I told you not to turn left at Albuquerque

So Michel Simard and I are meeting some of the other owners for breakfast on  Friday morning.  We enter the stable grounds and decide to drive to Rob's stable . We figure that with Michel's pick up truck we'll fit right in . So I tell Michel to hang a left and we find ourselves on a bumpy potholed filled road . No, it wasn't Portage Ave , it was exactly the type of road Michel's pick up truck should be driving at the Assiniboia Down's stable area.  I see a jockey on a horse and I give a friendly wave...no response. As we keep driving we notice angry glares from whomever we pass. It dawns on us that we shouldn't be driving this road at this time as trainers are taking their horses out for workouts.  More angry glares as I slump in my seat leaving Michel as the only visible person in the truck.

Yes , another honest yet rookie mistake , as Bill explained the nuances of stable road driving.  It seems that horses take priority, as well they should.

It's post time !

Saturday July 30

Second race

Number 7

Time for her to show us what's she's got...

Last workout before she runs ?

It's looking like she may run sometime on the last weekend of July . She ran well Saturday morning ( July 23) and looked great breezing down the stretch . We'll know for sure later this week...stay tuned !

Some info on Northern Cotton's trainer , Rob Atras

Rob is also a co-owner, check out this story in the Winnipeg FP

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/horseracing/hey-atras-were-you-born-in-a-barn-123602934.html

Is it possible....yes ! more pictures !

These were taken by my son Martin , a very talented phorseographer

Ummm Joc...I think there's something odd about our daughter

Beautiful shot

Pictures from a workout...

Here are some early Saturday morning pictures

Joc appears to be wearing her "lucky bunny" hat

I love this shot !

Jockey David Lopez aboard

Proof that she's for real !

We brought our camcorder to her latest workout . Jocelyne was able to record a good chunk of it. It's a little wobbly at first ( the video, not the horse) . She  looks great as she's coming around the turn ( the horse, not Joc...OK I'm done with that joke)  .
Enjoy !

Official Owner

Another workout on Thursday and all went well.  She's getting some positive comments from others at the track ( other people not horses...well, maybe horses too )  so that's always encouraging.

I received  my official "horse owner" badge  complete with my  picture...and I look pretty good too. At least that's what Northern Cotton said when I showed it to her...I can now do the "badge wave" as I drive up to the security gates . Even more I can now mingle  with  multimillion dollar horse owners and say "Why yes, I'm an owner too ! "

Rob will work her out again this week and then we'll get serious about picking a race for her.

There's a new stable in town

And the name is  Quest D'or Stables !

Bill can neither spell nor pronounce it  and yes it only has one horse but  it  will be a name on everyone's lips ( for all the right reasons we hope )  .

Northern Cotton ( of the Quest d'Or Stables ! )  is still working out and making progress.  Exciting times ahead...

Decisions, decisions...

This horse ownership thing is harder than it seems. As an ownership group we , with the sage counsel of trainer Rob , will have to decide  on a few things. Do we run her this year ? If so , when ?  How will we know that she's ready ? Maybe we don't know until we race her . Maybe she does great, maybe she doesn't come out of the gate . What  if she does well, what do we do with her during the winter ? And we haven't even reached year 3 ! Keep in mind that the toughest horse decision I previously made  was "do I bet on the black horse or the brown horse ? "

Soon she'll be doing workouts with  other horses, stay tuned .

You've begged, you've pleaded, you've bribed me...but despite that, I'm going to do more posting

We went to see Northern Cotton last Sunday morning .  Or better known as 'Cotton'. Or better known as 'NC'.

She looks great , a little taller than last time I saw her . She's  feisty and is not one to be pushed around . On the track she wants to go hard  and show us what she can do. Here's a few photos  courtesy of co-owner Dean :

The owners met as a group for the first time with the exception of Rob who was away in Saskatoon . Much deliberation and deep thinking was going on....and that was just deciding what to have for breakfast . Looks like we make a good group , we tossed a few suggestions regarding  a stable name . Not quite the drama as picking the new NHL  hockey team name but hopefully we'll have an announcement soon !

Progress

Training is ongoing and all signs are positive. Rob took her out of the gate last week and let her run down the lane a little bit. She had her knees x-rayed to make sure they were mature enough to work her harder and all looks good . By the way, I had my knees x-rayed and they look very mature...

Slow but steady wins the race...right ?

You want me to prove I'm honest !?!?

One of the requirements for being a horse owner at ASD is to present  a criminal  record check, presumably with no records to check .  I went twice to the Winnipeg Police  Dept and on both occasions found myself in a long lineup (no pun intended) . In fact the second time , I had ticket 71 (again, no pun intended) and they were serving ticket 50...I left . So I've sent in the request by mail, and now Canada Post is threatening to strike. I was hoping my honest looking face would be a suitable replacement for the records check but apparently not.

Horsebites...

She had her teeth filed earlier this week and didn't like it. Who can blame her ! 

So far so good with her training. She practiced going into the starting gate and did just fine. Now if she can get out we'll be in business.

I have to get my ownership form filled out so we can get setup as a stable. It  looks like it hasn't been changed since 1934. If a form doesn't  ask for an email address...you know it's old. 

I know at some point she'll  run in a real race but right now that seems a bit blurry. Something like training camp for hockey  teams, where everyone thinks they can win the Stanley Cup...until reality settles in . 

I dub thee...

It is now official, the name of our horse is "Northern Cotton"  (Le Coton du Nord ! )

She still needs a barn name , something short, cute and informal . Something like calling Queen Elizabeth "Liz" .

Workin' out !

We discovered that Saturday morning in the stables area is a great place to be . It's even better when the sun is out and the temperature is mild. Seeing our horse run around the track was fantastic.  She looked great ( she looks better live than than in pictures) and  jockey Allison had to hold her back because she really wanted to go . We chatted with trainer Rob afterwards and , so far, everything is going very well. She's not as jittery as she was before , probably because she's used to the place and to Rob.

We should get the name approval this week though we still don't know which of our selections will be picked . I went into the commission office to get an ownership form and I came out with about 5 of them of different colours. Not to worry as Bill will take care of most of them ( partnership, authorized agent,etc...) . I just have to worry about the big decisions...when I have to make one I'll let you know.

No Timmy for you !

 We woke up at 7:45 on a Saturday morning to take a  look at our horse workout. I  didn't realize there was a training track north of the real track at ASD. There's also a cafeteria, appropriately referenced as "The  Kitchen" and the office of the Manitoba Horse Racing Commission, amongst other offices . We made a serious  'faux pas' in The Kitchen when Michel and I brought in our Tim Horton's coffee cups and sat down with Joc at a table . Chef Barrie politely, yet firmly, informed us that he did not appreciate seeing 'foreign coffee' in his kitchen. We apologized for our rookie mistake and Michel left him a toonie for good measure.

I shudder to think what would have happened had we brought in a  latte...

Training Camp Begins

She started working out this week . On Friday she jogged 1 mile and then galloped for 1 mile and a half . According to Bill, she  looked like a pro. I can't wait to see her run, maybe next Saturday .

We need to fill out our ownership forms this week . I think being an owner gives me the right to visit the stables , get free admission at any North American race track, smoke fat cigars and wear outrageous hats. I'll be sure to exercise 3 of those 4 rights...

A Breed Apart

One thing I'm quickly learning is that in horse racing, breeding and past performance of the parents and grand-parents,etc... plays a huge role in buying a horse. When Bill( our horse purchaser) went down to the auction in Florida he was armed with information on the breeding line of hundreds of horses. This information is critical in both choosing a horse as well as the price the horse will eventually sell for. Of course Bill also had to make sure the horse had 4 legs and a tail...we trust him . Here's some pictures of a couple of our filly's relatives .

This is her grand-mother "Happy Tune" on her sire's ( father's ) side

She was sold in November 2007 for almost $2,000,000

Here is a picture of her father High Cotton , I love this image. He was sold for stud ( any male's dream) for over $400,000 .







Of course we all know that just because the parents and uncles and aunts were winners it doesn't necessarily follow the offspring will be ( are you listening Alain, Martin and Eric ? ) . It is an important  prerequisite though.

We finally meet !

Joc and I  drove down to Assiniboia Downs to meet both filly and trainer. She did seem a bit shy and jumpy ( the horse not the trainer ! )  but I sensed some intelligence, as if she was waiting a bit to see what kind of people we were before warming up to us . She had been through a long journey, Florida to Kentucky to Toronto to Winnipeg , about 45 hours. So she was probably undergoing some trailer lag. .As well,   her neighbour , Noble Causeway, has got to be one of the goofiest horses I've ever seen. I think our horse will ask for a new stall ! Trainer Rob Attras is going to take it easy with her for a couple of days , maybe start some light running later in the week. It's odd that I've been to the track since I was a kid but had never been in the stables area, its' like a different world. Here's a pic of her  with Joc and Rob:

Joc is the one on the left !

 

The horse whisperer I ain't

Final name selection

Here are the final selections for our filly's name

1) Northern Cotton
2) Cotton Gin
3) Cotton Quest
4) High Road To Gold
5) Straw to Gold


We should know soon

 Bill indicated that the filly was a bit shy and acts as if her previous handling was not as gentle as it could have been .  She'll be with a gentle groom and hopefully that will help

"Horsie" is fine but I need a real name

Still no name picked though we have no shortage of suggestions. Most are combinations of her 2 parents' names ,  High Cotton (sire)  and My Golden Quest (dam) .  The leading candidate so far is Northern Cotton  , though there may be an issue with a toilet paper product of the same name. I haven't found any reference to it on the web, maybe it's only sold north of Churchill...

The name selection process involves sending 5 names to the Jockey Club in  order of preference .The first name that passes their criteria test  will be it !

She's here !

She arrived safe and sound Saturday afternoon and is at her new home at Assiniboia Downs .

She's arriving tomorrow

She left Florida last week for a few days  Kentucky.  Scheduled to arrive in Winnipeg late Saturday !

How did I wind up buying part of a horse ?

My father and I always joked about buying a thoroughbred . Being fairly unsuccessful at picking winners at the race track we shuddered at what kind of a horse we'd actually wind up buying . So we tucked  the dream away and focused on our betting , which usually involved staring thoughtfully at the program for long periods of time and then picking a horse because the name "sounded good" .  By the way, we never bet on favorites, grey horses or any horse that won their last time out.  Don't ask me how our strategy worked out.

My father passed away in June of 2010  and I lost my racing partner. At the same time I had introduced my sons and some of my  friends , much to their chagrin, to  the wonderful sport of horse racing. One of  them, Michel, had a contact named Bill  who was going to a horse auction in Florida with a particular filly in mind.  Bill  asked if Michel and me were interested in sharing the cost , along with 3 others and we both said yes.  He grabbed her at a good price and I'm now the proud part owner of a 2 year old filly called ...ummm....she's not quite named yet..

And here she is :

 

I'm not sure I can see the part I  own

I want to document and share this experience. Maybe it'll be a quick story, race her once and  find out she can't run...maybe it'll be a glorious tale of winning race after race , allowing me the chance to brag about a wise decision I more or less lucked out on. I'm guessing it will be somewhere in between leaning towards the former . Who cares, I own part of a  horse so come along for the ride....