The Warhorse

Scores of horses have come through the barn over the years

One thing has remained constant

Standing in back, doing his work when asked, beating back those younger and more brash

He is the Warhorse

The other stalls are empty now

Young horses befallen by a myriad of afflictions

Some worse than others, but all are gone for the season

He is the only one left

The men are talking at the end of the barn

Shaking their heads.  No doubt lamenting about what has happened

Bad luck, fluke injuries, unrealistic expectations on horses that had never proven themselves

The Warhorse has proven himself.  Time after time

Through his own injuries, he has remained strong

He hasn’t been perfect.  Has missed too much time, but he always battled back

He battled back and he won.  Again, again and again

They now look down at him.  A mixture of sadness and hope in their eyes

He meets their gaze from down the row

Not with the tired eye of a weary veteran

But with a flicker and fiery glare

The look of a champion.  He knows it is his time to shine

He needs to carry the weight of the stable on his shoulders and he welcomes this challenge

As he walks out of his stall, he starts with a limp.  Years of battle have left him stiff

As he reaches the halfway mark, the limp is barely noticeable

By the end he is moving as fluidly as ever, old joints lubricated by the impending thrill of competition

As they load him on the truck, he stops and looks back at them

He can make no promises of health, his body has failed him before

He will promise to battle until the end, reaching for every last inch of racetrack

He is the Warhorse and his connections are forever grateful for him

Genuine Happiness

It’s like Christmas morning as a kid.

Is there anything better than that?  The anticipation builds up for weeks and what makes Christmas morning extra special is that it never disappoints.  Santa showed up as planned and those toys you asked for have magically appeared under the tree.  Genuine happiness.  That’s the only way to describe it.  It is probably that way for parents too when they get to watch their kid’s expressions.  We can’t wait for that moment when Jordan is old enough to appreciate Christmas morning.

You know what Christmas morning is for this big kid?  Having the opportunity to watch In Over My Head race.  And much like Santa Clause, he never disappoints.

Before I get into the race, I a confession to make.  I violated rule #1 on Friday night.  Actually it is the only rule you must abide by when following In Over My Head.  It is so easy to remember and I’m embarrassed that I forgot.

Rule #1:  Never doubt Mo.  Ever.

I doubted him at the half mile mark.  “Well, he’s not going to win tonight,” I said to Laura.  Word from Maywood Park is that Danny wasn’t feeling very optimistic either at the half mile mark.  I’m sure most people watching felt the same way.  We all violated Rule #1.  It won’t happen again with me.  That I

promise.

I won’t say any more about the race.  For those of you that just read this blog and have not seen it, follow the instructions below and watch the replay.  Any description I write just can’t do it justice.  Remember Rule #1 when you watch it.

Click on the like below, then go to Friday August 2^nd.  In Over My Head was in race #12.  He was number 5.  If you lose him during the race don’t worry…you’ll know who he is by the end.

http://www.maywoodpark.com/pages/RaceReplays.cfm

While you always hope for a win as an owner, Friday was at least a little bit different.  We felt pretty strongly that Mo would race well.  But he had been off for OVER A YEAR.  That’s a long time.  The horse who finished 2^nd (the #4 horse) was a solid competitor.  My thought going in was the #4 might get loose on the front end.  While I expected Mo to be closing hard, there was a chance he might have too much ground to make up.  It played out pretty close to how I expected it would.  Only the phrase “too much ground to make up” apparently doesn’t apply to In Over My Head.

The feeling after the race was just amazing.  Genuine happiness.  Talking to Danny, who was at the track with Kacy, Kim, Jamie and Andy.  Seeing the feedback from some of Mo’s fans on Twitter (including Marcus Miller and Tyler Butenschoen who were watching from Pennsylvania).  It felt like we won a major race of some kind and not a conditioned race at Maywood.  Heck, it’s Monday and I’m still flying high.  If you take a second and go back to the Christmas analogy, it isn’t about receiving the biggest or most expensive gift out there that brings the excitement.  It is the total experience that makes it so special.  That was especially true for all of us on Team Mo on Friday night.

The winner’s circle was extra special because it was the first time Danny’s sister Kim and her husband Jamie had ever been in the winner’s circle (not including Danny’s wins as a driver at the Iowa County fair of course).  It is a uniquely fun experience and an experience that Mo delivers quite often.  That win gives him 19 victories in 49 lifetime starts with a win percentage of 39%.  Very impressive.

One other person got a very well deserved trip to the winner’s circle with Mo and that was Casey Leonard.  Mo’s driver/ trainer (with his father Terry) has done an incredible job getting In Over My Head back to this point.  While most of Mo’s racing career has been spent with the Butenschoen’s as trainers and Marcus Miller in the sulky, the most recent comeback has been at the hands of the Leonard’s.  We are very grateful and thankful for the work they have done.  They have been patient and have In Over My Head back to his winning ways.

The obvious question now is:  What’s next?

We are still in the infancy of this latest Mo comeback and for the next couple races, we need to keep some perspective.  He’ll step up in class and race in 2 weeks.  If he does well there, he’ll graduate to the Invitation again.  IF he can go a couple more races and stay healthy, there is no reason to think he can’t race for an extended period of time.  He can achieve the ‘Quest for Double Digits’ I talked about last blog entry.  We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves at this point, though.  Just enjoy were we are, enjoy watching Mo race and if you really want to think ahead don’t get into specifics.  Just remember Rule #1.  Mo will write his own itinerary.  The best thing we can do is just follow along. 

Let’s Go Mo!

The Quest for Double Digits

This is a big weekend for harness racing.  The eyes of the harness world will be on the Meadowlands this weekend and for good reason.  Our sport’s most prestigious (and important) event, the Hambletonian, will be contested on Saturday afternoon.  The $1.2 million trotting classic has returned to its roots and has brought back heat racing.  I’ve always been a proponent of heat racing as a way to promote our sport.  For those that don’t know what heat racing is, the general gist is that for a horse to capture the Hambletonain crown, they have to win twice in one day.  It is a monumental task and one that is uniquely harness racing.  Like harness racing fans all over the world, I can’t wait to watch the “Hambo” as well as the awesome undercard.

But there is more to this weekend than just the Hambo.  At least for Team In Over My Head.

In a much less publicized event (unless you are a loyal blog reader), In Over My Head will make his return to racing after just over 12 months on the sideline.  His last race was in July of 2012.  We made t-shirts and brought down a crew of about a dozen people to watch Mo try and make it 6 in a row.  It obviously didn’t go well, but as I texted our friend Brett Wheeler (who was there that night to watch his first ever horse race) it was time to bust out the t-shirts…Mo is racing again.  His response was great, “I never stopped wearing it!”  That’s a true fan.

We aren’t quite sure what is going to happen when Mo gets back on the track.  Based on his qualifier, he has all the speed he ever had.  He came down the Maywood stretch like a bolt of lightning.  Danny was down watching and said it reminded him of the Windy City Pace and a long forgotten night nearly 5 years ago when he also flew home on that same piece of dirt as a 2 year old.  In looking at the race lineup, he certainly has the credentials to win.  It is just a question if he is in sharp enough racing shape to pull it off.  He may need a tune up.  The number 4 horse certainly has some back class.  His lifetime mark is 1.50.0.  We will see what happens.

Beyond this race, though, there is another goal that I am going to throw out there.  I was looking back at Mo’s career starts per season and one thing really stood out.  Here is what we have.

8, 23, 3, 7, 7

Only one time in Mo’s career has he raced more than 8 starts in a season (when he was 3 years old).  This time around, I’m not going to apply pressure on the old guy to win races.  The fact of the matter is that if he is healthy, he will win.  He’s just that good.  This year we will have a different goal…I’ve even given it a catchy name:

The Quest for Double Digits

Double digit starts that is.  At least 10 in 2013.  If he stays healthy that shouldn’t be a problem.  Then he can turn around and put up another double digit in 2014.  Now that would be sweet?

Friday night at Maywood Park isn’t only special because Mo is back.  Friday night also marks the first time in multiple decades that our family has 2 horses racing on the same night at the same track.  Don’t Tell Wayne is making his 3^rd lifetime start in race number 5.  He’s facing a much tougher group than he did for his first lifetime win two weeks ago.  That’s OK though, it is time to test him just a little bit.  In case you are wondering when the last time was we had more than one horse racing, we would have to go back to a time when Thrifty Kirk, Race On Carey and Race Time Carey all battled on the Sportsmen’s Park 5/8 mile oval in the early 1980s.  While I’d love nothing more than to be there, I’ll likely be watching from Atlanta (baring a good last minute flight).  Luckily, Danny will be on the ground.  It will be exciting to see him in the winners circle…twice ;)

Let’s Go Mo!

Shake and Bake

We seem to have quite the little racing team forming here.

Last week, we asked for another good week and guess what we got.  An even better one! 

In Over My head went out and put up a mile in 2.04 with a 30 second last quarter to kick off the week.  Came off the track perfect and is ready to step right into a qualifier this Thursday (tomorrow).

Don’t Tell Wayne followed that up with his first lifetime win in only his second start.  I enjoyed watching that one on my phone in the backseat of my buddy’s car while cruising down the Interstate in Houston.  That was a first.  The best comment from driver Casey Leonard after the race was that coming into the stretch Don’t Tell Wayne wasn’t going to let the other two horses near the front beat him.  Gotta love a horse with a good racing attitude.  Sounds like someone else we know…

Much like last week we have some very positive tangible results, but we don’t want to get too carried away.  Mo put in a very nice training mile, but it was still just a training mile.  Lil Wayne posted his first win (made even more impressive as it was against all 3 year olds), but he did it in 1.59.1.  While we think he as more in the tank (quite a bit more) we need to keep expectations under control for our little racing team.

We are extremely thankful that the Franchise (Mo) and the Rookie (Lil Wayne) are both racing.  So thankful that when we got together for dinner last weekend, we sat down and said a special prayer.  I thought it would be a good idea to share it with the blog readers since I think it does a great job summarizing how we are feeling right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAUI_0knfk

Shake n Bake baby!  After watching that I think we need to get Mo some sponsors. 

In other news, we hit a nice milestone on the blog sometime in the past week.  We are now over 8,000 views from over a dozen countries.  I hope you are enjoying the story.  I also hope that you enjoy what’s to come.  I have a feeling we have a nice little run ahead of us.

Let’s Go Mo!

May We Have Another

Another good week that is.

Last week, we were finally treated to some tangible success.  Tangible success for an owner is something that you can see with your own eyes…and usually involves some sort of purse money.  It can also refer to an important positive change that is easily measurable.  I think both of the following count as tangible successes:

 -  In Over My Head took part in his first on track training mile in over a year.  The result was just what Casey Leonard wanted.  He went in about 2.10 and came off the track perfect.

 -    Don't Tell Wayne made his first lifetime start and despite going up against all older horses (he was the only 2 year old in the field) he finished with a very solid 4^th place finish and took another positive step in his development. 

So we didn’t get rich last week, but we did pick up a $360 purse check and stepped forward with BOTH horses.  It was our first check in over a year.  We’ll take it! 

If you enjoy reading about what it is like to own a racehorse, Bob Carson wrote a really fun series of articles for the US Trotting Association and Hoof Beats.  It takes readers from purchase through the end of the horse's racing career.  You can find the link below:

  

http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=46815&z=92 

You will notice a lot of the same positive and negative experience that you have read about with In Over My Head.  One thing he that I found interesting was he summarized each article with a well-known song.  “Money for Nothing” from Dire Straits was at the top of his article about stakes payments for example. 

So what song would best describe our current place?  First we need to describe our current place.  While we did have some tangible accomplishments last week, it really just left us wanting more.  That desire to see more success has actually led to some impatience and stress (at least it has for me).  After spending a decent amount of time looking at various songs, nothing seemed to fit.  Until I came across the very catchy tune by Bobby McFerrin from back in 1988.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

At long last we are in the fun zone of horse racing.  Those long months of nothing but bills and limited progress are over.  Sure each race could produce a better than or worse than expected outcome, but who cares…we’re racing again!  Don’t worry, be happy.

This week is very much like last week.  Mo will be headed back to Maywood for another training mile and assuming it goes well, he will be in to qualify the week after (a stunning accomplishment when you stop to think about where we were last year at this time).  Lil Wayne is back in the nw1 at Maywood.  Again he is facing older horses, but he should continue to get sharper with each start.  We think he has some pretty decent talent.  It will be fun to see how he does.

Will our horses take another step this week?  We certainly hope so.  Either way we will have fun with it.

Let’s Go Mo!

Guess Who's Back?

The old horse barn up in Mineral Point is loaded with memories.  Grandpa built is years ago and it remains functional today.  It’s where In Over My Head has hung out for a couple of his rehab assignments.  The walls still hold memories of the Golden Days of the Carey Racing stable.  Faded pictures of Wayne Eden, Ironworks and other horses from the 60s and 70s still hang on the walls.  Most of the old racing gear and mementos have been cleaned out over the years, but once in a while a gem can be found in among cobweb covered old feed bags and broken jog carts.  Danny found one this weekend and brought it back home with him.  It was an old folding studio chair with the name “Carey Stables” on the backrest.  It was a little dirty so he put it in his garage until he could find time to clean it up.  What he didn’t realize is that he brought something else back with him…or should I say someone else.

Like many families, our interest in harness racing is generational.  From Grandpa to Greg to myself and now Danny.  This is an exciting week for us.  Mo is planning on heading into Maywood for a training mile.  Don’t Tell Wayne, who is Danny’s first foray into horse ownership, will be making his first lifetime start on Friday.  Apparently another family wanted to get involved in this big week and this visitor came unannounced…and gave Kacy a bit of a scare since she was the first to see him.

In the four + years of writing this blog, one of my favorite stories had to be that of our friend Spidey.  Spidey was a spider who showed up in our garage in Madison and had a strange tie to In Over My Head (the full story can be found here:  http://inovermyheadracehorse.blogspot.com/2012/01/update-and-story.html).  Well, as of Wednesday evening, Spidey is back…or maybe Spidey’s offspring is back and is living in a web that connects to the old piece of memorabilia from the horse barn.  Here is a look at Spidey II is his new natural habit:

I have to say that he resembles his old man (we just officially moved forward with the assumption he is Spidey’s son).  When I showed Laura the picture of Spidey II that Danny sent me, her immediate reaction was, “Wow, that’s weird.”  He’s a chip off the old block!  He also has an impeccable sense of timing.

This is really our first big week since last July.  Obviously it is a big deal that Lil Wayne is racing in his first lifetime start, but let’s also not overlook the importance of Mo’s planned training mile.  He has worked himself into a position to go a mile in 2.05+ at Maywood with virtually no issues.  No soreness.  Nothing.  If you’d ask Tyler Butenschoen to compare this comeback to the last one he’d tell you there is simply no comparison.  Last time was a constant struggle.  This has taken a long time, but has basically been a breeze in comparison.  It gives us a ton of hope that he could very well be back to his old self.  The Leonard’s have done a terrific job getting him to this point and for that we are very thankful.

So what is the lesson in all of this…and why am I bothering to look for a lesson?  You could simply say that we have a couple of healthy horses and an appearance from a spider who in all reality has no affiliation with the former Spidey.  Not to mention the fact that the original story of Spidey was a bunch of nonsense in the first place.  To those naysayers I simply say this:  Take your negative cynicism elsewhere.  We choose to believe.  To believe in goofy little things such as the appearance of spiders is a sign of some sort of near future good fortune.  Heck at the very least it makes the journey more fun.  We also choose to believe that patience is generally rewarded…and we have been very patient.  We believe that staying positive and not giving up leads to a brighter future.  Luckily for us, I think that future his finally upon us and you know what that means. 

It’s time to get racing again.

Refresh, refresh, refresh……

The whole experience of of harness horse ownership has changed dramatically since the back in the late 1950s when Grandpa purchased his first racehorse.  From that point up until probably the early 1990’s you had two options to find out how your horse did in a race:  go to the racetrack or wait for a call from your trainer.  Even making a phone call was more hit or miss.  The trainer had to make his way to a pay phone and likely call the owner's home phone number....and the owner had to be home.  Lots of chances to miss each other.

In the early 90s the advent of Off Track Betting parlors became popular.  Oftentimes that would be the place to watch a race, which was particularly true for us Wisconsinites given the OTB that used to be in Rockford, IL.  It was a much shorter drive than going all the way to Maywood or Balmoral Park.  Despite the fact it was easier going to watch a race still involved an hour + drive each way.

In 2013, staying on top of your horse’s success (or lack thereof) couldn’t be easier.  We have the internet, cell phones, text messages and so on.  This is great, particularly for those owners like myself who currently live hundreds of miles away from the tracks their horses are racing.  It can, however, also lead to some rather obsessive habits. 

Take last night for example.

Our 2 year old was making his first start in a qualifier at Maywood Park.  A first qualifier is nothing to get too excited about, but after waiting since last October to see the youngster on the track it is worth paying attention to.  Since you can’t see the qualifiers live, you just have to go to ustrotting.com or maywoodpark.com and wait for the results to be posted.  Now, you could be patient and check back every 20 minutes or so.  Or you could be like Danny and I:

Refresh, refresh, refresh…..

Let’s just say our web browsers got a workout last night.  And you can’t blame our trainer/ driver Casey Leonard for not getting back to us.  I think he drove every single race last night.  Not a lot of time for phone calls to owners.

When the web page finally revealed the results, Don’t Tell Wayne (or Little Wayne as he’s now been called by Danny) had a very solid first effort.  He posted a 2.00.3 mile after getting impeded in the stretch (impeded means that another horse got in his way, thus impeded his progress).  Little Wayne showed good manners handling that less than smooth stretch run.  After watching the replay this morning, he was revved up and really rolling before getting backed into.  This was also against horses much older than him.  All in all, we were very happy.

And how is Mo doing?  He continues to move forward.  He trained in   My last prediction was a little aggressive.  We are still likely a month or so out from a qualifier.  He trained in 2.24 this week.  No issues to report, which is great news.  It shouldn’t be long now…

Let’s go Mo!