It wasn’t a very important race. It was a $25,000 maiden claiming race. None of the competitors had ever won a race. Any of them could have been claimed (bought) for $25K.

However, it was our first home bred. When glowing reports came from Pat’s farm in Ocala, we named him Ramon Dominguez, after a fabulous jockey who had been the leading jockey in the nation for several years. Ramon was forced to retire because of a life threatening injury. We are proud that he and his wife Sharon are our friends. They graciously allowed us to use his name.

However, when he got to Linda’s barn at Belmont, she said he was only ordinary. So, we changed his name to Daring Destiny. You can’t be ordinary and carry the name Ramon Dominguez.

Daring Destiny was a tough customer to those who cared for him after he was born and for his early training. They gave him the nickname the Little Bastard! To us, he was always sweet. He learned to eat cookies pretty quickly (We mashed them up for him) and he liked to nuzzle us when we stroked him. Nonetheless, when Pat needed to give him an injection, Pat needed to wear a protective helmet.

Last year, when he was 3 years old, he made 2 starts at Belmont. Last in his first start after lunging at the break, he finished third in his next start but had to have some time off because of a leg injury. He started a few weeks ago at Aqueduct and bore out around the stretch turn, interfering with another horse and resulting in a disqualification from second to third place.

He ran again on Saturday at Aqueduct. He had the same jockey who could not control him in the prior race, so we were worried. However, this time, though he still looked like he was fighting the horse, DD was  better than the rest (and he didn’t bear out). So, except for a few strides at the beginning when he took a bad step getting out of the gate, he led from wire to wire, for his first victory.

We were in Saratoga to celebrate a good friend’s birthday but we did get to watch the race. When he got into the stretch, Rhoda was standing near the TV, rooting him on and appeared to be trying to ride her first four-legged baby. Her hands were outstretched in front of her and she was clearly pumping his neck, just like the jockey. I LOVE THAT WOMAN!

Our grandchild performed well. While we were happy for ourselves, we were also happy for our boy, Daring Destiny!

Hay Field, another problem child, runs again for Assaf Ronen on Friday under Kendrick Carmouche. We hope to be there rooting her on. Go, Hay Field!