For all followers of this blog, it's been a while since my last post. Had some real issues dealing mentally with not being able to run the Virginia CCFA half-marathon because of my auto accident. I'll get back to posting about me in a bit. This post is not about me. Having said that, I can somehow relate to the subject matter in this post. The subject matter is a racehorse and yes, I can relate.
There has always been something about watching a horse run that has fascinated me. Their strength, beauty, elegance and courage is so apparent.
A couple of months after my first surgery in 1974, my parents sent me to my Aunt Rose and Uncle Irv's in Aventura, Florida for a month for some convalescing. When I left for Florida, I was hoping to relax, gain some of the weight I had lost from being sick before surgery and maybe get a couple of rounds of golf in with Uncle Irv. My Uncle Irv hit the ball decently, however, he was the best putter I have ever seen. That includes using a putter from a sand trap (you'd have to see it to believe it). What I had no idea I would be experiencing while in Florida, was daily trips to Gulfstream Park along with Handicapping 101 class from Uncle Irv. My Aunt and Uncle lived in a high rise that was about a mile south of Gulfstream Park. You could see the track from their balcony and, with a good pair of binoculars, get a pretty good view of the races. I was fortunate enough to be at Gulfstream Park to see Prince Thou Art hand Foolish Pleasure (the eventual Kentucky Derby winner) his first defeat in the 1975 Florida Derby. By the time I got back home, I was completely hooked. I knew that someday I needed to be, in some way, more involved with horse racing.
It took 23 years, however in 1998, while working for Verizon, I was at lunch one day with a few business associates of mine and they were talking about horses they had owned together in the past and how they should "do it again". I asked if they would consider adding me as a partner and they agreed. The first horse I ever owned was named was Kendall J. We claimed him for $12,500.00 out of a race at Monmouth Park. The experience was, in some ways, everything I had anticipated. The thrill that I got on race days cannot be explained in words. The only way to understand the feeling is to experience it. When he won his first race for us, none of the other owners were there, only my daughter Jill (11 years old at the time) and I. I remember the trip from the owners box to the winners circle as the closest to flying that 2 human beings could do. I don't thing we touched one stair on the way down.
In other ways the experience was everything I did not want. Including me, there were a total of 4 partners. One of the owners, my friend Bob, thought along the same lines as I did. We were in it for the thrill of owning a racehorse. If in the process we happened to make a little money, great, if not, we were going to get as much enjoyment as possible out of the experience. Unfortunately, the other 2 owners didn't feel the same way. They wanted the horse to run as much as possible to ensure that the bills were paid. The welfare of the horse was not even considered. In a span of 6 months, Kendall ran 16 races, just an absolute brutal schedule. He won 2 of his last 3 races. At that point, we decided to give him some time off, but it was too late. He died on the farm 2 weeks after his last race. He was 4 years old.
At the same time we lost Kendall, I was doing really badly with my Crohn's disease. The narrowing of my intestinal tract was so bad that I ended up having a complete obstruction. I was actually in the hospital when Bob called with the news about Kendall. I didn't know how or when I would get back into horse racing, but I knew someday, I would. At that point in my life, I just needed to concentrate on getting better. I ended up having surgery that year and then again in 2002. The fighting spirit that I first saw in horses back in 1975 is the same I have had since being diagnosed with Crohn's in 1970. In 2003, 33 years after my battle with Crohn's began, I found a way to start winning that battle. All that follow my blog have read about that battle and have lived with me throughout 2012, hopefully learning some of the things I do to be as healthy today, as I have been in a long time.
With all of the personal illness issues I dealt with, I never lost the desire to once again get in the horse racing business. One thing I knew is that I would never again get involved with owners that did not have the exact same feeling about racing that I do. I spoke to Bob early in 2011 about the possibility of ownership. Bob started his family later on in life and has 3 young children. Buying a racehorse was not high on his list of priorities. I decided to look on my own. In May of 2011 Animal Kingdom won the Kentucky Derby. In my opinion and I believe most handicappers opinion, the Kentucky Derby is the most difficult race to handicap. After 36 years of betting the Derby, I finally had my first winner. What made it more interesting to me was that a "racing syndicate" owned Animal Kingdom. I spent the entire Sunday after the Derby researching that syndicate along with dozens of others to get a feel for how it works and more importantly to get an understanding of how the syndicate owners felt about racing. As a big sports fan, anytime I am in my car, typically I have some type of "sports talk" radio on. Being from New Jersey, WFAN is my station of choice. The Monday following the Derby, Mike Francessa had Barry Irwin, the owner of Team Valor Intl. (Animal Kingdom's syndicate) on as his guest. For the next 20 minutes or so I listened to that interview and knew that I had found the racing syndicate I wanted to get involved with. When I got home, I called immediately and expressed an interest in becoming a partner with Team Valor. I purposely used the word "investment" when speaking to the VP at Team Valor. He immediately told me that I should never consider owning a horse an investment, but rather a "life experience". Within 2 weeks, I was a 10% owner of a filly named La Luna De Miel. Her first race was one of the best experiences I have ever had. She came in last. You may think there has to be a typo somewhere in that last sentence, but there isn't. I live in Central New Jersey and the race was at Belmont Park on Long Island. I surprised my wife and step sons by hiring a limo to take us to and from Belmont. We had such a great time on the rides and also in the owners box. Coincidentally, I met Mike Francessa in the owners box and told him that his interview with Barry was why I was there that day. My wife Emily, my step-sons Josh, Adin and I all experienced that same indescribable thrill that I had first experienced 13 years earlier. Unfortunately, La Luna got hurt that day, needed to have surgery and eventually was sold to a breeder.
My life long struggles with Crohn's has taught me to never give up on anything. A last place finish and an injury to my horse was not going to scare me away from ownership. Once she was sold, I bought a 10% share in a 2 year old filly named Visionaria. Visionaria won 2 of 3 races in Italy (beaten a nose in her only loss) and was then purchased by Team Valor. She was shipped to the U.S. and was set to run in her first race at my local track, Monmouth Park on August 27th. Unfortunately, that day coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Irene and racing was canceled. What happened next, shook that fighting spirit ingrained in me. Visionaria was being vanned to the track when the storm hit. I guess it freaked her out and the anxiety led to a bout of colic. Colic is extremely dangerous and if action is not taken quickly, a potential life threatening condition for horses. Visionaria's colon flipped 360 degrees on itself. Luckily, action was taken quickly. She had emergency surgery and her life was saved. Just when I thought she was out of danger, I received a call letting me know that she was now dealing with Salmonellosis. Emily and I had a limited amount of funds budgeted for horse ownership and at that point it was looking like our days as owners was over. Even though I had never met her, it was at this point when I started to really feel a connection with Visionaria. Just as I had dealt with a life threatening intestinal surgery as a kid, Visionaria had now done the same. Just as I had dealt with a life threatening infection after surgery, Visionaria had done the same. Finally, just as I had fought back against my illness, Visionaria was now fighting back as well. By November, she was given a clean bill of health. In mid-December it was obvious that her struggle with her health had taken its toll on her. Although she was healthy, she had lost all of her muscle tone. By mid-January things started changing for the better. Visionaria made substantial progress over the next couple of months. Because she had lost so much of her muscle tone during her recovery from surgery, she was put on a new feed from Belgium which is very good at building muscle mass. Ok, so now her diet has been changed to make her healthier and stronger. My connection to this horse is getting stronger every day.
Team Valor, always doing what is best for the horse, took their time with her. She spent the next few months galloping in South Carolina and was shipped up to Team Valors training facility in Maryland in June. On June 23rd, she officially went back into training with a 3 furlong workout at 38.2 seconds. Her next workout was the following week and was a bullet work (best by any horse at that track at that distance on that day) of 3 furlongs at 38 seconds flat. The Team Valor release to all of its partners that week stated that "Visionaria has not lost any of her quality and is moving like a dream". The following 2 weeks workouts had her stretching out a bit, first a 4 furlong workout on July 7th and then 5 furlongs on July 14th. Over the next 6 weeks, she worked out 5 more times, getting stretched out even further on August 25th, when she went 6 furlongs in 1:14.2. The news release from Team Valor on August 29th finally had the words I've been waiting for. Here are those words.
" VISIONARIA is almost ready for her return, earmarked for a 7-furlong allowance race on September 19 at Belmont Park. An Italian stakes winner as a 2-year-old, Visionaria has been working with this year’s Oaks d’Italia runner-up Angegreen. They went 5 furlongs in 1:01.80 last weekend."
It's been a long hard fight for Visionaria, but she never quit. She has that same fighting spirit and courage that I first saw in horses almost 38 years ago. She needs to be back on the racetrack.
Speaking of a fighting spirit, CCFA's next half marathon is December 2 in Vegas. I'm thinking my running shoes need to be pulled out of storage and my ass needs to hit the road.
I told you I can relate.
There has always been something about watching a horse run that has fascinated me. Their strength, beauty, elegance and courage is so apparent.
A couple of months after my first surgery in 1974, my parents sent me to my Aunt Rose and Uncle Irv's in Aventura, Florida for a month for some convalescing. When I left for Florida, I was hoping to relax, gain some of the weight I had lost from being sick before surgery and maybe get a couple of rounds of golf in with Uncle Irv. My Uncle Irv hit the ball decently, however, he was the best putter I have ever seen. That includes using a putter from a sand trap (you'd have to see it to believe it). What I had no idea I would be experiencing while in Florida, was daily trips to Gulfstream Park along with Handicapping 101 class from Uncle Irv. My Aunt and Uncle lived in a high rise that was about a mile south of Gulfstream Park. You could see the track from their balcony and, with a good pair of binoculars, get a pretty good view of the races. I was fortunate enough to be at Gulfstream Park to see Prince Thou Art hand Foolish Pleasure (the eventual Kentucky Derby winner) his first defeat in the 1975 Florida Derby. By the time I got back home, I was completely hooked. I knew that someday I needed to be, in some way, more involved with horse racing.
It took 23 years, however in 1998, while working for Verizon, I was at lunch one day with a few business associates of mine and they were talking about horses they had owned together in the past and how they should "do it again". I asked if they would consider adding me as a partner and they agreed. The first horse I ever owned was named was Kendall J. We claimed him for $12,500.00 out of a race at Monmouth Park. The experience was, in some ways, everything I had anticipated. The thrill that I got on race days cannot be explained in words. The only way to understand the feeling is to experience it. When he won his first race for us, none of the other owners were there, only my daughter Jill (11 years old at the time) and I. I remember the trip from the owners box to the winners circle as the closest to flying that 2 human beings could do. I don't thing we touched one stair on the way down.
In other ways the experience was everything I did not want. Including me, there were a total of 4 partners. One of the owners, my friend Bob, thought along the same lines as I did. We were in it for the thrill of owning a racehorse. If in the process we happened to make a little money, great, if not, we were going to get as much enjoyment as possible out of the experience. Unfortunately, the other 2 owners didn't feel the same way. They wanted the horse to run as much as possible to ensure that the bills were paid. The welfare of the horse was not even considered. In a span of 6 months, Kendall ran 16 races, just an absolute brutal schedule. He won 2 of his last 3 races. At that point, we decided to give him some time off, but it was too late. He died on the farm 2 weeks after his last race. He was 4 years old.
At the same time we lost Kendall, I was doing really badly with my Crohn's disease. The narrowing of my intestinal tract was so bad that I ended up having a complete obstruction. I was actually in the hospital when Bob called with the news about Kendall. I didn't know how or when I would get back into horse racing, but I knew someday, I would. At that point in my life, I just needed to concentrate on getting better. I ended up having surgery that year and then again in 2002. The fighting spirit that I first saw in horses back in 1975 is the same I have had since being diagnosed with Crohn's in 1970. In 2003, 33 years after my battle with Crohn's began, I found a way to start winning that battle. All that follow my blog have read about that battle and have lived with me throughout 2012, hopefully learning some of the things I do to be as healthy today, as I have been in a long time.
With all of the personal illness issues I dealt with, I never lost the desire to once again get in the horse racing business. One thing I knew is that I would never again get involved with owners that did not have the exact same feeling about racing that I do. I spoke to Bob early in 2011 about the possibility of ownership. Bob started his family later on in life and has 3 young children. Buying a racehorse was not high on his list of priorities. I decided to look on my own. In May of 2011 Animal Kingdom won the Kentucky Derby. In my opinion and I believe most handicappers opinion, the Kentucky Derby is the most difficult race to handicap. After 36 years of betting the Derby, I finally had my first winner. What made it more interesting to me was that a "racing syndicate" owned Animal Kingdom. I spent the entire Sunday after the Derby researching that syndicate along with dozens of others to get a feel for how it works and more importantly to get an understanding of how the syndicate owners felt about racing. As a big sports fan, anytime I am in my car, typically I have some type of "sports talk" radio on. Being from New Jersey, WFAN is my station of choice. The Monday following the Derby, Mike Francessa had Barry Irwin, the owner of Team Valor Intl. (Animal Kingdom's syndicate) on as his guest. For the next 20 minutes or so I listened to that interview and knew that I had found the racing syndicate I wanted to get involved with. When I got home, I called immediately and expressed an interest in becoming a partner with Team Valor. I purposely used the word "investment" when speaking to the VP at Team Valor. He immediately told me that I should never consider owning a horse an investment, but rather a "life experience". Within 2 weeks, I was a 10% owner of a filly named La Luna De Miel. Her first race was one of the best experiences I have ever had. She came in last. You may think there has to be a typo somewhere in that last sentence, but there isn't. I live in Central New Jersey and the race was at Belmont Park on Long Island. I surprised my wife and step sons by hiring a limo to take us to and from Belmont. We had such a great time on the rides and also in the owners box. Coincidentally, I met Mike Francessa in the owners box and told him that his interview with Barry was why I was there that day. My wife Emily, my step-sons Josh, Adin and I all experienced that same indescribable thrill that I had first experienced 13 years earlier. Unfortunately, La Luna got hurt that day, needed to have surgery and eventually was sold to a breeder.
My life long struggles with Crohn's has taught me to never give up on anything. A last place finish and an injury to my horse was not going to scare me away from ownership. Once she was sold, I bought a 10% share in a 2 year old filly named Visionaria. Visionaria won 2 of 3 races in Italy (beaten a nose in her only loss) and was then purchased by Team Valor. She was shipped to the U.S. and was set to run in her first race at my local track, Monmouth Park on August 27th. Unfortunately, that day coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Irene and racing was canceled. What happened next, shook that fighting spirit ingrained in me. Visionaria was being vanned to the track when the storm hit. I guess it freaked her out and the anxiety led to a bout of colic. Colic is extremely dangerous and if action is not taken quickly, a potential life threatening condition for horses. Visionaria's colon flipped 360 degrees on itself. Luckily, action was taken quickly. She had emergency surgery and her life was saved. Just when I thought she was out of danger, I received a call letting me know that she was now dealing with Salmonellosis. Emily and I had a limited amount of funds budgeted for horse ownership and at that point it was looking like our days as owners was over. Even though I had never met her, it was at this point when I started to really feel a connection with Visionaria. Just as I had dealt with a life threatening intestinal surgery as a kid, Visionaria had now done the same. Just as I had dealt with a life threatening infection after surgery, Visionaria had done the same. Finally, just as I had fought back against my illness, Visionaria was now fighting back as well. By November, she was given a clean bill of health. In mid-December it was obvious that her struggle with her health had taken its toll on her. Although she was healthy, she had lost all of her muscle tone. By mid-January things started changing for the better. Visionaria made substantial progress over the next couple of months. Because she had lost so much of her muscle tone during her recovery from surgery, she was put on a new feed from Belgium which is very good at building muscle mass. Ok, so now her diet has been changed to make her healthier and stronger. My connection to this horse is getting stronger every day.
Team Valor, always doing what is best for the horse, took their time with her. She spent the next few months galloping in South Carolina and was shipped up to Team Valors training facility in Maryland in June. On June 23rd, she officially went back into training with a 3 furlong workout at 38.2 seconds. Her next workout was the following week and was a bullet work (best by any horse at that track at that distance on that day) of 3 furlongs at 38 seconds flat. The Team Valor release to all of its partners that week stated that "Visionaria has not lost any of her quality and is moving like a dream". The following 2 weeks workouts had her stretching out a bit, first a 4 furlong workout on July 7th and then 5 furlongs on July 14th. Over the next 6 weeks, she worked out 5 more times, getting stretched out even further on August 25th, when she went 6 furlongs in 1:14.2. The news release from Team Valor on August 29th finally had the words I've been waiting for. Here are those words.
" VISIONARIA is almost ready for her return, earmarked for a 7-furlong allowance race on September 19 at Belmont Park. An Italian stakes winner as a 2-year-old, Visionaria has been working with this year’s Oaks d’Italia runner-up Angegreen. They went 5 furlongs in 1:01.80 last weekend."
It's been a long hard fight for Visionaria, but she never quit. She has that same fighting spirit and courage that I first saw in horses almost 38 years ago. She needs to be back on the racetrack.
Speaking of a fighting spirit, CCFA's next half marathon is December 2 in Vegas. I'm thinking my running shoes need to be pulled out of storage and my ass needs to hit the road.
I told you I can relate.
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