I am so sorry it has been so long since I last posted on here but amazingly we have been through a phenomenally busy, heart breaking, smiling, heart breaking again few weeks. It’s amazing the things that can happen in the barn and at the races that can surprise and please and also torture and hurt one, it really is an emotional game.
Feel I should start by telling of the deeply shattering news that we sadly lost He’s A Big Star three weeks ago. He was a servant of the highest order to the Wolfendale family having been with them since he age of two. A stakes winning grass sprinter who was also Maggie’s favorite horse, he was retired to be my pony. He had been the most wonderful racehorse and truly seemed to enjoy being a pony, although occasionally I wondered if he still was a racehorse when I wandered down the barn and saw the joy and comfort he lived in. Ponies are integral to any training team and their care and attention is essential to the development of young horses, they help keep them calm and effectively offer a seasoned shoulder to lean against in times of anguish. Star was superb at this, although the starting gate still got him terribly wound up!!! He will be sadly and sorely missed by us all.
We finish the Aqueduct outer track meet with stats of 11-2-2-1 which is OK but sadly should have included another winner as yesterday Finns Quest questionably lost his dirt comeback in the stewards room. Having run credibly first time on grass I tried him again on the turf but his performance yesterday was extremely positive. I believe sometimes that a start on grass can help a horse even if they don’t favor the surface as it undoubtably is a kinder surface and a kinder experience. Finn made a sweeping love around the turn and took the lead at the top of the lane only to drift out and bump the second horse Pass the Tap a few strides before the line.
Coffee and Donuts made an encouraging debut to finish fourth on debut which kind of took me by surprise as in July I would have said he had no chance of making a start at the age of two. He will run over a longer trip towards the end of the month.
We welcomed Eirigh to the barn for Donegal Racing which is fantastic as he is highly regarded by their management team. He is a good looking although slightly immature type who should make a terrific looking 3 year old. He will tell me when he is ready to do more as he ran last week at Churchill and arrived fairly tired, the joy about owners like Donegal is there is no rush, development of the horses is the key.
We move to the inner track from now until March with a four day week starting in January and a proposed late move back to Belmont. Additional mistakes, in my mind, are a proposed increase in the entry fee to Saratoga and the fact that the NYRA board seem incapable of sitting down and discussing, however long it takes, what will do NY racing good. While I watch what Keeneland have done to promote racing and develop their client base I see NYRA proposing a price increase at Belmont, which is practically always empty, and Saratoga, which blissfully is always full. Keeneland has nowhere near the product we have here in NY and we live on the outside of one of the great cities of the world and yet the attendance at Belmont, during the beautiful summer and fall months is appalling. Try free entry and see if we get more people, let’s make it more attractive, people will spend money when they are at the track, of that there is no doubt.
– Tom Morley
