Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Barn Report - Sunday February 21, 2010

Bruce Brown wasn’t at Belmont Sunday morning. He was at the christening for his new son. But Steve Zorn and I were able to have a nice chat with his assistant Maria.

Bruce thought Talking Blues might be ready to race by last Friday (Feb. 19th), and tried to aim him for that race, but it didn’t happen. Talking Blues came back very slowly from the race on January 17th. He didn’t like that heavy track, it took a lot out of him, and, as we know from past experience with him, he gets sore after he’s worked heavily, and has to take the time to get better from that (leg wraps and buckets of ice water are what do it). This time, just about when he was ready to start training seriously up to his next race, bad weather set in, forcing all the trainers to exercise their horses less (no breezes; no gallops) for a few days, and then, for two days, totally closing the training track. Unfortunately, that period was exactly when Talking Blues was finally ready for a good pre-race breeze. If he’d had it then, he’d probably have raced last Friday. But he didn’t get that breeze until the Monday before the race – and that four-day span just didn’t give him enough time to recover. Most horses need several days of jogging after a breeze, then a gallop or two, so it’s usually a week between a breeze and either another breeze or a race. For Talking Blues, it’s even longer. When we saw Talking Blues on Sunday morning, he was back in the barn after a jog; he jogged again on Monday, and galloped on Tuesday. Bruce wants to get one or two solid breezes into him, and wants to make sure he isn’t feeling sore after those, before he is ready to race. Once the horse has had a breeze or two, he’ll let Bruce know if he’s ready. Winter training is difficult for all.

Steve and I spent some quality time hanging out with Talking Blues at his stall. He seemed happy and alert, and engaged in a serious contest with Steve over Steve’s coffee cup. Luckily, Talking Blues lost that contest, so he definitely will not be testing positive for caffeine.

Next, we stopped by Leah Gyarmati’s barn, where Strings and Arrows looked a little tired, but otherwise in good shape, after Saturday’s race. (Leah said: “You should expect him to be tired today. He ran a good race.”)

Strings and Arrows had a productive race, finishing a fast-closing fourth, as he continues his development as a racehorse. Strings and Arrows was soundly bumped after the break but continued on in a very game fashion to finish fourth in a field of nine. Comments were made about Strings and Arrows’ calmness before the race and his long fluid strides down the stretch. Leah Gyamati firmly believes Strings and Arrows will get better as the distance gets longer, and she’s also looking forward to trying him on turf.

Iguazu is still in Florida, and Bill Turner said that he’s slowing down just a bit on our colt’s training, to give him the time he needs to develop physically. Iguazu comes from a late-developing family, so this is not entirely surprising, though we’re all impatiently looking forward to his return to the starting gate.

Bagavond is still on the farm in Virginia and is getting his jogging in every day, outside when the weather permits, and indoors, in the big arena, on snow days.

The Claiming Partnership is still evaluating horses. Steve and Bruce had a few possibilities, but after further review decided to pass on them. They are still looking, and there could be a new horse in the barn any day. As partners continue to join we are able to expand our search for a horse. Anyone that would like more information on this partnership can contact me at 1-888-989-7223 or email at cvfsales@gmail.com .

If anyone wants to come join us on our Sunday barn visits, just get in touch at 1-888-989-7223 or email at cvfsales@gmail.com .

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