Friday, May 2, 2014

A Force with Issues


There is nothing better than heading into a week off after two straight wins and that’s exactly what In Over My Head has delivered in the past two weeks. 

His win at Maywood two weeks back was the typical dominating performance he has put up at that track.  After going winless in his previous five starts, he was able to drop down in class and fit the Maywood card.  He came in and took care of business.  Danny made a nice video of that win:


Last Saturday at Balmoral, he was assigned an outside post position (#9), but it didn’t do anything to slow him down.  As the horses turned for home, he showed his class and went right by.  We don’t have a youtube video of that one up yet, but if you’d like to see the race, just follow the link below:

Click the link, then April 26th and Race #8
http://www.balmoralpark.com/Video.cfm?Cat=R

Mo’s success has also earned some nice press coverage.  Take a look at the following links for more.

Going into the Maywood race:

http://www.harnessillinois.com/node/1461

Going into the Balmoral race (at the end of the article):

http://www.harnessillinois.com/node/1467

As much as I’ve enjoyed seeing those articles, I think it was this quote from Casey Leonard in the second link that was maybe the most important for me. 

“In Over My Head does have a lot of issues that we have to keep working on but when he’s right, he’s a force out there.”

It is very, very easy to forget that Mo’s success is somewhat fragile when he looks so darn good on the track.  If you just tuned in to watch him race, you’d probably never know.  Your only tip might be that we race him rather lightly (always giving him ample weeks off to stay healthy), but he doesn’t show it.  It is a testament to the Leonard’s, who like the Butenschoen’s before them, have done a great job keeping him fit, healthy and happy.  Let’s not forget that last one.  Mo deserves to be happy!

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. The key to this whole thing is to just really enjoy success when you have it.  We are having it yet again with In Over My Head.  He is such a special horse.  We truly are lucky to have him. 

Mo still has some dragons to slay, most notably Al’s Hammered.  He looked like a monster on Saturday night as well, closing in 25.4 (same last quarter as Mo).  Mo will have his chances to lock horns again soon.  Look for him be back next Saturday at Balmoral Park.

Let’s Go Mo! 

 

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Overview

Many people have asked me what it's like to own a racehorse. This blog is a play by play of one horse in particular. A three year old colt named In Over My Head that I own with my uncle...and although he doesn't have any dollars invested, my cousin is about as emotionally invested as humanly possible. It could end up being a story of success or failure, but if he's like all the others I've owned, it will no doubt be a roller coaster ride.