The final Belmont Racing Festival at Saratoga done and dusted. Rocket One nearly sent it off on a high for Riverdee. Nearly. Tough beat. Cool horse. In front for far too long, he got lonely in the longest, loneliest stretch in the history of horse racing. Oh, to have that last fence, a target, a goal, an aim. Ah well, as I was reminded, “It’s the game we play, as you say.” Yes, it’s the game we play. Tough old game at times, most of the time.
The game looks anything but tough for Golden Tempo who added the Belmont Stakes to his Triple Crown haul. A Derby and a Belmont and hopefully not a trend. A sixth-generation Phipps homebred devouring the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles on good old-fashioned dirt. Read about it here.
We entered V Inspired for a turf race at Delaware next week and entered Serifos, Jhirsch and a few others in the jump races at Laurel Park on Father’s Day. Hey, there’s a way to celebrate. Then a full day of jump action at Colonial Downs June 29. We’ll be back in Saratoga before we know it. Fourth of July weekend. First Saratoga Special comes out July 16, just in time for the Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes. Rocket One, Cyber Ninja, King Al and some others aiming at the grandest race meet of them all.
As for being home, the cat wanders to the back door, the horses are stomping flies, the washing machine is dinging, the dryer is beeping, the garden needs weeding and the once-towering, shade-giving left arm of our old guard locust tree is lying in a heap in the front yard after a wind-whipping storm last night. Nothing like home.
