Not So Busy, After All

By 10 a.m. this morning, my four doctors' appointments had been reduced to one, after my medical oncologist made a tactical decision, and I made a strategic decision. With suddenly free time, Susan, David, and I were able to meet my sister, Katie, for lunch at a local, quite good, new, Lebanese restaurant. Katie was here from California for a few days and, among other things, helped Susan put away the contents of our car. Our car just arrived from Florida, courtesy of our trainer, Christophe Clement, who shipped it up along with a group of other cars belonging to his stable employees.

A high-end racing stable, like Christophe's, comprised of  valuable stakes and allowance-class runners, is a complex operation. Not only does the trainer have to have perfect pitch for animals that enables him or her to anticipate and react to the individual needs of these high-strung, explosively powerful, sensitive, fragile, sometimes dangerous athletes, but also the trainer has to deal with a myriad of business, strategic, logistical, legal, regulatory, financial, and veterinary problems. Moreover, I can think of no other occupation that requires dealing so routinely with the full spectrum of the human condition: owners ranging from kings and queens to brash entrepreneurs; employees ranging from people with options in life who simply love working with horses, to people with sad, endless personal problems and no other options in life. What makes all this worthwhile for the trainer and everyone else involved? A good horse. The dream and occasional reality of a top horse keep it all going.

The ultimate dream for an American involved in racing is to win the Kentucky Derby. Next Saturday, May 2, is this year's Kentucky Derby, to be run as always at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Once again, I won't be running a horse in the Derby. But I am excited about the prospect of running Hot Money that day in a race at Belmont Park on Long Island!