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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!