Not Just Another Race Horse
Sam Houston Race Track had trials for a big futurity to held the last weekend in April on Saturday. The owners will pay almost $2,000 to enter their unraced 2 year old babies for a chance to win about $600,000. The were 19 races and about 190 horses going to the gate on Saturday. A significant number of horses were nominated back in December ($200) but have dropped out of the process. The winner of the race will be a early star in the field of quarter horses. But first they have to be one of the ten fastest horses on Saturday. Winning your trial race will get your entry fees back but might not get you to the finals.
I've been watching Unfinished Biz training in Florida. This horse was special from the day she got to Florida. The process of getting her ready for the races was even more time consuming than training other more "experienced" horses. Everything is new and some stuff needs to be learned before they can go to the next lessons and there are always little health issues or emotional issues. 1200 pound animals have personalities and some are smarter than others and that doesn't even include trying to figure out how fast they are. If only they would just relax, some do and others just don't. And it takes a while to figure it all out. Putting the saddle on in the stable area is one thing, putting it on in front of a crowd may be something else and one way or another you'd rather not have your baby get hot and bothered before the race or just going out for a gallop.
The horse seemed to learn her lessons well. She worked well twice and had a fast workout from the gate at Hialeah in February. The horse has a lot of potential.
Race day I watched from afar over the internet. All seemed well. Unfinished Biz was in the #1 hole in the first of the day. She was a little unsettled in the gate and then broke through the gate, sometimes this makes no difference but on Saturday, after the gate fiasco she should have been scratched, the post race exam wasn't kind. Running through the closed starting gate isn't easy and succeeding left her with a headache, and a need for dental work and a post race visit from the vet.
The good news is she will recover physically, but the whole training process will probably need to start over again and while horses aren't elephants the warranty on the horse's attitude will need to be tested before she is allowed to race again.
The owner will have some decisions to make as well.
Bummer.
I've been watching Unfinished Biz training in Florida. This horse was special from the day she got to Florida. The process of getting her ready for the races was even more time consuming than training other more "experienced" horses. Everything is new and some stuff needs to be learned before they can go to the next lessons and there are always little health issues or emotional issues. 1200 pound animals have personalities and some are smarter than others and that doesn't even include trying to figure out how fast they are. If only they would just relax, some do and others just don't. And it takes a while to figure it all out. Putting the saddle on in the stable area is one thing, putting it on in front of a crowd may be something else and one way or another you'd rather not have your baby get hot and bothered before the race or just going out for a gallop.
The horse seemed to learn her lessons well. She worked well twice and had a fast workout from the gate at Hialeah in February. The horse has a lot of potential.
Race day I watched from afar over the internet. All seemed well. Unfinished Biz was in the #1 hole in the first of the day. She was a little unsettled in the gate and then broke through the gate, sometimes this makes no difference but on Saturday, after the gate fiasco she should have been scratched, the post race exam wasn't kind. Running through the closed starting gate isn't easy and succeeding left her with a headache, and a need for dental work and a post race visit from the vet.
The good news is she will recover physically, but the whole training process will probably need to start over again and while horses aren't elephants the warranty on the horse's attitude will need to be tested before she is allowed to race again.
The owner will have some decisions to make as well.
Bummer.
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