After living through the thrill of owning my first race horse, Monsieur Leclercq, the Gray Dog, I knew he would not be my last. The excitement of owning a thoroughbred, even in part, and watching it come bounding down the stretch toward the wire, was bigger than I had ever imagined. The anticipation that builds before a race was another element that, though I’d long experienced it from the grandstand, took on a much greater intensity simply by being in the game, and having friends and family come to the track to cheer on my horse allowed me to share my dream with people who were both close to and important to me. And the sheer fun of being on the backstretch in the mornings and seeing my horse, bathed in golden light, being prepped for an upcoming, was yet another new and alluring adventure.
The overwhelming sensation of watching my very own colt win a race was addictive, and even a simple placing was just as exciting, since I knew he had gotten us a check that day. Smaller than winning, maybe, but a bit more money to put toward this expensive love affair of mine.
I began looking for ways to extend these thrills that I now knew existed after the Monsieur had been retired. This, of course, necessitated a search for new partners that could help me afford my growing passion. I soon linked up in a partnership with Al and Mary, and not long thereafter we were able to purchase two fillies from my former partner Anne. Both Strike Number One and Martha D had already won their maiden races, so we had some idea of their worth and ability, and after three unsuccessful races under this new partnership, Martha finally got us a little monetary relief with a third place finish after going off at odds of 25-1.
We gave her some time off and a bit of farm rest afterward, and she came back to finish second in her next race at odds of 11-1. Feeling confident, our trainer suggested we enter Martha in a stakes race. This would require paying an entry fee – which is required to run in any stakes race – even though she had but a single win on her record. Full of hope even as we knew that she’d be a longshot, we watched as she went off at 56-1, stayed mid-pack for half the race, and ultimately faded to second to last. There was little disappointment in our group – she’d tried but been overmatched – so we began making plans for her next race. That one saw her finish off the board once again, this time in fourth. We’d been bitten by the bug, anticipating the next in-the-money finish, and we began to wonder if she would ever win a race for us.
Martha D was a sweet, gentle filly. She had a wonderful personality and was a joy to be around. She was a fairly large filly when we got her, and as she continued to grow, minor ankle issues surfaced. Her training was adjusted to try to make sure she would stay healthy and sound, but some fitness was sacrificed to accomplish that end. Martha loved to run, she wanted to run, and as race day approached she would become a lot less friendly, a clear sign she could feel the race approaching in some way. She wanted to go.
One muddy fall day, she went off at odds of 7-1, was cut off at the start by another horse and checked hard. But she dropped back to 5th, gathered herself, unleashed a furious rally, and hit the wire first by over 2 lengths, with another 6 lengths back to the third horse. We had our first victory and a very nice purse to go with it. Some handicappers and trainers use a muddy track as an excuse for a poor performance by their runners, due to the fact some horses don’t like it, but what we discovered that day was that Martha was a mudder. She loved running in the mud, as it was a lot easier on her tender ankles and allowed her to run free. That race taught us all a lot about her personality. She also taught a friend’s wife that, if you give a horse baby carrots, you have to lay them flat in your palm, because even a sweet horse like Martha cannot distinguish between them and your own finger if you don’t – a lesson my friend’s wife learned after a badly bruised digit.
After another winter on the farm with Martha, we started to prepared for spring racing. She’d moved up in class by then, which, following the long layoff, saw 3 straight finishes out of the money for our girl. By June, we’d begun thinking of putting her in a claiming race, which would see her facing easier competition, but ran the risk she’d be taken from us. So with only a single race victory under our belts, we thought it more logical to enter her again in a non-claiming race. There were only 6 horses entered on this day, but the horse to beat was a quality horse who had won her last two races in spectacular fashion and was the 1-5 favorite as they entered the starting gate. The racing gods, however, smiled on us that day, as they sometimes do; the favorite reared in the gate and was scratched, but fortunately not injured. Martha went off as the third favorite in the now 5-horse field, jumped to the front immediately, and wound up wiring the field, winning at odds of almost 5-1. On the strength of that victory, our now 4-year-old girl was earning the kind of money that allowed us to both pay the bills and secure a bit of profit.
Everyone liked Martha – she had personality to burn – but our trainer Andy loved her. He was there when she was born, and he’d watched her grow and develop into a serious race horse over the years. He would sit in front of her stall for hours talking to her while he cold-hosed her tender ankles.
But, after a couple of so-so races, we decided to chance putting her in a claiming race, which of course introduced the possibility of someone taking her from us. She finished third in that race, and then won her next race – also a claimer – with no takers. We then ran her again, this time in the rain on a muddy track, and she easily romped home by over 3 lengths. We ran her once more in late November, the final race of her 4-year-old season, and were, of course, hoping for rain. We got lucky: it poured that day, and, sent off at odds of 9-1, our girl splashed home the winner on a terrifically sloppy track to close out the year with a record of 11 starts, 4 wins, and 2 thirds. Her record in the mud, however, was pretty exceptional: four starts, three wins.
In the second start of her 5-year-old campaign, the outcome that was more or less inevitable since we’d started entering her in claimers finally happened: she won her race and was claimed. We were thrilled with the purse she brought us, but quietly sad to be losing our favorite mare.
The lifers around the track tell you to never fall in love with your horses, and there’s probably a lot of value in that. But Martha D was special to all of us. So when the new owner chose to run her in another claiming race not long after we’d lost her, we couldn’t pass up the chance to try to get her back. Fortunately for all of us, after she’d won her next claimer, for some reason no one else put in a claim for her, and we did wind up getting her back. With the win in that race, her record stood at 6 wins and 2 thirds in just 14 starts. So we thought we’d roll the dice and increase her claiming price in the next race, in hopes of not losing her again. That higher level proved too tough for her, however, and so as winter approached we sent her back to the farm so that her tender ankles could enjoy the cold crisp outdoors and the snow.
To be continued…