oh, so that's the drill...

Great first start back last night for Veiled Reference. Chart is here. She finished a troubled trip, fast-closing third (dead heater), and galloped out strongly past the wire. Speed was good all night, as it often is on big race days (management just overworks the surface), so she was working against a bias, to boot. Sorry not to pick up a bigger piece of the purse, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Here's hoping the bit of luck circles back our way in some of the bigger spots on the calendar later in the year. Filly was understandably sluggish out of the gate, figured out she was supposed to run after about a sixteenth of a mile, and picked it up from there traveling wide and taking dirt. If the one filly hadn't floated her so wide into the stretch, decent chance she picks up second, if not the whole enchilada. Perfect prep, anyway, for what we're hoping to do with her as we get into the summer. She picked up some desperately needed seasoning, got a nice tightener for something longer, and we spared her a block of more intense training in the AM. We've totally wrecked Woolley's win percentage, sure, but here's hoping she can make amends in the coming months.

Ran into some of Veiled Reference's friends from back in the day, including Mark from Takaro Farm, where VR was raised. He was out for the big night along with Cathy, who owns Bocamis, the dam of Veiled Reference. (I think it's Cathy, anyway. I missed it because I was too busy trying not to throw up all over my shoes as the horses geared up to load. Now if I've goofed it up, I've gone and offended one of my three readers. Darn.) Normally, I would have had all sorts of questions about what Bocamis is up to these days, but I was too busy fighting to stay upright. For what it's worth, Cathy, Kathy, Candy and Carol, my vote is for a return trip to Louis Quatorze if she hasn't been bred this season...