Racing!
Since I currently don't have an active thoroughbred racing forum that I visit regularly I'll just post my thoughts here.
First--Whoo Hoo Lawyer Ron! He set a track record in the Grade I Whitney and then won the Grade I Woodward by 8 lengths yesterday. That boy can run! And I think he has laid to rest the thoughts of some that he was a better mile horse. Now I admit I'm not sure if he can handle the extra 1/8 for the BC Classic but boy it would be great if he could! He has an allowance win, 1 grade II and 2 grade I wins for the year right now then a second and third in 2 mile races. Hopefully he will run in the Jockey club Gold Cup and win it then its off t the Breeder's Cup.
Funny mistake from a Bloodhorse article:"Coming into the Sept. 1 $150,000 Red Bank Stakes (gr. IIIT) ( VIDEO), James Scatuorchio’s Icy Atlantic had lost his last three turf races. But the 6-year-old hedgling ..."
What the heck is a "hedgling"? ;)
Kitten's Joy half sis, Precious Kitten, registered her second Grade I win yesterday in Del Mar's Palomar. She may not look a lot like her older champion brother but she has heart and can run. It will interesting to see if her offspring can run like her and their uncle when she is retired. Bloodhorse article
Bloodhorse has also had 2 wonderful articles about past racing greats, Genuine Risk and John Henry. For those who aren't familar with them Genuine Risk was the second filly to win the Kentucky Derby and John Henry was 2 time Horse of the Year. Genuine Risk's Derby was the first one that I really watched and she trounced the boys. She went on to run second to Codex in one of the most controversial Preakness Stakes and second in the mud to Temperance Hill (Arkansas Derby winner 1980) in the Belmont. She is the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner and is doing well in retirement. Bloodhorse article Genuine Risk There is also a nice slide show linked to the article.
John Henry was something else when he was running, dual dirt and turf champion and one of the oldest if not the oldest horse to receive Horse of the Year honors. in 1984. The old man is 32 years old and living at the Kentucky Horse Park in their Hall of Champions. I loved this quote from the article: "And he likes to stand in an area of the Big Barn staged to look like a winner's circle. " You can't convience me that he doesn't know what that area is supposed to resemble. He was and is an amazing horse. His name came from the fact that when he was young he would rip his feed bucket off the wall and stomp it flat, similar to the "Steel Driving Man" of folklore. There is a wonderful slideshow of John Henry linked to the article also. Bloodhorse article John Henry
Its a shame that more of the wonderful racehorses don't have retirements as fantastic as these two champions have. When these two greats finally pass over the Rainbow Bridge a part of my early teen years will go with them.