Barn Report - Sunday Feb. 14th

February has been a no-races month, so far, for Castle Village Farm. The weather and the difficulty in finding races that fit our horses conditions are the main causes.

Steve Zorn and I were out at Belmont Sunday morning. Talking Blues had already been out on the training track by the time we got there, but we met up with Bruce Brown on the rail, then walked back to Bruce’s barn, where I left Bruce a VERY large bag of carrots that a restaurant owner friend of mine had given me for the horses.

Talking Blues missed a few days of training when the training track was closed for bad weather. Most important, he missed the last breeze that he needed to get set up for a race, so the decision was made not to enter Talking Blues in the race originally slated for Monday, 15 February. The race was not used by the racing office, anyway, so other trainers must have felt the same way about entering their horse. Talking Blues will have a breeze this week, then Bruce and Steve will discuss next race possibilities.

We also got to see Strings and Arrows gallop on the training track. He looked very strong, pulling his rider along. Leah Gyarmati was in Ocala for the two-year-old sale, so Herbie Castillo was in charge of the barn in her absence. We could see that Strings and Arrows is training very well, but there do not appear to be any distance races in the condition book until March. Leah will ask the racing office for a two-turn NY Bred Maiden Special Weight to be put up as an extra on the overnights. Such requests are usually granted, but then it depends on the number of entries to determine if the race will be used.

Iguazu had another significant breeze the other day in Florida, and, according to Pat Turner, came out of it just fine. A few more breezes and Bill Turner will start looking for a race for Iguazu. Bill said that he should know by the end of this week what Iguazu’s likely racing schedule will be.

Bagavond continues to be well taken care of on Diana McCLure’s farm in Virginia. Last week’s blizzard, on top of the one that came just the week before, has left more than 20 inches of snow on the ground. Diana reported that they’d been thoroughly snowed in all week, and that her husband Michael had been putting in long hours clearing the paths and driveways. At one point, just before the second blizzard, Mike had everything cleared, only to have the wind cover it all up again. By some miracle, Diana said, they didn’t lose power, so they were able to continue to keep indoor areas warm and to draw fresh water for the horses. Fortunately, they have a big indoor arena, so Bagavond was able to get some work in. Turf season can't get here soon enough.