GETTING A BREAK... finally (Part 54e)

As far as racing was concerned I was having what could best be described as ”marginal success“. I got a couple of 3rd place finishes with the three footed horse and a 2nd and a 3rd with my grandfather’s horse. The two year old was getting better behaved and that was good as his first race was coming up. In harness racing they have a special series of races each Summer called the Grand Circuit. Horses are nominated for these special races at the time of their birth. The purses (the dollars that they race for) are much larger than 95% of the regular races so there is a lot of attention paid to them. The Grand Circuit was scheduled for their week at the track in the middle of July. The highlights of the week was in seeing many famous drivers and some really good horses. The owner of my two year old (the one who decided to drive his own horse) had entered him in one of the special races scheduled for the week. I was sure AJ would take over the driving duties just because of the prestige of the week but he said I would drive. I was very nervous leading up to the race because I would be competing against some really expensive (and good) horses and very famous trainer/drivers. There was also the fact that the horse had not competed in a night race that I had to factor in.

On opening night of the Grand Circuit the owner who was driving his own horse caused a big wreck. No horse was hurt and the other drivers escaped with just bruises. The officials suspended his license which was way overdue in my mind. I know it made AJ happy. In spite of what I’ve written about the man he actually liked me. When it came time to race the two year old I think he was more nervous than I. Harry, even though he didn’t have a horse to race on that night, came just to wish me luck. Without Andy as a mentor, I’d turned to Jackson, who was having a very good year, and he told me to just ease my horse back from the gate at the start and get to the rail and then see what I could get during the last quarter mile. It was good advice. I was last for the first three quarters and then pulled out and just let him go through the stretch. I ended up finishing 5th which doesn’t sound like much. But when you look at the whole picture... it was the very first race for the horse... he was racing against some of the best two year old horses in the country... I was still a ”rookie” driver... and the horse earned more money for finishing 5th than if he’d won a regular race for two year olds at the track... it was a very successful outing. But the best part was yet to come...

One of the competing trainer/drivers in the race came up to me (and AJ and the owner) after the race and wanted to know more about the horse. I’d gone past him like his horse was standing still and he was truly impressed. I was so excited during the race that I neglected to start the split timer on my stopwatch to see how fast he'd gone that last quarter of a mile. The owner volunteered that if the race was another 100 feet or so that I would’ve been second or third. In any case, the famous trainer and driver left saying that if the owner wanted to sell the horse he’d be interested. To say that I was excited was putting it mildly. It was a bigger thrill than winning my first race.

Another trainer/driver that was there for the Grand Circuit was Dan, the man my friend Alida (from my first season with AJ) had sold her good horse to. He had a number of good two and three year old horses entered and after my big night came up to me and also asked about the two year old. The fact that a couple of big name trainers had taken notice made me feel really good. In Dan's case, he made a point of talking to me a couple of other times and, in a round about way, inquired if I might be interested in making a change in jobs. There was nothing concrete but it gave my ego a boost just to know someone had been watching me and had made an inquiry. When the week was over I was sorry to see all the big names leave.

The heat of the Summer was getting to Elle. She was much bigger than in her first pregnancy and her wetting was worse than the last time. The baby was growing and into everything. It was a good thing that Mrs M and Margie were so nice. Lisa was also a big help. Elle needed to take a nap each afternoon just as I did. One or the other of them would look after the baby so we could get some rest. Finally, in early August, Elle decided that she wanted to go home. We’d planned that she’d have the baby there and was originally going home when we shipped out to New Hampshire in September. I didn’t argue because she was pretty miserable to live with. I worked it out with AJ to do it over a weekend. We’d managed to put some money away for the delivery and with Elle living with her parents would save even more money.

We left for home after I got through my training chores on a Saturday and got home late that night. It was a miserable trip as the baby fussed most of the way and Elle basically sat in a puddle most of the way. I stayed until early Sunday afternoon and got to visit with my grandparents. That turned out to be very good. He’d already planned for Elle to be home to have the baby. He made arrangements with a Doctor friend of his to take care of Elle and the birth. Elle wasn’t so sure about it as she'd wanted to talk with some of her friends that still lived in the area as to who she should go to. She understood the money factor so kept her mouth shut. It turned out that the doctor was the uncle of MJ, my friend from when I went to school in the city, and had a very good reputation. I headed back feeling pretty good.

To be continued...