That was what we hoped for. We’d started with a win the day after we arrived and looked to end with a win today… the last day of camp. Believe it or not when the betting opened, Rexy was the favorite. I thought she’d be 12-1 or more. I guess they thought Linda Rice raced her back on 5 days rest because the dirt race was a prep for this grass race. When they swung into the stretch, she had a shot to prove them right.
She was only 2 lengths behind the leader and coming wide on the outside. Then she got smacked by the horse to her inside. She tried to come on again but didn’t have anything left. The winner was disqualified but that did nothing for us. The jock said she was favoring her left leg and refused to change leads (changing the lead leg in a horse’s running pattern often adds to the horse’s stamina, since it is putting less stress on the tired lead leg. Sort of a freshening for the horse.) The left knee was where she had chips that required surgery. Her 10th place finish means she will have to run against cheaper horses in claiming races.
Two of my new horse owner friends had better results. One almost stole her race on the lead and just missed coming in second in a tough crowd and the other won a stakes race at Finger Lakes with a purse of $ 156K.
So even when my own hopes were dashed, their success feeds the hope the resides in the heart of every horse owner. Just like last week when it was Ahvee’s Destiny first stakes win, we always look to the future full of hope. We did it. They did it. We can do it again… can’t we?
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