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The sixth at Lingfield rolls down the backside. Horses are tepidly and tentatively secure in small paddocks on a brisk January morning. We touted a $21.20 winner in a 27-horse race at Cork. Constitution Hill, second favorite for Cheltenham, lines up for the Tolworth. It’s the time of year to regroup, reload, reset for the … Read more
More snow. I just saw the headlights turning into the driveway, we have help. Another snow day for Miles. Not for the horses. Winter has arrived, which is good in the long run, we need winter, we need cold temperatures to balance the environment, the ecosystem. Remind me that in a couple of hours when … Read more
The sixth at Clonmel circles at the start, 3,400 meters ahead of them. Jeff, Annie and Andy decide on 10-inch, 8-inch, 6-inch boards in the new dining room. Miles shakes off the Christmas holiday vacation. Another load of laundry rattles, another one, sorted, awaits. Saranac kicks and paws snow in the back paddock, searching for … Read more
I hear him all morning long. “People don’t understand, everything you do with a horse is a calculated risk. Turn them out. Work them. Run them. Graze them. Everything you do is a calculated risk.” Allen Jerkens calculated risk with horses all the way to the Hall of Fame. I’m no Allen Jerkens and our … Read more
Occasionally, you see or read something on Twitter, well, that’s worth seeing or reading. Frank Dick, a former athletics coach and now motivational speaker, offered one today. Dick told a story about a 9-year-old Scottish girl wanting to run the 100 meters. She ran her first one in 18 seconds, finished last in her mind, … Read more
The Poem-a-Day email arrives every day. Some days, I actually read them. The New Year, by Carrie Williams Clifford first appeared as “For the New Year” in The Crisis XIX, no 4. February, 1920. The New Year comes—fling wide, fling wide the doorOf Opportunity! the spirit freeTo scale the utmost heights of hopes to … Read more
Good morning. Happy New Year. I’m trying a new approach, writing first thing in the morning before the day runs off, blows the turn and heads for the hills. Barn duty this morning as Covid continues to wreak havoc with all aspects of life. Nine horses waiting their turns. We aborted our trip to Alabama, … Read more
Heading home from Alabama. Covid descended on family members, it’s closing in on us. Feel like we’re on the run, trying to outrun an invisible enemy. Speaking of run, Joe climbed past 1,000 and Tom is creeping ever closer to the iRun Local 1,000-mile challenge of 2021. As for me, I derailed sometime during Keeneland … Read more
The fifth at Plumpton. False start. “Oh, let em go, they never get better…” Nobody’s fault today. Christmas looms. Car not packed. Stockings not hung. The live Christmas tree which fell off the truck now lives(?) outside, trying to reintroduce the haggard looking beauty to the cold, a thread of needles from living room to … Read more
Trying to get back in the swing of writing every day. Or, at least, more often. I do remember it being a 2021 resolution. There was also something about running 1,000 miles and something about reading 52 books…and something about…yeah, it happens. Just walked into our office for the 2022 ST Summitt. Tom Law is … Read more
