The End and the Beginning All Rolled Into One

Owning horses will cause your hands to shake sometimes.  I can distinctly remember when In Over My Head first made my hands shake.  It was right after we bought him at an auction.  The excitement got the best of me and I couldn’t even sign my name on the sales slip.  From that day on, he caused my hands to shake many times.  Normally this was after a big race and once text messaging became more prevalent (can you believe that Mo’s career goes back to the early stages of sending text messages???) the hand shaking phenomenon become more noticeable.  Today, Mo made my hands shake one last time…and for a very unique reason.

He passed his fertility test.

Let me take a step back since I haven’t had an updated since June.

This season marked Mo’s 8^th as a racehorse.  At times, he looked like his old self.  Other times, he was starting to look his age.  He had three wins in six starts and going into his seventh start there was no reason to think he wouldn’t get his fourth win on the season.  We had no idea that July 25, 2015 was about to mark the end of one of the most exciting, gratifying, humbling and memorable experiences in our lives. 

When the gate folded that night, Mo make an uncharacteristic break.  After he got back on stride, his driver, Kyle Wilfong, urged him to pick up the pace.  He made another break.  This went on again and finally Kyle just let Mo do his thing.  What Mo did was pace around the Balmoral oval in about two minutes, some 30 lengths from the leader.  He was trying to communicate something very simple to us.  He was trying to tell us that he didn’t want to race anymore.   

In his previous 87 starts, Mo had never given anything less than a 100%, run through a wall effort.  Even through injury…hell, even when he got hurt IN THE BEGINNING OF THE RACE.  Nothing stopped him.  He was a runaway freight train.  Suddenly, he flipped the switch and ended things on his own terms.  It took us about 2 minutes to come to the conclusion that there was be no more races.  While he was sore, the great thing was that he did not have any major injuries.  Even though he was about to be retired, we had him checked out anyway.  No minor breaks or tears could be found.  We were always worried he would end his career with some sort of injury, but he made sure to pull the plug before that happened.  He was healthy enough to easily transition to the next stage of his career…but what was that going to be?

We needed to find him a good home.  Preferably a home that allowed him to, you know, be a stallion.  We knew it wouldn’t be easy.  The stallion game is a tough one and while Mo has shown many of the traits needed to become a successful stallion, the competition is fierce.  We would need to find the right niche.  So we went to work.

Danny took the lead and he reached out to numerous small farms in California, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Indiana among others.  We had a nice package of information with a letter explaining why he would be a good fit.  For a while, it was silence, then we got a call back from someone in Iowa.  She had about 5 mares and knew of others that might want to breed to him.  Perfect.

We were thrilled at the thought that our boy was going to get a chance to live the life of a stallion.  We started having visions of his babies at racetracks.  We thought that maybe one day we could have one of our own.  However, there was one important obstacle that needed to be hurdled.  He needed to prove his ability to be a stallion.  He was…well…not experienced when it came to the ladies.

So, we set up an appointment at a clinic in Cedar Rapids, near the farm of the prospective owners.  The deal was clear.  If he passed his test, she’d take him.  If not, we’d have to come up with a new plan and the dream of stallion life for Mo would be over.  That’s a lot of pressure.

Luckily, our plan ended up working.  Mo passed!  Not only did he pass, but apparently he is considered “extremely fertile”.  This is a great sign for his new owners and will allow him to move smoothly to his next career.  When we got the news, I was actually supposed how excited I was.  It was like he just won a race! 

We shouldn’t have been surprised at our excitement.  Mo has given us so much over the past eight years.  I’ll likely do one more post that is a final summary of this story, but it is hard to describe how gratifying it is for us to be able to give Mo this second career he deserves.  He should be a stallion on some level.  His stats don’t to him justice.  He’s a million dollar horse and hopefully he can pass along all those wonderful traits to his future offspring.  We can’t wait to see that little colt one day with the dark coat, star in the middle of his forehead and white left front leg.  When we do, I think we may just have to make the owner an offer they can’t refuse.

It’s also nice knowing that it isn’t over for Mo.  There is more to his story.  He won’t just be ours anymore, but Mo was meant to be shared.  He can make more people happy and find a special place in their heart just like he has with us.

So from now on, we don’t need to say “Let’s Go Mo” anymore.  I think “Go Get Em Mo” is a little more appropriate.    

Expectations

I remember listening to a podcast (It think it was the TED Radio Hour) and they were interviewing Mike Row.  Mike became pretty well known for his time hosting “Dirty Jobs” and he was talking about how virtually every one of the people he worked with on that show were happy.  They may not have loved their dirty job each and every day, but were generally happy. When the host asked Mike what he thought the key to happiness was, his answer made me think (and laugh):

Set low expectations

If only I could apply that to the world of horse racing and horse ownership.

This was a big weekend for our little stable and a huge weekend if you take into account American Pharoah’s run for the Triple Crown. 

Here were my expectations for the weekend:

American Pharoah – Win

Mo – Win

Don’t Tell Wayne – Struggle

Here is what actually happened:

American Pharoah – Win!   What an awesome thing to watch!  It made me misty eyed…so cool.

Mo – Fifth.  Hugely disappointed…more on that later

Don’t Tell Wayne – Second!  Big pick me up to end the weekend.

For Mo, my expectations were out of line.  This isn’t’ the first time it’s happened…I’ve written about it before, but it can have an enormous impact on the aftermath of the race.  If you stop and think about my expectation for Mo, it was to win under the following conditions:  He was off 22 days after scratching sick the week before, this was only his 3^rd start of the season, he had yet to race this year on the big mile track at Balmoral, he didn’t have his normal driver (although Kyle Wilfong has driven him in the past), he was coming off an minor injury and he was stepping up against a better bunch of horses.

Why the hell did I think he was going to win?

You know why?  Because it’s Mo and that’s what he does.  But even the best lose once in awhile (the Cleveland Lebron’s dropped the first game of the NBA Finals).  I need to remember that.  As I type this out, he is entered for this Saturday, which takes some sting off.  I’m ready to see him race again and as much as I will try to set my expectations in the right place, I won’t be able to do it.  The good news is that he has a lifetime win percentage of about 35%.  If I was wrong last time, odds are I’ll be right this time.

Let’s go Mo!

"Working Retirement" Nearly Becomes Retirement (Again)

After spending 13 hours in the car together driving from Atlanta to Madison on May 9th and 10th, you might think that Danny and I would run out of things to talk about.  This would be especially true as we hopped in the car to head down to Maywood Park on May 15th to watch In Over My Head make his second start of the season.  We didn't.  Not even close.  It even took until Rockford to revisit the often discussed "Top 5 Maywood Park Experiences" list.  Given the giant uncertainty surrounding Maywood Park (and Chicago racing in general), we spent extra time analyzing the memories.  Not just the wins, but the regular nights that turned out to be great.  Little did we know that we were driving head on into a new top 5 experience....

In recent years, Mo hasn't raced much at Maywood Park.  The extra turns on the half mile are a bit tougher on his old legs and Maywood hasn't written an Invite in a number of years.  I the past, Mo might get a start (or two) at Maywood and then it was off to Balmoral.  I've always loved Maywood Park and after moving back to Wisconsin after three years down south, I wasn't' going to miss this race.

We headed straight to the barn to see the star of the show, who I hadn't seen since a trip home last July.  Same old Mo.  Draw a picture of a perfect harness horse, hold the picture next to Mo and you'll be looking at the same animal.  He had a normal pre race game face on (sleepy) so we let him be and headed to the buffet.

Anyone that knows Chicago racing knows that is has fallen on hard times.  To be more specific, the hard times started years ago.  At this point the hard times are reaching very sad levels.  As we sat down, the clubhouse had the same look it did the first time I saw it over fifteen years ago when we watched my brother Kirk's filly Patricia Per win a nw2 and we stormed the winners circle like we just won the Derby.  The place was worn, but still strangely proud and had a feel that it was going to battle to the bitter end.  You hear people say it's just an old dump and that it should be torn down.  Maybe it is, but it's my old dump and I still love watching races there.  Maybe some of it just nostalgia, but I pray it survives.

Time flies when you are having fun and the night went by fast for Danny and I.  We paid our bill and headed outside to watch the race.  Living in Atlanta for the last three years, I haven't been to many races.  I've said this before and I will say it again, there is nothing...NOTHING...like watching your horse race live. After spending all week brazenly looking at the program and proclaiming that no opponent has a sliver of a chance of beating Mo, it all changes in the minutes before the race.  All that confidence...shattered.

What if he's sick...this is only his second start, he won't be ready...those other horses are far better than I gave them credit for...they look sharp tonight...is Mo lame (he looks half lame every time he warms up and has been that way his entire career)...did you hear that?  What if that noise spooked him...what the...why is Casey out of the bike?  

I thought Danny was joking with that one, but sure enough, Casey was standing on the track holding the lines while Mo stood motionless.  At that point, it wasn't IF he was hurt.  The only question was how bad.  We stood there in silence expecting the worst.  Then, Casey hopped back in the bike and off they went (he was adjusting his new harness).

The race was its normal thrill.  I admittedly spent about 20% of the time looking down at the ground because I couldn't bear to watch...keep in mind this was about his 90th start and we were racing for $7,100.  This was not really a race to be nervous about.  It unfolded like we expected back in our early week analysis...he made his move at the half, drew even in the last turn and put them away in the stretch.  My heart is racing now two weeks later just thinking about it.

I was fortunate enough to be at the Final Four this year when Wisconsin beat Kentucky.  I love Wisconsin basketball and everything about it.  That was probably the best sporting event I've ever been to.  That Friday night at Maywood was better.  I'm not kidding.  I wish I could bottle that feeling up and share it with others...I try, but it just tends to fall on deaf ears.  If it didn't, there would be a stampede of people trying to purchase race horses.

You can only get so close to your favorite sports team, but it is never "yours".   "Yours" only applies to current coaches, players, trainers, staff, etc who are putting on the show.  You can feel a deep connection when you grow up 20 minutes from campus, spend your youth going to the current coach's basketball camps, get your degree from the university, try out for the team as a senior and later watch some players you've coached in high school play for your school.  That's my relationship to Wisconsin basketball.  That's pretty deep....probably deeper than a lot of fans.  It doesn't hold a candle to the connection you feel to a horse that you've owned his whole life that has taken you on the ride of a lifetime with family and friends in tow.  That is my (and our) connection with Mo.  

And now, let me talk for a second about the title of this post.  Two days after the race, Mo's leg blew up.  We didn't know why, but we were worried...very worried.  As the days went by the swelling lingered.  It was in a bad spot on his left front leg (his "good" leg for those keeping score).  Then, he took a turn for the better.  Swelling was gone.  They tried jogging him and he jogged sound.  Finally, we get a text on Wednesday:  "I entered Mo for Saturday.  Vet couldn't find anything wrong with him."

Yep, that sounds about right.  

Forward we march....hope it never ends.

Let's go Mo!

2014 and into 2015

No one wants to read a blog with no new content.  I haven't had any new content here for months. That's the bad news.  The good news?

In Over My Head will be coming back for the 2015 racing season.

My last post back in September mentioned the bone bruise Mo suffered after an equipment break and a subsequent gutty victory a few weeks later.  Now that we have the benefit of hindsight, I can tell you that what Mo did at the end of last season was even more impressive than we originally thought.  He didn't go on a win streak, but he showed us once again he is made of hearty stock.  The injury he suffered from that equipment break lingered, eventually got worse and he somehow managed to hide it from us for the most part....at least until his last start in the late fall.

His last start wasn't suppose to be his last start...we planned on going into December with him.  Up until that point, he was like that old boxer who was despite a laundry list of issues finds a way to pop up from that little stool in the corner of the ring when he hears the bell and after a vicious 12 round fight he takes off his gloves and heads home.  He shows up at the gym the next morning and goes back to work, much to the astonishment of almost everyone around him.

That was Mo...until that last start.

Danny was at the track that night and for the first time in what was an incredible season for an old battle worn eight year old, he showed his age.  His personality was muted.  He made it from the bath stall and back, but did so with less spring than normal.  He was worn out.  We all put our heads together the next day and took about 5 seconds to decide to quit for the year.  The thing is, when you quit for the year with an eight year old, you may be quitting for good.   You just can't predict how they will come out of the time off in the winter.  As always, we were going to let Mo tell us if he wanted to put on the horseshoes and jump back into the fray.

While we are still only in February, I'm happy to report that after a couple months of being turned out, Mo got bored.  Greg can attest to what it is like when Mo gets bored.  He spent a couple off- seasons up in Mineral Point and for awhile he loves the life of no equipment, no training miles, no schedule other than to walk out into the field in the morning and run around for awhile.  In the past that was good for about two months.  Then he got bored.  He'd start to get more studdy, be a little less attentive and just generally hard to handle.  That was his way of saying, enough vacation...let's get back to work.  It worked out the same way this off-season.

Mo went back to work a couple weeks ago.  Starting easy...in the swimming pool, but the fact that he's ready to get back to the grind tells me that there are more than a few races left in the old boy.  And why not?  We can limit his schedule, pick our spots and quit at any time.  As you've learned in this post (and many more if you've followed this six year marathon), Mo has some pretty good communication skills.  He will let us know when it is time to stop.

I don't think he will ever let injury end his career...barring something major...he will just fight though it.  Eventually, what will give will be his will to go through the grind of being a racehorse, but we aren't there yet.  His spirit still burns as bright as ever.  Even though he has some challenging days ahead of him to get back into race shape in the twilight of his career, the reward of walking into the winners circle at the end of a tough race is too much to pass up.  He may be old, but he's not done yet.

More to come.  Let's go Mo!