Tevez.

[madelyn]

Go Tevez!

[wilf]

Well not a bad run at all actually, Tevvy tracked the speed horse from Woodbine until the stretch ,taking the lead at the eighth pole and just failed to hold off the late charge of the 4/5 choice from the Jaimie Ness juggernaut. He had a walk and a long pick of grass this morning around 6 30am before the withering heat kicked in and looked quite pleased with himself. I am beat and may just lie around inside until I swim a couple this afternoon!

[Diane]

Good job Wilf. What is it about him that makes him your favorite? Is it as simple as he's been with you the longest or? I'd like to know and as long as you're taking an easy afternoon......?

[zinn21]

Great job Wilf!

[wilf]

Thanks Zinn,hello Diane,it's not a matter of favourites but I do respect consistency and I have had a few over the years that have bailed me out by just showing up every time they were led over to run,whatever the class they were in. Tevvy is a gem even if he is cheap and I still feel bad that I have not been able to give him a chance on the turf yet this year to find out what might suit him best. There are so many funny stories out there concerning horses in our lives and this guy is no exception. He was only 7 months old when I bought him and was only in my care for 15 minutes when he decided to jump out of his paddock ,the only problem was that he was about 2 feet too short to clear the top rail. This was solved by somersaulting over the rail after his forearm struck into it and he duly landed on his back and was stunned by the event so much that he waited to be caught and returned to the paddock never to attempt the trick again!

[walaa]

Nice job today got a nice bag of dog food off his place money today, good job

[wilf]

Thanks Walaa,I know that he ran back quick but with cheap condition horses who are cleaning their feed tub out it's better to run on a surface that they like than to train on a dead jarring track already chopped up by gallopers and loose horses. However two races in the heat of July are enough for any horse so he will be freshened ,wormed ,grazed and spoiled again and just maybe we can catch a couple of turf spots in August. He ran his usual honest turn and could not run down yet another Ness favourite,which frankly gets old after a while but my guys are around for a while hopefully and yet horses that I run with from that outfit are rarely seen much after their moment in the sun. 'Twas ever thus! Last week I ran Amazon in a mile and 3 eighths race on turf which was a good effort just beaten for 3rd @ 30/1 ,then he walked for 3 days and went up to Presque Isle for the lucrative distance series that they have and ran a fine 3rd @ 20/1 going a mile and 5 eighths on the Tapeta; never left an oat and has done well since. I find that if you lay them up in the winter then take your time getting them back to the races in the spring then they last longer. It does not always work but you have to go with your instincts!

[Denise]

Hi Wilf,
I just saw Tev's back in at Presque....good luck to him! For our last two entries, we've been torrentially rained off the turf, and now, Parx cancelled tomorrow's card this morning because of the extreme heat!
Mercy. What next, locusts?
When you're up at Presque next week, look for a nice Hold That Tiger filly called Castle Creeping in a MSW race that night. She's bred/owned by a wonderful friend of ours, from the immediate family of a filly we owned/raced a few years ago.

Denise

[walaa]

Nice run the other day, I put him in the exacta with the one that came in 2nd:( was almost to close to call! Doo you have others running soon? They do very nice for you, picking up checks all the time:)

[wilf]

Hey Walaa ,yes they are doing well enough and last night I had two in up at Presque Isle in the 5th and 8th. They both ran a winning race with Chief up for 2nd and Tevvy 3rd, all they needed were inspired rides to get a win picture each. You cannot give up all that ground on the final turn and expect to win ,still they were both 12/1 and 10/1 so their runs were good and the drive home was so nice this morning on a day strangely without heat and humidity. The purses are great for conditional horses and fantastic for allowance horses so it astounds me that they struggle sometimes to fill races. The surface of course has the stigma of the "artificial" label but Tapeta is very kind to shippers I feel and only overwhelming heat has caused a cancellation to my knowledge. I have a plodder in a mile and six furlongs on saturday there with a purse of $41,000,it is a series of races that end with a purse of $71,000 going about two and a quarter miles at the conclusion. He should run well as he was 3rd @20/1 in the first leg however my horse is a $5,000 runner in reality and it amazes me that it is not a tougher dash being a $12,500 starter race. I love marathon races and have had a couple in the past that would have been serious contenders but of course Presque Isle did not exist until recently. Anyway Walaa I am done for the day,good night.

[madelyn]

Best of luck, today, to Amazon Run!!

[wilf]

Well Tevvy went up to Presque Isle again last night after an easy few weeks in the barn and lo and behold he moved up along the rail to collar the leader and heavy favourite at the eighth pole and won nicely by a length. If he had been forced wide then he may have settled for the minor place but it was all smiles for the win photo and his travelling buddy Chief ran a nice 2nd in the finale. It's funny but I have been thinking a lot about why my runners are 85% in the money on the Tapeta and cannot be found at Mountaineer and it must come down to the aggressive approach of the Pa tracks to keep a level playing field as far as medications are concerned whereas West Virginia is very much a circus . Trainers with medication overages are fined and yet keep the purse and when they get three strikes and are suspended then the horses go into the assistant's name or the girlfriend or the relative just back from suspension,it really is disgusting and a slap in the face to licencees who run within the rules. Guess I have a choice in the matter and that is to give West Virginia a miss altogether, not a bad idea I reckon.!

[Denise]

Wilf, what a nice run for Tevvy! I got the result but didn't get to post till today. Well done. Hope he comes out of it well. He really seems to love the all weather, doesn't he?

[wilf]

Hi Denise,actually he seems more comfortable on the turf ,however it has been a wretched summer for grass and events have conspired to prevent him from even one turf start so far this year. I seriously think that it's best if you can train on any dirt surface or even grass if possible and then just ship in to Presque Isle and run. The recieving barn is very horse friendly as Tevvy falls asleep there whereas he is the opposite at the Mountaineer madhouse. Anyway how are your crew doing at the Mid-lantic tracks ? Keep me posted please Denise and does Laurel run any 5 1/2 furlong turf races at their fall meet?

[Diane]

Good job Wilf! Congrats to you and pats to Tevy