Hammer or the Nail

It almost feels like In Over My Head has been off for a couple months.  In reality, it’s only been three weeks.  I guess it shows how much we miss watching him race when he’s feeling good.

Mo will take to the track on Saturday night in the Balmoral Invitational.  The break was part our choice (we didn’t enter him after his two wins) and part not our choice.  We entered him last week, but Balmoral didn’t have enough horses to fill the Invite, so it was left off the card.  Hopefully as a few more horses get going it will be easier to fill going forward.

Saturday night will mark the reunion of In Over My Head and Hall of Fame driver Dave Magee, who last drove Mo in 2007 when he was a two year old.  Mo finished 2^nd that night in 1.52.2, but broke at the wire and was placed 4^th.  Either way, it served notice that the youngster had some serious talent (1.52.2 had quite a bit more meaning back then).

The question for the race this week is pretty simple:  Can anyone beat Al’s Hammered?  He’s continued to crush everyone he’s faced, including the dead game Fort Silky.  In a short field, Al’s raw speed is even more of a weapon since he will never be too far from the front turning for home.  His last quarter of 25.1 two weeks ago is freakish.  Last time we faced him, Mo get beat in a photo finish.  In Over My Head may be the only horse that can hang with Al, but I’m not sure this will be the week for him to prove it.  Three weeks off may be a bit too much.  He’ll have to be razor sharp if he’s going to turn the Hammer into the nail.

The In Over My Head vs. Al’s Hammered angle takes me to another very interesting duel that is set for this weekend.  One that is not only a national story (sorry Mo, not too many people pay attention outside of Chicago), but an international one.  Sweden’s Sebastian K vs. US based Market Share.  The ‘us vs. them’ angle is a marketers dream and something that has rarely presented itself in harness racing.  I think the Meadowlands has done a good job to get some promotion out there and my real hope is that these two lock horns more than once this season.  The only thing that could make it even better is if Ready Cash, the French phenomenon, makes good on their plans to race here later in the summer.  His connections have stated that he is a couple lengths better than Sebastian K.  While I find that statement nearly impossible to believe, I sincerely hope they repeat it and talk as much trash as they can.  Nothing gets people’s attention more than an antagonist and there aren’t too many of those in harness racing.  So head on over Ready Cash and tell everyone who will listen how good you are.  Win or lose, people will be paying attention.

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:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk1LvByki5o

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 26^th 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! 

 

Drivers, Drivers Everywhere...

“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.”

 That is a rather famous quote I’ve heard a number of times over my life.  If I told you it was taken from Hemmingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” would you believe me?  That seems reasonable given that the book was about someone out on a boat trying to reel in a huge fish with his bare hands.  He was probably thirsty.  Can’t drink seawater.  Makes sense.  However, just because it makes sense on the surface, it doesn’t make it real.   We will get back to that later.  For now, onto horse racing.

 I’m going to spend a little time talking about drivers.  It is always a hot topic from those that ask me about our horses, but I’ve always been somewhat reluctant to write about drivers.  Getting a good drive is a huge part of winning a race, but if the race doesn’t meet expectations the blame usually starts with the driver.  He didn’t try hard enough, he was too passive, too aggressive and so on. 

While there have certainly been times that I’ve been frustrated with a drive, I’ve usually kept it to myself. These are my own personal feelings regarding drivers.

1.       You can’t race without one, so show respect and encourage more than criticize.

2.       Like most things in life, results tend to even out over time.  Don’t get too high off a great race or too low off a bad one.

3.       These guys are sitting in a two wheel bike going ~35 mph.  When the gate folds, they have to make quick decisions.  Sometimes they make mistakes, just as any professional would.   Be reasonable in your analysis of the race.

4.       Horses aren’t race cars and you can’t accelerate and brake whenever you want. 

5.       If a driver is able to consistently drive your horse he will become more familiar with its strengths and weaknesses.  That knowledge leads to familiarity with your horse.  Familiarity builds a driver’s confidence in your horse.  Confidence often leads to maximum results.

6.       If a certain driver’s actions bother you enough, just move on and try someone else.  There are better fits for your horse that others.

The reason I’m bringing up drivers today is that last Saturday night In Over My Head had his third different driver in as many starts.  That lack of consistency can be a challenge, but like many things, you need to dig deeper to understand how we ended up here.

The expectation was that there would be two high level events on Saturday night.  The first would be an Illinois bred only race, in which Fort Silky (Mo’s barn mate at the Leonard farm) would enter.  The second would be for the rest of the higher level horses in Chicago (Mo would enter this one).  Assuming there were two races, we didn’t have an issue.  Casey Leonard could drive both horses and all would be good.  If they ended up combining the classes, we would request Todd Warren, who did a great job driving Mo last race.  Unfortunately, neither happened.

Wires got crossed and the end result was a combined race with Casey listed to drive both.  Casey is good, but barring a “Multiplicity” like cloning event, he couldn’t drive both.  Todd Warren was listed to drive Ice Scraper, so we were left scrambling.  That is always a tough place to end up because most of the top drivers have already been accounted for at that point.  You just have to look to see who’s left.  Chicago’s driving colony is pretty thin at this point, but we saw one name we knew well:  Dale Hiteman.

That happens to be the same Dale Hiteman who drove Mo to the biggest victory in his life in the Windy City Pace.  However, that was four and a half years ago.  When Mo was three, Hitemen had some familiarity with him.  At age eight, not so much.

In the end, Mo finished the race a hard charging third.  It was another solid race for him and another defeat at the hands of Al’s Hammered (Ice Scraper was second).  There is no doubt in my mind at this point that Mo is as good as anyone in Chicago, but he has yet to put up that elusive win.  That begs the obvious question:  Was it the driver’s fault?

My personal take is that and it comes back to my #5 above.  Put yourself in Dale’s shoes.  His last drive on Mo was four and a half years ago.  He’s known that Mo has suffered multiple major injures between then and now.  How would you choose to driver a horse like that?  Probably more conservative than if you had sat behind him or the last 5 starts.  That is basically what happened.  I have no doubt that if Dale drove Mo more often, he would feel comfortable taking a few more chances.  Do I wish that Mo was a little more forwardly placed with a chance at a better finish?  Sure.  I can tell you that right after the race was over, I was kind of worked up about it.  However after spending some time thinking about it, my attitude has not surprisingly mellowed.  Am I mad at Dale for what he did?  Not in the least.  It’s part of racing.  The best thing to do is take our third place check and move forward to the next race.

Unfortunately, that next race won’t be this week.  Mo banged a knee at some point during the race (very rare for him) and he going to have to miss his next start.  Everyone thinks this will be just a one week setback and he’ll be ready to go on the 19^th.  That is also part of racing.

What I’ve tried to do in this post is get you to think beyond what is right on the surface.  In almost every situation (race related or not), there is often a deeper story and you can find it if you just dig a little bit.  It will help you understand reasons why races end up the way they do and will keep you from spending so much time complaining about drivers for no good reason.

Let’s go back to the original ‘famous’ quote.  Want to know the truth about that quote?  It isn’t from “The Old Man and the Sea”.  It is from the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, a written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798.  Here is the actual passage from the poem:

“Water, water, every where

And all the boards did shrink

Water, water every where

Nor any drop to drink.”

Lack of knowledge can be an albatross around your neck (take some time to study the poem to understand that reference).  Don’t settle for surface level information and you will usually understand why drivers do what they do.  It will make the races much more enjoyable as an owner or as a fan.

And one more thing…

Let’s go Mo!

Mo Madness Continues

If you are a fan of college basketball and your team is playing for the right to go to the Sweet 16, you are in for a fun day.  The buildup to the game.  Pregame excitement.  Nerves.  It all adds to the experience.  Just imagine that being overshadowed by a large degree.  What could possibly overshadow such a fun sports experience?

A horse race.  A sport where you are the owner, not just a fan.

That is what we were treated to on Saturday night when Wisconsin played Oregon at about 8 o’clock and Mo was scheduled to race at about 11.  Since this isn’t a blog about college basketball, we won’t spend too much time on the game other than to say that the Badgers put in a show in the second half and knocked off a tough Oregon squad.  It was a great start to the sporting night, but it only got better from there.

Given the fact that the Carey-Swenson stable continues to operate out of two regional offices (Mineral Point, WI and Dunwoody, GA), we had two viewing parties for In Over My Head’s first battle at the Invite level in 2014.  He was facing a full field of ten horses that included powerhouse Al’s Hammered along with Fort Silky (Illinois horse of the year last season), Firstclassalltheway (speed demon we know well) and Best Man Hanover (winner last week).  It would be a great early test for him.

While Mo faced a full field, we had full fan bases ready to offer support.  Greg and Danny were in Mineral Point with Kacy, Kim and Jamie.  I was flanked with some first timers who, to my knowledge, had never watched a live harness race.  After lending their support to the Badgers, they immediately became In Over My Head fans.  It's always fun to bring in some new folks to the game, even if its just to watch a race here or there.  It certainly made watching the race a lot of fun for me.

While Mo’s first race back last week was lacking a certain amount of stretch drive excitement, this one was just the opposite.  Todd Warren moved him off the gate quickly and at the quarter he was sitting 3^rd behind Fort Silky and Best Man Hanvoer.  That’s where he stayed until the stretch.  As with most races, it is much more fun to watch and if you are so inclined, follow the link and instructions below to see for yourself:

-          Mo has the green #4 and is wearing a red hood

-          Saturday, March 22^nd, race 9

http://www.balmoralpark.com/Video.cfm?Cat=R 

The stretch drive was, obviously, just awesome.  Just like last week, Mo was searching for a seam and didn’t find one until it was pretty late.  When he did, however, he busted through and had the race won until the very end.  That’s where it gets a little confusing.  I know Al’s Hammered is good…darn good, but the result defied a basic principal of In Over My Head’s career:

Mo doesn’t lose photo finishes.  Literally.  I don’t think he has ever lost a photo.  I know that sounds almost impossible, but it’s true.  So what the heck happened?  Here is my theory:

http://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/seabiscuit/i-cant-see

Look familiar?  Well, you have to let your imagination work a little bit.  Add a couple sulkies, fast forward about 80 years, set the race at night…I’m sure you get the picture.

No, Mo is not blind in one eye, that although this clip refers to a driver/ jockey, I want to make it very clear this has nothing to do with Todd Warren.  We thought he did an excellent job with Mo in his first time as his driver and were happy to have him.  When you have an eight year old horse and have watched every race of his (probably 5-20 times each…except for the Windy City Pace which we’ve watched 100+) you notice certain traits.  His ability to win photo finishes is one of them.  This situation, however, highlighted another trait.

Mo usually only goes as much as he needs to in order to win the race.  In this one, he thought he had won it.  Al’s Hammered was nowhere to be seen until it was too late since he was far outside.  I’m guessing after they cruised past the wire, Mo was wondering why the heck Todd Warren wasn’t stopping in the winner’s circle.  Picture or no picture, he raced so well it actually felt like a win for us.

Win or lose, the race served notice that In Over My Head is a force to be reckoned with.  This is the first time that Al didn’t “Hammer” the field at Balmoral in quite some time.  Sure he was handicapped the 10 hole, but he also had smooth sailing down the entire stretch and if you look where the horses are coming out of the final turn, he is only a length off of Mo…and Mo had to go hunting for a seam on the inside. 

The king’s crown still belongs to Al’s Hammered and will until he gets beat, but after Saturday’s race, it is clear that there is a new enemy at the gate who wants the crown for himself.  Stay tuned, this could be a fun battle to watch this season.

Let’s go Mo!

Mo Madness

I was driving to work today, thinking about last week’s race and the today’s draw when it hit me.  Last weekend’s start was only the second time that Mo has ever raced in March.  Too young as a 2 year old.  On a break at three.  Injured at four and five.  At six he made one start on March 24th…and suffered an injury that knocked him out until May 18th.  At seven he was still on the shelf.  This year, he’s back and looking great.

The race on Saturday was perfect in many ways except one.  It was perfect from a standpoint that the pacesetter put up some soft fractions (59.2 to the half) as Mo sat a comfortably in third.  It was the first start of the year for most of the seven horses and unlike Mo’s other March start two years ago when he chased a 1.49.4 mile right out of the gate, this one was must softer.  When the horses turned for home, Mo looked awesome.  It was clear that he had plenty of go…but nowhere TO go.  That was the exception to perfection.  He was buried behind horses hunting inside and out for a seam that didn’t materialize until just yards from the wire.  By then Al’s Hammered was long gone and Firstclassalltheway had a head of steam from the outside that allowed him to sneak past Mo.  In the end he took a strong 3rd.  He’ll be sharper this week and have his sights on a bigger prize, but all in all, it was a great first start.  Mo Madness is in full effect.

The madness has apparently caught the attention of our one year old son Jordan too.  Each morning when he wakes up, he points to the picture of Mo on his wall.  This started, oddly enough, on Saturday morning (Mo’s first start of the year was that day).  When it first happened, I mentioned it to Danny and we thought that maybe Jordan pointing to the picture meant that Mo would win.  That prompted this potential exchange on a race day when Danny and Kacy come down to visit in Atlanta this April.

Shawn:  Jordan, it isn’t hard.  You do almost every morning.  Point to Mo.  Right up there.
Laura:  Shawn, he isn't going to point...just forget about it.
Shawn:  Give him another second.
Danny:  Look!  He's pointing...actually he's pointing at the rocking horse.  What does that mean?
Shawn:  Can't be anything good
Kacy:  Come on guys...he's just a baby
Danny:  A baby who can apparently pick winners!
Shawn:  Forget it...we're not winning tonight.

At which point Jordan will smile and point to Mo just as everyone turns their back.

Look for In Over My Head to be back in on Saturday night at Balmoral Park.  Al’s Hammered continues to crush, but Mo wants that crown.  Go ahead and doubt him if you want.  He has a tendency of proving people wrong.

Let’s Go Mo!

Back By Popular Demand: Another Interview with Mo

For the last two years, we have been lucky enough to kick off In Over My Head’s racing season with an interview from a couple of random reporters.  Some of you have said, “How do you interview a horse?” to which I reply:  “Stop asking so many questions.”  This year, as our favorite horse is about to embark on his 7^th racing season, I’d hoped that someone would come and interview him again.  The previous interviews have been pretty popular in this blog.  Unfortunately, no one has called so instead of telling people to stop asking questions, I decided to start asking them myself.  To make sure I didn’t miss anything, I picked up another uber-Mo fan and we headed down to the farm. 

Below is the result of a wonderful conversation between In Over My Head, Danny and myself.

February 27, 2014

In Over My Head (“Mo”):  Is this thing on? (looking at the recorder and laughing)

Shawn:  How long have you planned on saying that?

Mo:  Ever since you guys said you were going to come down and interview me.

Danny:  You seem to be in a good mood today.

Mo:  Everyday my friend.  I won a qualifier yesterday into the teeth of the Polar Vortex.  How many horses can say that? 

Danny:  Not too many!

Mo:  In Over My Head:  1.  Polar Vortex:  0. 

Shawn:  That is a pretty impressive feat.  Let’s get down to business.  The first question is a rather obvious one:  What are your goals for this year?

Mo:  I know last year we all talked about setting a goal based on the number of starts, not necessarily the number of wins.  We had talked about double digit starts, and we knocked that goal out of the park.  I think I had about a dozen starts.

Danny:  You had 14

Mo:  Thanks Danny.  Anyway, I’m thinking about really setting the bar high this year.  I’m gunning for 20 starts.

Shawn:  Wow, that’s a big number!

Mo:  Sure is, it will give you guys lots of opportunities to come and watch me race.  I know Danny will be there, right?

Danny:  If you race 20 times, I bet I’ll be there for at least 15 of them.

Mo:  That’s dedication right there.   Do you plan on making a race this year (looking at me)?

Shawn:  Atlanta is about 750 miles from Balmoral you know.  I’d love to be there, but it’s tough.

Mo:  Air travel, maybe?  I can hop on Kayak.com…try and find you a reasonable flight…

Shawn:  I promise you that I’ll make it to a race or two this year.  If it makes you feel any better, I usually talk to Danny until he gets to the Illinois/ Wisconsin boarder after each race.

Mo:  Really?  What the heck do you guys talk about for that whole time?

Danny:  If you did well, we just talk about how great you are. If you did poorly, we find a way to justify it and then end up talking about how great you are.

Mo:  I need to get on THAT call!  Sounds like fun!

Shawn:  It’s a labor of love sometimes.  Particularly when you make a break going into the first turn and get beat by 50.  You had us worried sick in your last start last year.

Mo:  I got run into! 

Danny:  We’re just saying that sometimes the conversations are really a lot of work.  That was one of them.  It’s even harder when I’m not at the track to get the report on the ground.

Mo:  I see.  Well, I appreciate the support.  It’s always good to know people are watching.

Shawn:  Speaking of people watching and paying attention to you we wanted to ask you about your Twitter account.  You’ve mentioned in the past that it is something you have a lot of fun with.

Mo:  I don’t have any sort of hard data in front of me, but I’m guessing I am the only Chicago based, non-stakes, overnight horse to have a Twitter page in the history of the entire platform.  And I have like 100 followers!  How cool is that?  I mean, A Rocknroll Dance gets to talk about big races and entertaining all these high class mares.  Arch Madness is traveling the world.  I’m grinding away in the freezing cold going for $10,000 in a place that is really down on its luck and people still want to know what I have to say.  It’s really pretty incredible.

Shawn:  Assuming that the Chicago circuit can get their issues resolved, we all think that it’s the best spot for you.  Having that said, is there a part of you that still get the itch to battle horses out east?

Mo:  I get pinged by Tyler (Butenschoen) all the time.  He thinks I should make the trip out, but he understands I have a good situation here too.  I think he just misses me.  To answer your question, yeah, I still get that competitive edge going sometimes that makes me want to head out.  I’d love to race at the new Meadowlands.  It would be beyond sweet, but I can also admit that those days may have already passed me by.  I’m not sad about it.  Heck, I’m just happy to be racing at age eight.  I have plenty of competition to deal with here.  The funny thing is that the longer you go from your last injury, the less you think about it.  The reality is that the going out there is tough and I’m not sure if I could would up or not.

Danny:  You’re in great shape and 8 isn’t really that old.  You’ve had injuries, but you only have 62 lifetime starts.  How about this scenario:  Chicago gets things worked out and you race there all year.  If they find a fix for next year, you stay here until you are done racing at 10.  If not, you can make a run out east at age 9. 

Mo:  Um, do you have some sort of contract to sign so I can lock that scenario down?  I think you just nailed the perfect option.  Three more seasons of racing?  That would be like winning the lottery.  If that happened I’d be as happy as a pig in mud.

Shawn:  How happy is that exactly?

Mo:  Ahhh…I guess I’ve never actually seen a pig in mud.  I’m guessing they are pretty happy though.  Assuming the mud isn’t half frozen.  It’s probably been a pretty sad winter for the local pigs.

Shawn:  Agreed.  You mentioned local competition.  Who is the toughest you will see this season?

Mo:  Well one is right there (nodding over toward Fort Silky).  That dude is tough, but he knows I’m way faster (looking for a reaction from Silky who appears to be sleeping).  We get along great to be honest.  There is a great group of horses in this barn.  Another tough hombre is obviously Al’s Hammered.  I’ve out-paced him in the past, but that didn’t happen last year.  That guy flew by like he hit the nitrous button on his souped up Honda Civic.

Danny:  Was that a Fast and Furious reference?

Mo:  It was!  Did you guys hear that Paul Walker died?  Very sad.  I liked him the best.  Anyway, I need to be sharper to beat Drunken Al, but I think I’ll pull it off this year.

Shawn:  Drunken Al?

Mo:  Not bad, huh?

Shawn:  Nice work bud.  OK, is there anything else you’d like to say before you kick off this season?

Mo:  Yeah, I wanted to congratulate Marcus and Sara Miller on getting married.  I wanted to thank them for the wedding invite and am sorry I couldn’t make it.  I did send a gift.

Danny:  What did you send them?

Mo:  A couple horse shoes and some hay cubes.  My options were pretty limited around the stall.

Shawn:  I’m sure they will appreciate them.  It’s the thought that counts.

Well, there you have it.  Our interview with In Over My Head.  Look for him to start racing as soon as a contract is signed in Illinois.  We are looking forward to another fun season.

Let’s Go Mo!

Waiting...

As the days drag on with no contract between the Illinois horsemen and track management, I’ll keep this very short because there isn’t a whole lot to report.  Mo did head down to Balmoral this week for a training mile.  It was originally going to be a qualifying mile, but they were cancelled due to some track issues.  Regardless, he needed the training mile and will need a qualifier anyway to get closer to race ready.

Assuming that an agreement is worked out in the next week or so, Mo should qualify next week and then be entered to race the following Saturday, March 8^th. 

Stay tuned and Let’s Go Mo!