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.
The official site of Gina RARICK, Racehorse Trainer