Treading Water

We have had more rainy weather this past week in Chicago though the forecast looks good for the next week or so. Angry Dragon did well schooling from the gate, breaking alertly and relatively straight. She has improved each time she goes and getting her gate card (which is the starters permission slip to start in a race which every horse has to have before running) shouldn't be too much of an issue. Her shins flared up a bit afterwards and we did not breeze her this week as we don't want to further aggravate them. She has remained in training however and has been jogging on the training track daily. Angry Dragon has filled out quite a bit since we came North and is really looking good.

Slumber Smarty also did well in the gate during her schooling session. She is really going through a growth spurt and as such we have level off in her training, jogging and galloping but no fast work. Her shins have held up well and her foot issues appear behind her. As she has grown her action on the track has gotten a little higher indicating that she very well may be more suited for grass. Being out of a Giant's Causeway mare and with Smarty Jones emerging as a turf sire, this is not a surprising development.

We backed off on Lady Thief's training and she has responded well. Her shins are settling down and we will start her back under tack next week.

Monday update

Lady Thief's shin hasn't progressed as well as we were hoping and we are going to give her a little time off. Her shin is still bugging her enough to cause concern and we went ahead and x-rayed it to be sure that it wasn't more than just shin soreness. The X-ray results did not reveal anything nefarious and after consulting with Dr. Bordelon we decided to just give her a little downtime and start her back up later this Summer.

Slumber Smarty was left without her training partner so we adjusted her schedule so that she could train with Bob Gary's Johar filly, Surfer Rosa. Slumber has done really well this past week, is scheduled to go to the gate on Thursday and will work 1/4 mile (2 furlongs) on Friday.

Angry Dragon has also progressed in her training and had a gate schooling session on Saturday. She is also scheduled to return to the gate Thursday and work on Friday.

Red Baroness and Hemissesu are doing fine and will be heading north to AP in a few weeks.

Weather blues

The Chicago weather has been downright miserable this week as rain, wind and cold temperatures aren't what you are expecting in May. Our training schedule has been thrown off kilter as we have been dealing with poor conditions. Friday's forecast however looks promising and we are looking to get some steady galloping done this weekend. On Sunday we are planning on Slumber Smarty, Angry Dragon and Lady Thief going over to the starting gate for some schooling. If things go well we will probably give all three fillies an easy work mid-week.

Quick Update

Everybody is back on track after a few minor issues with feet and shins sidetracked us for a few days. Slumber Smarty's feet are much improved and she is galloping on the training track again. Lady Thief and Angry Dragon both exited their works with tender shins but they have quieted right back down. That is not an unusual occurrence in young two year olds. More on the girls progress later in the week.