Irish Eagle's First Race. Really.

This time he started and finished, but not without incident. At least these mishaps are related to his being hot to run, which is a good problem to have. We'll be running him back ASAP.

Irish Eagle's First Race

Not exactly an ideal first outing as you'll see. But that's the breaks, or rather not, in his case that time. He came through fine and we'll race him back ASAP.

TS Fay at Calder December 18th

Wet and sloppy. So we did not get our turf race...

Foundations for the Yearlings-Irish Preps for His First Race

Works at Tampa Earlier This Week

Farm Side Report

Spitfire, the yearlings, and the return of Major Parker.

This Morning at Tampa: Wet

Tampa Works

Keeping Them "Greased Up" Between Breezes

Thanksgiving Day Racing in NOLA!

Turns out we were able to catch some racing while visiting the family in New Orleans:



Serious update shortly!

Tampa Bay Downs is Open!

Not sure what is up with the recent resolution issues. Will work on fixing asap. Meanwhile here is the latest
UPDATE- Resolution issues fixed. Any distortion now is due to limitations of iPhone and youtube. :


And I found this, which is interesting. I will see about having Mom get one of these helmet cams for future works and commentary.

Calder Again

A work, some cooling tips, and a great effort from Tiny. Sorry about low res. Youtube did not like the quicktime upload for some reason.


Higher resolution here:

TS Fay Works, Some Cooling Tips, and a Great Run by Tiny.
Uploaded by blackshoe10. - Explore other animal videos.

Trip to Blue Eagle Ranch for Family Reunion

That is one desolate, but interesting ride. Mom, brother Nando and his wife Sally, sister Victoria and her husband Norberto all made the trip.

Equine Confidence Course

Here is something a little different we felt you might find interesting: a local group getting together to pit their charges against homemade simulations of some of the hazards of the trail. Not much to do with racing except that as a Backyard Racer here is one way you have the ability to raise an animal that might be a little more worldly than his peers at the track. Some day that might be the difference between being spooked and throwing the jock and getting scratched. Still, remember you are dealing with thoroughbreds who have been genetically optimized for racing and not much else. Few will ever become nonchalant.

Zenyatta's Nerves and a Possible Equipment Breathrough

We need to be careful about what we worry about. As you'll see here, I wonder if Spitfire's head carry might be akin to Zenyatta's pre race fretting. Backyard trainers have the best ability to know their charges and should take care not to fix what is not really broken.

Calder Last Weekend

TS Fay did not get here race so she and Irish Eagle ended up working while we were down there. We ran in last race with Tiny...she wasn't fast enough to get in position on rail in front and ate dirt the whole way.
She came out of race fine and we look for a better chance next time!

Friday Farm Update

Back at the farm, working with the youngsters.

BYRH at Churchill Downs

After a GREAT WHIA CONFERENCE we are pitching ideas at Churchill Downs!



Everyone was very friendly at the track. It was a useful trip and I hope we made many new contacts.

Finally Caught Up With Tiny and TS Fay

A setback and then some real progress...

New Two Year Olds At The Farm!

Catching up after a vacation and network caused hiatus.

New Link

Mom's joined the Women's Horse Industry and may be presenting at their conference. Which gives me an excuse to post this again.

Morning at the Farm

A quick visit...

TS Fay September 7th at Calder

Another milestone in the process of getting her fit with with races. Alex gets a little artsy with the pictures I sent.

September 2nd Breeze at OBS

Prep for a Labor Day race at Calder.

Catching Up

Alex has tons of stuff from me that he promises to work through now that he is back home from a business trip. Gotta take care of the day job first! Here is an update of where we stood at the beginning of the month. Much more to come to cover between then and now...

Rainy Day Sale at OBS

Some breezes, then a trip to the sales barn to look for a yearling for a client.

Tuning Up at the Farm

As you've heard us mention before, the particular challenge with racing from the farm this time of year is it really is not feasible to get breezes in at Calder. And the convenient and available track at OBS is synthetic, and not like the heavy stuff in Miami. At this point in TS Fay's training, she needs full out, lung expanding breezes, that challenge her and stress her so that she comes back stronger and "racier" (remember that tight abs look we talked about wanting in her last race?). We can't do that in the grove, so, we end up using races as breezes with light conditioning between. It does not do much for our numbers, but it works. Fingers crossed that we will see some improvement form Fay in her next outing.
And Irish Eagle is looking healthy now. We'll be entering him soon...

Backyard Hydrotherapy

Backyard training means playing the hand have as effectively as possible. For what it is worth, we have been swimming horses from this dock for so long we can remember when the pros in Ocala scoffed at us for doing so. Of course now they have concrete ponds, er, hydrotherapy facilities at many of the better farms...

Update on Irish Eagle and Spitfire Red

Irish heals, Spitifire still having problems.

Stack's Trip to the Vet

You may recall Stack Bali is our non-sweater. Background here and here. What follows is the latest; some interesting theories and promising results.

TS Fay's Latest at Calder

Pre Miami Update

I am already behind by one report, so this one goes up, warts and all.

Stack Bali - Non Sweater

Video update on Stack Bali:

Wednesday Roundup

Today's is pretty much covered by the video:

TS Fay's Sunday Race and Working on Lead Changes

Alex finally figured out how to get the races and post them here. So here is TS Fay's last race and the work we did with her today.

Wednesday Roundup

Irish Eagle was ridden today. He is not lame or touchy on his shins and so he was ridden "lightly". We will ride him off and on while the shins are tightening and healing.

More on Spitfire Red plus Bathing 101:

TS Fay and Tiny race at Calder

Filly warms up well,loads in gate and breaks well. She is game and in race until top of stretch again and then really fades to last. She ran further as this race was a furlong longer than her last but did not change her lead to the right. I wonder if the shin is bothering her or is she not confident or experienced enough to change leads at a full run. This is her fourth race on the track and in her life. If she shows any soreness in her shin then that would explain her problem. If not shin may just be a need to get more comfortable changing leads in a full run.
Or more fitness. To this point this filly has done everything right-and had no setbacks. I did want to see more of a finish and of course was disappointed.

Tiny is back to race after being off since May. She has worked two times at Calder and needs the race which is five furlongs.


Tiny was well manered and went into gates well. She broke well and ran in the pack (fourth) for about 4 1/2 furlongs, held on to stretch and faded but beat one horse. She tried and tired and should be better next time. Not being able to work over this surface is a great disadvantage for my horses. But as long as there is improvement I have hope.
She is just three and her two year old year was spent fighting abcesses in feet and then shin issues. I'm glad she has made it to the races!

Official results and links to video of the races (6th and 9th) here.

By the way -TS Fay was not tired out of race and did not drink any water. Those are clues that we have not yet got her act together enough to run her best.
Oh well- the weather was beautiful and we got home safely!
We'll see how they are tomorrow.
That's all for now!

UPDATE: TS Fay shows no problem so far on her shins and seems just fine. Maybe she will show something tomorrow.
Tiny-the filly that ran promisingly has shins a little touchy...we will see how she evolves...

The Trip Down to Calder

It is 6 o'clock and we are on the way to Miami to race again tomorrow at Calder. The sun is just starting to come up. We have been on the road an hour and the horses are quiet.

Here comes the sun through the orange groves along Highway 27.

After the orange groves we pass through miles of sugar cane; plains of cane.

After the sugar cane fields we see dredging in the Everglades.

Miami here we are!

Tall buildings everywhere.

The Intracoastal Waterway.

Wednesday Roundup

TS Faye had a good trot and gallop on the field to keep her ready for a race on Sunday

TS Fay still doesn't look tucked up...maybe by next race.

Tiny Tune also did an easy gallop in the field ...her race is five furlongs on Sunday.

Wednesday at the Farm. No OBS, but Video Goodness!

July 27th Morning Works at the Farm

Spitfire Red is galloping easy and seems fresh.




Intrestingly he came back dripping with sweat and it started almost immediately. That is a point of reference because it was still fairly cool for Florida in the early morn.

Irish eagle has been off with bucked shins and is doing a trail ride today. That should not hurt him and will help him keep some fitness.








Here is the way his shins look today after the light ride (walk trot two miles).

Here is what they looked like a few weeks back.

They do look better today.

It is cooler early this morn and we are giving Stack Bali a gallop to see how he is doing. (he is the non-sweater).

He trotted and galloped a total of two miles and breathed well and felt good. But...dry as a bone-no sweat breaking out. We hosed him much and put him under the fan. I am trying green papaya chopped up in his feed. At first he wouldn't eat it but now I pour molasses on it!

I showed this injury a while back on Stack. You can now see how the cornet band is growing out.

Here is another angle that shows the severe trauma to hoof wall.

He seems to be going soundly on it anyway...

22 July Calder Trip

Since it is five hours each way we like to make our trips count. This time we have T.S. Faye in another race and will be taking Tiny and Phontiff down for a gate break and five or six furlongs of work, depending how they feel. Here is some video from that:

T.S. Faye is in the 3rd with a bug rider. We are hoping for an improvement from her second lifetime race and this will be her third lifetime experience actually on the Calder race track. She has had about 30 minutes in her life on this surface. So you can see why we need to be patient and use races to help train the ship ins.

Faye beats two horses in this race but breaks well and lays third for a while before ending up eighth. She finishes closer and better. So I consider it a good work and a positive move.
We haul home and everybody seems to be okay.

Fence building and Travel Preparations

Saving the wood....

Fence building gang!

The brains of the crew.

Tiny had her trot and is getting more muscular in her body. She will breeze one more time and,if all goes well we will look for a race.

Phontiff's shin looks pretty good and we will breeze him also in Miami.

We are checking tire pressure for the trip...a stitch in time... I hope will help!

Landscaping, Building Fences, and Commonsense Recycling

This is a tree that fell during the last hurricaine. A good neighbor is moving it to the burn pile.

We will clean up the area and plant a new tree!

What luck! Our neighbors put in new fencing and asked if I would mind having my fence replaced. Would I?...

This was my old fence, definitely long in the tooth. But it served well considering what it cost and what it put up with.

The new fence will go here.

Anything from the old stuff worth saving, we will recycle. Not just because we are "green" but because we are cheap when we can be. A penny saved really is a penny earned when it is your own Backyard Racehorse business!

Here is my grandson trimming the ends off the old boards so we can use them for repairs.

We will probably have a new fence by tomorrow night.

Eurocizer Action, Stack Bali's Anhydrosis, Wax Poetic's Feet, and Another Race for Faye

The PVC pipe with holes drilled in works as a good coolant for the horse.

Let's compare the healing of Irish Eagle's shins. This was a few weeks ago...

His right front was the worst and it still is pretty obvious. His bloodlines are with european breeding and they are traditionally slower to develop. As he heals it should flatten down.

Stack is not sweating and I am giving him a supplement from tack shop in Miami, pretty much the capital of non sweaters....they say money back if it doesn't work...we'll see.
Meanwhile he is put in a stall with a fan while it is so hot. The real solution is to go up north. The day after I arrived a non sweater I had -started to sweat immediately.

He feels special with his own fan.

Wax Poetic's injury on right front is healing nicely and cleanly (sorry photo is not too good).

This injury needs more time. She is very tender if we touch it and she is slightly and subtly lame when jogged on the concrete. The hoof wall has been crushed at the cornet band and needs to grow out a little and strengthen.

Entered TS Faye right back for Sunday as I like the timing for her since she comes back so soundly and sanely. Unfortunately the race was not used. Perhaps we can get into a similar race on Thursday . We will know by tomorrow night!

T.S. Faye and Washracks 101

TSFay is none the worse for wear...we may go back and run Sunday again as she didn't put herself out much in last race. She is in small grassy paddock for today and I must decide by Thursday if we head back for Sunday.

Washing a Yearling

This view shows how my wash rack is enclosed and can contain the horse if he gets loose!

Nicks and Scrapes

Wax Poetic had stepped on herself in the break in her race on Sunday. We kept it clean and it appears to be healing well.

What we hadn't noticed until later was that she was apparently also stepped on in the scramble of the break. Her left front foot on the outside was stepped on which may have caused her to step on her right front there on the inside.
Looking at the replay in the gates she was not standing with all four feet on the ground. The starter tries to have everyone like that but it can be difficult with these two year olds.

I think this injury is going to take a little more time to heal since the hoof wall was compressed and the interior laminae need to rebuild. It had been a possibility to go back again this Sunday but with this issue I think she needs a little more time.