Congratulations...

Your prayers are working! While Don is not out of the woods, he’s doing better today. So, keep those prayers coming.

Today is the beginning of what is known in Judaism as “the nine days.” The ninth day is called Tisha B’Av (the ninth of the month of Av), at which time it is said, hundreds of years apart, the two Jewish Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed. During the nine days much destruction was meted on Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Of course, similar themes can be found on most any date in the calendar but this is a big one. So, especially during this period, I don’t take anything for granted about Don’s recovery. I’ll just keep praying for it. Go Don!!

On the horse front, Hear the Footsteps had arthroscopic diagnostic surgery. No chips but we would have been better off with an easy chip removal. Instead, his ACL is torn and cannot be mended by surgery nor by nature. He’ll have to live with it. How successful of a racing career he can have remains to be seen. At least, it’s not supposed to be life threatening, even if he races on it.

Conseated Lady had a 4 furlong workout at a decent pace and continues to stay healthy. Her soundness still needs to be proven. If she stays healthy, hopefully, she’ll race in the second half of the Saratoga meet. Same is true of Arielle’s Song who will need several weeks to acclimate to new quarters. Alan Garcia keeps apologizing to Linda for his baffling ride in her Arielle’s song’s last race.

Katy’s Office Girl, our 2-year old gray, is also aiming for a start at Saratoga before the end of the meet. And, the Queen of our stable, Ahvee’s Destiny, is doing much better. We are aiming for the 5 furlong $100K stakes at Penn National on July 31 to be followed by a 5 ½ furlong stakes at Saratoga on August 9th.

If she is outstanding in both those races or misses one of them, she will aim for this year’s version of the exciting Stakes Race she won last year by a head in a race that had 4 entrants trained by Linda Rice. Ahvee’s Destiny won by a head, while 2nd, 3rd and 4th were the other Linda Rice entrants! Last year it was called The Mechanicsburg. This year it is The Troy. I guess they honor different upstate New York cities.

Remember, you can always see past e-mails by going to my blog (link below). And, please, please continue to include Gidon Stern in your prayers.

Visit the Official Avram Freedberg website!