![]() “It can be fixed, but it takes time and he’s done for the year, too,” Ness said.Ī conversation ensued about the vicissitudes of racing, and Ness took hold of a time-honored axiom On Saturday, Ness confirmed that Repenting, another star in his barn, was done for the season, too, the result of a broken ankle. Ness shook his head and said, “He’s done for the season.” He was sitting an easy winner, Ness said, when he switched leads and, just like that, chipped a knee. ![]() Just last weekend, Jaime Ness lost Best Westerner, a horse he considers the best on the backside, to a knee injury.īest Westerner was in Winnipeg for $50,000 Derby Trial, taking on horses he had beaten at the same track this season in a stakes race. “I told him if I was the surgeon, then his success with babies made him the pediatrician,” Nolan said. Rider Paul Nolan, known variously as the Lawn Surgeon and Lawn Leprechaun, had a bit of information for Stevens after he won with those two horses on Saturday. Stevens rode Pterodactyls Rule for Mac Robertson in the third race, and this maiden two-year-old filly wound up a winner, too. ![]() “I told him to win if he could but to teach him what to do. “I told him two of the best horses I ever had got beat their first time out,” Porter said. Stevens acquired many of his skills on the ranch at home in Boise, Idaho, where he frequently rode the fear and anxiety out of horses by taking them over hill and dale and plenty of ditches as well.īefore the race on Saturday, Porter and Stevens talked. “I told Scott we could wait a week or two if we had to, but he said no, that the horse was ready now,” Porter said. Porter, who also owns the horse, didn’t want to rush Smuggler’s Hold into action. “He let him get some dirt in the face,” Porter explained, “so that when it happened on the track it wasn’t a new experience to him. Stevens worked Smuggler’s Hold for Porter and dropped him in behind two other horses for a spell. “He’s very good at teaching a horse what it needs to know before it races.” “He handles two-year-olds really well,” said Porter, who trains winters at Turf Paradise in Phoenix where Stevens rides. Stevens was on Smuggler’s Hold, a two-year-old gelding who broke his maiden in the first race Saturday, and trainer Bryan Porter had an explanation for that victory. “I’ve always had luck with two-year-olds. ![]() That made him seven for 17 at Canterbury this meet, a superb figure particularly considering that it applies to unpredictable and in some cases truly green young horses, still afraid of their own shadows in many cases. He demonstrated more of his aptitude with the babies on Saturday, riding the winners of the first and third races, both two-year-olds. The subject is Stevens’ delicate touch with two-year-old horses, his ability to take them to the winner’s circle or set them up for future success. Oh, and there're horses, if you're unfamiliar with the concept of fun.Hall of Fame rider Scott Sevens chalks it up to good luck, something impossible to explain. Should you still find shady side-betting on birds too unpredictable, the main (ostrich) event will be followed by a race of also-funny, phlegm-chucking, desert-dwelling camels. He's also being ridden by jockey-turned-jockey-agent Chuck Costanzo, so maybe Shackle's notoriously uneven past will be mitigated by the promise of a new contract with more worms, or rodents, or whatever ostriches eat. Shacklebird ODDS: 30-1 The longest of shots, this two-toed winged wonder is "built for speed" and has been known to fly out of the gate. The one cause for concern is that she's being mounted by novice 'strich-jock Andrew Erwin, whose very name betrays his clear ambivalence over posting an, er, win.īeakertariat ODDS: 2-1 Boasting an impressive (probably?) stride of 16ft, this guy's a proven winner, is being ridden by an experienced jockey, and has the best name. To that end, we've compiled insider info on which of these magnificent creatures deserves your bet in the race that'll reach speeds of up to 40mph, approx 1/3 of the speed you'll be traveling to get there, because there's f**king ostriches being ridden by tiny jockeys.īirdyatta ODDS: 7-5 This she-bird's the safest pick, as her strong charges at the wire are widely known on the (ostrich) racing circuit. Between general unfamiliarity with the enormous birds and inevitable fits of laughter, choosing one to win it all at Saturday's Don't Lay An Egg Dash (the crown jewel of Canterbury Park's Extreme Race Day) can be as tough as the sinewy, gamey dark meat of the losers.
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