It was cold at Aqueduct on Saturday but not as cold as I’d expected. First, we visited Ransom Note and Our Caravan. We had not seen Ransom Note for a long time and had never laid eyes on Our Caravan, whom we’d claimed back in July.

Ransom Note is a handsome chestnut, who’s had to get over some physical issues as well as pneumonia. He was very docile and nibbled a little at our treats. Hopefully, he’ll be able to race soon.

Our Caravan was claimed to run in Saratoga. However, he was in poor condition and needed time to regain his strength. In addition, he’s cut himself a couple of times while breezing on the track. He enjoyed the carrots but when we tried cookies, he wanted to bite, so we stuck with the carrots.

On Wednesday, Linda’s put him in the fifth race at the Big A, where he’s favored to win and likely to be claimed. It’s a $20,000 claimer, one mile on the dirt. Jose Ortiz will be the jockey out of the 4-hole.

Then we went to the track for Another Genius‘s third race. She had started at 6 furlongs and won and at 7 furlongs and won. Now, she’d try to lengthen again by racing for a 1 1/16 miles. She looked good in the paddock and when she left for the race track.

In the gate, she was on the outside of all but one of her competition. When the bell rang and the gate opened, Jose Ortiz took her forward on the outside and she was third early on. She remained in third or fourth as the they flew around the track. Later, Linda would question whether Jose held her back too hard. At the time, she appeared well-placed.

However, when they entered the stretch, she seemed to balk when Jose asked her for more. According to Jose, she was empty and had run out of gas. Certainly she made no further headway and lost ground to others. She finished fifth. Had she won, she would’ve gotten a vacation. Now, we’ll see whether Linda has anything else in store for her.

After the race, we went to Linda’s stable at Belmont to see 2-yr.old, Ramon Dominguez, our first homebred; Hay Field, who has returned from a vacation at Patty Hogan’s; and FlatteryWillGetYou, also back from Patty’s, but not from a vacation. She had surgery on both her knees to clean up chips.

Ramon was very tentative. He stood away from the gate to his stall and we tried to cajole him to come forward. It didn’t take long and he slowly approached. Soon, it became a love fest, He was eating treats, including the same cookies we used to mash up for him when he was just a little foal. He put his head on Rhoda’s shoulder and kissed us. It was great to see him… like seeing another grandchild!

Flattery looked beautiful and was happy to enjoy carrots and cookies. She is a sweetheart. We can’t wait to see her run again. She seemed to enjoy our time together. Certainly, we did.

We had look for Hay Field in another barn with Abby Adsit’s string of horses. Hay Field seemed really hungry and was more demanding of the next carrot or cookie. She still doesn’t like being on the racetrack but she seems to be learning. She’s always been sweet in her stall. Hopefully, they’ll get her to Linda’s barn soon, which has better light and a more airy feeling.

Here’s a question for you. Would you like more photos in these messages, even when you’ve seen the horses in prior communications? If so, we’ll try to accommodate.

Let’s hope all goes well with Our Caravan on Wednesday. Hope he wins and doesn’t try to bite anyone!