Bourbonology's FIrst Start - Take 2

Bourbonology’s first start for GRS was swept away under adverse track conditions so we’re back to give it another go tonight.  Well, she’s back to give it another go tonight, I am in Michigan for work and it doesn’t look like I’ll be back until sometime very late Friday night.  I’ll miss the race in person but I’ll be watching on the PC or on my Horse Races Now app on the iphone.  Either way I’ll be rooting her on.  Here is a look at the field.

Dear Hrishi (Van Winkle/Rivera): 0-37 mare is going to give it another go.  Has finished on the board 21 of those times so she’s been close.  She’ll bounce up from $25,000 Maiden Claiming to take on this group.

BOURBONOLOGY (RHONE/BUTLER)

Daring Ride (Padilla/Eikleberry): Closed quickly but fell short.  The shorter distance may have been better suited to him last week.  Now tries the turf for the first time and gets a bit longer.

Excusemeplease (Bravo/Keith):  Another off-the turf race last time with a rally that might have been better suited to a shorter distance.  Picks up an extra 70 and loses Butler but picks up Keith.  Nice that Dean decided to go with our gal after her second work with her.  Like last time, that may not mean anything at all, but it’s still nice…

Andrea’s Josie (McKinley/P Canchari): Moving up from a maiden claiming race where she finished behind several in here.

The Grans (Lund/Vergara): First of an uncoupled Valerie Lund trained entry.  Had a tough couple of races where she was pulled up in one and then slipped in the stretch in the other.  Came back to run a credible 4^th at Canterbury at this level in an off the turf race.

Ee Da How (Lund/Vegara): Pulled up her last time out but had a very stylish debut.  If she is feeling okay, I know that trainer Valerie Lund will have her ready.  Both her runners are sneaky dangerous.

A Thousand Talents (Kirby/Escobar): Former Biehler trainee had her first trip of 2013 over the Canterbury surface in an off the turf maiden special.  She didn’t break well and never got into the mix.

Bluegrass Lucy (Brinson/Ochoa): Sweet filly in the Brinson barn, Lucy finished a fast closing 2^nd in her first Canterbury turf start.  She really improved from the dirt to the turf and the morning line favorite will be a handful.

Antique Angel (Van Winkle/Franco):First time going a route a ground or over the turf. 

ALSO ELIGIBLES: Chasen A Star, Prairie Lake, Bitter Tears, Rio Bello, Velve Kay

There is not a lot of consistent early speed in the race.  In fact, only Excusemeplease appears to have ever really been on the front end.  That was her last out but it was also off the turf (which could very well be the case with rain in the forecast in the Shakopee area).  If she, or anyone, can sneak away on the field, that could be all she wrote for the rest.

Bobo should be in a relatively good position.  I was a bit concerned heading into her last race with her work being relatively non-descript. And actually, if you look on time alone, her last work was nothing to get excited about either, unless you saw it.  She really did a nice job staying to task and picking it up when Dean asked her to.  It may not mean much, but overall we were very happy with the differences in her works.

There are several in here that can jump up.  Bluegrass Lucy will be tough and I think Valerie Lund will have both of her runners as ready to go as they can be – if they can overcome their issues they will be difficult as well.  The wild card will be the weather again.  There will be rain and thunderstorms in the area and at this point I don’t even care if we stay on the turf, only that we get to race.  To be honest, she should do relatively well over a wet track so hopefully it will not matter.

Best of luck to all her partners and we do have one angle going for us: it’s out partner Matthew’s birthday today and that’s always a powerful handicapping angle!

Updates on Ours, Heliskier and Some Dialogue

BOBO

Bourbonlogy got rained out last Sunday.  Not so much because of the weather, but because of the track conditions.  The race was washed off the turf and we were ready to go anyway.  There were a few scratches that made the race a bit easier for us but racing was called after a few races because of unsafe track conditions.  A trainer and a jockey told me it was akin to a pothole strewn road with puddles hiding the worst of it.  Of course a thoroughbred’s thin leg getting stuck and twisted in a hole could be disastrous and if the riders think it’s unsafe, who am I to disagree?

Bobo will go this Thursday in a Maiden Special Weight over the turf course going a mile and 70 yards.  She’ll start out of the chute and make a lap around the oval. She’ll open in the wagering as the 4-1 2^nd choice in the morning line behind Clay Brinson trained Bluegrass Lucy.  I’ll be back with a full profile of the race later in the week.

I’ll also have to retry the “View of the Owners” video blog again, though not this time.  My quick trip to IL has turned into a week-long grind that won’t get me home until sometime very late Friday night or early Saturday morning so I will miss Bobo’s first start in person, though I will be watching in a hotel room somewhere near Detroit.  Or, on my Horse Races Now app if I’m able to pick up a ticket to the Red Sox game that night while they are in Motown!

HELISKIER

Word is still positive on Heliskier.  The champion Minnesota bred gelding is banged up but doing okay after going down to his nose at the break on Sunday, ending his undefeated streak and generating one of my most read blog posts ever when I wrote about some of the behaviors I (and others) witnessed when it was learned the horse nearly went down.

Feedback from that post has been interesting.   I have had some dialogue with people who feel that I misunderstood what they – or folks with them – were expressing.  I think we have differing viewpoints on that and it was a good lesson for a lot of people in perception versus reality.  You may indeed be cheering for your horse hitting the front in a race but if that cheering comes at the same time the track announcer says that a horse juts face planted, your actions may be misconstrued.  Hell, that’s a lesson even I needed to relearn in a way.

This fellow pointed out that by my saying that I was never happier to see a horse fade like Careless Hunter did that I was basically cheering for their horse to be hurt as well.  That wasn’t the case at all, of course.  I didn’t want the kids’ bad behavior to be rewarded BUT I can see his point.  I knew the horse went out too fast and was tired.  The horse wasn’t hurt and no one suspected that he was either.  I also didn’t cheer and or high five someone when I heard that he had packed up the fight.  HOWEVER by not really thinking about how that statement could be taken by someone before I wrote it, I did, kind of, the same thing – I reacted but didn’t think. At the end of the day, I wish nothing but the best for Careless Hunter’s connections and hope they pick up a couple of wins before the summer is done, they seem like really good people.

ELLIE

Elusive Edition has been training okay.  She’s very smart and she simply LOVES to run – two things you can’t train a horse.  She has been experiencing some aches and pains, nothing major but she’s had to rest a bit throwing her a bit off schedule and causing us some concern.  We’re getting to know her better and better and she is really quite a character.  Most definitely one of the best parts of owning these horses is getting to know them as individuals and Ellie is a riot – and most definitely still a baby in some ways as well!

She’s rested a bit and gone back to the racetrack.  We’ll need to pick things up on her in the next week or so and see her develop.  It’s exciting but also our optimism and excitement is still tempered with some caution as it always should be with 2-year olds.

CANTERBURY RACING CLUB

This is been two things: more work that I imagined and more fun than I could have hoped.  The people involved are absolute gems.  We had our first race on Friday night and Mundy, our mare, gave everyone a thrill as she took command in the lane and looked like a winner before tiring to third.  The pace was a bit hot and the turf was a bit soft and both contributed to her fatigue, but it was an exciting run and the folks really turned out for it.  Hopefully we’ll have our gelding, Ask Eddy, race this weekend and I’ll get to meet more of the great folks in the Club.  I doubt I’ll ever meet all 179 of them, but I’m hoping to, even if I will forget most of the names – never the faces, but I’m HORRIBLE remembering names!

 

The start has been a bit slow, but hopefully we'll pick up the pace and hit the winners' circle a few times along the way.

By the Way, Horse and Rider are Okay...

Today’s blog was supposed to be a follow up on Bourbonology’s race cancellation last week, a little catching up with the other stable runners including the two Canterbury Racing Club horses, but something happened yesterday that completely commanded my attention and set me on edge so badly that I really couldn’t write about it rationally until today.  Even now it steams me.  It’s something I would have expected in Philadelphia and not been surprised to hear/see in Boston or New York.  However it was something I never expected to experience here in Minnesota and, for the first time in my 8-years here, I was embarrassed to be Minnesotan. I apologize up front for the length.

In this space and over in my space in the Daily Racing Form you’ve read about Heliskier.  Heliskier had put together a perfect 7-7 record and done it very impressively, winning each race easily and never really being asked for run.  He had run, to this point, exclusively in Minnesota bred company.  There were some rumblings that perhaps the connection were “afraid” to run against open company.  That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Heliskier took control of the 2 and 3-year old divisions of Minnesota racing and ran them all into the ground.  Owner Marlene Colvin was heard to say that she would like to see her gelding challenged and really see what kind of legacy he could build for himself.  He was the last homebred broken by her husband, Robert “Bun” Colvin.  Bun broke all his young horses himself and told Marlene when he came in after breaking young Heliskier, “This guy is the one.”  Bun knew that Heliskier was special but sadly did not live long enough to see him run a race, passing away only months after breaking the promising young gelding.

Yesterday Heliskier took on open company for the first time.  He was a big favorite and the track had put together a short video clip of him.  He even had his own “walk on” music, AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells”.  It was a lot of build-up, sure, but he is something special – the likes of which we haven’t seen around here in a long time.  We SHOULD celebrate these types of horses when they come around...and for the most part, everyone did.

The gates sprung open and Heliskier went to his knees.  Hard.  So hard that even his nose and head hit the ground. 

“Heliskier has stumbled right down to his nose and is last!” track announcer Paul Allen signaled at the break.  Then it all happened.

A group of teenaged baseball players connected to Careless Hunter cheered.  A middle aged woman at the rail laughed while her husband pumped his fist and yelled “YES!”

Another group of older women cheered and clapped.

Jockey Derek Bell was masterful just staying aboard and getting the horse pulled back upright.  He goes over the side and he could have been trampled.  Heliskier could have rolled over the top of him.  LOT of bad could have happened in a split second, but hey, $2 show wagers were on the line.

“For Heliskier to extend his winning streak to 8, he’ll have to be a super horse,” Allen went on after the first call.  Careless Hunter was in the lead and I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see a horse fold like a house of cards in all my life than when that horse tired and was passed repeatedly: shutting up those kids who apparently have never learned that you cheer for your own but don’t cheer for the pain and suffering of others.
A visibly shaken Derek Bell had no real comment after the race, not that he didn’t want to necessarily but because there was a LOT of emotion there.  Initial reports from the backside were that Heliskier was walking okay, ate his dinner, but had some real bumps and bruises that would take some time to heal up.

Then the “experts” in the crown started…

“Best Minnesota bred ever?  He sucks!”

“Soon as he faces open company he falls apart”

Even folks on Twitter got in the act.

Guess what everyone Heliskier got his ass beat today first time open company just shows that horse isn't "the greatest MN Bred ever".

Best mn bred ever huh? Can't even beat Bizet. #streakover #bouttime

To the 2^nd posters credit, once I responded about what happened in the race he backed right off and was glad no one got hurt.  The first tried to backpedal the next day:

@tlgrevelis when I said ass beat I meant like you said bumps bruises and all I know it sounded wrong the way I worded it...

Good lord!  I did tell her that it was the most disingenuous thing I have ever read on Twitter.  By her other tweets she obviously a fan of another MN owner/breeder.  Sadly, the fan hasn’t a touch of the class and dignity of the owner/breeder who would be the FIRST to check on the welfare of the horse.

If you want to give the horse and connections crap because he lost a race, then so be it.  But to have something like that happen and shoot off your mouth about the horse getting “his ass beat” when he nearly went down at the break is simply idiotic and clueless.  Fair start, fair race with no incidents and he gets beat – he gets beat.  To try and pass yourself off as smart because there is no way this horse was as good as everyone said when it actually took a nearly catastrophic incident to beat him makes you look like a jackass.

And I can’t print what I think of the people that were cheering at the track.  It was something I never thought I would see here and really hope it’s nothing I ever see again.
And when it was announced that there was a stewards’ inquiry into the start of the race to make sure the break was clean…the rolling eyes and the comments then:

“Here come the excuses!”

“Oh yeah, must have been SOMETHING!”

Horse racing 101, folks: when a horse goes down, or nearly goes down, the stewards take a look at it.  This wasn’t something raised by the trainer or the owner, it was initiated by the judges – as it would have been for ANY horse running in ANY race.

I hope that Heliskier’s recovery is a speedy one and that we see him back on the track soon – against whatever company they choose to point him toward.