It was a fabulous movie. One of the catch phrases was, “it’s a mystery.” Well, that applies to Ahvee’s Destiny’s awful race today. Johnny Velasquez said he had her perfectly positioned at the top of the stretch but when he asked her to go, she didn’t.

It’s downright depressing when your horse comes up empty. Linda scoped her after the race and she checked out fine. One possible answer is a “flipped palette.” Soft tissue flips over the trachea and impedes breathing. Happens sometimes, but who knows for sure. We can only hope for a better result next time out.

At least Linda and our friends from Obviously NY Stable won the race. The winning time was slower than the time of Ahvee’s Destiny’s last victory but she wasn’t up to it today.

One note on losing to a friend’s horse. There is a natural camaraderie and a natural competition with other owners. So, many feelings are filtered through the heart, brain, etc. Nonetheless, it must be said that Canadian Ballet is a superior horse. She’s a year younger than Ahvee’s Destiny and can run at slightly longer distances successfully. We tip our caps to Ballet and Obviously NY (and to Linda who remains in a tie with Todd Pletcher for the meet’s leading trainer) while biting our tongue because we want our “child” to get the top award. It was not to be, today. But, tomorrow, we’ll be cheering her on again!

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