Monday, July 2, 2012

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Winner's Circle


         A funny thing happened on Golden Frontier’s way to the winner’s circle in the Kelly’s Landing Stakes at Churchill Downs.  Namely, he didn’t win and there was no return trip to the winner’s circle.  He did not even hit the board despite going off as the 1:1 favorite.  His last race at Churchill at six and a half furlongs resulted in a 107 Beyer speed figure, so everyone was confident that he would win in the seven furlong Kelly’s Landing if he could run back to 90% of that performance.  A win or solid effort in this race, and Golden was likely headed to Saratoga.  In the paddock everything was looking great except for drawing the rail position.

           

            As you can see from the chart, Golden had the lead after a 45.42 half mile.  Compared to his previous race, this pace was fine.  Then at the top of the lane, he pricked his ears, floated off the rail, but did not kick away from the field.  Noble’s Promise rolled through the gap along the rail while other horses swallowed him up on the outside.  We all waited for Golden to respond, but he never kicked into that extra gear.  After some equine rollerderby down the stretch, Golden crossed the line in fifth beaten by about five lengths.  The second guessing began almost immediately – did the prior week’s speedy workout (58.3) soften him up[1], was it too hot, was it too far, or did breaking from the rail distract him into a bad race?  The conventional wisdom would say that he just “bounced” off his previous race and was just dull, but the speedy workout and his build contradicted that conclusion.

            After the card finished I made my way back to the barn and watched Golden sling his head side to side in his stall – still wound up from the race and unable to settle down.  The trainer said he did not see anything wrong with him following the race, and as I stood there, I realized that we were confronting the second great question in racing.  While Golden already answered the first great question by proving that he was a legitimate race horse despite a modest purchase price and pedigree, we now had to figure out what he needed to perform at a high level every time he raced.  In other words, what made Golden tick as a race horse? 

            I stood against the wall and tried to get inside that head that kept shaking side to side – was he getting sick, was something physically bothering him that had not flared up yet, as a big horse did he need more time to recover between races?  We had all the questions and Golden had all the answers.  Before I got into my car, I took this photo of Churchill from the barn.  There were no answers there either.


           

            Postscript:  Golden seemed to come out of the race ok and went back to his owner’s farm for some R & R.  While at the farm, a vet came to check him out and found a slight injury.  Because it had already started to heal on its own, the vet estimated that he probably raced with it and still managed to finish 5th on natural ability and will.  He did not bounce – if anything he proved his toughness.  Sixty days of rest and he should be ready to go back into training.  So no Saratoga this year, but it has been an amazing couple of months and a very special feeling to be associated with a horse of such talent and ability.


[1] The horse was not supposed to work that fast, but he is such a large horse that covers so much ground that riders misjudge how fast they are really going. 

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