Owning a thoroughbred race horse provides one with the opportunity to be pessimistic and optimistic at the same time. It's like buying a lottery ticket, but with a far greater price tag.
I've never owned a thoroughbred, not even a portion of one--a tail or a hoof, or the right flank-- but through a good-friend of a good friend, I've come to witness aspects of ownership close up. Are there ever highs and lows.
So yesterday, when I knew the friend's friend's horse was going in the 10th at Belmont I spotted the owner and his modest entourage headed for the paddock. I had been invited to join them in the Trustees' room, but a prior commitment to others held me the restaurant at Belmont. To have your horse running on a Saturday is special, and to have it turn out to be Kentucky Derby day can only add to the historic possibilities.
When I saw the owner approach the paddock a pair of retiree-aged well-wishers shook his hand. I saw the owner give the "who knows sign," a right hand turned turned palm up, then quickly turned palm down. No need to hear any words. The motion was its own communication.
The horse is named Mighty Tuff, sired by Good and Tough, and is from thoroughly modest breeding. If this were a person, open admission at a community college might still present a challenge. There'd be a form to fill out.
This was to be the horse's fourth race. The first two were complete disasters. They could only be considered successful if you consider finishing last each time in 10 and 12 horse fields being exactly where you'd like to be. Not many people cherish that spot. But at least he wasn't hurt.
Information was coming in that he had been gelded. This sometimes improves a colt's performance when they seem to have shown no interest in doing anything involving racing. From some very distant article, I've added to my memory the results of a study that claimed that teenage boys think of sex every 14 seconds. I have no idea how this might apply to colts, but I am happy boys are allowed to mature without being gelded.
As if often the case with horses, there is a search to find out what they like with regard to racing surface, distance and class level. Sometimes it is never found out, and plenty of horses never win a race. The owners generally give up on them after whatever money and patience they have has been exhausted.
But two races is too soon, and the horse does have modest turf breeding, through the dam and the sire. This means Mighty Tuff might do well on the grass, as opposed to a dirt surface.
The third race offered such an opportunity but the weather didn't cooperate. When it rains heavy, races come "off the turf" and are carded for the main track. Wet grass is not safe to run on when the animal weighs 1,000 - 1,200 pounds and goes somewhere nearly 35-40 miles an hour with someone on their back, however light.
But the third race revealed some signs of life when the lead was taken and held in a one mile affair at a class level that was considered "open," meaning not restricted to New York Bred horses. Odds were in the slightly better range of 18-1, coming down from the previous 44 and 38-1s. The result was only slightly better in that Mighty Tuff managed to beat only two other horses in a 7 horse field, finishing 5th.
This type of erratic result starts to earn a horse the label of being...well, "no good." But the desired turf surface had yet to be tried. Rain prevented it.
So, now we're at the fourth career start on the first Saturday in May, at Belmont, the last race on the card, and the sun is shining. It's been shining all day, and as the announcer told the gathered at the start of the day's racing: "the track is fast and the turf is firm." We're going to have turf racing today. Mighty Tuff will meet the surface his "connections" have been hoping for.
On paper, that is the past performances, all that has been described is revealed in numbers and symbols. The gelded status is there, but when it occurred isn't. The turf breeding is there, but not lit by a sign that says: "Turf Breeding Here." You've got to bring that piece of knowledge with you, either from knowing something about the breeding, which is revealed, or reading something that might be written along those lines. From the paper, you certainly don't get to know what the connections are hoping for, only that perhaps they're delusional, or maybe they're onto to something, but who knows what.
Mighty Tuff 's odds are climbing. 18-1 when last looked. Despite what can be a host of negatives on paper, a very modest sum has been wagered by the people at my table since money won is twice as nice as money earned.
Basically, the horse is running toward the back in a 12 horse field going 6 furlongs on the turf at Belmont. But not last, not distanced, and not boxed in. The pre-race hand signal is still valid. And then they "straighten for home." Mighty Tuff is swung out to the three or four path and takes dead aim on the wire. The jockey is hardly a household name, but is capable.
Mighty Tuff just keeps coming, with nothing in front of them, but with plenty of others to their inside, who also happen to be ahead.
At final odds of 33-1, Mighty Tuff wins by a nose.
Mighty Happy people.
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