Peter Kleinhans has agreed to chime in a few times a week on his stable, providing First Over readers with a rare and candid look at behind-the-scenes the trials and tribulations. Here is his first post:
"I am starting a twice-a-week (I hope) blog on my racing stable. I got a very gratifying response from readers when I wrote the blog entries from Sweden about the Elitlopp, so I thought it might be fun for fans to get a regular, up-close look at what goes on behind the scenes in a racing operation. As long as people seem to find it interesting, and I'm able to avoid writer's block, I'll try to keep it going. I'll also try to get pictures of all the horses, so you can see who I'm writing about.
Monday, June 23, 2008
We have eight horses right now stabled at The Meadowlands. Assistant Rick Durden and grooms Donald Brogdon, James Fox, and Rob Lane have been keeping things going smoothly. Here's your cast of characters:
WEARABLE ART (groom, Rob Lane) Tremendously talented four-year-old pacing tallion back in training after breeding several mares in Pennsylvania. Still trying to overcome tendon issues from last year but is sound and training well at the moment. He still has a long way to go, though, and probably won't be ready to race until mid September at the earliest. And, of course, that's only if his tendon can handle the faster miles ahead.
ATOCHIA (groom, Donald Brogdon) Razor-sharp three-year-old gelding pacer. He's won two in a row with me driving, so how good will he be with Ron Pierce in the bike this Saturday? He's in an elimination for the Art Rooney pace at Yonkers, and I think he'll hold his own, but he will definitely have to step it up a notch if he's going to defeat the top competition, like Badlands Nitro, that he'll face in that race.
GET WELL (groom, Donald Brogdon) A grey four-year-old pacing mare who has never raced. I normally wouldn't keep trying with a four-year-old who's never gone faster than 2:09 in her life, but I'm reluctantly giving her a shot because Rick, my assistant, has always loved her. She got in shape in Rhode Island, with Rick's daughter Jen riding her forty-five minutes a day. She trained in 2:26 on Saturday. If all goes well, maybe she'll be ready to race in a couple months? Personally, I'm not holding my breath.
LOVELY ASTRO (groom, Rob Lane) A truly talented four-year-old pacing mare who has won six of twelve lifetime starts and has a record of 1:52.3 at Woodbine. Unfortunately, she has an undiagnosed lameness in her right front that has befuddled us for months. A knee operation and two month turnout at our farm did nothing to solve the problem. Now our vets Dr. Rick Balmer and Dr. Brian McNamara have localized the site of the lameness to the foot, but so far all radiographs have been negative. We're sending her to Dr. Brendan Furlong for an MRI on Friday. This diagnostic test costs over $2,000, but if we don't figure out what's going on, this talented horse won't be much more than a broodmare, so it's worth it... we hope!
PETEANTNART (groom, Rob Lane) The only two-year-old in the barn. She's from the first crop of Western Terror. We like her but aren't pushing her. She's been in 2:18. I'd be happy to see her race two or three times in the fall, just to learn what it's all about. Then we can give her a break on the farm and bring her back next year.
IDEAL MORNING (groom, Rob Lane) Three-year-old pacing filly who is fast- but just not fast enough to be a stakes horse... at least not yet. She was competitive three times in a row in New Jersey Sire Stakes action, but all three efforts were only good enough to get her sixth-places finishes. She'll be down in class next time and I'm expecting a big effort.
SILVERADO HALL (groom, James Fox) Silverado suffered a pulled suspensory ligament when he made a break over a sloppy track last month. He's a six-year-old who was just getting good when the injury occurred. It's not serious, and he's as sound as a dollar when he jogs, but we're taking our time with it. He's just jogging three miles a day for a while and won't go any training trips until the beginning of August.
JABEZ (groom, Donald Brogdon) Seven-year-old trotting gelding. He's what people mean when they call a horse an "honest trotter." Just a lovely horse to be around; he never bites but he'll always nudge you when you walk by him. He's racing Wednesday at Chester; he drew the seven post in the tenth race. He's made over $35,000 so far this year, which isn't bad when you consider that he hasn't won a single race. Maybe this week?
I'll be back with the week's anecdotes on Friday. As I've always said, every horse is really a story- and the cheap ones often provide more drama than the good ones. Speaking of good ones, our best horse, Enough Talk, is still in Sweden, getting ready for a race in Norway this upcoming Sunday. Then he'll most likely be coming back to the U.S. to compete in the Trotting Classic, the Nat Ray, the Maple Leaf, and the Breeders' Crown. It looks like I'm selling 25% of the horse to owner Jerry Silva, and I'm looking forward to the partnership."
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