Barbaro Updates: 184
updates are now here.
Update 1365: Tom visited Barbaro this afternoon and gave him a good grooming. He reported that Barbaro was comfortable "and his normal self".
As we await the Eclipse awards tonight (Bloodhorse.com will broadcast the results on the internet as they are known) here are the Japanese equivalent: Deep Impact Repeats as Japan's Horse of Year ... no surprises there. To continue on an international theme nominations have been made for the Dubai World Cup card: World Cup Abuzz Over Invasor-Discreet Cat Clash. This could shape up to be a great day's racing, not only with the potential clash of the proven (Invasor) and potential (Discreet Cat) but with the reappearance of a global star we have followed: Collier Hill in the Sheema Classic. Also nominated for that race is the 2006 English Derby winner, the 2006 Melbourne Cup winner and the 2006 Breeders' Cup Turf winner! Wow!
Dave Bentley was the fourth ex-champion jump jockey who is galloping around the Tapeta track this winter!
Update 1364: Saturday was adoption day for rescued horses from the MO accident: Rescued horses available for adoption.
Three of the ex champion jump jockeys, currently working at Fair Hill, have been identified: Ricky Hendricks, Chuck Lawrence (both trainers) and Gus Brown (Graham Motion exercise rider) ... one more to go!
As a quick reminder, the Barbaro update will be late today, after Tom's visit most likely. Here is an article on tonight's Eclipse awards: Barbaro's story still drawing wide audience... and Barbaro's broad appeal. The two stories below the main story are also of interest.
Update 1363: A white morning this morning at Fair Hill. A thin layer of snow supported by pretty thick fog! The Tapeta track seemed to handle the snow well. One concern with snow is whether it balls up in the horse's feet ... this did not seem to happen today on the Tapeta track.
I took three horses to the gate, two of which were Tim's (Chesapeake City Slew and Nonpariel). They each galloped out of the gate, and did so nicely. Our gate crew come down from Philadelphia Park so I could ask them how Hawty Creek was in the gate. Basically she was great. She seemed a little anxious when being loaded, but once in the gate stood very well. A good thing considering she had to wait about 4 - 5 minutes! The trouble behind the gate was caused by the #2 horse, which reared up causing the saddle to slip. The gate crew had to help readjust the tack. All in all Hawty Creek could not have been better around the gate under the circumstances. She appeared in pretty good order this morning. She ate 4 quarts last night, I was anticipating her hardly eating at all ... she looks good, and does not appear to have dropped off too much weight. I just took her out for a pick of grass, and will go back this afternoon and do the same thing.
Tim's Who's Happy is in the entries for tomorrow, at Philadelphia Park.
Its nice to see some of you trying to answer the question I posed in this morning's update. Two of the ex-champion jump jockeys have been identified. I won't reveal which two just yet!
Update 1362: Tonight are the Eclipse Awards, held in Los Angeles, televised by TVG. We know the Barbaro team will get one award, lets hope for a couple more. Another Dynaformer is a certainty for the Steeplechase award: McDynamo set to eclipse field. This will be his third Eclipse award. Fair Hill has a few connections to the Steeplechase community. Currently four ex-champion jump jockeys ply their trade at Fair Hill, two as trainers, two as exercise riders. I wonder if anyone can name the four ?
Turfway Park canceled its racing on sunday: Turfway Park Cancels Sunday Racing. They use the Polytrack, but cite the reason for the cancelation as thus:
Sherry Pinson, Turfway's director of communications, said the cancellation was due to the condition of area roads that would impact horses shipping to the track for the afternoon live racing program.
I am assuming the Barbaro update will be late today, after Tom's visit this afternoon. Off to Fair Hill. Hawty Creek will now have a few days off after her race, so it will be a nice light few days for me too!
Good morning all!
Posted by: annie in TX at January 22, 2007 11:54 AM