Barbaro Updates: 1003

Posted July 19, 2010

updates are now here.

Update 6102: Only three to ride this Sunday morning at Fair Hill. A very easy start to the day. All horses went nicely. We were accompanied by some deer first set, and fox cubs second set. While they spooked the horses a little, it was fun to watch.

Today is the Haskell at Monmouth, which is the marquee race for Monmouth Park and has attracted the leading three-year-olds in the nation. It should be a great race: Classic winners clash again in Haskell. The Haskell typically serves as a prep race for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga. The other major prep race for the Travers was yesterday's Jim Dandy Stakes: A Little Warm delivers scorcher
in Jim Dandy.

Update 6101: Four ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. Another gorgeous morning out there for riding horses. All mine went nicely, including one who did a bit of gate schooling and galloped out of the gate nicely.

The second half of the racing season truly gets underway this weekend with key 3yo races at Monmouth (Haskell on Sunday) and Saratoga (Jim Dandy today): Three-year-old division heats up this weekend. The Derby and Preakness winners will face-off in the Haskell (Derby, Preakness Winners Clash in Haskell) while the Jim Dandy includes Belmont runner-up Fly Down (Fly Down, Winslow Homer to meet in Jim Dandy.)

With Saratoga and Del Mar in full swing there is plenty of other great racing too this weekend: WEEKEND STAKES: WHERE TO WATCH brought to you by WEST POINT THOROUGHBREDS.

Update 6100: Five ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. And it was a gorgeous morning for riding horses. Perhaps it was a little too crisp first set, we had two loose horses and another person also got run-off with. Fortunately all was well after the incidents, and my horses went nicely.

Fall-out continues at Penn National: More horse doping arrests are possible at Penn National Race Course, authorities say and GRAND JURY CASE AGAINST DARREL DELAHOUSSAYE.

And please keep calling.

Update 6099: Six ridden again this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. It was a really muggy morning for riding horses, so not as much fun! All my horses went nicely, including a filly who galloped well out of the gate.

Here is another example illutrastration for the book: Barbaro grazing at Fair Hill, after Derby win. As part of my marketing for the book, yesterday I asked those on the book's Facebook fan page to help me by suggesting the page to their Facebook friends. It seemed to work as we now have nearly 200 more people on the page! Thanks for your help.

And please keep calling.

Update 6098: Six ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. And it was a straightforward morning's work. All my horses went nicely under cloudy skies.

Here is an example of an illustration I plan to use for my Barbaro book. All together I plan to have two - three illustrations per chapter, which will be displayed at the beginning of each chapter and will illustrate the content of the chapter. Putting this book together is quite a project!

And please keep calling.

Update 6097: Seven ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. It was a gorgeous morning for riding and training horses. Two of mine went to the gate for a little schooling. Both galloped out of the gate nicely, and the rest also trained well. All in all a very pleasant morning's work.

Here is this week's ABR Facebook Group message: Rachel Alexandra, Barbaro book, Craig Gibbs, Rob Love, Westmoreland, Clovis Crane, Rory Meeks.

And please keep calling.

Update 6096: Wow, it was a gorgeous morning this morning for riding horses at Fair Hill. Probably the first time in a week the weather was pleasant! I had six to ride for Michael Pino, and it was a very uneventful morning's work.

And please keep calling.

Update 6095: A day off for me today at Fair Hill. And with this heat I am very happy about it!

The highlight of yesterday was seeing Rachel Alexandra at Monmouth Park. Some will debate how good her race was, but she won and won by about three lengths in the end: Rachel Has to Work in Lady's Secret Victory.

Update 6094: I only had four to ride this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. And with this ridiculously hot weather four was enough! One two-year-old breezed a quarter after doing a little gate schooling, she went nicely. All went well for a thankfully short morning's work.

Some good racing this weekend with Del Mar and Saratoga now in full swing. But the highlight is the appearance of Rachel Alexandra at Monmouth Park (Star Filly Rachel Alexandra Joins the Party at Monmouth) later this afternoon: WEEKEND STAKES: WHERE TO WATCH brought to you by WEST POINT THOROUGHBREDS.

Update 6093: Another hot morning this morning at Fair Hill. I rode five again for Michael Pino. All five went nicely for a straightforward start to the day.

Saratoga's 40 day meet opens today.

And please keep calling.

Update 6092: Five ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. And it was another warm morning. All mine went nicely, one of which breezed 3/8ths of a mile. He went well, although I was pretty knackered once we pulled up! A good and short morning's work to begin the day.

Rachel Alexandra returns to the races on Saturday at Monmouth Park. She looks like she overmatches her rivals: Rachel Towers Over Lady's Secret Field.

And please keep calling.

Update 6091: Six ridden again this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. Another warm morning, but I guess that is what we should expect this time of year. All mine went nicely, including one 2yo who had an easy quarter of a mile breeze.

Southern California racing moves to Del Mar today to start its boutique meet. Later in the week New York moves to Saratoga for it's meet. We shall see a flurry of top class races over the next month or so from these two venues.

And please keep calling.

Update 6090: Six ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. All mine went nicely. It was a pleasant start to the morning weather-wise, but it seems to be getting hot. There were also a variety of critters out there too!

Here is this week's ABR Facebook Group message: Delaware Handicap, John Curran, Life at Ten, Ashkal Way, Jeannine Edwards, Hound walking, Bill Nack, Paulick Report.

And please keep calling.

Update 6089: Five ridden this Monday morning for Michael Pino. It was a muggy and humid morning, and then just as I was coming in off my last horse a storm hit. Perfect timing for me, not so perfect for those going on the track as we were coming off the track! One of my horses was a bit fractious going up to the track, but other than that they all went nicely for an easy start to the day.

More great feedback on my book. I have a lot of work to do, but the feedback gives me hope it might actually get done!

And please keep calling.

Posted by Alex at 1:26 PM | Comments (257)

Barbaro Updates: 1002

Posted July 5, 2010

updates are now here.

Update 6088: Five ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. A nice quiet morning for training horses at Fair Hill. I was first on the training track with my first set, and it was gorgeous. My last horse breezed a half mile, and she went nicely. All in all a great way to start the day.

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to Delaware Park for Delaware Handicap day. It was a fun afternoon of racing and hanging out with friends. I also met John Curran, who is the Delaware Park track announcer, and as such announced Barbaro's first race.

I also got some great feedback from Bill Nack, yesterday, regarding Part 1 of my Barbaro book. Bill did suggest I go into more detail on each of Barbaro's races, how they unfolded etc. That gave me the idea to ask the track announcers for each of his races if they would provide me descriptions of each of the races they called. Lets see how that works out!

Update 6087: Six ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. All six went nicely, but it does look like it will be another hot day. Let's hope not too hot, as it is Delaware Park's marquee day with the $750,000 Delaware Handicap. I plan to head on over later to watch. Here are the top races from around the country this weekend: WEEKEND STAKES: WHERE TO WATCH brought to you by WEST POINT THOROUGHBREDS.

Paulick Report is also hosting a poll for me, to help determine how people best remember Barbaro. You will find the poll lower down on the left-hand column.

I received another great review for Part 1 of my Barbaro book. This one from a literary agent!

Update 6086: Five ridden again this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. It was a foggy, humid and hot morning, so a good morning to have a light schedule. All my horses went nicely, so a straightforward morning too.

I received another review of Part 1 of my Barbaro book. Very cool. Lately I have been focusing on pictures for the book. I have not determined how much it costs to include pictures, but at this point I have about 60 to include. Some of those pictures will be unique to the book, including pictures of Barbaro's Jockey Club papers. Well I thought that was cool!

And please keep calling.

Update 6085: Five ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. All the training occurred on the Tapeta track again, as the main dirt track was still not in great shape after all the rain. One of mine did a half mile breeze in preparation for a forthcoming race. She went nicely. All in all a straightforward start to the day, which looks like is going to get hot again!

And please keep calling.

Update 6084: Six ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. A bit of a damp and muggy morning here and the main track was sealed. Most training occured on the Tapeta track which made it quite busy. All my horses went nicely, including a 2yo filly who breezed 3/8ths. All in all a decent start to the day.

And please keep calling.

Update 6083: Five ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. It was a bit of a damp morning here, but we do need the rain, so no complaints. All my horses went nicely for a straightforward start to the day.

Here is this week's ABR Group Facebook e-mail. Unfortunately I could not send it out because there is a 5k limit on the usage of messaging from Facebook Groups. I did not know this, so will have to rethink how best to do this going forward: Gio Ponti, Nicanor, Bullsbay, Blind Luck, Twisted Wit, Date With Destiny, George Washington, Rai Phelan, the Jacksons, Paul Rowland.

And please keep calling.

Update 6082: Six ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill, and a very pleasant morning for riding horses. All six of mine went nicely for an easy start to the day. Here is my first filly, 30 minutes after training.

And please keep calling.

Update 6081: A day off today, very nice and relaxing!

Yesterday I went over to Delaware Park to watch the Stakes races. It was a fun afternoon out, where I caught up with a few FOBs. It was the Barbaro Stakes and of course Nicanor was running in the "off the Turf" Sussex Stakes. Nicanor adopted his usual running style of going straight to the lead, he looked great turning for home but got caught down the lane to finish third: Nicanor Third to Pickapocket in Sussex . The most thrilling race of the day was the Delaware Oaks in which Blind Luck, the heavy favorite, got up in the final stride to record another victory: Blind Luck By a Nose in Delaware Oaks.

In other racing news yesterday Gio Ponti got back to his winning ways with a repeat win in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park: Gio Ponti Up Late to Repeat in Man o' War.

Update 6080: We have some rain! While not ideal for training, I think we can all appreciate that we need some rain right around now. So we got wet. I rode five for Michael Pino, and while I was a little damp by the end of the morning it was a straightforward morning's work.

This afternoon Delaware Park hosts a three Stakes races, The Delaware Oaks, The Barbaro Stakes and the Sussex Stakes. Nicanor runs in the Sussex, and I think I will venture over: Blind Luck Ships in For Delaware Oaks.

Gio Ponti is also racing today in New York: WEEKEND STAKES: WHERE TO WATCH brought to you by WEST POINT THOROUGHBREDS.

Update 6079: Another five ridden this morning at Fair Hill for Michael Pino. But it was not quite so hot as it has been the last few days so it was almost pleasant out there riding. All my horses went nicely for a straightforward morning's work.

Here is a picture of me gate schooling a young horse from a few days ago. Just encouraging a young horse to come out, and keep straight!

And please keep calling.

Update 6078: Five ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. And it was the third straight morning of oppressive heat. For the first set we got to the track before the tractors were finished preparing the track. As we waited a horse of another trainer got loose. My horse, who can be a little quirky, then got very silly. Fortunately we survived. The rest of my horses went nicely for a short start to the day.

After work yesterday I went over to the Jacksons to get some pictures for my book. While I had a photographer friend take real pictures for me, I took a couple of my own. Here is baby Barbaro. It is a photograph of a photograph the Jacksons have. And here is the lithograph that was used to name Barbaro and his brothers. Barbaro is the hound on the right of the picture.

And please keep calling.

Update 6077: Five ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. And that was enough in this ridiculously hot weather! Now off to Lael Farm to meet with the Jacksons and get some additional photos for my book.

And please keep calling.

Update 6076: Seven ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. And it was another hot day. Goal, get done early before the heat gets unbearable for training! We managed to do that, and all my horses went nicely. This included taking a couple to the gate for a little schooling.

Here is this week's ABR Facebook Group e-mail: Wake At Noon, Queens Plate, Queen, Big Red Mike, Mine That Bird, I want Revenge, Ashkal Way, Tice, Black Tie Affair, Argent Affair.

And please keep calling.

Update 6075: Six ridden this morning for Michael Pino at Fair Hill. Another hot morning too at Fair Hill. All six of mine went nicely for a straightforward morning's work.

Yesterday Woodbine was the place to be. The Queen visited and it was Queen's Plate Day. For the second year in a row, Eurico Rosa da Silva rode the winner: Big Red Mike Leads Queen's Plate Procession.

Mine That Bird's 2010 debut was a flop. He finished eighth after being last early and for a long time: Tizdejavu Notches Explosive Firecracker Win.

Second feedback received for my book: Greatness and Goodness: Barbaro and his Legacy.

And please keep calling.

Posted by Alex at 2:31 PM | Comments (259)