listen to the song,” he said. I couldn’t hear it. It was the background song that Pocono Downs feed had going on in between races. He turned it up: “Over My Head” by the Frey. It is a song that will forever make us think of In Over My Head (obviously). That was a little more than a hmmmm moment for me. Not ‘make the hair on your arms stand up’ either, but somewhere in between. Popular song, I though, but rather interesting timing.
• So the race starts and Seanie leaves out of the 5 hole for the top (as you could probably guess by now, Mo had the 5 hole that day at the Meadows and went right to the top). He sits behind the leader the whole race and couldn’t get to him in the stretch, finishing 2nd by about 2 lengths and besting the 3rd place horse by even more than that. Mo finished 2nd by about 2 lengths and bested the 3rd place horse by more than that as well.
• Now the times weren’t a spot on match: Seanie was in 1.53.3 and Mo was in 1.52.4 that day, but since the Pocono track was about a second off last night due to sloppy conditions, that’s pretty damn close.
Now doesn’t all that strike you as at least a little strange? I think it does, but have absolutely no idea what it means. Does it mean that Seanie is going to take a similar arc to success as Mo? Does it mean that all these subtle references to Mo mean he will be back soon? Is it just a way to remember him and that great year he had? Those questions can only be answered in time, but there has to be something there. This whole blog started on a hunch…a feeling that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but for whatever reason I felt totally compelled to start tracking a story that at the time had yielded nothing more than a 5th place finish in a nw2 by a horse we had just dropped $28,000 on. Since then we have experienced completely unexpected highs (like what we never even imagined highs) and utterly devastating lows (like it was almost time to close up shop lows). And during all those times, these strange little occurrences kept happening. Maybe we were looking so hard for them that we kind of created something out of nothing. On the other hand maybe we just became a little more aware because of the excitement and camaraderie that we felt following our four legged friends.
So I’m going to end this post with another hunch. This thing isn’t over. Far from it. I’m telling you I woke up Thursday morning absolutely jacked about the race. It was just a second place finish…we picked up about $2,500…so what??? Well, just call it another hunch. I don’t know exactly what form it will take, but I think we are heading back up. Seanie will continue to get better and keep the fire burning until the Champ returns. That’s when this thing can really take off….it will be like déjà -vu all over again.
Had to add this special addition to my own post since I finished it yesterday…I was thinking a lot about Mo this afternoon after talking to Tyler Butenschoen on the way home.. I was just feeling so much confidence that things were going to be OK….that he WILL be back like he was before and that our ride is about to take off again. So I get home and decide to go for a run. About 3 miles into it, I come up to a rather long hill, which was a little bit intimidating. At about the same time, my Ipod finished up one song and started another. The song?
“Over My Head” by the Frey.
I can’t make this stuff up. Let’s go Mo!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
It's Go Time
I thought for awhile about the proper analogy to use for this entry when describing the current state of affairs with Mo. A final inning baseball comparison? No, too overdone. A last second drive in football? Nah, more of the same. Then I realized something else: hopefully this isn’t any kind of ‘last hope’ at all, but the beginning of a second career. So how about this one:
“I don’t know if it will make any difference…but I figured it was time for me to start playing ball again.”
Can you name that fictional character and movie? It was none other than Jimmy Chitwood in one of the greatest underdog stores ever told in Hoosiers. Now why would I use a basketball movie as an analogy for In Over My Head. First, I had a hard time finding usable quotes from Seabiscuit (maybe because I don’t speak horse). Second, I love basketball and lastly, In Over My Head has always been an underdog story. If he comes back, his story will only be that much better. And if you are a fan of Hoosiers, you will remember that it was after Jimmy came back to the team that Hickory High went on that incredible run that ended with a state title. Now that is an arc of success we would love to see Mo follow.
So you have to be wondering, what’s new with Mo? I really haven’t wrote too much about him and the reason is he really kind of flattened out over the last few weeks. He needed some additional treatment; he couldn’t train at all and has only been swimming. Showtime Shark has stolen the spotlight of the blog that was made for Mo in the first place, but that was really out of necessity. Things are about to change.
As of yesterday, we have been more or less green lighted by our vets to lace up the sneakers and get going. We have been patient, but have been told additional patience will do no more good for him. His leg is as good as it is going to get. It’s time to roll. At this point one of two things will happen: we will be racing in probably four weeks or we will be quitting with him for good. The days of ‘let’s just give him another few weeks off’ are over.
This is kind of a nervewrecking place to be. The basketball analogy comes back into play when looking at the next few weeks. We are entering our conference post season tourney and the only way we have to make it to the Big Dance is to win em all. How do we ‘win’ you might ask? Well, train well this week, and next week, then qualify once or twice, then 2 races, all in Chicago. If he can survive that gauntlet, he will make the Big Dance, which in our case is sending him to John out east at Pocono Downs to race for bigger purses once again. If we come out of any of those weeks and his leg shows major signs of injury again, we’re done. It is a sad thought, but it is as simple as that.
On the eve of Seanie’s third career start, a start he could possibly win, our attention is again back on our former champion who needs a little good fortune so he can get back to doing what he loves: Getting in behind that gate, besting his competition using his superior speed and guts and crossing that finish line first. He is one hell of a good looking horse and one that deserves a few more trips to the winners circle to get his picture taken. Cross your fingers Mo fans, those trips may not be too far away.
“I don’t know if it will make any difference…but I figured it was time for me to start playing ball again.”
Can you name that fictional character and movie? It was none other than Jimmy Chitwood in one of the greatest underdog stores ever told in Hoosiers. Now why would I use a basketball movie as an analogy for In Over My Head. First, I had a hard time finding usable quotes from Seabiscuit (maybe because I don’t speak horse). Second, I love basketball and lastly, In Over My Head has always been an underdog story. If he comes back, his story will only be that much better. And if you are a fan of Hoosiers, you will remember that it was after Jimmy came back to the team that Hickory High went on that incredible run that ended with a state title. Now that is an arc of success we would love to see Mo follow.
So you have to be wondering, what’s new with Mo? I really haven’t wrote too much about him and the reason is he really kind of flattened out over the last few weeks. He needed some additional treatment; he couldn’t train at all and has only been swimming. Showtime Shark has stolen the spotlight of the blog that was made for Mo in the first place, but that was really out of necessity. Things are about to change.
As of yesterday, we have been more or less green lighted by our vets to lace up the sneakers and get going. We have been patient, but have been told additional patience will do no more good for him. His leg is as good as it is going to get. It’s time to roll. At this point one of two things will happen: we will be racing in probably four weeks or we will be quitting with him for good. The days of ‘let’s just give him another few weeks off’ are over.
This is kind of a nervewrecking place to be. The basketball analogy comes back into play when looking at the next few weeks. We are entering our conference post season tourney and the only way we have to make it to the Big Dance is to win em all. How do we ‘win’ you might ask? Well, train well this week, and next week, then qualify once or twice, then 2 races, all in Chicago. If he can survive that gauntlet, he will make the Big Dance, which in our case is sending him to John out east at Pocono Downs to race for bigger purses once again. If we come out of any of those weeks and his leg shows major signs of injury again, we’re done. It is a sad thought, but it is as simple as that.
On the eve of Seanie’s third career start, a start he could possibly win, our attention is again back on our former champion who needs a little good fortune so he can get back to doing what he loves: Getting in behind that gate, besting his competition using his superior speed and guts and crossing that finish line first. He is one hell of a good looking horse and one that deserves a few more trips to the winners circle to get his picture taken. Cross your fingers Mo fans, those trips may not be too far away.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
We Are Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, I’ll go ahead and address some things right away in this post. A few questions a reader might be asking as you read this post.
Aren’t you over-reacting a little bit?
Yes
We are only taking about a maiden race. It isn’t like Seanie was racing in the Meadowlands Pace!
I fully understand
One good race doesn’t necessarily mean that you are back.
I disagree
So what am I talking about you may be asking…before I get to Seanie’s second lifetime race, I have a little something special to share with you. It just so happened that there was a video camera in the car when Greg, Danny and I drove back from watching the race last night. I think it really captures our excitement so I posted it on youtube. Take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op-4iqRCDV4
I’m not really sure what to think about Danny’s song at the end, but it sure was nice of him.
So what are we back to you may be asking (or more than likely you’ve figured it out already)…we are back to the winners circle! Seanie made his second lifetime start last night at Pocono Downs lit up the board by winning at 16-1 by a head. Now, through the wonders of screen capturing technology, I give you Showtime Shark’s first win (he is the #8 horse and spends the first half of the race in 2nd to last):
Man that is fun to watch. I think all three of us have had a smile on our face all day today. It has been 522 days since the last time a horse Greg and I own has graced the winner’s circle. It was In Over My Head’s win on February 12, 2009. That is a looooong time ago. Now, we can finally focus on the present. We have Seanie who is showing some nice promise and Mo’s first start back is inching closer. The timing of Seanie’s win was good as Mo had a bit of a slow down in his training, but it is not anything serious. It will just be a couple more weeks. Until then, keep going Seanie…we need some more races to enjoy!
Aren’t you over-reacting a little bit?
Yes
We are only taking about a maiden race. It isn’t like Seanie was racing in the Meadowlands Pace!
I fully understand
One good race doesn’t necessarily mean that you are back.
I disagree
So what am I talking about you may be asking…before I get to Seanie’s second lifetime race, I have a little something special to share with you. It just so happened that there was a video camera in the car when Greg, Danny and I drove back from watching the race last night. I think it really captures our excitement so I posted it on youtube. Take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op-4iqRCDV4
I’m not really sure what to think about Danny’s song at the end, but it sure was nice of him.
So what are we back to you may be asking (or more than likely you’ve figured it out already)…we are back to the winners circle! Seanie made his second lifetime start last night at Pocono Downs lit up the board by winning at 16-1 by a head. Now, through the wonders of screen capturing technology, I give you Showtime Shark’s first win (he is the #8 horse and spends the first half of the race in 2nd to last):
Man that is fun to watch. I think all three of us have had a smile on our face all day today. It has been 522 days since the last time a horse Greg and I own has graced the winner’s circle. It was In Over My Head’s win on February 12, 2009. That is a looooong time ago. Now, we can finally focus on the present. We have Seanie who is showing some nice promise and Mo’s first start back is inching closer. The timing of Seanie’s win was good as Mo had a bit of a slow down in his training, but it is not anything serious. It will just be a couple more weeks. Until then, keep going Seanie…we need some more races to enjoy!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
A Purse Check and Mo Update
Well, we have to start this blog entry with one important announcement: We have received our first purse check in a loooong time. Young Seanie made his first start out at Yonkers on Tuesday and picked a check for 5th place. $700. It may not seem like a lot of money, but it is hopefully just the start of good things to come. He was raced very conservatively, as is common with first time starters and we all expect him to be even better next time out. It will be fun watching him mature and continue to show us what he can do.
As for Mo, he just keeps getting closer and closer to getting back to the track. Actually, he did make his first trip to the racetrack in a long time on Wednesday night. His training miles are fast enough at this point that it is better for him to train at Balmoral (or Maywood) than on John’s track in Marengo. So, he got to enjoy the trailer ride down to Balmoral on Wednesday and trained before the races started. The mile wasn’t the best as the track was a little off at the time, but he’ll be doing the same thing next week. After that, it may be time to qualify him. Honestly, it makes me both excited and nervous as hell just typing that. I can’t believe how close were are, but everyone involved feels the same way at this point, that he will make it back. What happens at that point opens up a whole new set up questions (will he be as good as before…how long will his leg hold up…will he reinjure it…maybe it won’t bother him much at all and not be a problem). We can deal with those questions when the time comes. All I know is our boy is on a path that puts him just a few short weeks away from racing again.
Kind of a short entry, but just wanted to check in. More to come…hopefully a lot more!
As for Mo, he just keeps getting closer and closer to getting back to the track. Actually, he did make his first trip to the racetrack in a long time on Wednesday night. His training miles are fast enough at this point that it is better for him to train at Balmoral (or Maywood) than on John’s track in Marengo. So, he got to enjoy the trailer ride down to Balmoral on Wednesday and trained before the races started. The mile wasn’t the best as the track was a little off at the time, but he’ll be doing the same thing next week. After that, it may be time to qualify him. Honestly, it makes me both excited and nervous as hell just typing that. I can’t believe how close were are, but everyone involved feels the same way at this point, that he will make it back. What happens at that point opens up a whole new set up questions (will he be as good as before…how long will his leg hold up…will he reinjure it…maybe it won’t bother him much at all and not be a problem). We can deal with those questions when the time comes. All I know is our boy is on a path that puts him just a few short weeks away from racing again.
Kind of a short entry, but just wanted to check in. More to come…hopefully a lot more!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Look At Me!!!
Well faithful blog readers, it looks like we have a little jealously forming. Apparently, younger brother wants some attention. After seeing page upon page with stories of Mo, pictures from Marengo, stories of his training, poor young Seanie was starting to feel left out. We’ll, like any good younger brother (as most readers know, Mo and Seanie aren’t actually brothers, but since they share the same ownership, they fall into a similar ‘family’) he decided to do something about. What did he do? Well, he got himself ready to race in very short order.
Today, Seanie was scheduled to make his first qualifying start since last summer. Not only did he perform well, he did it in about 2 to 3 second faster than everyone thought and did it on his own. Take a look at the chart yourself.
Now is also a good time to remind everyone that Seanie’s real name is Showtime Shark, however, it is safe to say that his nickname will be used quite often. If you want to know why, here is a link back to the entry when we bought him:
http://inovermyheadracehorse.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-addition-to-our-stable.html
Anyway, I know it is just a qualifier, but for the first time in about a year we can go on USTA’s entry page and actually see one of our horses listed. That, my friends, is what I call progress. Another qualifier next week and then Seanie should be ready to race for real.
So, to try and keep things fair, I will only make a brief mention of Mo this entry. He trained in 2:20 this weekend and continues to progress well.
Today, however, we celebrate Showtime Shark . In the ‘it’s a small world’ bit of information of the day, the #5 horse in Seanie’s qualifier Jus Being Joe (who finished 4th) is a half brother to (same mom as) I Am A Fool. I Am A Fool is In Over My Head’s sire. I may not be the only one to find that somewhat strange. Just a coincidence I guess…maybe the first of many. Rumor has it Seanie sent Mo a text message after the qualifier that said, “Ha, ha…beat your dad’s bro my first time out and I wasn’t even trying.” Gotta love a sibling rivalry.
Today, Seanie was scheduled to make his first qualifying start since last summer. Not only did he perform well, he did it in about 2 to 3 second faster than everyone thought and did it on his own. Take a look at the chart yourself.
Now is also a good time to remind everyone that Seanie’s real name is Showtime Shark, however, it is safe to say that his nickname will be used quite often. If you want to know why, here is a link back to the entry when we bought him:
http://inovermyheadracehorse.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-addition-to-our-stable.html
Anyway, I know it is just a qualifier, but for the first time in about a year we can go on USTA’s entry page and actually see one of our horses listed. That, my friends, is what I call progress. Another qualifier next week and then Seanie should be ready to race for real.
So, to try and keep things fair, I will only make a brief mention of Mo this entry. He trained in 2:20 this weekend and continues to progress well.
Today, however, we celebrate Showtime Shark . In the ‘it’s a small world’ bit of information of the day, the #5 horse in Seanie’s qualifier Jus Being Joe (who finished 4th) is a half brother to (same mom as) I Am A Fool. I Am A Fool is In Over My Head’s sire. I may not be the only one to find that somewhat strange. Just a coincidence I guess…maybe the first of many. Rumor has it Seanie sent Mo a text message after the qualifier that said, “Ha, ha…beat your dad’s bro my first time out and I wasn’t even trying.” Gotta love a sibling rivalry.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Big Day For Mo
For the first time in a long time, I can see it. I can actually see the shore. We’ve been floating around at sea for many, many months and while there is still plenty of paddling to do, that beautiful beach known to horse owners as an actual pari-mutual start dead ahead. We knew Showtime Shark was getting close. He trained in 2:15 this weekend and is probably just 3 weeks away from qualfiing. The bigger question mark remained In Over My Head. He had flattened out the last couple of weeks. Much of that was just all of us being cautious, but at some point everyone knew we would have to speed him up and see what happened.Laura, Danny, Kacy and I made the trip down to Marengo together on Saturday morning to watch Mo train. Greg was originally going to join us, but ended up having to be at work. When the alarm hit at 6:15 I was thinking it was a little early for a Saturday, but since we were going to see Mo, it was just fine. Danny had been down to train him the week before, but Laura and I hadn’t seen him since our trip to Florida in January (which is when we had to quit with him due to a flare-up of his injury). As soon as we got there, he treated Danny and I with a familiar attempt to nip us…same old Mo. He looked great. Gone was the horse equivilant of a beer belly he picked up during his time off. He looked like his old self. Big, strong and muscular. After walking around for a bit Danny came up and let me know what was in store for Mo that day: two training trips, one in 2:40 and the 2nd in 2:25. John (who sets all the training schedules) had decided it was time to try and test him a little bit.
The first trip for Mo was easy. As Danny described it, he was a sports car who was crusing around in
2nd gear, just waiting to be asked to go faster. After some time to catch his breath and get a nice bath from Penny, he was ready to go back. As they took him out of the barn, I was getting that familiar feeling that happens before a race. Some nerves, some tension. Not nearly as intense as a race, but a mile in 2:25 is a big deal for Mo. As I said to Tyler as we walked out to the track, it was really his biggest day in a year and four months. Danny warmed him up and turned to go. I had the 2011 version of an old stopwatch (my Iphone) and hit the timer as Danny went past. After the half, Tyler asked how he was doing: 1:14 seconds. Heading to a 2:28 mile, but Danny asked for a little bit more. As they came around the final turn, Mo was rolling along easy. They crossed past us and I hit the timer. Unofficial time: 2:23.9. Mo had set a new benchmark in his comeback.Coming off the track, my eyes were locked on his right from leg, but he didn’t show any signs of soreness. Just another day at the office. We looked at Danny who said something along the lines of: yeah, he’s good. We walked him back to the barn and by the time he got to his stall, I think he was ready for another trip. He was back nipping at Danny and I in no time…just not Penny. She’s the only one who isn’t greeted with his teeth.
It was just a great trip down to the farm. Great to see everyone down there who I hadn’t seen in
awhile and great to see Mo (of course). It was a little hot and Laura and Kacy were great sports about hanging around the barn for 2 and a half hours (maybe not every girls’ dream Saturday morning, but Danny and I are pretty lucky). While it was just a couple of training miles, it was a huge day for him. He really isn’t THAT far from heading into the track to train on a faster surface. A few more weeks probably, but if Saturday was an indication, he’s getting close. Much closer to the shore than he was the week before. While we need to keep thinking one week at a time, we can see it now. Cross your fingers In Over My Head fans…it may not be too much longer before we can be cheering him on at the track and not just the farm. Wednesday, May 25, 2011
One Wedding and Some Good Training Reports
Hello blog readers. So, I know this is suppose to be about horse racing, but I first must report that Laura and I tied the knot on Saturday, May 7th! It kept me away from posting here for awhile, but it was well worth it! For those who love racing, you’ll be happy to know we played the Kentucky Derby radio call live at our reception and gave prizes away to the winners (each person got a horse name on their seating assignment). Laura’s father also made a special mention of Mo winning the Windy City Pace during his speech after dinner at the reception. So, although In Over My Head was physically in cold and rainy Marrengo that day, he was with us in spirit down in Key West!
A couple of weeks after the wedding, Laura and I were out with Danny and we realized that per State of Wisconsin marital law, Laura is now an owner in two race horses. Welcome aboard! I’m sure Mo and Seeknee are excited to have her as owner.
As for the horses, they continue to train down slowly, but surely. Although we are 455 days removed from our last race, we could be within about 45 days of Seeknee seeing the track and maybe 75 days for Mo. Obviously, things can change, but I like looking forward much more than backward. Here are some fun updates on our guys:
- In Over My Head – Has been in 2:36 at John’s track in Marrengo with Tyler at the helm. They had been going two training trips a week, but he came up a bit sore after his second last week, so we’ll back off a bit. No rush. Great news is that he’s loving being on the track and is quite a handful when out with other horses. As you can probably guess based on his past racing experience, he wants to pass everything in sight. Easy big guy, they’ll be plenty of time for that later this summer. For now, we’ll keep training him down at a measured pace and just keep a close eye on him. He’s in good hands with Tyler, Penny, Dr. Tony and everyone else who is working at John’s. Danny and I are heading down June 5th. We’ll get more pictures.
- Showtime Shark – I think I speak for Greg, Danny and I when I say we can’t wait to see what Mr. Seeknee can do on the racetrack. All reports from Julie Miller on him have been very positive (not including his occasional bonehead behavior around the barn). On the track, he’s all go and seems to really enjoy the competition of racing (or at least training) against other horses. John used to say the same thing about him when he was a 2 year old. His injury has healed and he has shown no soreness at all. Yesterday, they went two trips with him with the second in 2:20. He’s on track to be ready to qualify in 4-6 weeks. We haven’t seen Showtime in person since last winter in Florida, so when he gets racing this summer, we’ll definitely make the trip out east. We think he’ll like the mile track, so we’ll angle him to towards the Meadowlands.
I love good training reports…but they are dwarfed by good racing reports. Hopefully by the end of the summer I can be writing about races for both our horses!
A couple of weeks after the wedding, Laura and I were out with Danny and we realized that per State of Wisconsin marital law, Laura is now an owner in two race horses. Welcome aboard! I’m sure Mo and Seeknee are excited to have her as owner.
As for the horses, they continue to train down slowly, but surely. Although we are 455 days removed from our last race, we could be within about 45 days of Seeknee seeing the track and maybe 75 days for Mo. Obviously, things can change, but I like looking forward much more than backward. Here are some fun updates on our guys:
- In Over My Head – Has been in 2:36 at John’s track in Marrengo with Tyler at the helm. They had been going two training trips a week, but he came up a bit sore after his second last week, so we’ll back off a bit. No rush. Great news is that he’s loving being on the track and is quite a handful when out with other horses. As you can probably guess based on his past racing experience, he wants to pass everything in sight. Easy big guy, they’ll be plenty of time for that later this summer. For now, we’ll keep training him down at a measured pace and just keep a close eye on him. He’s in good hands with Tyler, Penny, Dr. Tony and everyone else who is working at John’s. Danny and I are heading down June 5th. We’ll get more pictures.
- Showtime Shark – I think I speak for Greg, Danny and I when I say we can’t wait to see what Mr. Seeknee can do on the racetrack. All reports from Julie Miller on him have been very positive (not including his occasional bonehead behavior around the barn). On the track, he’s all go and seems to really enjoy the competition of racing (or at least training) against other horses. John used to say the same thing about him when he was a 2 year old. His injury has healed and he has shown no soreness at all. Yesterday, they went two trips with him with the second in 2:20. He’s on track to be ready to qualify in 4-6 weeks. We haven’t seen Showtime in person since last winter in Florida, so when he gets racing this summer, we’ll definitely make the trip out east. We think he’ll like the mile track, so we’ll angle him to towards the Meadowlands.
I love good training reports…but they are dwarfed by good racing reports. Hopefully by the end of the summer I can be writing about races for both our horses!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Mo(hawk)
As a group, we haven’t seen In Over My Head in awhile. After spending much of last year with Greg up in Mineral Point, he got sent down to Florida to get back into racing shape. Laura and I went down to visit in late December, but shortly thereafter, he aggravated his suspensory injury and had to be shipped back to Illinois. It wasn’t until this weekend that he was visited by his ownership team when Greg and Danny headed down to Marrengo to see him. Mo had just moved over to the Butenschoen’s place after spending the last few months with the Leonards.
A quick side note, from what I hear the Leonards gave Mo great care when he was with them and if you happen to be reading this, we’d like to thank you for stepping in and helping all of us out. We very much appreciate it.
In Over My Head has always carried himself with a bit of an attitude. Not that he’s a jerk at all, he’s just pretty sure who’s the boss: him. As long as you go in with that attitude, no one is going to have any problems. Well, as Greg and Danny found out this weekend, he has also found a new way to express himself. Thanks to Danny’s fine camera work, we give you...Mo with a Mohawk:
As it turns out, Mo has decided that he wants to rock this mohawk on his comeback tour. Who are we to tell him no?
Danny got to take him out for a nice 5 mile jog and he is ready to start training down. We just have to wait until the weather stops being so rainy so the track can dry out. No rush, we've been waiting for well over a year. What's another couple of weeks?
In other news Laura and I are off to get married. Kentucky Derby day will also be our wedding day! So, I won't have any blog updates for a couple of weeks. HOWEVER, when we get back, there is a chance we could have both Mo and Seeknee no more than a few week away from a qualifier. You never know what will happen, but this is the closest we've been to a real race in a long, long time!
A quick side note, from what I hear the Leonards gave Mo great care when he was with them and if you happen to be reading this, we’d like to thank you for stepping in and helping all of us out. We very much appreciate it.
In Over My Head has always carried himself with a bit of an attitude. Not that he’s a jerk at all, he’s just pretty sure who’s the boss: him. As long as you go in with that attitude, no one is going to have any problems. Well, as Greg and Danny found out this weekend, he has also found a new way to express himself. Thanks to Danny’s fine camera work, we give you...Mo with a Mohawk:
As it turns out, Mo has decided that he wants to rock this mohawk on his comeback tour. Who are we to tell him no?
Danny got to take him out for a nice 5 mile jog and he is ready to start training down. We just have to wait until the weather stops being so rainy so the track can dry out. No rush, we've been waiting for well over a year. What's another couple of weeks?
In other news Laura and I are off to get married. Kentucky Derby day will also be our wedding day! So, I won't have any blog updates for a couple of weeks. HOWEVER, when we get back, there is a chance we could have both Mo and Seeknee no more than a few week away from a qualifier. You never know what will happen, but this is the closest we've been to a real race in a long, long time!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Slow and Steady
“Slow and steady wins the race!” Marge Simpson (yes, I mean the cartoon character)
I can’t say I agree with Marge on that one, especially when it comes to horse racing. Marge would not make a very good horse owner, although she would be thriving in our current situation. Slow and steady…hopefully will get us back to the races.
We actually have some small good news to report. In Over My Head continues to work his way back down into race shape. He has officially trained past the point he was at in Florida before he had a flare up of his suspensory injury. We’d like to thank the Leonards who have provided him a roof over his head, a pool to swim in and a track to jog on until Tyler Butenschoen gets back from Florida to open up the farm. Today, he will go his second training mile with a target time of around 2:50. Still a long ways to go, yet a long ways from where he started. We are kind of in the middle. If (and that is one enormous ‘if’) he can progress at this pace, he could be racing by mid to late June.
An interesting story form the world of harness racing. The owner of Hypnotic Blue Chip (arguably the top open pacer in world) has challenged St. Elmo’s Hero to a match race. ‘Hero’ is a late bloomer on a 24 race win streak. It would be quite a fun thing to watch, but it seems like Hero’s owners aren’t interested. Maybe Mo can come back to his old form someday and we can take the challenge! Link to the story is below:
http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=41812&z=1
In Showtime Shark news, he is finally out of the stall and back jogging. His freak injury (if you remember, he kicked a stall with his back right leg, breaking his coffin bone) has healed and he is sound again. The vets tell us he should have no long term negative effects form the injury. He just needs to stop being a knucklehead when not on the track. Timeline for Mr. Seeknee’s return is roughly August. Imagine, we have a chance to have both of these horses racing by late summer. We’ll see…one week at a time.
I can’t say I agree with Marge on that one, especially when it comes to horse racing. Marge would not make a very good horse owner, although she would be thriving in our current situation. Slow and steady…hopefully will get us back to the races.
We actually have some small good news to report. In Over My Head continues to work his way back down into race shape. He has officially trained past the point he was at in Florida before he had a flare up of his suspensory injury. We’d like to thank the Leonards who have provided him a roof over his head, a pool to swim in and a track to jog on until Tyler Butenschoen gets back from Florida to open up the farm. Today, he will go his second training mile with a target time of around 2:50. Still a long ways to go, yet a long ways from where he started. We are kind of in the middle. If (and that is one enormous ‘if’) he can progress at this pace, he could be racing by mid to late June.
An interesting story form the world of harness racing. The owner of Hypnotic Blue Chip (arguably the top open pacer in world) has challenged St. Elmo’s Hero to a match race. ‘Hero’ is a late bloomer on a 24 race win streak. It would be quite a fun thing to watch, but it seems like Hero’s owners aren’t interested. Maybe Mo can come back to his old form someday and we can take the challenge! Link to the story is below:
http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=41812&z=1
In Showtime Shark news, he is finally out of the stall and back jogging. His freak injury (if you remember, he kicked a stall with his back right leg, breaking his coffin bone) has healed and he is sound again. The vets tell us he should have no long term negative effects form the injury. He just needs to stop being a knucklehead when not on the track. Timeline for Mr. Seeknee’s return is roughly August. Imagine, we have a chance to have both of these horses racing by late summer. We’ll see…one week at a time.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Swimming the Winter Away
It has certainly been awhile. I was a little surprised last week when I got my sitemeter results and found that despite the fact no new material has been posted here in over 2 months, 20 people still found their way to the blog home of In Over My Head. When I saw that, I thought it was time for a new update. It isn’t great (or even good), but it is what it is.
- Last post I referenced a possible flare up of his suspensory injury. Unfortunately, that did materialize and we had to pull him from the Florida training facility and send him back to Illinois for more treatment.
- The new treatment went well from what we were told and after some additional stall rest, he was been moved to a new facility for the next phase in his recovery.
- That phase is…swimming! Yes, Mo is taking a more buoyant approach to training and has been swimming in a special pool (for horses) at the Leonards farm in Illinois (near Butenschoen’s).
- Once the weather stabilizes and the track at Butenschoen’s gets over the winter thaw, he’ll go back to jogging and training down.
- If he makes it thought that phase, we’ll figure out what is next. Based on the setbacks he has faced, we aren’t thinking that far down the road yet. Just taking it one step at a time.
At this point, we have really come to accept Mo’s fate. He hasn’t raced in over a year. He’s still months away and to be brutally honest, there is a very real possibility he will never race again. All we can be is hopeful. We never envisioned this bad of an injury would befall him in the first place. Right now, it is hard to envision a successful return to the track, but you never know. For now, he’ll just keep swimming. There are certainly worse ways to spend the winter.
Speaking of injury setbacks, Showtime Shark (aka Seeknee) is still nursing his broken coffin bone. We got a report a couple weeks ago that the healing is going well and there should not be any long term negative effects form the injury. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the soonest he could be back to the track is looking like September. Patience is a virtue.
So for now, we can focus on Laura and my wedding on May 7th in Key West, FL. We are getting married on Derby Day (kind of by accident). We may not be lucky with horses at the moment, but we are certainly lucky to have each other…and maybe someday we can once again be lucky with both!
- Last post I referenced a possible flare up of his suspensory injury. Unfortunately, that did materialize and we had to pull him from the Florida training facility and send him back to Illinois for more treatment.
- The new treatment went well from what we were told and after some additional stall rest, he was been moved to a new facility for the next phase in his recovery.
- That phase is…swimming! Yes, Mo is taking a more buoyant approach to training and has been swimming in a special pool (for horses) at the Leonards farm in Illinois (near Butenschoen’s).
- Once the weather stabilizes and the track at Butenschoen’s gets over the winter thaw, he’ll go back to jogging and training down.
- If he makes it thought that phase, we’ll figure out what is next. Based on the setbacks he has faced, we aren’t thinking that far down the road yet. Just taking it one step at a time.
At this point, we have really come to accept Mo’s fate. He hasn’t raced in over a year. He’s still months away and to be brutally honest, there is a very real possibility he will never race again. All we can be is hopeful. We never envisioned this bad of an injury would befall him in the first place. Right now, it is hard to envision a successful return to the track, but you never know. For now, he’ll just keep swimming. There are certainly worse ways to spend the winter.
Speaking of injury setbacks, Showtime Shark (aka Seeknee) is still nursing his broken coffin bone. We got a report a couple weeks ago that the healing is going well and there should not be any long term negative effects form the injury. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the soonest he could be back to the track is looking like September. Patience is a virtue.
So for now, we can focus on Laura and my wedding on May 7th in Key West, FL. We are getting married on Derby Day (kind of by accident). We may not be lucky with horses at the moment, but we are certainly lucky to have each other…and maybe someday we can once again be lucky with both!
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