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March in Hoof Beats |
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Welcome back to On Track! This month’s newsletter features a look behind the Lucky Chucky photo shoot, a peek at the progress of freshman filly champion Poof She’s Gone, and an update on pacing mare Eve Freeluck, who survived a horrific crash at Yonkers to win again. And time is running out on the Muscle Hill shoe giveaway.
Editor’s Note: The views contained in this newsletter are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.
Lucky shot
A few weeks ago, photographer Mark Hall and I got a chance to escape icy Ohio for a few days to travel to south Florida. While we were down there, we went to Pompano Park to work on a few stories, but we also traveled up to South Florida Training Center in Lake Worth to get the photo for this month’s cover story on Lucky Chucky.
We woke up at 5:30 a.m., threw the hotel room door open, and were hit with a 68-degree breeze, a nice respite from 15 degrees and snow that we had left behind in Columbus. We hurried up to Chuck Sylvester’s barn to catch him taking Lucky Chucky out on the track. We had arrived just in time, too, because Sylvester had only had the colt back jogging for about a week.
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--T.J. Burkett
Poof, she’s back
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| Lisa Photo |
As part of Hoof Beats’ 2010 Trotting Preview, Ken Weingarter profiled the strong filly Poof She’s Gone, the only 2-year-old millionaire of 2009, winning 10 of 12 races and $1,036,956 in purses. Her seasonal earnings were the second-best for a 2-year-old trotter in history, only coming second to Snow White ($1,252,646) in 2007.
This year Poof She’s Gone is returning better than ever in the hopes of winning another Dan Patch Award, according to trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman. Five of the last seven 2-year-old filly champs have failed to do this, but it’s very possible that Poof She’s Gone can use some of her magic to pull it off.
Since her return she has been jogging for three weeks and has been trained slow trips. Next week Norman said she will begin double-headers and then will go back to two trips.
“It seems like she’s grown quite a bit and matured,” he said. “Her appetite’s better and she has put on a lot of weight. She looks like a bigger and stronger version of herself from last year.”
Norman said that if she comes back really good and he and her owners feel confident enough, then they’re thinking about racing her against the colts in the Hambletonian.
--Laura Kelly
Free rein
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| Geri Schwarz Photo |
When pacing mare Eve Freeluck crashed nose-first into the infield at Yonkers Raceway in November 2008, her trainer, Randy Castellani, believed the mare had certainly drawn her last breath.
However, with the careful examination of veterinarians and devoted care that Castellani gave her, Eve Freeluck eventually made it back to the races. Castellani started by walking her behind a towgate near the end of January 2009. Eventually, she returned to the pari-mutuel ranks in April 2009. This year, she is on a hot streak, with two consecutive wins at Monticello Raceway.
“She is racing very well right now,” said Castellani.
Eve Freeluck’s only residual effects from the accident are a bump where the racebike shaft penetrated her stifle and another bump behind her ankle. She does, however, have another problem.
“Although we had a hard time keeping her shoes on, she has done a phenomenal job,” Castellani said. With the help of farrier Tim Baucon, they have to work extra-hard to keep shoes on Eve Freeluck.
“She has bad feet,” he added. “Her hoof walls are very weak. It’s tough to get her feet to grow. Normally it takes two hours to put her shoes on. She does kick the wall and loosens them up.”
As long as Eve Freeluck keeps racing well, she will continue to go behind the starting gate, Castellani said. And after she is done on the track, he said he wants to give her a permanent home on his farm in Pennsylvania.
“She is such a tough horse, a game mare,” Castellani said. “She may not be a 1:52 horse, but every time she tries her heart out. And she is doing very well.”
--Beijing Zhang
Last chance to win a Muscle Hill shoe
Hoof Beats is offering an exciting opportunity for subscribers to win a shoe from Muscle Hill, unanimous winner of his division in the Dan Patch Awards balloting, and probable Horse of the Year. The drawing is on March 1, so this is your last chance to enter!
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The winner of Muscle Hill’s shoe will receive a letter of authenticity signed by the horse’s trainer, Greg Peck.
Ten other subscribers will also be drawn as winners. Five second-place winners will be selected to win an autographed print of Muscle Hill and five third-place winners will receive an autographed copy of the February issue of Hoof Beats, featuring Muscle Hill on the cover.
All current subscribers to Hoof Beats and Hoof Beats Direct are eligible to enter. Click here to go to the entry page. Not a current subscriber? Become one today and become eligible to enter by calling 877.800.8782 ext. 2.
You can increase your chances of winning by lengthening your subscription. Current subscribers can enter once, or twice if they extend their subscription by a year. New subscribers get two entries with the purchase of a subscription. Want an even better chance to win? Then purchase a multiple-year subscription. A two-year subscription entitles you to three entries, and a three-year subscription allows you to enter four times.
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| 11x14 print for $19.99 – and only available at our store. |
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