End of the road trip. End of the season. Home for the Eagles Sunday night. Disappointing day Saturday. Penicillin Success and Palio pulling up in their respective races. A lost shoe, a bad trip, a lost weekend. Both seem OK. Perhaps, the ground was too loose and too soft. Perhaps. … Read More

Ballyburn won his chasing debut at Punchestown. Steel Ally lugged top weight in a handicap hurdle at Haydock. The Morgiana still to come. I’ll be on the road by then, trying to stay focused on I-20 in South Carolina and not racing in Europe. The American jump season comes to … Read More

One more road trip before the season finishes. The Aiken Steeplechase offers a crescendo. Seven competitive races. Most of the championships are locked up, the trainer’s title still on the line. It will be the first time to the new course for me. Not many courses I haven’t seen in … Read More

Took the long road home Monday. Option A was I-95, straight and true, 30 minutes shorter than Option B, a route north, winding, through the flatlands of South Carolina. The forgotten towns, main streets running perpendicular, a traffic light in a few. An old man sitting on a bench. A … Read More

Another road trip coming to a close. About to get on the road, the long road home. It’s longer when you don’t win. It’s that simple. We didn’t win. King Tsunami ran hard to finish third, came back lame with a grabbed quarter. Enough to explain his tame finish. Cool, … Read More