Woodlands Day 1

Out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and finally in the office at 11:15 a.m. galloping all of one horse today. Another two hours and we could have made it to Eureka.

Nob weighs in at 154. We weighed the tack at 10.5 lbs, that's everything, saddle, bridle, pad, stick, vest, and helmet. Figure Nob's clothes--6 oz. running shoes, running tights, weightless shirt, briefs and feather socks, protective vest at 4 lbs. So, horses carry close to 168 lbs, which we're trusting will be 167 for tomorrow's breeze given a little diet discipline and tonight's road work.

As to the Woodlands, to quote another Goethe gem "Aye, that same dark linden swaying, now matured to aged strength. Welcome after years of straying, they salute me back at length." It's only been a year but we're glad to be back. I've trained at the Woodlands since it opened, and Groovin' Wind has been at it there since 2000. So, the 2007 meet that will be Wind and Aylward's last brings back some memories.

Wind galloped 1.5 in :16s-17s. Less energy than I expected. The horse seemed a little intimidated and I could tell he was struggling with the deep sand a bit after the hard stuff he's been on. Track assimilation might take a little longer than I'd thought. I looked at Wind later on the walker. He gave all the appearance of a cheap 2500 claimer. He'll be racing against the Prairie Meadow's bunch that's piling in. We'll see. Aylward was into the stallion thing and uncontrollable. We declined to take him on the track fearing he might be barred.