The day had dawned cool and foggy, but by the time races began (at ten
o'clock) the sky had cleared and the temperature had soared to a
blistering 88*F. The first races to run were those for the Standardbreds
and Ravenwood Farms had fifteen total running in several of them. The
most exciting of these harness races was the 2nd race, a maiden for
pacers, where Blank Canvas, a three year old filly, ran in her very
first race and took home the win with a length to spare between her and
the others. Also of note was the 7th race, the Evergreen Stakes (G3),
where Prides In the Chips, a five year old mare, raced in her fifth race
and took the win with a half length lead over the rest of the field.
Finally, there was the 12th and final race for Standardbreds, the
Madison Stakes (G1), where Noble At Nite, a four year old filly, took
the wire with an amazing two length lead in her fifth start. Happy about
each horse's win, Kira also had two 2nds, a 3rd, three 4ths, two 5ths,
two 6ths, a 10th and 11th place finishes.
After an hour break,
the Stock Horse and Arabian races began. The horses were raring to go
and showed their stuff right away. The most exciting for Ravenwood Farms
would be hard to call because there were three very impressive wins for
the day. To start with, in the 2nd race, a maiden for stock horses,
Cajun Curse, a two year old QH filly, ran in her first race ever and
took home the win, a head over the rest of her competition. At this
point Kira thoughts ran along the lines of "it's a day of firsts!". The
next exciting race was the 13th race, a maiden for Arabian routers,
where Baby Blaziet, a three year old Domestic Arabian filly, also ran in
her very first race and led the field, wire to wire and finished ahead
of the others by a quarter length. Kira was on cloud nine after this
win. The final exciting race for Ravenwood Farms was the simulcast of
the famous Spots N Dots (G1), a stakes race for stock horses aged 3yo
and up, where Skid Row, a five year old Paint gelding, came home to win
the race by a nose over the others. Even though she had been unable to
attend the race, Kira was elated at the finish and it was made all the
better by the other horses Ravenwood had running who brought in five
2nds, a 3rd, five 4ths, three 5ths, an 8th and 9th place finishes.
After
another hour break, the Thoroughbred races began. These were the final
races that were running this day and it seemed that the temperature felt
the excitement because it had reached 94*F by this point and a lot of
the horses were sweating as they jigged to the starting gates. Once
again, Ravenwood Farms had several exciting races. First was the 1st
race, a maiden for 2yo fillies on dirt, where Painted Edges SF, a two
year old filly purchased from Southwind Farms, took off in the start of
her racing career with a mid-pack run that ended with her a length ahead
of her competition at the wire. Not bad at all for her first race. Next
was the 6th race, a maiden for 2yo colts and geldings on dirt, where
Flash Bang RF, a two year old gelding, sped out of the gate and ran just
off the leader until the homestretch where he kicked into gear and
flashed to win by an amazing two lengths! Kira and her family were
ecstatic at this point with how the day had been going, but were afraid
that something would happen to ruin it. The next race that pleased Kira
was the 18th race, the Silver Park Route (G1), a stakes race on dirt,
where Daddys Dollar, a four year old gelding, managed to keep just off
the hot pace that was set for most of the race to drive at the end and
sweep past and win by a length and three-quarters. The next was the 28th
race, an allowance race on turf, where Creamy Gold, a three year old
colt, was able to hold off his rivals and take the win at the end by
half a length. The last exciting win for Ravenwood was the 32nd race,
the Serenity Handicap (G3), a stakes race on turf, where Baby Blue Eyes,
a three year old colt, ran in last for most of the race and at the
final turn kicked it into high gear and shot off like a rocket to take
the lead by a neck and flash under the wire that way. Oh man, was Kira
bouncing in her seat after all of this.
At least she was, until the 37th
race which was a maiden steeplechase, the first of what she had hoped
would be a new career for La Curiosos, a five year old buckskin TB mare.
This mare, having finished out of the money only once in her racing
life - and that was in her very first race - had a profitable career on
the turf and showed aptitude for jumping so she was retrained for
steeplechasing with plans to train as a show jumper when this career was
finished. However, the mare never fired in her first steeplechase and
though she jumped each fence during the race, Kira noticed how LaLa (as
she is fondly called) was eased up in the homestretch and she began to
fear for the welfare of her beautiful mare. Kira walked back to the barn
with LaLa and her fears came true a few hours later when all the x-rays
were examined and the vet told her that it was a tendon injury.
Thankfully, it is not enough to deem the euthanasia of LaLa, but her
steeplechase career is over. Kira doesn't care about this fact because
her beautiful mare is still alive. With LaLa taken care of, Kira
somberly takes stock of the rest of the day and ends with six 2nds, six
3rds, three 4ths, seven 5ths, a 6th, two 7ths, two 8ths, and two 9th
place finishes.
All in all, it was an exciting, exhausting, and
tragic day at the first 2013 race meet. Kira hopes that the next meet
brings better results. Hoorah!
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