And so it begins...

Both Standardbreds ran qualifying races at Saratoga yesterday and will be entered to race for real on Sunday. (In harness racing, a qualifying race is run when a horse has not run for some time. The horse must show the ability to stay on-gait [pacing or trotting] and be faster than the minimum standard established that day by the Racing Secretary). Eric says they both looked good and are ready to run.

Cricky'sGoldenEyes is entered to run in a maiden claiming race, the 2nd race on Saturday at Aqueduct with the leading rider, Ramon Dominguez, in the saddle. It's six furlongs on the dirt. We've had this four year old thoroughbred since he was a weanling (less than one year old). He's been injured and will get his first chance to compete in this race.

It will certainly be a busy weekend with three races, a dinner honoring my Sister-in-law and Brother-in-law on Saturday night in Great Neck, Long Island and leaving for Aipac in Washington, DC at 4 AM on Sunday morning! We come back from DC on Tuesday night but before we get home, we will stop in NYC and meet Mike and Linda for dinner. Then, we'll catch our breaths.

Tomorrow, Numismatic and MarvelThisBliss will be entered for Sunday's Saratoga card. I'll follow up after that.

Best,

A.

The action starts in March

We finally got to spend two nights in the new Saratoga home. It was glorious. Kudos to Rhoda, Mike, Barbara, Dan, Nancy, Tom and everyone who has helped make it happen.

We met up with family and friends at Eric Adsit's farm. We all got a chance to get into the sulky and MarvelThisBliss, our pacer, dragged us around the training track. Only Dave got to go at 30 MPH. For the rest of us, it was a buggy ride, though lots of fun for all. We all wore eye covers because of the mud but I was the only one so covered up, I looked like one of those terrorist photos with the ski masks.

We got to visit Ahvee's Destiny whose corral partner, Cizi, was replaced by Simply Gray. Cizi was meeting her stallion. Ahvee will do that early in March. This was the first visit that Ahvee's Destiny came right over to us. She snuggled with Rhoda and gave me kisses but only for carrots or cookies from me. We were told, she had successfully cycled for the first time. The next one will probably see her on the road to meet Freud, her stallion.

Next weekend should see the two harness horses run for the first time for us at Saratoga's harness track, which will reopen on March 2nd. More on that after the entries are made on Wednesday.

Both Cricky'sGoldenEyes and It's Truly Ahvee have shown some soreness. Hopefully, it will not delay their training program… but with these fragile animals only time will tell. We've been looking for a superior claiming horse and have dropped in at least three claiming tags in the last month or two, only to lose "the shake" to another trainer each time. Every attempted claim has seen multiple bids. Yesterday, we were one of four.

More to come…

Best,

A.