It’s like Christmas morning as a
kid.
Is there anything better than
that? The anticipation builds up for
weeks and what makes Christmas morning extra special is that it never disappoints. Santa showed up as planned and those toys you
asked for have magically appeared under the tree. Genuine happiness. That’s the only way to describe it. It is probably that way for parents too when
they get to watch their kid’s expressions.
We can’t wait for that moment when Jordan is old enough to appreciate
Christmas morning.
You know what Christmas morning is
for this big kid? Having the opportunity
to watch In Over My Head race. And much like
Santa Clause, he never disappoints.
Before I get into the race, I a
confession to make. I violated rule #1
on Friday night. Actually it is the only
rule you must abide by when following In Over My Head. It is so easy to remember and I’m embarrassed
that I forgot.
Rule #1: Never doubt Mo. Ever.
I doubted him at the half mile
mark. “Well, he’s not going to win
tonight,” I said to Laura. Word from
Maywood Park is that Danny wasn’t feeling very optimistic either at the half
mile mark. I’m sure most people watching
felt the same way. We all violated Rule
#1. It won’t happen again with me. That I
promise.
I won’t say any more about the
race. For those of you that just read
this blog and have not seen it, follow the instructions below and watch the replay. Any description I write just can’t do it
justice. Remember Rule #1 when you watch
it.
Click on the like below, then go
to Friday August 2nd. In Over
My Head was in race #12. He was number
5. If you lose him during the race don’t
worry…you’ll know who he is by the end.
While you always hope for a win as
an owner, Friday was at least a little bit different. We felt pretty strongly that Mo would race
well. But he had been off for OVER A
YEAR. That’s a long time. The horse who finished 2nd (the #4
horse) was a solid competitor. My
thought going in was the #4 might get loose on the front end. While I expected Mo to be closing hard, there
was a chance he might have too much ground to make up. It played out pretty close to how I expected
it would. Only the phrase “too much
ground to make up” apparently doesn’t apply to In Over My Head.
The feeling after the race was just
amazing. Genuine happiness. Talking to Danny, who was at the track with
Kacy, Kim, Jamie and Andy. Seeing the
feedback from some of Mo’s fans on Twitter (including Marcus Miller and Tyler
Butenschoen who were watching from Pennsylvania). It felt like we won a major race of some kind
and not a conditioned race at Maywood.
Heck, it’s Monday and I’m still flying high. If you take a second and go back to the
Christmas analogy, it isn’t about receiving the biggest or most expensive gift
out there that brings the excitement. It
is the total experience that makes it so special. That was especially true for all of us on
Team Mo on Friday night.
The winner’s circle was extra
special because it was the first time Danny’s sister Kim and her husband Jamie had
ever been in the winner’s circle (not including Danny’s wins as a driver at the
Iowa County fair of course). It is a
uniquely fun experience and an experience that Mo delivers quite often. That win gives him 19 victories in 49
lifetime starts with a win percentage of 39%.
Very impressive.
One other person got a very well
deserved trip to the winner’s circle with Mo and that was Casey Leonard. Mo’s driver/ trainer (with his father Terry)
has done an incredible job getting In Over My Head back to this point. While most of Mo’s racing career has been
spent with the Butenschoen’s as trainers and Marcus Miller in the sulky, the
most recent comeback has been at the hands of the Leonard’s. We are very grateful and thankful for the
work they have done. They have been
patient and have In Over My Head back to his winning ways.
The obvious question now is: What’s next?
We are still in the infancy of
this latest Mo comeback and for the next couple races, we need to keep some
perspective. He’ll step up in class and
race in 2 weeks. If he does well there,
he’ll graduate to the Invitation again. IF
he can go a couple more races and stay healthy, there is no reason to think he
can’t race for an extended period of time.
He can achieve the ‘Quest for Double Digits’ I talked about last blog
entry. We don’t want to get too far
ahead of ourselves at this point, though.
Just enjoy were we are, enjoy watching Mo race and if you really want to
think ahead don’t get into specifics.
Just remember Rule #1. Mo will
write his own itinerary. The best thing
we can do is just follow along.
No comments:
Post a Comment