Summer has started. Miles is out of school.
The days lasting longer into the night, hot, still air giving way late, horses in their sheds, waiting until dusk to come out and graze. Some mornings they’re out, grazing, other mornings they’re already in their sheds. You’ll know the temperature, the wind speed, the humidity, the day you can expect, just by their actions.
Miles and I rode bikes to Banneker Elementary, just up the street from our farm, last night. I looked at Miles, smiling, hair blowing, I said, “This is freedom.” He smiled and pedaled hard through the gravel of Snake Hill Road. “You’re right, Dad, this is freedom.”
It took him a while to learn to ride a bike. To a 9-year-old, a bike means freedom. We raced around the short track in the back of the school, Miles was Justify and I was an eclectic collection of Riverdee horses. Let’s just say, Justify is no longer undefeated.
• Two runners today.
Douglas Road makes his long awaited 4-year-old debut at Delaware Park. He’s been entered four times and been rained off the turf four times. The forecast, dare I say, looks dry.
Gostisbehere makes his third start of his 4-year-old season. The first was strong, the second was tepid, we’re hoping the third is just right. He faces a short field on the turf at Churchill Downs.
