We have a Two Year Old Filly that is by SPRING AT LAST who we named STRAWBERRYFESTIVAL, after a spring festival we have attended for years in Southern Indiana. Today’s spring like weather gives us all some hope that the worst of winter is behind us.
As one of my friends said, we finally got off the schneid today. We won our first race at Oaklawn Park with True Blue Julie who we bought out of a racing age sale in February of 2012. This makes her 5th win with over $115,000 in earnings to date. She paid $24.40, $9.20, $4.80. I thought this was a huge overlay as she ran 2nd in the same type race last time (but that was in the slop). She got a perfect last to first inside trip from the one hole.
Kerisma also ran a bang up 3rd, (should have gotten 2nd) but got beat up coming out of the gate.
The weather is finally starting to break here. It has made it above freezing and we have had rain and thunderstorms this afternoon and now we are a sea of mud. The fields are beat to death. Hoping for some sun and warmer drying weather this week as promised. I have been going back and forth to Arkansas every week to ten days. It was 65 degrees and sunny over the weekend while I was there, after an entire week of no racing due to the frozen track and poor weather conditions. Then we have the great all weather Turfway Park, which froze last week. Yes we had bad weather, however Beulah Park which is 100 miles north and has a dirt surface, ran all week and had worse weather overall. From what I understand, the guy just kept mixing the snow in (instead of scraping it off) and it froze in layers. At a meeting the other day, he told the horseman he would do the same all over again if circumstances were the same. He said the weather was the problem, and not his care of the track. Hmmm??
The gambling bill doesn’t look very good in Kentucky this year, but the governor says it is not dead. Whether they have a late plan, who knows. We should know something in the next few weeks. The papers says that some legislators are holding back on it as they don’t want it to get mixed up with the Mitch McConnell race, which is very important. But that is politics, so who knows. It really doesn’t sound good for the horseman.
Over 150 horses have been claimed at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs so far this meet. They have raised the purses and they have claiming friendly rules as your horse is only in jail for 21 days. The people genuinely like racing and have fun.
Only 75 days until The Kentucky Derby.
We have been out of commission all week as we had no electricity for four days. We have a small generator that helped with a space heater or two to keep pipes from freezing but that was about it. Phone lines and internet are still out. There is a lot of tree damage due to the heavy ice coating everything. The average temperature in the house hung around 52 degrees. We probably burned over a rick of wood in the fireplace since we had it burning 24/7. No refrigerator, or cooking possibilities not to mention television, hot water or lights. You should always make sure you should have an ample supply of batteries, candles and flashlights and know where they are because when it goes black you have no warning. Now we know why the pioneers barely lived past their thirties. We are hoping this will all melt this week so we can begin the clean up. I was told by the youngest daughter that now we have hot water again I should shave my face. What do you think? Looking forward to some relief after this next cold snap. They missed the whole week at Oaklawn Park due to a frozen track. The forecast is for more wintry mix over the next two days and then hopefully a warm up. The horses have weathered it better than the humans.
It is sunny and warm down here in Hot Springs. It is supposed to be 60-62 today with 30’s at night. Racing has been good and the crowds have been good. We haven’t really run much yet.
Typical Day at Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs, Arkansas:
They ran 9 races each day on Saturday and Sunday with at least three of those races being allowance, stake, or maiden special. Out of the remaining races they have claimed eleven each day with a lot of them having multiple shakes. I did see a couple with six way shakes (meaning six different parties in for the same horse). I have seen them claim anything this week from first time starters to nine year old’s. Racing is alive and thriving here. It is a very good way to get in for instant action. Get your claiming cash together (gather a group of friends if you like) and get in the game.