Saturday Morning
The coffee’s made, that’s the only thing moving around here. It’s dark. Horses mill around outside the door, I can only hear them, that’s all, strolling, heads are down.
Sean Clancy
Middleburg Recap: Lyonell wins Grade 2 debut
Jack Doyle, in sweat-stained green and yellow silks and carrying what little tack he used to do 146 (six pounds over), cut between fans and horsemen after the Temple Gwathmey at Middleburg April 21 and thought back to an October conversation, an October declaration.
Weekends
Big weekend last week.
Birthdays and Racedays
I turned 48 Monday. I’m OK with that. Happy to be here. As we get older, some lament another birthday, wishing to be younger. I don’t wish to be younger, wiser, perhaps, but not younger. I think about our friends who aren’t here and think about how much they would want (their family and friends would want) another birthday, just one more birthday, then I don’t dare wish to go back in time, I try to cherish a day, a day in the now. Not my specialty, but that’s what I try to do. The highlight of my birthday was when Miles stood up and gave a toast to his dad, now that was a birthday present.
Aiken Steeplechase: Doyle Doubles
Jack Doyle pulled off Sue Sensor’s green and yellow silks and smiled, a contented, job-done smile from a jockey who just earned $2,400 and got a jump start on the season, guiding two winners at the Aiken Steeplechase March 24, the traditional season opener.
Valdez at Cheltenham – Poof
Ben Bradlee has nothing on Tim Keefe.
“I looked Friday night, Saturday, looked Sunday, looked Monday,” Keefe said. “I said to myself, ‘Sean’s not going to write about this? I can’t believe it. Of all the things he’s written about…he’s not going to write about this?”
Cheltenham: Gold Cup Friday
The last race. The last day.
We have waited all week. We have waited four years. We have waited all our lives. It’s early. I’m up. Restless. Anxious. Excited. Nervous. All the reasons why we play this captivating and cruel game.
Cheltenham: Stayers Thursday
Ruby Walsh wins two Opening Day, the sky’s the limit for the greatest of the greats. The steely eyes, the soft hands, the long legs that wrap instead of kick are back in all their glory. Un De Sceaux, Douvan and all the others still to come. How many will he win? How good is this?
Cheltenham: Altior Wednesday
Willie Mullins stands at the end of the parade ring, barely looking up, he utters three words, “Best of luck.” Ruby nods. That’s it. Nothing else to say.
Cheltenham: Buveur Tuesday
They say never lead a story with the weather. Well, they don’t know Cheltenham. We arrived in the dark last night and, yes, it was raining. Evidently it stopped during the night. It’s raining this morning. We’ll be racing on heavy ground at Cheltenham for the first time since 1982. Safer racing, surely, but it changes everything. I think it was J. P. McManus, when asked the three most important things about betting on horses, who said, “The ground. The ground. The ground.”
