Bishop of Nola's Etymology

Castle Village Farm's newest horse is Bishop of Nola, a three-year-old New York-bred gelding by Devil His Due. We claimed Bishop of Nola on July 30th at Saratoga, and just 15 days later, on August 14th, he won a NY-bred allowance for us, leading all the way and drawing off by five lengths at the wire.

Intrigued by our new horse's name, Steve did a little research. Here's what he found:

Bishop of Nola (the equine version) was bred by well-known New York breeder Joe McMahon and, until we claimed him, was owned by the Brooklyn Boyz Stable, a group of friends from, naturally, Brooklyn. The horse was named in honor of the most important feast day at the Brooklyn Boyz' Catholic parish in Brooklyn, the feast of Saint Paulinus, who was the Bishop of Nola, Italy, in the early 5th century. That feast day is celebrated on June 22nd, during the Feast of the Lilies, during which statues of Saint Paulinus are carried on the shoulders of the faithful.

The Brooklyn Boyz also had a filly named Lily of Paradise, referring to the same celebration.

Nola is a small town a few miles outside Naples. It is probably best known now as the home of the philosopher, mathematician and astronomer Giordano Bruno, who was burnt at the stake as a heretic in 1600, in part at least because of his premature belief in the infinite size and nature of the universe, and his conviction that the sun was just one among billions of similar heavenly bodies, not to mention his pantheistic tendencies, all of which caused considerable discomfort to the rigid theological guardians of the Inquisition

Bruno, although a Dominican friar, was never Bishop of Nola. The best known Bishop is Saint Paulinus, who lived from 354 to 431 A.D and was Bishop from around 410 until his death.

Paulinus came from a wealthy Roman aristocratic family, served as Governor of Campagna, the Roman province that included Naples and Nola, and then doubled the family fortune by marrying well, to Therasia, a "virtuous Spanish noblewoman." But when their child died in infancy, he became a highly observant Christian and retreated into an almost monastic life, eventually being ordained and then, in 410, appointed as Bishop of Nola.

By all accounts, Paulinus was a model of Christian piety, giving away his fortune to help the less privileged, doing good works, and at one point even offering himself as a slave to a barbarian ruler in exchange for the release of one of his parishioners. He was widely regarded as a living saint even before his death, and was swiftly canonized after he died.

Paulinus was also a prolific writer, both of theological letters to other figures in the Church, including St. Augustine, and of erotic poetry, one example of which is included in the Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse. Most of his love poems were addressed to his longtime friend Ausonius. It's not clear that anything happened, but the poems definitely display a gay sensibility.

(The equine Bishop of Nola, by the way, is a gelding, which pretty much settles any issues he might have about sexuality.)

Although our horse was apparently named for Paulinus, there have been other notable Bishops of Nola as well. The tomb of first Bishop, St. Felix (around 200 A.D.) was reputedly the most-visited sacred site in Italy in the 5th century apart from the tomb of the Apostles Peter and Paul. And many of the early Bishops have been canonized; for details, see here.

Lots of theological and historical baggage for a horse to carry, but, as Bishop of Nola showed when he won for us last Saturday at Saratoga, he can definitely carry the weight.

Barn Report - Sunday August 1

Steve and Jean had an adventuresome trip up to Saratoga last Friday, to check out a possible claim for the Castle Village Farm 2010 Claiming Partnership. That partnership had lost its previous horse, Good Law, to a claim back in June, and we’d been looking for a replacement for nearly two months. With Castle Village Farm’s very rigorous criteria for making claims, and with the dearth of good claims available at the Belmont meet – compared to the claiming frenzy going on at Monmouth – Bruce and Steve were beginning to wonder if they’d ever find the right horse. Here’s Steve’s report:

Jean and I drove up to Saratoga for the race, since I don't like to make a claim without seeing the horse myself, no matter how many replays I've watched and how thoroughly I've studied the past performances. I trust Bruce's contacts -- and his judgment -- but there's just no substitute for that last look before dropping the claim. And besides, who can resist a trip to the Spa?

Of course, when the trip is there and back from New York City all in the same day, it’s not quite the relaxing vacation it would be if one went up for, say, a week. Three and a half hours each way does eat up a chunk of the day. And, if you’re planning on lunch or dinner along the way, without losing a huge chunk of time, the options are, to say the least, somewhat limited.

The horse we’d spotted in the past performances was Bishop of Nola, a New York-bred three-year-old by Devil His Due, running in a $25,000 claimer for horses that had never won two races. I don’t usually like to claim out of those N2L events, since the reason that a lot of horses are in them is that they have an aversion to winning, but the quality of the races at Saratoga has been well above what it was at Belmont, and Bishop of Nola was relatively lightly raced and had looked eager and competitive in the video replays that we’d watched.

Bruce and I were on the rail when the horses were coming into the paddock, and we both decided that Bishop of Nola looked just fine, although he had bell boots on his front feet (those little protective rubber thingies). That's sometimes a sign of a weak hoof, but he was wearing regular shoes with nails, and not the glue-ons that trainers sometimes use when a horse has hoof problems. And Bruce noted that Bishop of Nola’s trainer, Dominick Schettino, often used the bell boots, even when there were no foot problems.

So, Bruce dropped the claim slip, and then we watched while Bishop of Nola decided to misbehave in the paddock, bucking and rearing up, and showing a distinct unwillingness to let jockey Jose Espinoza get aboard. I was worried that the colt might get scratched then and there -- or that he was leaving his race right there. But Bruce didn't break a sweat. He just murmured something about how he’d have to give the horse a little more education. Eventually, Espinoza managed to stay on, and Bishop of Nola came out, well behind the rest of the horses in the post parade.

The Bishop tracked the early leader, Lion Under Oath, through the first three-quarters of a mile in a relatively easy 1:13.2, then took over the lead at the top of the stretch and picked up the pace, finishing in 23.5 seconds for the final full quarter and a very healthy 6 flat for the last 16th of a mile. He kept Lion Under Oath at bay, and was too quick for the late charges by Cullinan (also claimed out of the race) and Exclusive Strike. I don't have the Beyer figure yet, but Equibase, which produces speed figures for the track program, gave Bishop of Nola a 95, the best he's ever done. Looks like we claimed him just as he's getting to be a very good horse.

And we did claim him. To my surprise, we were the only ones to drop a claim on him, so there wasn’t even a shake to see who’d get him.

With yesterday's win, Bishop of Nola's record goes to 11-2-3-1, with earnings of just over $70,000.

Bishop of Nola came out of the race in good shape. Understandably, he was a little tired after that effort, but he was completely sound and walked the shedrow by the morning after the race.

Bruce plans to keep Bishop of Nola up at Saratoga, so they can get to know each other. Also, horses can be trained on the turf at Saratoga. Bruce expects that, if all goes well, we'll run Bishop of Nola back in a NY-bred N1X allowance before the end of the Saratoga meet.

It's definitely nice to have a horse again, and especially one we can have so much fun with. It almost made that long drive back to New York worth it -- even though, after the drive up and an exciting and exhausting, albeit successful day, it felt longer than ever.

And, to make the trip feel even longer to Steve, he had to drive the whole way home. Usually, Jean shares at least some of the driving, but they weren’t even to Malta when she fell asleep. To give her credit, she’d wake up every now and then, just enough to say, “I’ll drive if you get too tired,” and then she’d fall asleep again.

Barn Report(s) Sunday July 24

Saratoga just opened this weekend – and lots of trainers have moved most, or all, of their strings up there. But there are still a bunch of horses, including Talking Blues, down at Belmont. So the Castle Village Farm team split up for Sunday morning. Steve was up in Saratoga for the weekend, and Joe did Belmont duty.

Bruce Brown has 20-plus horses stabled at Belmont, another dozen or so at Monmouth and 18 up at Saratoga. He would have preferred to stable a few more at Saratoga, but trainers are at the mercy of the racing secretary (P.J. Campo) who decides how many stalls each can have. And 18, which is what Bruce got, is actually a lot for a new trainer. So he brought up to the Spa the horses he thinks will run there first, and he’ll be shuttling most of those back to Belmont as soon as they’ve run, to be replaced by the next group to run.

Our New York-bred gelding Talking Blues isn’t slated to run till later in the Saratoga meet, so he’s still stabled at Belmont. Sunday is his regular breeze day, but with the heat (it got up near 99 even before training ended for the morning), not to mention the humidity, Bruce and his assistant Maria, who’s in charge of the barn when Bruce is upstate, decided to go easy on their horses. Talking Blues, who had a bullet work just last week, breezed the half-mile this week in an unhurried 53.55 seconds, though in that heat, he still worked up a sweat. This was his first time going a half-mile, after the two good three-furlong breezes earlier.

Up in Saratoga, Steve made the rounds on a wet and muggy opening weekend. Friday was opening day. Despite the weather that day, which took most of the turf races off the grass, and which flooded the brand-new Danny Meyer restaurants – Shake Shack and Blue Smoke –there were big, big crowds and lots of great racing. All three days of opening weekend featured big fields and exciting racing. Going head-to-head against Monmouth Park’s three-day a week, “million dollars a day in purses” strategy, and even with last year’s Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra, racing at Monmouth on Saturday, Saratoga came out way ahead on attendance and betting handle.

Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack at Saratoga

Like other CVF partners – Debi Kral, Ann Killory, John Burke, to name just a few – we look forward every year to “Saratoga Charlie” Barringer’s opening day party under the trees between the paddock and the Red Spring. It wasn’t quite a wash-out this year, but close. The rainstorms drove everybody under one of the tents that NYRA had thoughtfully provided, and several partners – including the above-named – never made it. But it was great to see Charlie and Ann and their ever-growing passel of beautiful grandchildren, and we look forward to lots of sunny afternoons, this year, as always, sharing a brew with Charlie on the backstretch.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and hot. Steve went first to the Oklahoma training track to meet up with John Couture, who’s just joined CVF’s new Saratoga Claiming Partnership, John’s wife Mary Ann and their friend John Serbalik, who’s also going to be involved in our Saratoga claiming group. Since the Friday rains had drilled holes in the Oklahoma training track, they all walked across Union Avenue to the main track to watch the workouts from the gap at the top of the stretch. Crossing the street, they weren’t the only ones in the cross walk; the traffic police held up the cars for the people – and for the race horses gravely clip clopping across. The gap is a great place to catch the morning action, as any clocker will tell you, though one does have to be a bit careful not to be in the way when the young horses get excited.

After a breakfast break – beware the Oklahoma-side track kitchen! – it was off to the front side of the track, catching up with lots of folks -- CVF partners, trainers, jockey agents, other owners, all the people that we get to see just once a year, because everybody comes to Saratoga. But, first, had some licensing to do for CVF partners, since the licensing and credentials offices had been closed between the Belmont and Saratoga meets. As always, the line out the door of Lew Kobel’s NYRA credentials office was almost as long as the line at the Shake Shack; seems like everybody waits until Saratoga to renew their NYRA badges and get their parking permits, so they can be part of mornings on the backstretch.

On Saturday, with the sun out (but the temperature well over 90), Steve spent the afternoon at another one of the hidden gems on the Saratoga track, the main track backstretch. Lots of Saratoga regulars, including partner Ron Lacey, who was there with his lovely wife on Saturday, regularly set up their folding chairs and tables under the trees and watch the races from there. The snack bar offers decent food at half the price that they charge over by the finish line, and you get a great close-up view of the start of the sprint races. You can lean over the rail, just yards from the gate. It’s especially fun when the starters are two-year-old maidens making their racing debut, and really not sure they want to go into that gate. You can even hear the starter counting down, and the jockeys and gate crew yelling “no, no, no, no.” Except for those frantic minutes when the gates open, and the horses charge out in a pack, hooves pounding, jockeys shouting, it’s quiet back there, almost like being in the country, deep shady trees, patches of meadow, and the rows of dark green barns behind. No grandstand, no clubhouse, no crowds at the betting windows and on the rail, no fancy restaurants. Just acres of grass, three mutual tellers and a handful of betting machines. What more could you ask? Oh yeah, one could ask for televisions that aren’t 20 years old and that actually show a picture, so you could maybe see the finish of the race. Good thing Track Announcer Tom Durkin is the best in the business; otherwise it would have been tough to know who won.

Babies Behind the Gate at Saratoga

More of the same on Sunday, then back to the city for the week. Steve will be up in Saratoga the first week in August for the yearling sales, and will be spending mornings at Oklahoma. He looks forward to seeing you there – and also, in the afternoons, on the main track, in the paddock area or the backstretch. Steve and Joe will both be up the weekend of August 7 – 9, so there’ll be more chances then to get a CVF guided tour, morning or afternoon. And, of course, they’ll be there whenever we’re claiming a horse or whenever Talking Blues or any of our CVF horses race.

In the meantime, whenever they aren’t both at the Spa, the CVF tradition of Sunday mornings at the Belmont backstretch will continue. Give Joe or Steve a call if you want to join them this, or any, Sunday.

Barn Report - Sunday July 18th

Some days can be really fun -- even if they end up being really frustrating.

Joe and Steve, along with Castle Village Farm partners Paddy O'Hara and Vinny DiSpigno, got to Belmont around 7 am on Sunday. It was already pretty warm -- the temperature reached the mid-90s by the afternoon -- but it was the last day of the Belmont meet, and the horses, riders and trainers were in good spirits. With the Saratoga meet just around the corner, there was lots of talk about vans packed with horses, SUVs packed with kids and lawn furniture -- and, getting back to business, of how Saratoga might do against the newly energized Monmouth summer meet.

(As it turns out, even Belmont didn't do too badly against Monmouth, with substantially higher betting handle than the Jersey track. See Steve's analysis at http://businessofracing.blogspot.com.)

Our four-year-old NY-bred gelding, Talking Blues, back from some R&R at the farm, breezed for the second time since his return to the race track. Even without changing leads, and without a lot of urging from the exercise rider, Talking Blues had a "bullet" work, the fastest of the day at the distance, going three furlongs in 36.09 seconds. The work marked a huge improvement for Talking Blues; he'd never even had a breeze that was in the top half of the horses working that day, much less a bullet. And he's looking much bigger and stronger than before he got some time off.

After that, it was off to contemplate claim prospects for our 2010 Claiming Partnership. The partners had done really well with our first claim, Good Law, who had a win and a second in two races for us before he was claimed back by his prior trainer, Tom Bush. But now they're anxious to get a replacement, and we've been looking actively for a claim at Belmont for over a month. Bruce Brown and Steve thought they had one today, with the three-year-old NY-bred filly Australis Princess, entered in the 9th race for $25,000. On paper, she had lots to like: good speed figures, in the money in seven of her 10 lifetime races, able to run on both turf and dirt (though not on a wet track), and with her New York allowance conditions still available. And the replays of her races looked pretty solid; sometimes she tired in the stretch, but she didn't give up.

Her race, though, wasn't till the 9th, so it was a long afternoon of waiting. Plenty of time to watch the Yankees beat Tampa Bay in a mere 3 hours and 47 minutes. And time to catch up with a few more trainers on their way out the door, heading for Saratoga. Time to watch another Jimmy Ferraro longshot get in the middle of a carefully handicapped exacta.

Then down to the paddock to check out our claim prospect. Bruce and Steve watched her walk in from the detention barn. (That unloved facility was celebrating its final day; the concept is being retired as of the start of the Saratoga meet.) What they saw -- at first -- was a nice big filly, who looked race ready and alert. All systems go.

Oops, doesn't that look like an offset knee in the right front leg? Sure does, but that's not disqualifying, right? Lots of horses just stride right through an offset knee. Hmm, but she's not really striding right through it. More like shifting her weight to compensate.

(Department of Way Too Much Information: A horse's knee is offset when the forearm bone above the knee and the cannon bone below the knee don't line up in a straight line; the more offset the knee is, the more stress there will be at high speed.)

And then the coup de grace. Bruce's system of inside information -- talk to someone who knows someone who used to work in the other trainer's barn -- came through -- with about five minutes left to the claim deadline. Yes, there was something to worry about -- and it was something about that knee. So, the decision was made: better safe and sorry. We'll pass this time around.

It was a long day. Ten hours after we'd arrived at the training track that morning, we were -- finally -- back in the car, heading back to the city -- with nothing to show for it -- except a couple of exacta tickets cashed.

Like Harvey Pack always said, it isn't the last race -- or the last claiming possibility -- that counts, it's the next one. So, on Friday, it'll be on to Saratoga, where we'll still be looking for horses to claim. All in all, a bit of a letdown at the end of the day.

But, still (and, this time, the quote is from William Murray -- though Harvey probably agrees) -- Even a bad day at the track is better than a lot of other days in a lot of other places.

Barn Report - Sunday July 4th

No fireworks on the backstretch for the Fourth. While trainers are as patriotic as anyone else, it definitely scares the horses. In fact, trainers whose barns are close to the backstretch at Saratoga are always pleading with NYRA not to have even the relatively small-scale fireworks show that accompanies the annual Travers celebration at the Spa. So far, with only limited success.

Of course, at 7 am on the training track, there wasn't much concern about fireworks or anything else other than getting horses out for exercise before the day got too hot. Most trainers tried to get all their horses out before the 8:30 break, so they, and the horses, could retreat into the relative cool and shade of their shedrows.

The hot topic for Castle Village Farm is whether, as trainer Bill Turner suggested, our three-year-old Iguazu should be gelded (i.e., castrated). Iguazu, who's down on the farm in Virginia, has recently been displaying a healthy, perhaps too healthy, interest in the opposite sex. Bill, like many trainers, thinks that gelding a colt tends to focus the colt's mind more on racing and less on adolescent hormones.

To help us make up our minds, I've done a little research. Over the years, most of the outstanding American race horses have been colts, which of course means that they can go on to become stallions, perpetuating their bloodlines and, not incidentally, earning considerable stud fees for their owners. Once a colt is gelded, that opportunity disappears.

There have, however, been some geldings who were fabulous race horses and earned a lot of money for their owners. In the US, these include Kelso, Forego and John Henry and Kentucky Derby winners Clyde Van Deusen, Funny Cide and Mine That Bird. And the famous Australian runner Phar Lap was also a gelding.

Generally, if a horse has some pedigree and has the promise of being a stakes winner, owners are loath to geld it too soon. Most of the well-known geldings had little or no pedigree value, though a few were gelded because of behavioral problems or for medical reasons. Sometimes, gelding is pretty much a no-brainer. John Henry, for example, was an ill-tempered youngster with absolutely no pedigree, so gelding him had little downside and considerable upside, both for the safety of barn workers and for his ability to focus on racing.

Although talking about the details of makes most men pretty nervous, it's a relatively straightforward procedure, with little risk. (For those who want all the gory details, they're here.)

In a few cases, trainers have reported that gelding a horse makes him too mellow, taking away some competitive spirit. That's certainly a result that you don't want with a race horse. But more often, gelding results in a horse that can stay more focused on its work and is usually a better race horse.

In the case of Castle Village Farm's Iguazu, the decision isn't cut-and-dried. Iguazu does have some pedigree potential. He's sired by Smokle Glacken, the Eclipse Award-winning champion sprinter of 1997, his dam is a multiple winner, and he has two stakes winners in the second generation of his pedigree. So there's a chance that he could have some value as a stallion prospect when he gets to the races, if --and it's always a big if for thoroughbreds -- he turns out to be a graded-stakes winner. On the other hand, if he really is getting too distracted by adolescent hormone surges, maybe gelding him would be the better way to go.

Our partners, as always knowledgeable and passionate about their horses, come down on both sides of the issue. That's part of what makes it both fun and educational to be in a racing partnership like ours, where partners have the opportunity to discuss their horses and how they should be managed. For now, we'll keep discussing the issue and see if a consensus emerges.

Another warm Sunday morning by the rail at the Belmont training track. By 7 am, the temperature was already in the 80s, so we were treated to the not very edifying sight of several of the trainers (and the guilty shall mercifully go unnamed [Bill Terrill]) walking around in shorts, t-shirts and big bellies. Not a look to inspire confidence. And, no, not any of our trainers.

The women on the rail, though, were hoping to see a couple of the exercise riders or jockeys in shorts and tees. They would look really buff. Unfortunately for the rail birds, who had their cameras ready – and even more for the riders themselves, who had to sweat it out -- shorts and flip flops were out. The rules say safety vests and helmets. For good reason. And there are equally good reasons for boots and long pants – reasons like the horses and their great, big, heavy hooves. But all that gear makes for a pretty warm working environment, and we could see the riders sweating as they came off the track.

Castle Village Farm trainer Leah Gyarmati figured out a compromise between being too hot and being unsafe in the saddle. Jeans and riding boots, yes. But, safety vest and helmet, no. Of course, she can get away with it, because the rules don’t apply to trainers, and because her “pony” is Diligent Gambler, whose now nine years old, and as solid and steady as they come. He’s so reliable, if she started to fall, he’d turn around and catch her. It’s hard to look at him now, big and comfortable, and put that together with the race horse he was, back in 2005, when he won nine races in a single year. A couple of years later, when his racing career was over, grateful CVF partners bought him back and gave him to Leah, who was in need of a “pony.” (And, yes, that’s a ridiculously wrong name for the great, big horse a trainer uses to escort fractious, young race horses onto the training track, and to teach the two-year-olds what it means to be a race horse.)Every once in a while, Leah takes Diligent Gambler for a jog around the training track, just for old time’s sake and because he gets a kick out of it. If he took it into his head to turn that jog into a fast lap, Leah might very well need her helmet and vest, but he had no intentions of doing anything of the kind on Sunday. Probably as hot as the rest of us, and, though he kept an eye on his charges as they cantered by, he was also busy courting the attention of the railbirds, even to the point of agreeing to having his picture taken with a friend’s baby.

Diligent Gambler and Friend

The CVF contingent this week consisted of Steve, Joe and partner Vinny DiSpigno, and since we’re discussing trainers’ wardrobe mistakes, we should hasten to add that the three of us were all neatly done up in polo shirts and khakis. Vinny is planning a trip to France next month, so the conversation turned, of course, to race courses in Paris, and how to get to them. (Why bother with the Louvre when you can check out Longchamp.) Lucky for Vinny, we ran into Pont Street Stable partner Pat Hammond, who was just back herself from a springtime trip to Paris, and had gone to the races while she was there at both Longchamp and Auteuil. Steve also had fond memories from some years ago, when he was at Longchamp for the Arc de Triomphe. So, between them, they filled Vinny in on the things every racetracker needs to know – the nearest Metro stop, where to find the English-speaking pari-mutuel tellers, how to bet when there are no Beyer numbers and the card’s in French, why not to wear jeans or shorts (the restaurants won’t let you in), what you’ll find in the gift shop (it tends to be high-end, lots of 75-euro [that’s about $90 US] Hermes ties; no baseball caps, no t-shirts saying “My father went to Longchamps and all he bought me …” – not even in French).

Pat also filled us in on trainer Del Carroll Jr., who trained the Pont Street horses for many years. Del and his wife have moved to North Carolina, and though they moved there because he was supposed to be retiring, he’s managed to stay involved in racing by developing a second career, this time as a bloodstock agent. Steve will probably catch up with him at the Keeneland yearling sale in September. Since Del retired, Pont Street has moved its horses to Bruce Brown’s barn, where they now share space with Castle Village Farm.

Just one more hard-working Sunday morning for the CVF crew. If you want to join us any Sunday, just give Joe or Steve a call, or drop them an email.

Barn Report - Wednesday, June 23rd

Steve and Jean went to the track on Wednesday afternoon, not because a Castle Village Farm horse was running – none was – but just to be handicappers again. It was an exceedingly warm afternoon, so they found it a special pleasure to sit, out of the sun, in the third floor grandstand, with a Diet Coke and a cooling breeze, and the most beautiful race track in the world spread out before them. Belmont was at its quietest. Belmont is very quiet on a Wednesday. They had almost an entire section of the grandstand to themselves. Well, them and six guys sharing their betting strategies with each other – “Go for the 5 – I hate the trainer, but nothing can beat that 5.” “That 7 couldn’t hit the Board if they aimed him at it.” (Yup, you guessed it: at the finish line, the 5 was way down the track; the 7 up for first.) There were at least 10 seats for every person in the third floor grandstand on Wednesday, and the six guys had spread themselves and their racing forms accordingly, so their shared handicapping had to be pretty loud. (Not so much “I gotta have the 4 in the next race” as “I GOTTA HAVE THE 4”) which meant the Zorns got the benefit of every insight. It always helps to know which horse not to bet on.

Best overheard repartee of the day:

“Last I heard, NYRA’s run out of money. They’re gonna tear this place down and put up a senior citizens center.”

“Whaddya think it is now?”

[Note to NYRA: Much as Jean and Steve and the other senior citizens enjoy their peaceful Wednesday afternoons, maybe it’s time to consider going to a 4-day, or even a 3-day week. Even though Wednesday’s cards were pretty small, the track still probably needed more grooms for that afternoon than there were people in the stands.]

Steve was feeling badly, because he’d been too busy to visit Strings & Arrows on Sunday. Nobody wants Strings to feel that, just because he isn’t racing any more, he’s yesterday’s news. The short drive from the track to the barns took Steve and Jean back into a countryside that hadn’t existed since Tom Sawyer set his friends to work painting picket fences. The wooden barns stretched like sleeping cats in the warm sun, and wide-canopied oaks and maples cast patches of shade across the dappled grass. Inside the dark, cool shedrows, fans whirred, a hen clucked, and horses slept and dreamed of races to be run.

Strings was glad to have some company, gladder to see a couple of carrots. He already looked less like a race horse than he had just a few weeks ago. With his morning workouts reduced to sedate walks around the shedrow, he’d put on a few pounds, and, compared to his sleek racing self, was positively plump. But his coat and mane were as red and glossy and Secretariat-like as ever. In the paddock, a big, handsome white horse stood watch over the shedrow, like a wild stallion watching over his herd. It was Diligent Gambler, who once upon a time was dark gray and a pretty good race horse himself (Florida bred claimer of the year, in fact, in 2004, when he won nine races and raced for Castle Village Farm). He, too, was happy for a couple of carrots, and, after the first batch was gone, nosed the Zorns’ pockets, hoping to find a few more. But he was more interested in chatting with Steve about racing and memories. Nose to nose, they carried on an earnest colloquy for a while, while Jean contemplated skipping the rest of the races in favor of stretching out under one of the trees with a big summertime novel in hand.