And, Congratulations to Assaf Ronen!
What a race. Rajiv Maragh got Hay Field out quickly,wearing number 14 but out of the 12th post. Still she was in 6th at the start. She didn’t make much progress and, frankly, as the distance between her and the horses up front increased, I thought her race was over. I even lowered my binoculars, not wanting to see another ignominious defeat. After a few seconds, I decide I might as well watch the going on.
When I tuned back in, the horses were coming around the stretch turn. Lo and behold, Hay Field was on the rail and making up ground. By the time they got into the stretch, she was vying for second place, as the #7 Terralsole had come from the outside to overtake the front runners and take the lead. Diane Davis dropped Terralsole down towards Hay Field on the rail. It was a good move, as Hay Field seemed intimidated and let Terralsole increase her margin. As they approached the finish line, Rajiv really got into Hay Field and started making up ground with each stride. When they hit the Finish Line together, it looked to me like we got there first by a nose.
Rajiv had asked me in the paddock, whether I brought my silks. I said, “Of course. Now, get me to the Winner’s Circle, so i can put them on!” We really wanted to get there with Hay Field, Rajiv and Assaf. Little more than a year ago, it did not look as if Rajiv would ever ride again. He was trying to come back from VERY serious injuries suffered in a race some 18 months earlier. Thank you, Rajiv!
But, the Placing Judges, were not posting the numbers on the board. It was the longest we ever had to wait, maybe 10 minutes. Then, they posted the numbers and #7 was put in first place, we were in second. Much disappointment for us but still a very exciting race. You can see it using this link:
https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/
We thank Assaf, as well, for getting Hay Field to race. If it had been a poor showing, she would have been retired. Since Linda was through with Another Genius, she is now in Assaf’s barn too. Maybe he can do more magic!
This looked like a dead heat (tie) to me…
