A Thought Provoking Picture

A picture, as they say, is sometimes worth a thousand words. The picture to the left may not be worth that many, but I keep looking at it and thinking about the symbolism. I took this picture of In Over My Head last Sunday at his current home in Mineral Point. Laura and I went up with Greg for one of his daily feedings. While we stood there watching him, he paused and looked out of his barn door. Since I’m always looking for good pictures of Mo, I thought it might make a good phone background. The more I look at it the more intriguing it is.

(a quick side note, the plan was to take the picture from my phone and copy it here, but due to some kind of glitch, it has been 'erased' even though it still shows up as my background....which is why you get to see a picture of a picture!)

Behind him, is darkness, which represents the past seven months of his life. Major injury, weeks of stall rest and visits by vets, pain in his leg followed by minimal activity, more vets, and some remaining pain. After additional slow rehab work, he finally gets to the point he is now. Kind of in purgatory. Life certainly isn’t bad up at his Mineral Point home. He gets excellent care and attention (Greg goes up to feed him three times a day), he gets a big stall to himself every night and gets turned out every day. Has his own paddock with an open barn area as well (as seen in the picture). Certainly many horses have it worse, but this isn’t the best life for Mo. After all, he is a racehorse. He lives to race. Taking away racing would be like taking away football from Brett Favre (he obviously struggles with walking away). My favorite part of the picture is what is in front of him. In Over My Head is looking to a brighter future both actually (in the picture) and figuratively. His leg has finally healed, which will allow him to move forward into that bright future.

As of today, he is less than two months away from taking his next big step back to the track. We are planning on sending him down to Florida to train with John Butenschoen this winter. If all goes well, he’ll be back racing in April. To those that have read this blog for awhile, you may remember that we told In Over My Head on the night of the Windy City pace that if he won, we’d send him to Florida for the winter. Well, we are going to end up making good on that promise after all. By sending him to Florida, we can say he is getting the best possible path back into racing. We all hope beyond hope that he makes it back to the track and is the monster that he used to be. He deserves the best, which is why he is getting the ‘Cadillac Package’.

It is kind of an interesting time to look back. Had Mo stayed healthy, we would all probably be heading down to Delaware, Ohio, home of the Little Brown Jug. The Jug is the most special of the major three year old events (in my opinion at least). It is raced at a fair track, in front of a huge crowd (they usually draw 30,000+) and it is raced in heats. Heat racing was the norm for many, many years in racing. In summary, you have to win twice in one day to be crowned ‘champion’. It is a true test of a horse’s heart and guts. While In Over My Head would not be able to race in the Jug, we did plan on racing him in the Winbak Open pace. The purse isn’t huge (about $45k), but the chance to race on Jug day was something we were extremely excited about when Mo was healthy and we started to make stakes payments in mid February. Looking at the field, he would have fit just fine. He has already raced against 3 of the 5 participants. He got beat a nose by Nob Hill High in DuQuoin, went 1 for 2 against Annieswesterncard and could have held his own against Booze Crusin had he not been sick that night last fall in the open at Balmoral. I guess we will just have to try again next year.

In other news, Showtime Shark is probably a couple of weeks from getting back jogging again. We still aren’t too sure what his short term future holds, mostly because of the uncertainly surrounding the Meadowlands racetrack, which is currently in the middle of a turf battle for the future of gambling dollars with Atlantic City. The State of New Jersey is trying to figure out what location to support going forward. I’m obviously biased, but on one hand, you have the premier track in all of racing and in the other you have an afterthought grouping of casinos. You have brand awareness in the Meadowlands and a punch line in Atlantic City. Horse owners, trainers and breeders spend millions and million of dollars in New Jersey for horses because of the Meadowland’s brand, but casino gambling has become more and more a business of convenience given the fact there are casinos in nearly every state. Only Las Vegas remains a gambling destination. Long story short, if New Jersey wants to keep people like me spending money on horses, vets, trainers and when we come to visit hotel, restaurants, rental cars, etc, go with the Meadowladns. This falls into the realm of ‘no brainer’ as far as I’m concerned. Again, I know I’m biased. So, long story short, if there is a Junior Trendsetter next year, we will enter Showtime and probably travel to New Jersey to see him. I hope it works out.

Lastly, please join me in an Internet based round of applause for ‘Dashing’ Danny Carey. Danny just finished his first full year as a driver on the Wisconsin Fair Circuit and finished in the top three of drivers while also driving the Trotter of the Year. Nice work Danny! Maybe someday when we all run into the winner’s circle after an In Over My Head win we can congratulate him as our winning driver.

Mo Carrots for Mo

Although our time was short, Laura and I got a chance to stop up and see In Over My Head this week. We made a quick stop at the local Mineral Point grocery store and bought a bag of carrots before we headed up to the horse barn. He was standing outside eating some grass right on the fence when we arrived. Laura was excited to be able to feed him some carrots, but she didn’t have a ton of experience and I will admit that a horse can be a little bit intimidating when you aren’t used to it. Mo, who has a tendency to be a little nippy, was pretty relaxed that day. However, he wasn’t relaxed enough for Laura who ended up going 0 for 2 in attempting to give Mo a little treat. Both times she pulled her hand back as he got close and dropped the carrot on the ground. Overall, it was a decent first effort and I picked up all of the dropped carrots and fed them to Mo. I wish I would have taken a couple of pictures. Maybe next time.

Speaking of 0 for 2, Showtime Shark (aka See-knee), is no longer one nut short of a pair. He is two short. Last week, we decided to have the rather wild youngster gelded. It is far from an uncommon practice for racehorses, but you can’t help but feel a little bad for him when the procedure is first done. We found him a great farm to be turned out to about an hour from Pocono Downs. The people are extremely nice and we are confident he is getting excellent care as he just grows up a little bit. We fully think that come mid October, he will be ready to start training again and will be on his way to starting a very good career.

Back to In Over My Head for a bit. Our plan is to get his leg scanned one more time, but we are virtually certain that he is fully healed at this point. Either way, he will have another month and a half at Greg’s place before we would do anything with him, but he is getting VERY CLOSE to being able to start jogging again. The thought of that is beyond exciting for us. It has been a long six and a half months since his injury, but we can at least see the next step (and a very important one) in his overall rehab coming into focus. All of the thoughts of what can maybe happen next season on the racetrack are starting to creep back into our heads with him. You try and beat them back for fear of getting too excited, but it is very hard to do. All we can do is hope and pray that his body holds up when he comes back. If it does, we may be the happiest group owners that harness racing has ever seen.

Next, Fox Valley Nala, a 2 year old Illinois bred filly got her first lifetime win a couple of weeks ago. Marcus Miller drove her to perfection as he got her a two hole trip and patiently waited to make his move in the open stretch. She ended up winning by a nose. She has had an up and down season, but it sure was nice to see one of my horses back in the winner’s circle.

And last but not least, a big thumbs up to Danny, who is making a name for himself on the Wisconsin fair circuit as a driver this year. He is learning the ups and downs of being a driver, but has had a couple of weekends where he got horses good trips with great results (two wins and a second in three drives being a highlight). Keep it up Danny…maybe you can drive Mo in the coming years!

A Nice and Needed Visit

I think there is a simple equation when it comes to blogs. Lots of posts = more viewers. Few posts = few viewers. If you stop writing no one will come back and check the blog. While I don’t want to lose everyone, I have to be honest….I’ve had at least a mild case of writers block lately. When things were going well, there was a strong wind in my writing sail. Heck, even when things went horrible, I felt compelled to write about them. Now, I feel like Tommy Callahan (big Tom Callahan’s son), sitting in my little boat in the middle of a lake somewhere near Sandusky, Ohio. Lots of time to sail, but no wind.

The problem is…well…there isn’t a lot write talk about. We were hitching our wagon (or our sulky I should say) to Showtime Shark this year. The 2 year old colt was training down very well and had actually got to the point of having two quality qualifiers. He was ripping off 56 second last half training miles at Pocono by himself. He’s fast…but his body isn’t keeping up to the rigors of training. He was kind of a late developing horse and he just needs more time to mature. We came to that realization last week and it was kind of a tough blow to the psyche (at least for me) as it more or less solidified the fact there will be no racing for Greg and my (and Danny’s) colts in 2010. Mo got three races in (and won two). Showtime won’t get any. It is a bit of a bummer no matter how you slice it.

Danny and I were discussing all of this the other night after our softball game and he had a good idea: go see In Over My Head. It had been a number of weeks since my last trip to Mineral Point to see him. Danny thought it would cheer me up. So, I snuck away for a bit of a long lunch today. I first stopped by to see Greg, then Grandma and Grandpa and it was great to catch up with everyone. When I got to the horse barn he wasn’t out side. It was kind of a hot, sunny day and he was back in the shed that opens to his paddock. After some coaxing, he came out to meet me on the fence and I gave him a few carrots. Laura couldn’t make it, but she wanted me to give Mo carrots ‘from her’ which I did. We had a nice talk (I did most of the talking) as we walked along the fence line and I tried to keep the flies off his face. After awhile he headed back to the shed so he could be in the shade. He is a very social horse. Incredibly kind and easy to deal with for a stud colt. And he still looks like a champ. He is the Champ.

I’ve been thinking a lot about In Over My Head lately. Last weekend I went to visit Brien DuRoche a good friend from back in high school who lives up in Minneapolis. He asked a lot of questions about In Over My Head and I rambled on for way too long I’m sure, but jogged my brain to recount all of the little nuances and strange happenings that have surrounded our time with Mo. The number of strange occurrences was kind of overwhelming…even I had forgotten about them over the past weeks and months (maybe I should read my own blog). It was fun to think back and was as if there was something bigger than us at work with this story, which quite frankly is what made it a good story.

As I drove away from Mineral Point and headed back to Madison I felt better. It was nice to see everyone today even if it was a short trip…and I got to feed Mo some carrots. I pulled onto the highway and turned up the radio, but the song that was on wasn’t any good. Apparently I had left the radio on a channel that I don’t listen to very often. I changed it to a more familiar station and was put back in my chair with what I heard. That familiar song that wasn’t written at all with Mo in mind. For us, however, it fits him like a glove for obvious reasons. I turned up the volume as The Frey belted out “Everyone knows I’m in over my head.” I can’t make this stuff up! I realize it is probably just a coincidence, but right when I get on the highway? On the day I went to visit after Danny said, “you should go pay Mo a visit.” Say what you will, I think it’s at least somewhat weird that of all the songs I could have come across, it is his unofficial theme song.

In the short term, I really don’t have a ton to write about, but I’ll do my best. There is a new wind back in my sails. We may be down, but we aren’t out. There is more to come with team In Over My Head (this now officially includes his sidekick Showtime Shark). When we look down the road, we can still only see a few more months of downtime. It looks pretty flat, straight and boring to be honest. However, I think something more is on the horizon…a lot more and I can’t wait to be able to write about it.

Also, the pictures that I’ve put in this were taken by Danny a couple of weeks ago of In Over My Head up at his place in Mineral Point. I thought you might enjoy a few more of the Champ.

FINALLY It's Race Day

Race Day. After 130 long days, Fox Valley Nala (the unofficial daughter of In Over My Head since I only bought a partial ownership after Mo won us a suitcase full of cash in the Windy City Pace) is making her first lifetime start at Maywood Park in a $7,000 ICF 2 year old filly event tonight. We almost got a chance to see a double header, as Showtime Shark was scheduled to make his first lifetime start today as well, but he is a little bit dinged up (nothing major thankfully), so we had to scratch him for today. The youngster has had a bit of a rough go of it early. In two qualifiers, he has been impeded BOTH times. In both situations, he managed to stay pacing (including last week when he had to sweep about 8 wide around the breaker). Impressive composure for the rookie. We really have high hopes for him. He’s smart and fast…usually a good combination.

While we may not be able to watch Showtime together tonight, Greg, Danny and I are heading down to the old South Beloit betting parlor to take in the races and win lots of money (or donate to the purse account). Race day used to mean a longer trek. As a kid when staying with Grandma and Grandpa, we’d meet Greg in mid afternoon and load up the car with sandwiches and coolers of Coke before heading down to Sportsmen’s Park. It was such a cool experience. Rolling into the track in the big city of Chicago with Grandpa and Greg made you feel like a big deal, especially on the occasions when the horse would win and we’d get to head down to the winner circle. Now, with all of the off track betting, those trips are always necessary. Even though we won’t end up at the track itself tonight, it is still Race Day. I’m just glad it is finally here…it’s been too damn long.

And this wouldn’t be an update without some news on the Champ. He is enjoying his time up in Mineral Point, but from what I’m told, he’d rather be in training than running around in a paddock. He’s very full of himself and while he’s living the easy life right now, the easy life isn’t what makes In Over My Head tick. His leg continues to heal wonderfully. When I was up last time I got a chance to feel it myself. I’m not a vet, but it basically felt exactly the same as his healthy leg…I’m pretty sure that’s good news!

Over the last few weeks, I have really been drawn to Shark Gesture. As far as I’m concerned, he is, at this point in his career, as good as any free for aller in the past 10 years. I’m not saying he could go on a crazy win streak against the likes of Mr. Big, Artistic Fella, Art Official, Real Desire, Four Starzzz Shark, Holborn Hanover and so on, but in his current form he could race with and beat ANYONE on any given night. So, I pick up the mail yesterday and guess who is on the front cover of Hoof Beats: Shark Gesture. I start to read the article and come to realize that during his four year old season, he tore his suspensory. I had no idea that happened to him. After a year or so of trying a 2nd career in the breeding shed, they brought him back to the track and he became an even greater racehorse than he already was. I tell you what, it is stories like that that help keep me positive. Now, I’m not saying Mo will come back and be Shark Gesture, all we want is for him to come back the way he was and if Shark Gesture is any kind of proxy, he can. Unfortunately for In Over My Head, he doesn’t get to spend his time away from the track going on ‘dates’ with a bunch of mares. Sorry buddy, if you come back strong, we promise to find you some pretty ladies to breed with.

The Champ is Home

Rehab isn't really a fun time for a horse or its owners, but each step is exciting in its own way. Last week, In Over My Head left Marrengo and headed back to Mineral Point for a few months of easy living and daily turnouts. A big paddock full of grass and a nice big stall at Greg's horsebarn awaited him. He was last in Point after the Windy City victory and before he headed out to the Meadowlands and he seemed to know where he was right away.

Danny and Greg have been taking care of him for the past week before I was able to make it down there today. It was great to see Big Mo. He was very full of himself and enjoys the attention. Watching him gallop around outside was both exciting and scary thinking about the stress being put on his leg, but it has been nearly 4 full months and we have followed the instructions of the vets to a T. And they all say the most important T stands for time. He just needs time. The best thing about this part of his rehab is that he can just kind of be a horse again. He isn't stuck in his stall all day with the only exercise being hand walking and equisizer work. He gets to run and play. We will get another scan of his leg in about a month, but for all intents and purposes, he's healed. Now it is time to slowly strengthen the leg again over the next couple of months. We all said the same thing after seeing him again. He will get back to the track and when he does, there isn't a horse in the nation that will have an easy time beating him.

In other news, Showtime Shark is just a few days away from his first qualifier. He has been training down well and we are cautiously optimistic that he will be able to mix it up with some other 2 year olds this year.

The other ownership interest, Fox Valley Nala, is in a very similar spot to Showtime. She's trained down well and is set to qualify on Thursday. We will learn a lot more about them in the coming weeks so hopefully I'll have more to write about again! Keep checking in.

Is it Nearly Showtime?

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel we have found ourselves in is one that every small horse owner will be in on occasion. Bills keep coming every month. Training bills, vet bills, stake payments, but there are no races. No purse checks, just bills. In Over My Head will be on the shelf for quite awhile, so our attention has turned to the youngster. Our two year old, Showtime Shark (aka See-knee) is training down well and should be ready to make his first lifetime start in a little over a month. To date, he has shown some speed and willingness to race. Two good things, but you just don’t know for sure until he gets to the track. It is like that draft choice your favorite NFL team picks up in the 1st round and he is really having a good training camp. Training camp isn’t the real deal, but it sure is nice to get a good report.

As a background, the story of Seeknee can be found here by clicking on the link below. It is kind of a fun read. I had forgotten all of the interesting side stories about that horse. Also, for the record, he is no longer a ridgeling…gravity took its course and he is officially a colt now!

http://inovermyheadracehorse.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-addition-to-our-stable.html

Now that our boy Mo is out for awhile, I think this blog will morph into the story of Showtime…at least for awhile. I’ll also give some updates on Fox Valley Nala, a 2 year old filly that I’m am a smaller owner in. The thing is, both of these horses tie back to In Over My Head anyway. Greg and I bought Showtime down in Lexington mainly because of the success Mo was having. I purchased 25% of Nala after we won the Windy City. Actually, I don’t quite own 25% of Nala as I have gifted small percentages to some friends who also were in on the partnership that owned Mo when he was just 2 years old and also gave a percent to Laura. So she is now a horse owner too! Good timing now that we are engaged.

Lastly, I’ll provide updates on Danny, who is now getting some drives in qualifiers down at Maywood. He is now up to three qualifiers and if this keeps up, he could get his provisional license. Very exciting. Congrats Danny. Hopefully, the State of Illinois will realize the importance of horse racing in the state and approve the Slots at the Tracks bill that is currently waiting to be called to vote.

A New Hope

Well, it has been sixty-four days since In Over My Head’s last race and for the first time in a long time, I can say I’m excited again about his future. As you may have read in my very long story in the last post, he suffered a rather serious injury to his suspensory ligament. He had no immediate future and his prospects of getting back to the track were very uncertain. He received excellent care from Dr. Hogan out in New Jersey, as well as day to day care from John (I actually don’t have John’s last name I’m embarrassed to say). From there, he shipped back to John Butenschoen’s farm in Marrengo and has been under the watch of Dr. Petrovich and care of Tyler Butenschoen and Penny Perrin. There have been a lot of people looking out for Mo and as it turns out, they have done a wonderful job.

When arriving back in Marrengo about a month ago, Dr. Petrovich took a new scan of In Over My Head’s injured leg. He was very optimistic about his process to that point. Well, late this week he was scanned again and we got a piece of news we really needed. Doc told Greg that the progress has been remarkable and that Mo should be ready to start jogging in just four months! I was floored. I can’t tell you how great it was to hear that news.

Now, the reality is that we won’t start him back that fast and everyone agrees there is really no reason to get him ready to go as winter sets in. So, our new goal (and it is obviously a very loose goal, but at least we have a goal) is that he will start back again sometime around April 1st, 2011. And, he will get to spend the winter in: beautiful Florida! Kind of a strange thing to think about considering it is spring now, but just being able to think about plans for Mo is exciting. Oddly enough, it is mapping my fictional story thus far…all we can hope for is that he is as successful when he gets back as I predicted.

More than ever, I am convinced we have a one of a kind horse and we are living in the middle of a unique and special story. All signs are pointing to him coming back from this injury and getting back to where he was. And he was racing in 1.50.4 in his second start after 3 months off in the middle of February. Where would he have been if he was real tight on a hot summer day? Certainly sub 1.50, right? I don’t know what lies ahead. He may have more bumps in the road to recover. I realize that is a very real possibility. He may come back to monster. He may get hurt again. No one really knows, but even though he is currently going crazy on stall rest with limited walking and cash flows are flowing out instead of in for the time being, I think we are all so glad we never sold him. He is a great story. He is our story and I know for a fact this story is far from over.