Joe Wall is in Florida this weekend (we'd be jealous, but it's almost as cold in Florida today as it is here), so the Sunday Barn Report is being brought to you by Castle Village Farm racing manager Steve Zorn.
I know I don't have Joe's touch with these Reports, but I'll give it a try.
While the weather today in New York wasn't as totally frigid as last Sunday -- when racing was canceled at Aqueduct -- it was still pretty cold. Warm enough so most trainers sent their horses to the training track, but lots of the horses wore their winter blankets to the track and didn't do more than gallop.
Talking Blues
Bruce Brown, who trains Talking Blues for us and who will be training our next claiming horse, sent all his horses out to the track. Luckily for the horses and the exercise riders, Bruce's barn is right at the entrance to the track, so it's a very short walk.
By the time I arrived, Talking Blues had already been out for a jog around the track and was was safely tucked away in his stall, looking very happy to be there with the heat lamp turned on. Bruce said that Talking Blues has bounced back well from his big win on January 1st and should be ready to race again pretty soon. Bruce plans to give Talking Blues a three-furlong blowout Monday or Tuesday, then decide on his next race. That could come as early as next Sunday, January 17th, when there's a two-turn non-winners-of-two-lifetime claiming race in the condition book. If Bruce decides that Talking Blues needs a bit more time, then there's another race in the condition book for January 30th, and there may be some extras that the racing secretary puts up on the overnights in between those dates.
Strings and Arrows
Down at Leah Gyarmati's barn, which is about as far from the training track as it's possible to get on the Belmont backstretch, Strings and Arrows was in great shape, and apparently very proud of himself after a very good breeze yesterday, when he worked out of the starting gate, covering the distance on a slow training track in 1:02 flat. That's his fastest five-furlong work yet, and Leah pronounced him ready to race. Herbie Castillo, who rode Strings and Arrows in yesterday's breeze, said that the colt broke well, remembered all his starting gate lessons, and finished up the work very strongly -- all very good signs.
So we're all ready to get Strings and Arrows back to the races. We'll enter this coming Wednesday for the 5 1/2-furlong NY-bred maiden special weight scheduled for Saturday, January 16th. It'll be great to see him racing again after the seven-month layoff.
Iguazu
I didn't exactly get to visit Iguazu, since he's down in South Florida. (Nor did Joe, who is in Tampa, not Miami.) But I did talk to Bill Turner on the phone this morning, so I might as well add him to the report. Bill says that Iguazu's ankle problem is very minor. There was a little filling in the ankle (it was a little swollen) for a couple of days, but Iguazu was never really lame. However, Bill always prefers to err on the safe side with his horses, so he had the vet do x-rays (which showed absolutely no bone or ligament damange) and kept Iguazu to walking the shedrow for a few days, until the swelling disappeared. Now, though, Iguazu is back on the training track, and jogged easily this morning. Bill says Iguazu didn't lost a lot of conditioning, so we'll be looking for a race for him toward the end of January or the first week in February.
Bagavond
I didn't get to see Bagavond either, since he's still playing in the snow down in Virginia, but partner Paddy O'Hara and Paddy's cousin Eileen visited Bagavond at Diana and Mike McClure's Carousel Farm last week. (Pictures of their visit are on display on this website in the Gallery.) Paddy and Eileen report that they had a great day at Carousel, and urge partners to take Diana and Mike up on their fine hospitality. It was a busy day for Diana and Mike, with a bunch of yearlings who had to be moved from the paddocks to the barns, but they still took the time to be very hospitable to Paddy and Eileen. We thank them for that -- and for the great care they take of our horses every winter.
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