Jazzical

The miracles of life are ever constant if you keep your heart and mind open.  Birth in itself is the grandest of all God's miracles, in my opinion.  I was the only person present when Jazzical was born and it was thrilling.  Her momma was the first foal born on our farm and she and I became good friends (but I will write about that another time).

Because Corki and I are such good friends, she doesn't mind if I get close to her foals.  And that I did with Jazzical.  I towel dried her and had my fingers in her ears and nostrils.  I pet her and tapped on the bottoms of her feet.  I don't do the whole "imprinting" ritual but I do go through the motions of getting my hands all over the babies so they are accustom to human touch from the very beginning.  We get halters on them within the first day or two and start leading them to and from the paddocks.  You have to be really careful with their little necks but most of the time we find that they are willing to follow Mom.  If not, putting the rope around their rump gives the added encouragement that they need.

Jazzical was a cutie:

And she was always a strong looking filly:

John and I, with the help of a rider-friend, taught this little girl everything she needed to know to become a race horse.  You wouldn't think there is too much to it, but stop and think about it.  All they really know on their own is how to eat and sleep.  We taught her how to load in the trailer, to stand still to have her feet picked up to be cleaned and trimmed, how to accept a bit in her mouth and a saddle on her back, then we introduced the rider.  Through it all she was easy to get a long with and very eager to please.  Once she figured out what you wanted she was golden.

Once you have taught them everything you can at home it is time to take them to the race track.  There they learn to gallop with other horses, be ponied by another horse (the rider of the other horse is leading the race horse), and to break from the starting gates.  They will also school in the paddock so that when race day comes it is not a totally new place to them.  It would be easy to take all of this for granted but it requires a tremendous amount of time and dedication.  At the race track there are many, many things going on that can interfere with a young horse's concentration.

We all worked hard to get Jazzical to point of being a race horse.  It wasn't easy by any means.  And there were times when I honestly didn't know if she was going to "cut the mustard".  She has had issues every year, but Jazzical and I have had a special realtionship from day one and I never gave up hope and I never quit believing.  The results:

JAZZICAL stalked the pace early, angled off the rail into the turn, took over command in the stretch and cleared the field late under a steady drive.

She made us proud that is for sure!  I thank my husband, John, for putting up with my passion.  It can be very expensive and it is a lot of hard work.  But boy...... the rewards are awesome!  And thank God for allowing all the pieces to come together.  He is so good to us!

The 15th Running of the Indiana Derby

October 3rd, 2009
It is the first Saturday in October, not May, and Hoosier Park just hosted the 15th running of the Indiana Derby, a Grade II stakes race worth $500,000.

The weather wasn't as cooperative as it could have been in early October, nor was it as bad either.  The day started out partly cloudy with a brisk wind from the northwest which pretty much stayed with us all day.  Temperatures were in the low 60s for most of the afternoon.  Post time for the Derby was 5:17pm and by that time it was pretty much all clouds and getting very chilly.  Of course the horses didn't mind the cooler weather.  They get very hot when they run and I do believe the cooler weather is easier on them.

John and I were celebrating our 18th Wedding Aniversary so we splurged by getting a table in the clubhouse.  Another couple joined us and we had a grand time.  The buffet was delicious and very nicely presented. 

Look at that pile of shrimpies!  And the ice sculpture was gorgeous......

Calvin Borel had a mount in the "big" race and was signing autographs early in the day.  For those of you that don't follow horse racing, Calvin is the jockey that rode Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby and also is the regular rider of Rachel Alexandra (the filly that is beating all the boys in the big races this year).  I did get my program signed (thanks to my friend Sherry) and will add it to my collection of mementos.

Below are the track outriders patiently waiting on the horses to be saddled.  The crowd was too large for me to get pictures of the paddock.  Sorry......

Misremembered, the 3-year-old chestnut ridgling by Candy Ride (ARG) out of the Quack mare, Beyond Perfection, won this year's contest in record setting time going a mile and a sixteenth in 1:40:80.  Misremembered is trained by Bob Baffert whom is very well known in the racing industry.  Congratulations to all of Misremembered's connections on a job well done.

MISREMEBERED

Above is the winner on his way to the track.  He is a big, good looking rascal, that's for sure!

Hoosier Park has grown so much and it is a lovely place to spend the day, especially if you enjoy looking at beautiful horses.  So....  We had a wonderful day at the track (even though we didn't cash many winning tickets).  Good food and good company...... it doesn't get much better!