Back on Track

The Winter season is officially over!  The Florida horses shipped to Arlington Park last Tuesday after the horses heading to Philly had left a few days prior. We were among the first outfits to arrive at AP where the racing season begins in 10 days on April 29th. This season we are in barn 7c which is one of the newer barns on the backside. It is centrally located close to the training track and is only a short walk through the paddock to the main track. Another great feature is the availability of grazing areas which we hadn't had in prior years. Arlington has redone (refurbished?) the poly track and it seems to be in excellent condition. It seems to be darker in color than in prior years and has noticeably less shredded rubber mixed in. The turf course looks lush as always and we are looking forward to the racing getting started.

This is the first Spring since I started training in 1999 that we don't have a division of horses in Kentucky. While feeling a bit melancholy about that fact, the economic realities of horse racing have made it difficult to base out of Kentucky especially when the racing scene shifts away from Keeneland and Churchill Downs. The purse schedule at Arlington is not as good as Churchill's during May and June, however once the racing there ends in early July you are hit with the double whammy of Ellis Park (and the constant threat of closing) and stall rent at Churchill Downs. Handicapping the political process and court rulings is a treacherous pastime but there is over $100 million dollars in escrow that may soon be released to the horse racing industry in Illinois which will potentially boost purses there past the Churchill Downs level.

Another big change is the addition of Susan Ditter as the assistant trainer for the Philadelphia Park division. Susan worked for us back in 2001-2003 before trying her hand as a jockey and then racing official. She was looking to get back into training and this position opened up when Cherie decided that she was going to return home to Saratoga for the Summer rather than head to Philadelphia.