The long and short of racing

To date, watching this filly train has been the highlight of my season.  I still have not rid myself of the Goosebumps which rose to feel the size of grapefruits when I saw her finish her final work-out on Monday.  Her time was rather average so it wasn't speed that thrilled me - it was pure energy.  She resonated like a coiled spring and the remarkable thing was the control--her willingness to hold back as if she knew this was not the time to uncoil.  There is no doubt in my mind that had Dominic Terry shook the reins ever so slightly, the filly would have taken flight.

As admiring as I am of the filly, I am even more impressed with the training job; hats off to Steve Asmussen for knowing what to do with a top horse and equally importantly his talent to handle his people wisely. Their confidence is as clearly read as is Rachel's talent and you can literally watch it transport from assistant trainer Scott Blasi on the pony, to Dominic on the filly, to the filly herself.  It's like watching football players go from the huddle to the line, everyone with job defined. 

Now I leap from time constraints to lamenting that distance will prohibit me from seeing yet another special event.  On Labor Day, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird is scheduled to lead the post parade of America's richest Quarter Horse race at picturesque Ruidoso Downs.  The quaint little track sits in a small village in the mountains of New Mexico and on Monday the 51st edition of the All-American Futurity will be run.  The purse is just over $2 million.
Chip Woolley will spend a short time in New Mexico reunited with the rest of his stable which includes some Quarter Horses before heading out to California to prep his stable star for the Breeders' Cup.  Perhaps it was training those sprinters that taught him how to get that last quick quarter out of Mine That Bird?

It's a fortuitous thing that geography allowed for this stopover and for Chip to draw long breaths of his native air. I would relish being there on Monday. Chip has handled the pressure that accompanies an elite horse with aplomb, but I'll bet his cowboy coolness will be bucked off when thousands of fans, family, longtime friends, and training companions come to Ruidoso Downs to watch a quick sprint and pay tribute to Mine That Bird.

Dr. Blach, one of the owners of Mine That Bird shared with me at Belmont that one friend bet a $100 to win on Mine That Bird in the Derby.  He said he did it, "Just so I could show you the ticket to prove I believed in you."  He showed him the money instead!

The friends that caused Sunland Park's simulcast to run out of money on Derby day will all be at Ruidoso. The shear magnitude of what it means to win the Kentucky Derby will hit home.  At this celebration the focus will not be centered on "the trip" and even stoic cowboys are odds on to reel from the real trip it turned out to be.

Mine That Bird has a special kind of mind that allows his connections to parade him before what is sure to be a very enthusiastic crowd.  He's learned to trust and like Rachel Alexandra, he follows cues from an astute team.  Billy Turner once told a friend, "The reason most people cannot develop a good horse is that they do not know not to insult them."  Mine That Bird does not know what insult is and that's a tribute to his breeders and all who have handled him along the way.   

The All-American Futurity is for 2-year-old Quarter Horses at 440 yards.  It takes these speedy colts and fillies just over 20 seconds to make the dash.  Like several tracks in America, Ruidoso partners with a casino.  On Monday there promises to be a strong enough draw to pull most of the people out of the Billy the Kid Casino to view the long and short of racing.