Here's what NOT to do with a racehorse! We talk all the time about running where you can win, i.e. “keep yourself in the best company and your horses in the worst company”. Long May You Run was claimed from Kenwood Racing last month at Monmouth Park, after a very successful 4 year career with us that saw him win 7 races from 25 starts, earning over $175,000 (see story here). It would be patently obvious to any halfway capable trainer who claimed him, that he is a warrior with a ton of heart and that after 4 years of racing, he has his share of wear and tear. He’s going to give you all he’s got every time, and properly placed, he’s still capable of running safely and winning races and making money for his new owners.

So, what do his new connections do? First, they run him back in an incredibly tough race on just 9 days rest. Just a five horse field, but he appears overmatched and clearly he’s not at the stage where he can race on short rest and be expected to perform anywhere near his best. Despite all that, on pure heart, he runs a well beaten third, way behind the top two runners and just a nose and a head in front of the last two. You can see him valiantly trying to hold off the two horses coming at him in the stretch, despite being tired and overmatched. At this point, anyone should be able to see the horse needs to run in a much softer spot next time against runners he can beat on class alone and return to top form. Instead, they run him back in the toughest possible starter allowance at Parx in a 12 horse field where he’s 33 to 1 and has no chance. Badly overmatched again, he gives it his all nonetheless because that’s all he knows how to do, actually making the lead briefly on the far turn before tiring to finish 9^th, with an effort good enough to have easily won a lower level claiming race where he belongs.

Sometimes you have no choice, but to take a shot in a tough race, the wrong spot etc. such as with one of our two year olds, Bobby Blue Eyes, who ran at Gulfstream Park West on October 13^th where we explained “The bottom line is there are no other spots to run in at Gulfstream Park West, so with the horse training well, we’re taking a shot here and hoping he can overcome a big class jump AND handle the grass (despite a dirt pedigree)” but Long May You Run is not a totally sound, lightly raced two year old with nowhere else to run, he’s a veteran warrior with issues with tons of appropriate spots to run in (there’s rarely a lack of lower level claiming races at any track). The goal is to make it as easy on the horse as possible, keep them sound as possible, and get yourself in the winner’s circle as much as possible in a very tough game. If you want a textbook example of what NOT to do, take a look at Long May You Run. The horse deserves better than this. For the record, Kenwood will gladly find him a good, safe retirement home at our expense when and if his new owners decide they are tired of doing the wrong thing by themselves and the horse.