I would also like to add that yesterday I made the following changes on my blog description and profile:
"Aspiring turf writer" was changed to "turf writer"
"Journalism student" was changed to "recent journalism graduate"
I still get a kick out of that!
Friday, April 16, 2010
All Oaks
With just two weeks until the first Saturday in May, Derby Fever is beginning to reach a high. With that comes Kentucky Oaks Fever. Here are a few tidbits that have caught my interest regarding the Run for the Lilies over the last few days:
A well-researched blog by my cubicle neighbour Esther Marr on the meaning behind the names of Oaks-bound fillies. Esther has done a wonderful job keeping us all posted on the happenings of the Oaks trail:
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/beyond-the-blinkers/archive/2010/04/15/what-s-in-a-name.aspx
An emotional HRTV segment on a special triangle involving 2009 Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra, her former trainer Hal Wiggins, and a critically-ill young girl named Rachel Mattson. I made the mistake of watching this in the office, and was tearing up throughout. How can one not love this horse, this trainer, and this little girl? Underlying it all, being reminded that Rachel was taken from Wiggins' care is truly heartbreaking.
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/videos/watch/B44924AD-43ED-4A3A-B51B-272395E449E2
*Warning: fetch a box of tissues before beginning this video.
Thanks for reading, everyone. I will be posting more of my thoughts in the final two weeks leading up to the Derby and Oaks, both of which I will be attending with The Blood-Horse.
A well-researched blog by my cubicle neighbour Esther Marr on the meaning behind the names of Oaks-bound fillies. Esther has done a wonderful job keeping us all posted on the happenings of the Oaks trail:
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/beyond-the-blinkers/archive/2010/04/15/what-s-in-a-name.aspx
An emotional HRTV segment on a special triangle involving 2009 Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra, her former trainer Hal Wiggins, and a critically-ill young girl named Rachel Mattson. I made the mistake of watching this in the office, and was tearing up throughout. How can one not love this horse, this trainer, and this little girl? Underlying it all, being reminded that Rachel was taken from Wiggins' care is truly heartbreaking.
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/videos/watch/B44924AD-43ED-4A3A-B51B-272395E449E2
*Warning: fetch a box of tissues before beginning this video.
Thanks for reading, everyone. I will be posting more of my thoughts in the final two weeks leading up to the Derby and Oaks, both of which I will be attending with The Blood-Horse.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Gorgeous George
Turf Beat has experienced some serious neglect recently. What can I say other than life gets in the way? But I have now completed my thesis, and thus completed university, so my goal is to devote more time to the blog.
I'm going to start back with some words on a horse that holds a special place in my heart. Those of us who have spent time on breeding farms know that while we often have recollections of many horses, there are a special few who grab our heartstrings and never let go. One of those horses for me was D's Wando. It seems natural that I would fall for a colt from the first crop of my beloved Wando, but for me, there was more to D's Wando than that. Out of the Bold Ruckus mare Silver Taler, D's Wando was born on May 8, 2007, just before noon. I had been keeping vigil outside Silver Taler's paddock all morning, and when the moment came, I was able to help bring D's Wando into the world. One of our first assessments of the minute bay with the tiny white star was how petite he was, unimpressive in the grande scheme of our 13 horse foal crop. But as we were soon reminded, size doesn't always matter. Shortly after his birth, I nicknamed D's Wando "George", in tribute to the curious monkey. He was always one of the first of the herd to approach his visitors, and when the whole mare and foal crop joined up in the field in the summer, he would stand by the gate and assess the situation as each mare and foal were turned out, trying to sneak out or jump into the arms of any human within range.
As George matured into a weanling, then a yearling, his personality grew, though his size barely did. But other than his smallish figure there was little to begrudge him for, and George pleased us by bringing $32,000 at the 2008 CTHS Canadian bred Yearling sale. What pleased me even more was that his new connections, D's Stable, Riviera Racing Stable and Yorktech Racing Stable, were stationed at Woodbine with trainer Ian Black. Translation: chances were good that I would be able to follow George's career in person.
As we had hoped, George has translated his personality into productivity on the track. Making his first start the day after my 21st birthday, George finished 3rd in a maiden event at Woodbine (and yes, I was there to see him). George improved his position in his next two starts, running second less than a month later, and, on August 16, 2009, broke his maiden to become the first winner for his freshman sire. After running unplaced in his next two starts, George won an allowance event before closing off the year with a third place effort in the Coronation Futurity behind 2-year-old champion Hollinger.
After taking a well-deserved winter's nap, George is now back at Woodbine with full aim on the July 4 Queen's Plate. Having made his first start the day after my birthday, how fitting would it be if he won the Queen's Plate on the day of my 22nd?
I will be keeping a close radar on George as he prepares for a run at Canada's greatest race. I was recently very pleased to find some publicity for my special horse. Canadian writer and blogger Keith McCalmont recently included George in a photo essay from the Woodbine backstretch: http://www.tripledeadheat.ca/2010/04/photo-essay-searching-backstretch-for.html.
In addition, the young son of one of George's owners has taken a special interest in the sport, and has included a video of George's recent work on his blog: http://santinohorseracingblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/ds-wando-works-amazing.html. Cheers Santino, keep up the enthusiasm!
I sincerely hope to be able to attend this year's Queen's Plate. With a number of promising colts from my former workplace, including George, targetting the race, and with Queen Elizabeth attending this year's event, it would certainly be a special birthday gift to make an appearance at the race, and, god willing, the winner's circle.
I'm going to start back with some words on a horse that holds a special place in my heart. Those of us who have spent time on breeding farms know that while we often have recollections of many horses, there are a special few who grab our heartstrings and never let go. One of those horses for me was D's Wando. It seems natural that I would fall for a colt from the first crop of my beloved Wando, but for me, there was more to D's Wando than that. Out of the Bold Ruckus mare Silver Taler, D's Wando was born on May 8, 2007, just before noon. I had been keeping vigil outside Silver Taler's paddock all morning, and when the moment came, I was able to help bring D's Wando into the world. One of our first assessments of the minute bay with the tiny white star was how petite he was, unimpressive in the grande scheme of our 13 horse foal crop. But as we were soon reminded, size doesn't always matter. Shortly after his birth, I nicknamed D's Wando "George", in tribute to the curious monkey. He was always one of the first of the herd to approach his visitors, and when the whole mare and foal crop joined up in the field in the summer, he would stand by the gate and assess the situation as each mare and foal were turned out, trying to sneak out or jump into the arms of any human within range.
As George matured into a weanling, then a yearling, his personality grew, though his size barely did. But other than his smallish figure there was little to begrudge him for, and George pleased us by bringing $32,000 at the 2008 CTHS Canadian bred Yearling sale. What pleased me even more was that his new connections, D's Stable, Riviera Racing Stable and Yorktech Racing Stable, were stationed at Woodbine with trainer Ian Black. Translation: chances were good that I would be able to follow George's career in person.
As we had hoped, George has translated his personality into productivity on the track. Making his first start the day after my 21st birthday, George finished 3rd in a maiden event at Woodbine (and yes, I was there to see him). George improved his position in his next two starts, running second less than a month later, and, on August 16, 2009, broke his maiden to become the first winner for his freshman sire. After running unplaced in his next two starts, George won an allowance event before closing off the year with a third place effort in the Coronation Futurity behind 2-year-old champion Hollinger.
After taking a well-deserved winter's nap, George is now back at Woodbine with full aim on the July 4 Queen's Plate. Having made his first start the day after my birthday, how fitting would it be if he won the Queen's Plate on the day of my 22nd?
I will be keeping a close radar on George as he prepares for a run at Canada's greatest race. I was recently very pleased to find some publicity for my special horse. Canadian writer and blogger Keith McCalmont recently included George in a photo essay from the Woodbine backstretch: http://www.tripledeadheat.ca/2010/04/photo-essay-searching-backstretch-for.html.
In addition, the young son of one of George's owners has taken a special interest in the sport, and has included a video of George's recent work on his blog: http://santinohorseracingblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/ds-wando-works-amazing.html. Cheers Santino, keep up the enthusiasm!
I sincerely hope to be able to attend this year's Queen's Plate. With a number of promising colts from my former workplace, including George, targetting the race, and with Queen Elizabeth attending this year's event, it would certainly be a special birthday gift to make an appearance at the race, and, god willing, the winner's circle.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Foaling Feedback, Achin' For Aiken
I am posting again the Foaling Diary I wrote for "Beyond The Blinkers" at Bloodhorse.com. It has garnered a few more comments in the past couple of days, and I am still amazed by the feedback. I couldn't have even imagined people would love it this much. Thanks so much to everyone who shared their thoughts, I will keep my creative juices flowing and see what else I can come up with:
Foaling Diary at "Beyond The Blinkers"
Yesterday I followed up on a tip to The Blood-Horse and wrote a story on the injury and death of 2008 Triple Crown contender Big Truck. I have since learned more about this incident, and there will be a follow up to come on Turf Beat.
Click here to read the story on Big Truck.
This morning there was word that a horse was euthanized with symptoms of EHV at Penn National Race Course, however, EHV tests later came back negative. It was interesting for me to follow this story and post it on Bloodhorse.com:
Penn National Horse Tests Negative for EHV.
My feature for The Blood-Horse on Aiken, South Carolina came out in this week's (March 13) issue. The pictures Anne Eberhardt was able to collect are beautiful, and I think the story looks fabulous with the art. I also adore the headline, "Achin' for Aiken". It is definitely the perfect swan song to my internship at The Blood-Horse. Yes, less than two weeks left in the office, my friends.
I watched some good racing over the weekend, but if there is any one in particular to comment on, I think it is Misremembered's win in the Big Cap. I was simply mesmerized by the way he was sitty chilly at the top of the stretch and just kicked on. Although he won by just a neck over the courageous Neko Bay, I think the way he moved powerfully down the stretch while smartly stalking the pace says it all, and although Neko Bay was gaining at the wire, I'm not convinced Misremembered would have given it up had it come down to a grind. This win will only increase the popularity of red-hot sire Candy Ride.
Foaling Diary at "Beyond The Blinkers"
Yesterday I followed up on a tip to The Blood-Horse and wrote a story on the injury and death of 2008 Triple Crown contender Big Truck. I have since learned more about this incident, and there will be a follow up to come on Turf Beat.
Click here to read the story on Big Truck.
This morning there was word that a horse was euthanized with symptoms of EHV at Penn National Race Course, however, EHV tests later came back negative. It was interesting for me to follow this story and post it on Bloodhorse.com:
Penn National Horse Tests Negative for EHV.
My feature for The Blood-Horse on Aiken, South Carolina came out in this week's (March 13) issue. The pictures Anne Eberhardt was able to collect are beautiful, and I think the story looks fabulous with the art. I also adore the headline, "Achin' for Aiken". It is definitely the perfect swan song to my internship at The Blood-Horse. Yes, less than two weeks left in the office, my friends.
I watched some good racing over the weekend, but if there is any one in particular to comment on, I think it is Misremembered's win in the Big Cap. I was simply mesmerized by the way he was sitty chilly at the top of the stretch and just kicked on. Although he won by just a neck over the courageous Neko Bay, I think the way he moved powerfully down the stretch while smartly stalking the pace says it all, and although Neko Bay was gaining at the wire, I'm not convinced Misremembered would have given it up had it come down to a grind. This win will only increase the popularity of red-hot sire Candy Ride.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Today Was a Fairytale
So I may have stolen that title from a recent Taylor Swift single, but it seems to fit most of my days. I couldn't help but feel like I was in blissful dream when taking the following photos this morning. But in fact I was at what is soon to be my full time job, it was about 7 am, and I was alone outside the barn in perfect unbroken silence. This has always been my favourite time of the day; the time when I am alone, with the horses, before the hustle and bustle of business begins, when I can simply enjoy being, and being with my animals.
What is your favourite time of the day? What is your fairytale?
What is your favourite time of the day? What is your fairytale?
Friday, March 5, 2010
Want to Hear a Story?
While I would like to be going to bed right now (please don't notice that it's 9:00 on a Friday evening), my computer is taking eons to upload a video. But on the bright side, its allowed me some time to share a couple of stories. Not musings or reminiscences...real stories, that I wrote today:
Sea The Stars, 2009 Cartier horse of the year, has the first five mares of his stellar first book scanned in foal. These include the dams of Zarkava and George Washington. Zarkava herself is scheduled to visit Sea The Stars later this year.
See The Story on Sea The Stars
My colleague and friend Esther Marr was kind enough to let me post some of my foaling experiences on her blog "Beyond The Blinkers" as a guest blog. The response has been greater than I could have imagined. Today, the blog was even picked up by the Kentucky Horse Council, which posted it to their website.
Original blog on "Beyond The Blinkers".
KHC Website.
Thanks again for reading everyone. It's hard to believe I have just two weeks left at The Blood-Horse. Well three, if you include Derby week. And you really should include Derby week!
And also, I just made the great discovery today that I was able to dumb down my security preferences to allow anyone to comment on my blog. The deed has been done. Feel free to comment away!
Sea The Stars, 2009 Cartier horse of the year, has the first five mares of his stellar first book scanned in foal. These include the dams of Zarkava and George Washington. Zarkava herself is scheduled to visit Sea The Stars later this year.
See The Story on Sea The Stars
My colleague and friend Esther Marr was kind enough to let me post some of my foaling experiences on her blog "Beyond The Blinkers" as a guest blog. The response has been greater than I could have imagined. Today, the blog was even picked up by the Kentucky Horse Council, which posted it to their website.
Original blog on "Beyond The Blinkers".
KHC Website.
Thanks again for reading everyone. It's hard to believe I have just two weeks left at The Blood-Horse. Well three, if you include Derby week. And you really should include Derby week!
And also, I just made the great discovery today that I was able to dumb down my security preferences to allow anyone to comment on my blog. The deed has been done. Feel free to comment away!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Back Again!
Since Turf Beat has been badly neglected over the past few weeks, I'm coming back tonight with lots of new info and photos!
Yesterday marked the end of a hectic week on call for foaling at Lane's End. Altogether we were pretty lucky though; 10 foals born on our watch, and all of them except two before midnight (excluding the one born at 6:30 am, a very reasonable time). Living about a 15 minute drive from the foaling barn we had a bit of trouble getting there on time for some of them. So on Saturday I made a pact with one of the mares, who graciously broke water while I was alone at the stall, allowing me to be in the stall first. Thanks girl.
In the past two weeks I have had two features come out in The Blood-Horse; the first one on the Simeone's, and this week on sires relocating to Canada. Apparently the latter story, largely featuring Adena Springs, motivated that farm to purchase 560 extra copies to use for advertising in Canada. That's a pretty big boost! Look for my feature on Aiken next week. Of all the features I wrote during my internship, I'm most proud of that one.
This week marks week eight of 10 of my internship. It's so hard to believe that after all the hard work to get here, it's almost over. I recall learning about the internship program being I was even accepted to GH, and imagining what it would be like to intern at The Blood-Horse. I started seriously pursuing it in second year by sending in story ideas and freelancing, and I distinctly remember receiving the e-mail last August inviting me to come to Kentucky. In just three weeks the internship will be over, and another two weeks later I will hand in my thesis, and my university career will be effectively over.
Well that's enough reminiscing for now; there's too much to look forward to in the future to stay stuck in the past. Since I left you all hanging for so long, I will now let the cat out of the bag: I'm currently working on arrangements to stay in Kentucky through the spring and summer, working at Lane's End. I've found a real great niche here and learned so much already, I can't imagine wrapping this trip up after just 10 weeks. It will be a very long time away from my family and extended family in Canada, but I've met some very wonderful people here and I know I'll get through just fine.
While it has been a bit tiring working seven days a week, I'm very glad to be spending time in the office at Lane's End on Sundays. This is a side of the industry I have yet to experience, and should contribute to creating well rounded management material!
Ok, without further ado, here are some photos from the last couple of weeks. My March resolution: to keep you all a little better updated through this month.
Flaming food at the Japanese restaurant we went to
She's not pawing her baby. She's just petting him.
White babe!
Another white babe!
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