Two horses in training...

Posted by Avram Freedberg

Arielle’s Song breezed 3 furlongs in 37.4. This is 1 second faster than last week. She galloped out 4 furlongs in 51.3. Next week, Linda hopes she will do about the same for 3 furlongs but gallop out the fourth furlong in 50.4. She’s aiming to have her race for the first time in about 60 days. Linda says her leg tendons look good. That is the best news.

Let me paint a picture of an owner’s fantasy… You see, Arielle’s Song is a big girl, about 17 hands high. This is approximately the same size as current champion mare named Zenyatta. Zenyatta is undefeated in 9 tries and won one of the Breeder’s Cup championship races last year. Whnever I saee her run, I think of Arielle’s Song… and I dream. It’s a nice fantasy. Soon we’ll see whether I can maintain even a small piece of it.

I can’t really explain how nervous I was before and during Ahvee’s Destiny’s first race. I had made what many would consider a foolish investment and here was the reality. I was so excited when she took the lead. Coming into the stretch, I thought she had a real shot at a victory. She looked so beautiful… but then she couldn’t keep up and finished fourth, an “also ran.” Her second race was even worse. She reared back when challenged by a horse on either side of her and finished fifth. I thought this was one big investment gone bad. Then, came the last race of 2006 at Aqueduct. She vied for the lead and then started pulling away. As they came into the stretch, I thought they were going to catch her… but no. She pulled away again and my business partner, Harvey and I started screaming. She romped to a 4 length victory.

As she continued to compete and to win at successively higher levels, we got more and more excited. She’s been wonderful to watch racing, wonderful to be with, in the barn as well as the Winner’s Circle, and wonderful to share with you. Now, she has joined Arielle’s Song at the Palm Meadows training facility in Florida. She’s racing as a 5-year old. She’ll be looking for a sprint on the turf (grass) at Gulfstream in Florida or at Keeneland in Kentucky sometime next month.

If she does well this season, she’ll probably race for one more year before she goes to the breeding shed and looks to become a mommy. I have to thank her. She has made this venture an incredible experience for me, then for Rhoda and now even for many of her fans. I hope you get to experience the thrill of watching this magnificent animal or any of her brethren running, racing or just posing. They are beautiful to watch and thrilling to experience, especially when they compete and, even more especially, when they win.

It’s almost time. Yay!

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