Spring is Beginning

Things in Kentucky have been going good. Today is Dubai World Cup day and it looks like it should be a very good day of racing. The Flying Start team and I are doing a forecast for today’s races just like we did for the Breeder’s Cup. Thank god Jennifer Zhou is not participating in this one because she killed us in the Breeder’s Cup. I didn’t get much time to handicap after I woke up this morning, I basically woke up and the guys immediately told me to turn in my choices. I stuck with the home team pretty much, with most of my picks being from America. I’m not doing so well thus far but I have Richard’s Kid in the World Cup and he could make all the difference if he performs like the way I think he should. Thanks to Carl O’Callaghan’s blog on the TDN I’ve been able to follow Richard’s Kid and the American horses a lot more closely.

I’ve just finished another week long rotation at Keeneland with Johnny Burke and had a lot of fun. When I go to the track in the morning, it doesn’t matter what track it is, I feel like I’m returning home. I guess I’m definitely a barn rat. The barn area was starting to fill up last week with the horses shipping in for the meet and the two-year-olds arriving for the sale. It looks like there are some very nice two-year-olds in this sale as I watched them train in the mornings. I’m interested in seeing how they breeze on Wednesday and then looking at them more closely later on in the week. I’ll be attending the sale with Donato Lanni and I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to learn from him.

This Sunday night I start my two weeks of foal watch. I’m more of an early bird than a night owl, so I’m not particularly looking forward to this. I wish mare’s foaled out in the morning’s more often but that’s not how nature works. I’m very interested in learning about the foaling process though, I’ve never had the opportunity to foal out a mare. So, overall I think I will gain a lot from the experience of doing foal watch at Gainsborough. Congratulations to Carl O’Callaghan on the win with Kinsale King.

Working at Keeneland

Kentucky is really starting to become a tease. The weather is warm one day and then freezing the next. I think everyone in the group is dying for spring to come. I know I am. I saw a movie the other day that was set in LA and I don’t think I’ve ever missed California so much, haha. Luckily in Kentucky they have Mexican food unlike England and Ireland, so I don’t feel completely out of it.

I just finished up my work rotation at Gainsborough. I really learned a lot and I owe it to all the great people who work there. Although, I love training and don’t plan on going into the breeding side of the game it was nice to learn more about it. It plays a crucial role in the development of these horses and their success. I feel that these dedicated individuals don’t get enough credit for the hard work that they do. Without them it would be very difficult to help these horses achieve their maximal potential from the standpoint of training. From the broodmare managers down to the individuals that work day-to-day with the mares and foals these people are all indispensible and deserve recognition for the work they put in.

This week I’m back at the track and back to myself. After being away from the racetrack for so long I’ve began to have withdrawals, haha. It’s been great to be back at the track. I love training so much and I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of morning at Keeneland. Johnny Burke, who I’ve been doing my work rotation with these past few days, has a great knowledge of training. I’ve learned a lot from him so far about rehabilitating horses and many other things. I’m looking forward to the rest of this work rotation. Tomorrow we are going to the Kentucky Horse Park. The last time I went I only had enough time to go to the Hall of Champions. So it will be interesting to see the rest of the park and the new additions they have made for the FEI World Equestrian Games.