Haha. Thought someone might enjoy this. Can you read the name on the little tag?

Work Tab from 1946

Read and weep.

To get an idea how much tougher the old time horses must have been - here's a look at Assult's worktab from 1946 - the year he won the triple crown.

He had 24 workouts between Feb 3rd and March 30th of his 3yo season. 22 of the 24 workouts came between the distances of 4 furlongs and a mile.

He won the Wood Memorial on April 20th, finishing 4th in the Derby Trial Stakes on April 30th, won the Ky Derby on May 4th, and won the Preakness on May 11th. 

After four tough races between April 20th and May 11th, he was shipped to Belmont Park on May 12th.

He worked 4 furlongs on May 16th, 3 furlongs on May 18th, 4 furlongs on May 20th, 8 furlongs on May 22nd, 3 furlongs on May 24th, 10 furlongs on May 25th, 4 furlongs on May 28th, followed by a 12 furlong work in 2:32 flat on May 29th.

So, after winning the Preakness on May 11th, he was put through a series of 8 published workouts before winning the June 1st Belmont by 3 lengths in 2:30 4/5ths

After winning the Belmont - he was given an insanely long rest of 3 days before he returned to the worktab on June 5th, and again on June 7th, and again on June 9th, and again on June 11th, and again on June 13th, before winning the Dwyer by 4.5 lengths on June 15th.

2 Year Old Watch

• Ocean Colors (Winning Colors x Orientate)
• Proud Jefe (Besiege x Proud Citizen)
• Lyin' Heart (Rumba Punch x Lion Heart)
• Rockland (Wiscasset x Smarty Jones)
• El Brujo (Brujeria x Burlesco)
• Makasi (Floral Bounty x Indian Charlie)

Looking through some of these 2 year old names, let's hope they're not future Crown winners! I won't be impressed with a Triple Crown winner that sports a clunky, fugly name. How would the list look like this:

Sir Barton

Gallant Fox

Omaha 

War Admiral

Whirlaway

Count Fleet

Assault

Citation

Secretariat

Seattle Slew 

Affirmed

Mine That Bird?

Robbin Da Hood?

For All Who Conga?

Light Green?

Danceyoursoxoff?

Da Bear Facts?

Himynameissarah?

Jimminy Cricket. I mean, I know it can be tough, but can you come up with anything a little more savory than some of these? 

Race Watch List

Here's are a couple races to put on your race watch list!

1. The GIII  Colonial Turf Cup on June 16th at Colonial Downs in Virginia. Kentucky Bear will be returning there after his disappointing go in the Preakness. I felt bad for him....he seemed like he could have gotten a good go and he may have some talent, but he had a nightmarish trip, stumbling out of the gate, got checked a couple times and then was thrown about in stretch traffic. In addition, he apparently "got a cut on his leg," said trainer Reade Baker "Someone stepped on his hind shoe and bent it down and in, over an inch. I don't know how he ran on that. I don't even know how he could walk on it." The Turf Division is pretty open right now, so hopefully we'll see some good stuff from him!

2. GIII Northern Dancer Stakes on June 16th. This one could be good, as it included Recapturetheglory, Pyro, Visionare, as well as other horses like My Pal Charlie and Texas Wildcatter. I'm most eager to see RTG make a return - his Derby go was interesting and somewhat promising - but it could shape up to be an interesting race.

3. GIII Regret Stakes on June 14th. Pure Clan will try out the turf in this one, and Absolutely Cindy is there as well. 

4. GII Fleur De Lis Handicap one June 12th has possible contenders that include Hystericalady, Tough Tiz's Sis and Dawn after Dawn.

How much faster can I put this crummy Triple Crown season behind me?!

Horse Highlight: Lonhro

Lonhro was a champion Australian racehorse that reigned between 2000 and 2004. A son of the brilliant racehorse Octagonal, he quickly earned the nicknames “The Black Flash” and “Occy’s Little Boy.” He earned his name from his foaling description of “tiny but perfect,” a description that was commonly applied to the CEO of the London Rhodesian Mining and Land Company – which had the stock exchange code LONRHO. (The name is purposefully misspelt.) He was a versatile racer, winning over many different tracks and distances, and endeared himself to the public with his stunning appearance and flashy racing style, in which he would often settle to the back early and then unleash an explosive sprint late in the race.

His two most dazzling races were the Grade 1 Caulfield Stakes in 2002 at the age of four, and the Grade 1 Australian Cup in 2004 at the age of five.

In the first, Lonhro dug deep in the stretch to claw out a gritty victory over one of Australia’s greatest Thoroughbred racing mares, Sunline, who had won over 30 races, was Australian Horse of the Year three times in a row and was the second-highest money earning mare in history with more than $11 million in winnings. In the process, he set a new race record time of 2:00:60.

The Grade 1 Australian Cup in 2004 was made a special “farewell day” to Lonhro, organized by the Victorian Racing Club, as it was to be his final race in Melbourne. The field was packed with talent, including the champions Makybe Diva, Mummify, and Elvstroem. In one of the exciting stretch runs in history, Lonhro found himself blocked by horses not once but twice, forcing his jockey to check him, check again, and then check him a third time and furiously yank him around another horse to a far outside track. With only 100 yards left in the race, Lonhro unleashed an explosive turn of foot, rocketing past competitors and managing to surge to the front at the wire to defeat the leading horse, Delzao, leaving the crowd in absolute hysterics and the announcer proclaiming, “What a champion, what a way to go!”

Lonhro retired to stud in 2004 with more than $5 million dollars of winnings, and with thirty-five starts under his belt, including 26 victories, 3 second, 2 third, 2 fourth and 1 sixth place finish. He was Australian Champion Three Year Old in 2002 as well as Australian Racehorse of the Year, Middle Distance Champion and World Champion Miler all in 2004. He was undefeated at the Flemington track and at the 1500 meter distance. His home is at Woodlands Stud, where he stands next to his own sire, Octagonal, another beloved Australian Thoroughbred racing icon!

The following video is a compilation of many of his races – it’s actually an ad for his breeding services! But the video quality is excellent, and highlights many exciting moments in his career, including the thrilling stretch run of the 2004 Australian Cup, which is around 2:40 in the video.

Saturday Beyers

Belmont 06/06 - Brooklyn H. (G2) Delosvientos 107 
Belmont 06/06 - Hill Prince S. (G3) Gio Ponti 96
Belmont 06/07 - True North H. (G2) Benny the Bull 106
Belmont 06/07 - Just a Game S. (G1) Ventura 101
Belmont 06/07 - Acorn S. (G1) Zaftig 113
Belmont 06/07 - Woody Stephens S. (G2) J Be K 108
Belmont 06/07 - Manhattan H. (G1) Dancing Forever 104
Belmont 06/07 - Belmont S. (G1) Da'Tara 99

Undercard:
Bel 1 - Desert Key 104
Bel 2 - Sixthirteen 85
Bel 3 - Piazza Di Spagna 78
Bel 4 - Forefathers 107
Bel 5 - Endless Circle 78
Bel 12 - Roll the Di 78
Bel 13 - Megapixel 87

Hollywood 06/07 - Whittingham Memorial H. (G1) Artiste Royal 101 
Hollywood 06/07 - Honeymoon H. (G2) Misty Ocean 90 
Hollywood 06/07 - Ack Ack H. (G3) Rebellion 98 

Woodbine 06/07 - Eclipse S. (G3) True Metroplitan 103

Judgement Call

Let me tell you a story.

I compete with my 11 year old Westphalian gelding in the Junior Hunter division on my local horse show circuit. The Junior Division is very competitive, but we’ve been doing it for about four years, and have been placing very well in the last couple shows. Back in April, I attended a Spring Classic and was hoping to maintain my position as the #1 point-scoring rider in the division. My warm-ups on that Friday all seemed to be in order, although my horse was a little over-keen and I had to pull on him during parts of the courses. Saturday rolled around and we seemed ready to go: I was confident, he looked good and our warm up routine went smoothly. When our turned rolled around, I entered the show ring feeling a little Dutrow-esque, ready to nail my “foregone conclusion” of a round. We picked up the canter, got a good pace, and rounded the turn to the first jump. My gelding locked in on the jump, the distance of takeoff appeared perfect, I leaned forward in anticipation of the coming launch…and my horse hit the brakes, skidding to a stop and knocking over flowers and poles left and right.

I should say at this point that, short of a disastrous rider fuck-up, my horse does not refuse jumps. He enjoys jumping and could probably clear this height from a standstill. I was completely confused as I reoriented myself and circled back to the jump: he was moving perfectly fine, was behaving normally before we went in, yet his refusal set off alarm bells in my head because it was so uncharacteristic. When I turned round to the jump again, he went over it – but very awkwardly, once again balking and dragging for no apparent reason. I checked him once again for any signs of labored breath or leg trouble, but nothing stuck out at me. He seemed to be traveling well and was already peeking around for the next jump. I had an instant to make a decision – I could stop, or I could try to drag him miserably around the ring and scrape an eighth place ribbon…out of nine. 

 I pulled up. I dismounted. I left.

The horse? He’s fine. I have absolutely no idea what was with him that day. But I don’t regret that split-second decision to stop, despite the fact that it cost me the class, about $3,000 and eventually the entire show. There’s never any shame in protecting the horse. A million things can go wrong inside the body of a horse, only about half of which are easily visible. And so, Kent D.’s decision to ease up Big Brown may be many things: responsible, odd, stupid, for the best, hasty, perhaps dishonestly motivated…who the hell knows? When you’re in the saddle and moving fast, under immense pressure to perform, something with your horse just isn’t right and you've got 2 seconds to make a definitive decision, it’s a whole different game. We may never know for sure if his choice was an act of laziness or of integrity. But I've been there...and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

For those who are curious, that's Mr. My Foot Hurts down there. He appears to be taking a mid-air nap; apparently these puny obstacles don't phase him much! 

Also, since we're talking about jumping, how's this for a feat of horse athleticism: the mighty Puissance Wall.