Eureka Post Mortem

My "rain bucket" showing the four inches that fell on us Thursday and Sunday. After nice weather in May we've been through another "spell". Almost posted yesterday's weather map ridiculously showing (again) a giant patch of green and yellow over Missouri and clear in rest of the USA, but, enough weather maps on the blog. I prefer wet to dry as drought for me has a continuing depressing quality. You work around the weather, regardless.

Then there is the matter of the Eureka trip last Thursday where we traveled the 175 miles to the track radiator overheating all the way only to find the track closed and the trackman ludicrously grading the track in 40 mph winds for three hours. I sat there watching him work his tractor, and estimated half his surface was blown away during that "re-grading". One of several reasons I pulled my papers is the depressing realization, when I looked at it, that Eureka is without any surface this year.

How did I take that useless, expensive trip? With my usual equanimity honed by years of similar. Heck, this was minor stuff. In 2000 Aylward won 3 out of4 and a second. I brought him back from a broken nose at the Woodlands, and after Woodlands hauled him the 350 miles to Remington (same truck) for one final breeze before a race the next week. One of the better jocks that had agreed to ride him and I failed to make connections till 9:45 a.m. with a 10:00 a.m. track closing. As the jock walked in, over the loudspeaker "track closed in 5 min.". We threw on the tack and got to the track exactly as the track personell were leaving. Missed the breeze. I avoided going to the racing office to whine. I've learned over the years amid the chaos of racing there's a lot of agendas that have nothing to do with a small stable preparing to race. Just put him in the truck and hauled him the 350 miles back. No breeze, no race, and done for the year with a horse that might have made the stable but for the track closing 10 minutes early.

Then, there is the Woodlands where year after year you get up at 5:00 a.m., round em up, drive the 20 miles, enter the track and there's that strange quiet of something being up--track closed today for this reason or that. No one cares except me and so we go on.

In the present situation, as soon as my new radiator comes in for the truck we'll be off to the track again, probably Eureka. Of course that's another story. Will they find a radiator for a 28 year old F-350 with a 460 engine. They barely found one 15 years ago.

As for the two year old, very disappointing. Last Wednesday the abscess had healed and he galloped. Thurs and Frid to0 wet for training. Sat. night in he comes badly limping again. Removed the same shoe again, and I think I popped the abscess this time, but, it was so muddy had to put on a Davis boot (rubber boot) to protect the abscess or it would have come back. Deep mud and overcast till yesterday, so boot stayed on to prevent re-abscess. Put shoe on last night, hope it holds, and so mark June 13 as the day we start over with the young fellow.

So, state of things with the RR stable:

two half way through their 12 yr. old year yet to race.
one unraced six year old
one two year old too small for our rider.

pretty depressing I'd say, except for sure the next two months are always trainable months. I'll hold the thoughts for 60 days and see where we are. We're working on it is all I can say for the moment. Below some pictures from yesterday. No humans. More peaceful that way. Shows for posterity our tractor repair which took two hours and our track where we'll be two minute galloping in the next days and breezing this weekend, and also the mud still there from last night. Lush and green in these parts. Nice time of year!