Tims Update 5

Update 136: We are having such a great week with the weather. Rajasthan is back training after his race and is cheeky as ever. Trying to pet him at feed time can be quite a task. He has a lot of personality and hopefully will have a great racing season with us. Bubble Gum is now being turned out for several hours each day and so far seems to be behaving herself. She loves to play around. Saar Treaty does everything we ask of her very easily. She is not at all intimidated by her neighbor Happy who gives her mean looks. Speaking of Who's Happy, she continues to tote everyone around and should be running by the end of the month. Powdered Donut seems to be past a few stiff muscle problems and in going great. King Congaree came to us and seemed a bit unsure but now when you walk in his stall you better watch out. He is all boy! His training is going fine. Sweet Ginger Brown loves to eat and every night makes loads of noise until she is fed. She is a demanding girl but a loveable one. She is very early on with her training but seems to be happy and enjoying it so far. Truimphant is a quiet little chestnut boy. He waits patiently for his dinner and you never hear a peep out of him. Rose Campbell seems to remember us and has jumped right back into action. She is carrying good weight and is very relaxed. Gator Nation is of course his usual quiet self and we are looking for another race for him. Kitty is also going to have another start with us. I hope she shows something more this race. I really like her but she will go to another trainer shortly if she does not perform for us better. I had a chat with her last night to tell her to pick it up a bit, hopefully she was listening. I know that especially after the Derby that this blog sounds all good. Sometimes in racing things happen unexpectedly. I don't personally know the people involved I can only speak with my own experience. This life is a roller coaster ride. There are ups and downs as is any business. We love these animals and do the very best we can for them. I have always told Tim "If you have done absolutely everything you can for this horse then fine, if not try again." Try your best to get their best out of them. Keep them happy and healthy and always look for little signs that might be a red flag. With this being how I feel, unexpected things have happened. Like I said, it is a roller coaster ride.

Later

Update 135: What a beautiful Thursday we have had. Rajasthan finished third in his first start of the year and appears to be no worse for it. He ran a little too freely and tired but has certainly come out of it in good shape. Congaree and Triumphant (two colts) gallop together and are progressing nicely. These two babies are both quite striking on the track. We were hoping to run Molly (Sailing Home) at Atlantic City on the turf but she did not draw in, so we are looking elsewhere for a performance on the grass! Hopefully this will move her up a bit. Rose Campbell has now returned after a months break looking more developed and ready to train. Sweet Ginger Brown and Powdered Donut who keep each other company on the track both continue to move forward with their training. These two fillies are both grays and the only thing that makes them look differant are the blinkers that Donut trains in. These blinkers keep certain horses a bit more focused. Who's Happy will be toting Tim around the track tomorrow for another piece of work. Saar Treaty and Donut should be working on Saturday weather permitting.
Robbie had a good weekend riding a winner and two seconds at the Steeplechase meet in North Carolina and is back riding again this weekend in Virginia. Tim attributes Robbie's success to riding out with him all winter! Who can tell?

Later

Update 134: We have had such beautiful weather the last few days and this Friday morning was no exception. Gator Nation seems fine after his run at Atlantic City a few nights ago. He was bumped quite badly coming out of the gate and made a very wide run around the turn but still managed to run fourth. Several of our horses breezed this morning. Molly (Sailing Home) and Powdered Donut worked together and both went well. Marty(Donut's owner) brought lots of donuts for all of the help to enjoy. Saar Treaty went her second three eighths of a mile and she is progressing very nicely. Triumphant and Sweet Ginger Brown (both babies) are happy galloping a strong mile and a half everyday. They handle it well and seem to enjoy their training thus far. Rajasthan is making his first run for us tomorrow at Pimlico. It is so exciting to get him to the races and I can't wait to see him run. He is a tough bugger. We also had several other visitors this morning. Carrot man George was by spoiling the horses with mints and loads of love. All of them want his attention. Jim Course (photographer) was by the barn and hopefully Tim made some arrangements to get some new pictures for the web site (I will let you know. ) Luke shipped back to the barn today from the farm. The babies need some schooling with the pony so he must work. Good thing he loves it. The only other thing to report is that Binkley was madly running up and down the shed row today playing with Simon who normally just beats Binkley up. Binkley must feel very brave today. Hopefully all of you will have a wonderful weekend. Hard to believe the first Saturday in May is almost upon us.

Later

Update 133: Just a little bit cloudy for a Monday. At least it is nice and cool for the horses. Saturday had some great works at the track. Who's Happy breezed well and was a bit confused to start from a differant pole than usual. This made her quite managable. Gator Nation also had a good work and will be running at Atlantic City on Wednesday night. Tim told me that Rajasthan had a great work. Unfortunately, he did not get in to run this week. He is doing great and we can't wait to run him. Saar Treaty had her first three eighths mile work and she handled it like a professional. She is all business. Maybe she will get to run in a two year old race at the end of May. Tail Tails is fine after beating one horse at Delaware Park yesterday. She did everything well and broke just fine, just got out run. She hardly blew after the race and ate all of her dinner last night. We will have to try something else with her. Anyway, I think that is all of the news for now.

Later

Update 132: Today was a gorgeous Friday. The horses seem to be enjoying the warm weather. The first baths of the season are a bit troublesome but now that the horses are shedding out their winter coats both the grooms and the horses are enjoying a bit of water. Rajasthan did not get into the races for this weekend at Aqueduct. Hopefully next week we will try again with more success. Tail Tails will be running on Sunday at Delaware Park. She is such a lovey girl, I really hope she does well on Sunday. Our Diva is really looking the part of a racehorse. She has grown so much and is now a tall, fit looking filly. She shouldn't be long from the races now. Who's Happy continues to try to intimidate Saar Treaty who is in the neighboring stall. Saar takes it all in stride and doesn't seem to mind the mean looks she gets from Happy. King Congaree and Sweet Ginger Brown are now training together. They are both babies and have a tendancy to spook each other. Boys can be so goofy unlike the little Smoke Glacken filly we have who is more than sensible. All of the babies are doing just fine and do normal baby things. They will soon learn and will be more confident as time goes on. Luke's time at the farm is soon to be over. He is needed to school the babies a little bit. Vieled Reference is doing just fine at the farm and is now into the new routine. She always has a buddy in with her and she loves to play around in her stall. She normally has a few moments of playfullness every morning and then she settles right down again. She is a joy. Anyway, should be some breezers to write about tomorrow.

Later

Update 131: What a beautiful Tuesday morning. The day started out a bit crisp but now it is sunny and wonderful outside. Who's Happy is just fine after her five eighths work on Saturday. Tim managed to breeze her fairly easily and it was just a maintanance piece of work. Powdered Donut also worked and went in company with another horse for a good half mile work. Lucky has been back for a few weeks now and he gallops with a new friend. We have a Smoke Glaken two year old named Sweet Ginger Brown. He is a lovely boy and he and Lucky are a good match. Our Diva continues to improve and will break for a gate card this week. Every racehorse needs to be OK'd so to speak and given a gate card to keep with their jockey club papers. Diva should get this easily as she is all business on the track. Tail Tails is doing fine and Tim is trying to find another race for her. She still demands loads of attention and we are all happy to give it to her. King Congaree (tall,lanky, grey) is a hit with the ladies. He is such a big softy and it isn't hard to give him lots of attention. What a joy to be around. I'm not sure how he is to ride but I'll ask the trainer. I am also glad to report that the poison ivy has settled down a bit after a week of steroids. Hopefully we have learned to stay away!!!

Later

Update 130: Tim has just called in a Friday update. Robbie and Tim breezed a few horses this morning due to the impending weather. Rajasthan and Gator Nation worked a strong half mile together this morning. Much like humans, horses for the most part enjoy working out with company. Both horses handled it well and covered the Tapeta nicely. Tim was aboard Our Diva and she breezed a half mile on the main track. She is stepping up the pace a bit and seems to be handling her works just fine. So far we have seen no more shin trouble this go around. Saar Treaty worked another quarter mile today. This time she was motoring around the track. She breezes by herself because we have no other two year old that is as forward as she is. Her work was on the main track and Tim reports that she is ready to go three eighths next time. Who's Happy and Powdered Donut will both be breezing tomorrow as long as the weather has not been too awful. We are anticipating both of these fillies to work well and we will definately update everyone on their progress. Tim had to leave Robbie in charge for the last set today. Tim looks as though he has gone several rounds with Mike Tyson. Poison Ivy bites him in the rear every time he does yard work and believe me when I say it is not pretty.

Later

Update 129: Just a quick Wednesday morning update. Yesterday was Bubble Gum's real birthday. Tim and Meghan arrived at the barn to find Mike feeding her birthday mints and carrots. Mike and Meghan quickly proceeded to sing her happy birthday. She seemed a little confused about all of the excitement but was happy to take the treats. Luke is still enjoying his stay at the farm with Whippie and Rosa. It took me a half hour to get him to come in the other night. What a macho man!!! Things are progressing normally at Fair Hill. Horses training, horses eating, horses happy. If the trainer gives me anymore particulars later on today I will give you another update.

later

Update 128: Dreary Monday today but everything is calm after a busy weekend. We ended up scratching Gator on Sunday due to the track conditions. We are sitting on Turf season and would have liked to get a run into him on a good track. He will be ready for Atlantic City. Tail Tails ran on another bad track at Laurel. She broke slowly and ran up to the pack, running third to the head of the lane and then fizzled. She used up so much catching up to the field and then just ran out of gas. She has come home just fine and will live to race another day. Rockin Fun has gone to Delaware Park to see if it will perk him up a bit. Saturday was another hectic day with lots of breezers and owners. Powdered Donut had a great breeze and had no tie up issues afterward. It looks as though she is moving forward now with her training. Rajasthan had a strong seven eighths of a mile work and is not far from this years turf debut. Saar Treaty stepped up easily to a quarter mile piece of work and handled it like a pro. She is definately the apple of her owner's eye and for good reason!!! There was a small calamity during Our Diva's scheduled breeze. Tim was riding Diva and Jesus Bracho was riding a horse for another trainer, with a furlong out to breeze Jesus broke a stirrup iron and had to pull up. Thankfully the trainer was on the track with another horse so they switched saddles and got back to the work. Sometimes it's amazing that you can count so much on just one small piece of leather. Luke is enjoying his brief vacation on the farm with the girls. Timmy gets to come in to his stall and Luke will go out with the honeys. Everyone is happy. Robbie was away on Saturday at a steeplechase meet. He did hit the deck but got up and limped home. He was quite fine this morning.

Later

Posted by Alex at 5:46 PM | Comments (49)