The Remington track came up muddy for Tabby Lane’s last race. Sloppy is okay for her, but heavy, sticky mud is a problem – she hates it. Before we even got started I had a sinking feeling but I was hoping for the best.
Tabby was positioned right where we wanted her to be down the backside: fourth place about six lengths off the lead. As they bent through the turn for home, when she was to make her move, she started sliding back. She was going the wrong way and she was getting there in a hurry. She didn’t appear to be hurt but she fell further behind. She seemed to regain her footing in the lane though it was WAY too late at that point.
I watched on my PC via the Remington feed and was beside myself watching the race. Right out of the gate she was fighting jockey Dean Butler to settle down and I was very concerned. She seemed to settle a bit on her way down the backside but she wasn’t making up any ground in the mile and 70 yard race. The class level, $10,000 claiming, seemed to be perfect for her but she wasn’t being competitive.
I gave about 10 minutes after the race before I called our trainer, Bernell Rhone, to get Dean’s take on the race. She ran fine through the straights, he said, but had difficulty on the turns – like she was experiencing some soreness. Oh-oh.
The vet came by the barn a few days later and gave her front end the once over and sure enough; there was soreness in the front ankles. It wasn’t horrible and there is no damage, but given her performance in the last two races we decided to give her some treatment and time. Clearly we could have dropped her to $5,000 and pushed on with her, but that’s not fair to anyone – especially Tabby. So now she’ll be off for a while and come back at Tampa, probably not until after the first of the year. I’m hopeful that she can come back as strong as ever and maintain her class level but we won’t know that until we get her back in training. For right now, she’ll some time to be a horse and enjoy the R & R.
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