At lunch today with some friends from Boston, we discussed, among other things, horses. Susan and I currently have five thoroughbred racehorses in training. Four of them are currently in Florida, and one is in France. They are young horses, with their racing careers ahead of them. They include a four-year-old gelding, W. C. Jones; a three-year-old gelding, Hot Money; a three-year-old colt, Mustang Island; a two-year-old colt, Backslider; and a three-year-old filly, Sacred Music.
W. C. Jones has made three starts, finishing a fast-closing second in his most recent race at Belmont Park at a mile and an eighth on the turf on June 22, 2008. Since then, he has been recovering from an injury, first in Kentucky and currently at a training center in Florida. When he is ready to run, he will go to trainer Christophe Clement in New York. I named W. C. Jones for my late uncle, who bred and raced thoroughbreds and got me interested in them in 1961. During the summer of 1963, between my junior and senior years at Princeton, I worked for his trainer at Saratoga racetrack. I bought my first thoroughbred racehorse in 1974, and Susan and I have owned and bred varying numbers of thoroughbreds-- sometimes in partnership with others-- ever since.
Hot Money has made one start, at Aqueduct racetrack on Long Island. We started him in a race on the dirt main track, just to give him experience. We think that he may prefer to run on the turf. We'll find out! He may be ready to run again in about a month, in New York.
Mustang Island was also given one race at Aqueduct before being put away for the winter. He may be ready to run again in six weeks or so, also in New York.
Backslider is at the stage of training in which owners and trainers find out whether or not a young horse has speed. A big part of managing racehorses is figuring out what they do best -- sprint, compete at longer distances, take the lead early, come from behind, run on the dirt or turf, etc. But if a horse is going to be top class doing anything, it has to have speed.
Sacred Music is in training in Chantilly, France, with trainer Nicholas Clement. All of our horses in the United States are trained by his brother, Christophe Clement. Sacred Music is being pointed for her first race at one of the Parisian tracks in mid April. She appears to be best suited to running long distances on the turf, which is the surface over which the French races are contested. Although there are many good turf races in the United States, most racing here is conducted over dirt or artificial surfaces.
Susan and I bred Hot Money, and I bought the other four horses at yearling auctions in Saratoga. Although, as you would expect, I recently gave some consideration to selling our horses, Susan and I have decided to keep them. Like all owners with young, largely untested horses at the beginnings of their careers, we are keenly following their progress as they are being prepared for this season's racing!
