Author: grarick

Hard Way finished out of the frame at Compiegne yesterday, but he ran well and handled the whole procedure better than he has in the past, which gives us quite a bit to look forward to. It’s an hour and a half trip by horse transport from Maisons-Laffitte to Compiegne, and I had to ride in the back of the truck with him to avoid a repeat of his St. Cloud transport fiasco. Riding with him made a huge difference, though, and he settled and rode pretty well. He stayed pretty calm for showering and walking at the track, but still didn’t handle being in a box very well. Next time out, I’ll ask for a box bedded in shavings so we don’t have to use the “panier” to keep him from eating the straw. The panier seems to stress him out more than anything else, so we had to keep him out of the box and walking most of the time. The earplugs and iced cap went on with the bridle, and they seemed to really help. He was calm, cool and collected in the presentation ring, and he was pretty good behind the gate, too. I asked that he be loaded second-last, which worked well except that he missed the break a bit, so he was further off the pace than I had expected him to be. He also got a little startled on the turn by a horse coming up on his off side and jumped into the rail, losing some distance. But he came back well in the stretch to close and was running on past the wire, which is good to see. I think 2,000 meters is a little short for him, after all, and I’ll probably go back to 2,400 next time out. I don’t think 2,000 is out of the question, but I’d prefer 2,400. He recovered well, we had no major incidents on the trip home (although he did take issue when I fell asleep for a few minutes and wasn’t paying attention to him; he woke me up by threatening to rear or fall over, in that order). He ate up everything last night and took a walk around the park today with a calm, more mature look in his eye. I think he did a bit of growing up yesterday, and hopefully we can run back sooner than last time. The Compiegne race was only the fifth in his life, so he’s got plenty of races in front of him if he can learn to handle it all a little easier.

I’ve neglected my blog since Tommy’s race because I’ve been too swamped, but it’s past time for an update. First off, Tommy ran relatively badly; he was laying third or fourth for most of the race, then had no finish and tailed off. He was really difficult to handle and nervous before the race, which isn’t at all like him, so I knew there had to be a problem. I was most worried, of course, about his leg, but that seems fine. But he was coughing in the days after the race and ran a slight fever, so we can put it down to that. There’s been a small bug that’s been making the rounds in Maisons-Laffitte, and nearly all of the horses in the yard have been coughing at some point this spring, so it seems this is his turn.

Meanwhile, we’ve got plenty of entries at the end of the week, and I’ve been busy introducing new fans to racing. I had a group of 20 from the American Women’s Group at Longchamp last week, and I’ve had two receptions during the week to talk up racing with various expats. Then this weekend there’s Grand Steeplechase mania. My friend, Jean-Paul Gallorini, has one of the favorites in the big race, and his wife always plans a huge party around the event. I’ve been drafted since Thursday to help decorate and plan, and the first of the parties was tonight. Tomorrow is the big event – 5,800 meters over 23 obstacles. There are also three other Group races on the card, so it will be a very big day of racing. Jean-Paul’s wife, Alex, always gets a little carried away when they have a real chance of winning. The entire yard is decked out in yellow and green, the colors the horse, Remember Rose, will carry, and various friends (including me) have been asked to dress in those colors tomorrow. I’ve also been assigned a hat to wear. So if you’re watching the race, you’ll probably spot me. I’ll be the one that looks like a cake topping.

Little Tommy is in the last at Maisons-Laffitte tomorrow (Saturday), and there are lots of reasons this is a good thing: It’s been a month since his comeback race, he really needs the run, he’s well-placed in a handicap that should not be all that difficult for him and he has a great jockey. But there’s one big drawback: It’s been pissing down rain all week, and Tommy doesn’t go in the mud. Soft is fine, even very soft, but once the barrier is crossed into heavy or stick going, he might as well stay in his box. That seems to be the rule in racing: When you have a horse that needs fast ground, it will rain nonstop before the race, and when you have a horse that wants the mud, you get a week of tropical sunshine. We will make a final decision around noon tomorrow (post time is 6 p.m.), and I’m really hoping he can go, becase he’s driving us all nuts with his excess energy!

Turfani ran a decent race at St. Cloud on Tuesday, but she finished only 8th of 20 starters. She pulled a bit along the rail over the first 500 meters or so, then settled before closing nicely in the stretch. Not too much bad to say, except that she didn’t finish in the money. The jockey said she wasn’t too happy with the heavy ground, and that we could probably run longer. As excuses go, those aren’t too bad; I’ve been thinking of stretching her out to 2,400 meters and the ground was pretty hashed up. I do think she will win a race in the not-to-distant future, but it is frustrating, and it shows we have a bit more work to do before we find the payoff. She’s come back well, so she’ll get her usual break before we try again, near the end of the month or early in June. She clearly isn’t going to set the world on fire, but she’s a lovely big mare, easy to ride, a pleasure to have around the yard and she tries her best to do everything you ask of her. She’s also a very calm and patient leader for some of the fizzier horses in the yard, so she certainly has her qualities. I may start training her over hurdles, since she looks very suited to that physically, and that might help build up her topline a bit more, which she seems to need.

I’ve just got home from Longchamp, where I spent the day introducing a group of 40 people to the sport. We picked a great day for it, with the Group 1 French 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas races. Most in the group were Americans living in France, with a few British and French people thrown in for spice. It’s always fun to bring new people to the sport, and they seemed to really enjoy themselves. I’m hoping, of course, that some will want to take that next step and see their own colors out there on the track. But in any case, I can always talk endlessly about horses to anyone who will listen, and we seemed to have a very receptive audience on Sunday. So thanks to Mark for helping organize it all, and let’s hope we see some of these people at the track regularly from now on!

Turfani will run at St. Cloud on Tuesday, in the same category of her last two races – claiming for 9,000 euros – and nearly the same distance at 2,100 meters. She was 6th at that distance and category the last two times out, so hopefully she can improve this time and bring home a check. She’ll be ridden by a male jockey for the first time, so it will be interesting to see if that changes things. She seems to be fit and well, and her new, less-rich diet seems to suit her better. It’s started raining a bit tonight, so we should have a slight softening in the ground, which is good, and we’ll have – again – a full field of 20 runners. I’m not going to get too optimistic because Tyke was so disappointing at Chantilly last Friday, so we’ll just do as the French do: Say “merde” and hope for the best!

Tyke ran pretty miserably today at Chantilly. First he decided he didn’t want to load in the gate, then he immediately got his tongue over the bit, pulled like a train for about 1,300 meters and then, of course, had no puff to actually finnish the race, which was a mile, or 1,600 meters. The jockey said he has plenty of speed and absolutely no discipline. The gate behaviour didn’t surprise me all that much, since he was acting the same way about going into his box in the stabling area. You had to ask him two or three times, then, when he thought it was his idea, he went in fine. Same with the gate; it was clear it wasn’t fear, and there’s nothing wrong with him, but he just decided HE wanted to be the one to decide when to go in. The poor gentleman jockey had a pretty unpleasant ride, and almost came off when Tyke decided he was going around a horse in front of him, no matter what the jockey thought.

I know at home, Tyke has transformed from a cowardly baby to a big horse with ideas of his own. I was happy enough to accept some character flaws in exchange for training well and an overall more brave attitude, but I’m a little disappointed with his behaviour at the gate. I’ll have to take him through a few times at home to see if we can’t straighten this out. Trying to find the positives, a few things that happened today are relatively easy to fix: we’ll add a tongue-tie and do some gate training, plus scale back the distance for the next race and just let him gallop out. I suspected a mile might be too long, and it was confirmed. He has plenty of speed, so he’ll come back to 1,400 meters for the next race (I’d rather have 1,200, but there’s nothing coming up). He’s training too well at home and showed he has enough speed, so I’m not ready to give up on him yet. He’ll get a couple of more chances before we decide whether to continue with him.

Tyke gets another crack at a race tomorrow in Chantilly; he’s drawn outside, in post 13 of the 13-horse field, which kinda sucks. That means he’ll either have to jump out quick and end up in front, which I don’t really want, or try to tuck in behind without being dead last. Since I’d like to see him relax and show better respiration than last time, I’d prefer he run 8th or 9th, then try to close. It hasn’t rained at all in the past week, so the going will be a bit fast. As usual, I’d prefer more cut in the ground. But Tyke seems in good very fit and happy, so now we’ll just have to see what happens.

It’s been a busy past few days. We went up to Normandy on Saturday to see the newest addition to the stable, a filly born Monday out of Well Done Clare by Konigshuffle. She looks good – tall, leggy and energetic, which is everything you want to see in a newborn. She’s a completely different model than her full brother, Well Shuffled, now a yearling. Well Shuffled is square and small, and has inherited his mother’s considerable backside, which is good, since that’s the engine. The new girl looks like she’ll be tall and elegant, like her father. Theirry, Diana and I are partners on the new filly, so now we need a name. Most of what we like has already been taken, but we might call her “Me First,” which seems like a good name for a racehorse.

On Sunday, I got to introduce a group of Americans to racing at Auteuil racecourse. None of the 16 or so had ever been to a racetrack before, much less to see steeplechasing, and they seemed to enjoy themselves. I’ve got another two groups coming up at Longchamp the next two Sundays. It’s a chance for me to bring new fans to racing, which is nice, and also a chance to see if some of them might like to take the plunge and own a horse.

On the track, I’ve got Cape Tycoon running Friday in Chantilly in a one-mile claimer for gentlemen riders. This one will be for the experience more than anything else. It’s a little close to his last race, but he seems in fine shape and this will be good schooling for him. The distance is probably a little too long, but it will set him up well for a 1,400-meter race at the end of the month.

Turfani is entered for Tuesday at St. Cloud and will run if she gets in. We have 57 entries at the moment, so we’ll have to see how the field thins through the week. Tommy is still on track for his race on the 16th, and Hard Way has to wait, because he is too highly rated to run any of the races I had hoped for. It looks like I’ll have to put him in a condition race at the end of the month in Compiegne.

Oh, and there was the Kentucky Derby. Missed it. But I couldn’t have seen it any way – there seem to be no television rights for the Derby in Europe. I watched the reply on YouTube, though, and that was a hell of a stretch run by Mine That Bird. And what a pair the owner and trainer make – they look like ZZ Top’s bank-robbing cousins!

Tyke has come back from his race in fine shape, and Turfani, Tommy and Hard Way are all ready to go, so now we need the right races. Tyke will be entered in a 1,600-meter (one mile) claimer for gentlemen riders in Chantilly on May 8. It’s longer than I’d like, but there’s nothing for him otherwise before May 20 and I’d like to get him back out sooner than that because he needs the experience. Tommy will have to run the second division of the Tierce handicap at Maisons-Laffitte on May 16. I’d like something easier (and sooner!), but there’s really not much choice for him. I need 2,000 meters on a good grass course, and this fits the bill. Turfani has a couple of nice choices, and she has clearly turned the corner with her liver problem because she’s eating well again and working very well. I’ve altered her diet to get away from the overly sweet Bailey’s racehorse mix. She might run in a claimer at Evreux on May 8, but more likely will wait for St. Cloud on May 12, where she has a nice 2,100-meter claimer.

Hard Way is just about ready to come back, and he’s entered in a handicap on May 8 at Evreux. I’m unlikely to run that race, but I need to see what rating he will be assigned to see whether he qualifies for the race I’d prefer, in Maisons-Laffitte on May 11. He needs to have a rating of 27 or less, and I’ll find out tomorrow what the handicappers at France Galop think of him. When he does run, it will be in new colors, since he’s been leased to Mark Tronco and Steve Collins.