January has proved to be one of the toughest months I have known in New York. The winter vortex was quite simply one of the most brutal environments in which to try and train and keep warm. The horses are remarkable in these savagely cold temperatures and often appear to be far less affected than us mere humans. I have been reading extensively about the thermo regulatory system of the equine species and their coat growing skills in the wild, however I am a firm believer that if you can keep horses as warm as possible and as well fed as they will allow in the winter months then you will have a distinct advantage come February and March when they have had to endure these arctic temperatures for a long time.
While the tracks have been tough to deal with and a couple of the younger horses have gone on a break it has been a relatively slow month at times but we have still had a month of successes and welcomed new owners to the barn which is wonderful. It’s a whole different ball game training horses in the winter months and it is essential that you have your stock fit before the winter temperatures start to affect the training tracks and walk ways.
The training track at Belmont is treated with chemicals and salt to prevent it from freezing, however these additives to the surface only work down to around 15 degrees Fahrenheit, really anywhere below about 25 and the track starts to lose all its moisture and become very much like a loose beach. A surface that has become loose like that is far more detrimental to the soundness of your horses and so I only jog my horses on days when the track is like that. If it drops below 20 I will not even take the horses out of the barn, instead we will jog them for 10 minutes in each direction around the lovely wide shed row I am lucky enough to have in the barn.
Sweet Lover redeemed himself when I finally gave him the chance to run long for my father and Mark Speelman. We had tried him twice sprinting as he had shown plenty of speed in his work at home but Irad was adamant that he wanted to go two turns. So over two turns I gave him a chance having rather lost faith in his resolution, thank goodness Irad would prove to be correct and he cruised around the field on the second turn before opening up and winning by 10 lengths. The form of his race has been franked with the second horse coming out and winning by 4 lengths next time and although I don’t think he is a star I do think I probably got a little lucky with him not getting claimed for the $16,000 tag he won for.
To try and keep the other side of the family happy I sent Finns Quest out for my mother and I later in the month. This horse has been an absolute star for me this winter especially as I think he will be much better on the outer track at Belmont. My brothers refer to him as the walking ATM as the winter has allowed 2 wins (1DQ) and a 3rd from 3 starts in seven weeks. Finn narrowly held on from Anaphalaxysis and has run 3 consecutive 85+ Beyers in his last three races. He will now have a little freshening as he tries incredibly hard in his races and is a horse who may continue to develop as the year goes on.
Media Kid is my first horse for Zilla Racing Stables (zillaracingstables.com) who are a relatively new syndicate to the game. They offer the most fantastic communication systems with their clients as well as a deeply knowledgable and expansive thought process to the game. Mike Piazza who heads up the group is definitely in the process of developing a fun, trustworthy, clever, exciting way of becoming involved in racing and I am delighted to become their second trainer alongside Linda Rice. We claimed Media Kid for the princely sum of $35,000 earlier this week and are hoping this will be the start of a long and fun association.
Right off back to the barn to see how my polar bears are doing…
Tom Morley
