As many of you know I work at a thoroughbred farm in NJ. Back in 2006 my bosses acquired two fillies they hoped to raise and eventually race. Well finally four years later one of the fillies is scheduled to race. All of us at the farm are VERY excited, we’ve done all the work with her and we raised her from a baby to now as a very beautiful 4yo. All through the summer we shipped in to Monmouth Park to work and in November we shipped her and her younger 1/2 sister to Monmouth Park where she finally got her gate card. We would have loved to race in NJ but the meet ended December 5th and she wouldn’t have been ready yet. We’ve been shipping Iron Belle in to work at Philadelphia Park and she is scheduled to make her first start on the 12th in race #5 at Philadelphia. We’re hoping she’ll do well though we’re quite worried because she doesn’t like the track at Philadelphia though we’re told the track is quite different in the afternoons.
Really all we want is for her to have a safe trip and come back in one piece. So if any of you happen to be watching Philadelphia Park on Tuesday root for #1 - Iron Belle in the 5th race! You might even see me, I think I am paddocking her!
And here’s a few pictures of the girl.
As a weanling
With her fellow weanling friends, calling for their mothers.
Galloping at Monmouth Park (my friend Steph aboard)
Galloping at Monmouth again (I’m on the inside horse)
Walking back after working 3/8ths. The horse i’m on is Royal Tea Time, feel free to root for him tomorrow in the 2nd race at Philly!
Well Rodeo didn’t win but she ran well (in our eyes at least). She finished 6th/8. The chart says that she was 16 lengths behind the winner, she looked much closer than that. I’ll see if I can find a replay that you can get for free. I watched the replay about 500 times!
She was in the 1 hole which means she was on the rail which is not where you want to be with a first time starter. Despite this she broke great! She was with the leader for the first 1/4 mile. It looks like she dropped back sharply when she hit the 3/8ths pole possibly because a horse crossed in front of her and she got dirt in the face for the first time in her life. It looked like she started to come back again down the stretch which is a good sign. In all she HATES the surface at Philadelphia and looks like she doesn’t like dirt in her face which she definately got, she was covered when she came back. She needed a race and she did everything correctly. She was also very keyed up on the walkover and in the paddock and probably spent all her energy before she even got to the gate. The important thing is that she came back in one piece, the track is awful and there have been numerous breakdowns already which is scary.
If all goes well she might race again at Philadelphia. As long as she stays sound she’ll run at Monmouth where she works like a rocket. In november she worked 4 furlongs in :47 /25 at Monmouth handily from the gates (Handily means she was doing it all herself, was never asked by the rider). Meanwhile her last work at Philadelphia she worked 4 furlongs from the gate in :49 breezing from the gates (was being urged on by the rider). Hence the thought she doesn’t like the track at Philadelphia.
With a little more experience it sounds like she could make a great racer on the track! Congrats on a good first run for her! Hopefully she’ll do even better the next time out of the gate!
So Rodeo is entered again at Philadelphia Park tomorrow! Well that is if we don’t get flooded out. We’d really rather not race on a track that’s going to be soup but she’s sound, she’s fit and she needs the race. If anything the track might end up cancelling, will have to see if all the races go today and what the track looks like!
Purse $41,000. (plus Up To 40% Pabf) For Maidens, Fillies And Mares Four And Five Years Old. Weight, 122 Lbs. Six And One Half Furlongs.
P# PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1 Tahiti Pearl (ON) 4/F L M G Pino 122 E M Merryman 15/1
2 2 Aintnooilpaintin (PA) 4/F L F Pennington 122 R R Riviezzo 8/1
3 3 Seychelles (PA) 4/F L J Arce 122 C L Le Vine 5/2
4 4 Roman Mistress (KY) 4/F S Elliott 122 K A Demasi 8/1
5 5 Proven Right (KY) 4/F L* G Garcia 122 J A Devereux 15/1
6 6 Sistine (KY) 4/F L K Carmouche 122 J P Terranova, II 9/2 7 7 Iron Belle (PA) 4/F A M Rodriguez 122 D W Milne 12/1
8 8 Quake Lake (FL) 4/F L J Rocco, Jr. 122 H G Motion 7/5
Owners: 1 - Castle Peak Farm; 2 - Anthony Mashintonio; 3 - Carol Lynn Le Vine; 4 - Whisper Hill Farm LLC; 5 - Wachtel Stable; 6 - Kaleem Shah; 7 - Dennis W. Milne; 8 - Joseph V. Shields, Jr.
Breeders: 1 - Castle Peak Farm; 2 - Peter Kirwan; 3 - Thomas C. Le Vine; 4 - John D. Gunther; 5 - Laurie Berenson & Bruce Berenson; 6 - Paragon Farms, LLC; 7 - Susan Moore & John Moore; 8 - J. V. Shields Jr. & Robert N. Clay
So if any of you happen to be watching Philadelphia Park on Tuesday root for #1 - Iron Belle in the 5th race! You might even see me, I think I am paddocking her!
