Sean's Blog

Back to work. What a laugh. We work every day, every weekend. Mondays don’t really change anything. A little more office work, paperwork, grunt work. Regrouping from the previous weekend, resetting for the next one. Riverdee entered four at Montpelier and Pennsylvania Hunt Cup. Winless over the weekend. Just two … Read More

Twenty-nine days. Seven meets. Thirty-eight races. And the season will be over. Slow to build and fast to go, that’s steeplechasing in America. As we say during Saratoga, sleep in September. When it comes to jump racing, sleep in December. No sleeping today. Eight of those races play out today at the … Read More

Beautiful morning at 35538. Miles off to school. Toga Day. Something to do with Latin class. The final baseball game of the fall season later this afternoon. Fredericksburg on a Thursday night. Nothing better. I’m off to ride Lemonade Thursday, another retired Riverdee runner who is now a fox hunter … Read More

Should I write a blog or go for a run? Perhaps, both. Perhaps. Both will be short. Sun going down, running out of time. Just as well. Entered Welshman and Cool Jet in the William H. Allison and Queens Empire in the International Gold Cup this weekend. Tough races. The … Read More

When it rains during the week at Far Hills, everything changes. And it usually rains during the week of Far Hills. Last year, it didn’t. Snap Decision won the big one and people complained it was too firm and it probably was too firm. It was a tough day on … Read More

Always a hectic, frenetic day. The day before race day. Especially the day before the biggest race day of the year. Far Hills puts on its annual star-studded card tomorrow, led by the $250,000 Grand National. Unfortunately, we’ll be watching the big one this year and dreaming about next year. … Read More

Still basking in a big weekend. Spent all day at Glenwood Park Sunday, picking up beer bottles, pulling down stall cards, taking down banners, folding up picnic tables, slashing ice bags, assessing the damage (minimal) and discussing how to improve after the eight-race card. I wound up with three bags … Read More

Wow. What a day. Riverdee doubled at the Virginia Fall Races Saturday. Our local meet. On a calm, clear day, you can hear the announcer from our farm. Not that I’ve ever been on our farm on race day at Glenwood Park but you get the point. There is nothing … Read More

We are still rolling from Cool Jet’s Grade 3 stakes win at Foxfield last week. That’s how this game goes. When you lose, turn the page, move on, look ahead. When you win, you linger a little longer, reminisce for an extra day or 10, bask in it for as … Read More

Cool Jet and Snap Decision. Rivals yesterday. Friends today. Riverdee’s Cool Jet got the better of their meeting yesterday, winning the Grade 3 Mariann de Tejeda Memorial at Foxfield. Bernie Dalton improved his record to 2-for-2 aboard the 9-year-old Irish-bred. Cool Jet stalked Foxy Walk, rolled past the pacesetter leaving … Read More