3rd Update Dec’23
I hope everyone had a great 2023, as Hill Fire and Blaze Racing Co. certainly did! To start it off, we got a great horse under market price and so far he has done nothing but want to trot. This month Tyler had to change his feed slightly because he had too much energy and wanted to train more often. Although this is great and showing some tremendous potential, it is important in these early phases to be consistent and stay the course so Hill Fire peaks at the end when there are championship stakes money on the line!
We were able to get Hill Fire’s first timed training mile in before the end of the year and it was recorded at 3:24. Although this seems super slow in comparison to race times, this is not much different than other 2 year-old trotters. Remember this is all about creating good habits and building lasting muscle memory in the horse. With this time, we will need to cut on average about 3-4 seconds a week to make great race time for the expected first race at the end of June (Circleville-Pickaway County Fair). This is great news and easily attainable given past history with other horses. The “old-timers” in the horse industry say that the important part for a young horse is to get 100 miles in before training hard. We have exceeded that since starting this fall and we are ready to train. Starting next month, Blaze Racing Co. will be updating a chart showing the times of training to show the progress and better help us understand what we have as it gets closer to race day.
We did have one little setback this month. Nearly every horse in the barn got sick for a few days, but Hill Fire is essentially back to his normal self. When taken out on the track this past weekend he was wagging his tail and trying to play while jogging. This is a good sign as they don’t do that if they aren’t feeling well and he is constantly trying to go further or train more when on the track. Luckily that only set us back a few days and 1 training, but since we have already been jogging and doing so much we really aren’t behind at all.
Miami Valley opens January 3rd, so from then until late April most of the racing will be happening close to home. Unfortunately, Miami Valley does not have any races for 2 year old’s. As we get closer to March, be on the lookout for staking information (this is selecting which races in which you can be eligible). We will plan a staking meeting day to discuss and make decisions on pay to play races in addition to the fairs and Sire Stakes circuits. From past experiences last year with All About Faith, we may want to spend a little bit more money to be eligible for more races in case the season takes a little bit of an unexpected turn (small sickness, little soreness or injury). For example, we had a small setback with All About Faith and she got sick the day of a big race. This set us back and we instead had to race in a couple of fairs. Since we did not stake for all the fairs in that time frame, we were limited in races before the next larger stakes race. We did well, but since we did not stake for the fairs championship (as we expected to be in one of the other championships) we could not race for the $50,000 race in Cleveland which was won by a horse we had beaten before at a speed she could have beat! We don’t want to live in the past, rather learn from past mistakes. Therefore, Blaze Racing Co. will be recommending staking for many races this upcoming season.
Everyone mark your calendars for January 13 as we plan to have a meet and greet at the Rack’s house in the evening. The plan will be for everyone to bring a side dish or dessert and Blaze Racing Co. will provide main course.
