Shipping one. Vetting one. Waiting on two. Chasing three. And watching so many others…
Life in the horse business.
Riverdee has grown to 21 horses. I like to say it’s grown organically. Naturally. From a horse or two, on spec, the sidebar of a publishing career to a 21-strong team this year. Twenty-one horses and all the highs and lows that go with them. As I wrote yesterday, March means race season and all the highs and lows that go with that, too. Drop the flag, spring the latch, let’s go.
First, it’s Cheltenham. Hopefully, I’ll find a few there to add to the roster. I remember seeing Gibralfaro at Prestbury Park in 2017, walking around the paddock, a perfect racecar of a horse. It was like seeing an old friend, connecting, nodding, hey, we’ll meet again some day. Two races after Sizing John won the Gold Cup, Gibralfaro crashed out at the second of the Martin Pipe. If I could have put him in my suitcase…
The Irish-bred was here nine months later. One of our first good horses, the son of Dalakhani cost £28,000 and banked $268,300. He won an allowance race at Tryon, a novice stakes at Queen’s Cup and the Grade 2 Zeke Ferguson over four seasons. An overachiever, he won or hit the board in 12 of 15 stakes from Saratoga to Far Hills. He’s now retired, enjoying the hunt field in Virginia.
I’ll be looking for a few like him next week.
