Flying with Air Maggy
How about this for juxtaposition? The riding horse for visitors at Jonathan Sheppard’s barn is three years younger than the Grade 1-winning champion the visitors want to see.
Joe Clancy
Divine Fortune keeps on swinging
Divine Fortune is doing the head shake. Part twitch, part habit and all “Hey look at me!” the 11-year-old cranks his head all the way to the left – while walking straight ahead – holds it for a beat, then zips it back in one, swift pull. Then he goes back to walking. Then he does it all again. And again. And again.
Far Hills Spotlight: Grand National
The Grand National. It’s not Aintree, but the name does conjure images of all-time greats, history, a gold trophy, big names, big money and big pressure. That’s all here for this year’s renewal, the fourth race of seven on the Far Hills card Saturday. The $250,000 stakes attracted eight entrants, including the main players in the 2014 open stakes division – though a few choose to wait for next weekend’s Zeke Ferguson.
Far Hills Spotlight: $30,000 maiden hurdle
The second at Far Hills Saturday is a $30,000 maiden hurdle with 10 in the field. All but two make their first or second starts over jumps, which adds big question marks to an already interesting race. The purse is highest for a maiden hurdle this year
Far Hills Races: The best in U.S. jump racing
It’s raining again in mid-October, which means all the questions start arise with regard to the annual Far Hills Races in New Jersey. American jump racing’s biggest day comes around again Saturday with seven races, $580,000 in purses and plenty of questions. How soft will the turf be? Will Demonstrative run? What trainer will have a big day? Is this where somebody takes a stranglehold on the jockeys’ race? Can Divine Fortune find his May form? Who’s the best novice? Will the vodka ice flumes be back? How about the accordion player in the cow costume?
Riding out with Roadhog
Wednesday morning, I went to Lizzie Merryman’s barn at Fair Hill Training Center to check on Maryland Million runner Roadhog. I know the drill. Say hello, give him a pat on the nose, rub his ear, ask Merryman how he’s doing, get a feel for the situation and watch him train.
Steeplechase Preview: Headed north to Genesee
The quiet before the storm. The fall steeplechase season takes a short breath with just one race meet – and two NSA-sanctioned races – on for Saturday at Genesee Valley in Genseo, N.Y.
Bode Miller skis deeper into racing
Bode Miller kept losing reception on his mobile phone, but he kept calling back. And Leonie Seesing kept taking the call. After an hour, and four calls, the Kentucky horsewoman finally asked him where he was.
Fair Hill hyperbaric passes 10,000 milestone
They say you can become an expert at anything if you do it for 10,000 hours. If that’s the case, the people at Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center can pretty much write the book on hyperbaric chamber therapy for horses.
IFHA conference addresses horse welfare
The member nations of the IFHA pledged to continuously protect horse welfare and further implement strong anti-doping controls Monday at the 48th Annual IFHA Conference in Paris. The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA) 48th Annual International Conference, chaired by Louis Romanet, was held in Paris, France on Monday, Oct. 6 and gathered representatives from 49 different racing nations.
