disappearingdan_akaplaya
06-05-2006, 03:08 PM
well folks i paid my first visit to churchill downs this past friday and it was a successful one=)!!!!!!!!! first off lemme say i was unimpressed in some areas. the surrounding area of louisville outside of the university is like a ghetto and run down, i was surprised to see this. as far as the track itself well the barns on the backstretch are not very good at all. when we arrived with the horse friday night the recieving barn was filled with a shiatload of huge black beetles all over the place, that barn and pretty much most of the barns are rundown that i saw. yes i understand the place is over a 100 years old but along with all those recent renovations they did the past couple years they shoulda rebuilt the barns on the backside! now inside the track is absolutely beautiful as well as the paddock of course, and the people who are employed by the track all seemed very friendly! now outside in the grandstand you just feel like youre cramped in when looking at the racetrack itself.....kinda hard 2 explain but any1 whos been to CD im sure knows what im talking about!
well now for the actual trip to louisville from arlington and the race itself!....... we left thursday evening from a bright and sunny arlington but by the time we crossed into indiana and it turned dark there was nothing but rained, rained all day friday morning into the early afternoon thus the track was sloppy. steve my trainer and i were both tired and exhausted all day friday and when we got back early sat am from not getting alotta sleep fri night.......but with the horse winning it was definately worth it!
luga has a ton of early speed as evident by his race 2 back when he went a mile at arlington and set a unreal pace to the tune something like 22 44 and 109 for 3 quarters! he faded of course that race and finished 4th of 11 that day! well steve asks me what do i think of how the race is gonna turn out and he goes i think we should take the lead right away. i tell him theres a couple other early speed horses in the race and this horse has rated in the past no need to gun early and burn him up. so he tells julien leparoux in the paddock when we were standing there before the race that if you wind up on the early early but if not then sit off and dont fight early and burn him up.....nice 2 see some1 has confidence in my ability of analyzing and handicapping a race. by the way meeting julien in the paddock before the race was really cool. maybe a young kid his age would getta swelled head being leading rider in the COUNTRY and having all the success hes had already, but hes just the opposite! confident in himself yes but not over confident and definately not stuckup!
well the race started a little nervously! luga kinda hopped out the gate but julien quickly recovered and got him right off the pace and about midway through the backside he saw both the 2 frontrunners off the rail and not going very quick at all so he advanced luga up on the fence to take the lead. on the turn you can see the other horses getting pushed on and some even driven but he was chilly on luga LOL but steve was still nervous cuz at the top of the lane a host of challengers were very close some even on even terms and ready to try and run the horse down. steve goes at the top of the lane"oh shiat" lol"cmon luga" and i say he hasnt asked him yet he should still have something. well julien then asked the question and the horse responded with more and luga held off every1 and hit the wire first. steve and me were the only two people there with the horse but we were about as loud as a group of 50! i was so happy for him, a 21yo kid winning the first race he ever saddled at churchill, yes it wasnt the derby but still one helluva feat this early in my trainers career! heres a pic of us with luga in the winners circle from this past friday. steves on the right im on the left in the pic. you can also see all my other pics which most of you who were longtime espn board regs have already saw!
http://community.webshots.com/photo/551094884/2061096070068366524ptquQF
well now for the actual trip to louisville from arlington and the race itself!....... we left thursday evening from a bright and sunny arlington but by the time we crossed into indiana and it turned dark there was nothing but rained, rained all day friday morning into the early afternoon thus the track was sloppy. steve my trainer and i were both tired and exhausted all day friday and when we got back early sat am from not getting alotta sleep fri night.......but with the horse winning it was definately worth it!
luga has a ton of early speed as evident by his race 2 back when he went a mile at arlington and set a unreal pace to the tune something like 22 44 and 109 for 3 quarters! he faded of course that race and finished 4th of 11 that day! well steve asks me what do i think of how the race is gonna turn out and he goes i think we should take the lead right away. i tell him theres a couple other early speed horses in the race and this horse has rated in the past no need to gun early and burn him up. so he tells julien leparoux in the paddock when we were standing there before the race that if you wind up on the early early but if not then sit off and dont fight early and burn him up.....nice 2 see some1 has confidence in my ability of analyzing and handicapping a race. by the way meeting julien in the paddock before the race was really cool. maybe a young kid his age would getta swelled head being leading rider in the COUNTRY and having all the success hes had already, but hes just the opposite! confident in himself yes but not over confident and definately not stuckup!
well the race started a little nervously! luga kinda hopped out the gate but julien quickly recovered and got him right off the pace and about midway through the backside he saw both the 2 frontrunners off the rail and not going very quick at all so he advanced luga up on the fence to take the lead. on the turn you can see the other horses getting pushed on and some even driven but he was chilly on luga LOL but steve was still nervous cuz at the top of the lane a host of challengers were very close some even on even terms and ready to try and run the horse down. steve goes at the top of the lane"oh shiat" lol"cmon luga" and i say he hasnt asked him yet he should still have something. well julien then asked the question and the horse responded with more and luga held off every1 and hit the wire first. steve and me were the only two people there with the horse but we were about as loud as a group of 50! i was so happy for him, a 21yo kid winning the first race he ever saddled at churchill, yes it wasnt the derby but still one helluva feat this early in my trainers career! heres a pic of us with luga in the winners circle from this past friday. steves on the right im on the left in the pic. you can also see all my other pics which most of you who were longtime espn board regs have already saw!
http://community.webshots.com/photo/551094884/2061096070068366524ptquQF