So, first, lemme apologize for not being the best commenter or question-answerer this past week. Sorry to those of y'all who had issues with the InLinkz coding! I'm gonna make a tutorial and post it directly after this. I'm afraid that my brain has the potential to be shit this week, too.
Making of the Horse
Last week, we talked about our babies. This week, let's talk about our greenies. Who trained your horse? Is your ponykins still in the process of figuring out this whole monkey-on-my-back thing, did you send off for thirty or sixty or ninety days, or did you buy a horse with all the bells and whistles? Who has helped your horse become what he or she is today?
Thanks to the super-informative post that Carly did on all things OTTB, I was inspired to play around with Equibase. I fell down the rabbit hole and ended up finding out some information that I never had.
When Archie was sold at auction. Twice. The first time was as a yearling, for $4k, and then again a month later for $4k. Unfortunately, I can't find photos! Do they photograph those things? They tried to sell him again a third time, but it doesn't appear that he sold. The first and third auctions were at Fasig-Tipton and the second was at Keeneland. I think.
It never dawned on me prior to this research that Archie flipped hands as a kiddo. I'm not sure how it happened, but from the Neil Pressin, agent, he somehow ended up with Cinda Boone as his trainer. I don't know much about her. I do know that she now resides in or around my hometown and appears to show hunters. I don't show any other wins or anything under her name, so Archie may have been her only racer.
I think I've gone over his race record a few times, but he raced seventeen times from April, 2000 to May, 2002. Not a very long time! Of note: his jockey, Jorge E.Callazo, Sr. (at least for his last race), has become a Multiple Stakes Winning Jockey.
And here's where things get weird, but it's his training.
I was told that after being a racehorse, Archie became a 4-H horse. And promptly flunked out of the program. From 2003-2005, he was lolling in a pasture, being a horse without a job. My understanding was that my trainer had acquired him for the sole purpose of resale. I've often wondered (and never asked) why a lesson barn would have a young, gorgeous Thoroughbred doing nothing. We had solid riders and a couple of working students. Anyways, no one touched him until I started working him the summer of 2005.
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| On of the earliest photos - I don't think I have any from the summer prior. |
Since then, he's had no professional training. I've taken lessons (albeit sporadically) and kinda sorta brought him along by myself. I've come to terms with the fact that Archie could easily have achieved way much more as a show horse with a more qualified rider or professional training. Fortunately for my crushed ego, I didn't buy him to be one.
get the InLinkz code
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15 comments
Ooh I likey this one... granted I should do some photo digging upping before posting.
ReplyDeleteYay you, I hadn't realised you did all the hard graft with Archie, that is awesome. *clap*
ReplyDeleteBah! I won't say that he knows much. I think the race trainer did all the hard work!
DeleteAwesome! I'm glad you found some more information on him. Digging up info on OTTBs is so fun. :D I love your blog hop ideas!
ReplyDeleteGot mine up. Where is the link to add the code to our post?
DeleteDerp derp. Added!
Delete(I went back and forth a couple times with the tutorial.. brain fart.)
Thanks!!!!
DeleteSome auctions take pictures of their yearlings or 2yos for online catalogs, but sadly I don't think you'll find anything that far back. DSB Stable or James Keogh might have taken a picture, so you could try to find contact information for them, but that'd probably be a stretch.
ReplyDeleteYeah the yearling sales are often sadly pictureless. Especially at the lower amounts, and back then. I'm not sure why they would sell him twice, but it seems likely that the first buyer thought they could turn Archie around to make a profit, though evidently he didn't do so.
DeleteThe really interesting thing is how long Archie sat in a pasture at such a prime age! You should ask your trainer, I am very curious to find out why that was!
I contacted the trainer via facebook. Here's hoping she replies. I vaguely remember one trainer at my barn using an entire disposable camera on us to send to that lady, so hopefully she's still invested in him enough to share stuff but not be a creeper.
DeleteFun info. :-) I don't think I've had one that went through a sale.
ReplyDeleteinteresting - and nice pics from his racing days! crazy that he sat around for so long, but i've certainly ridden at farms that had horses just hangin out doing nothing... no real rhyme or reason, but it happens
ReplyDeleteAww, I love reading these. He is lucky to have found you!
ReplyDeleteI participated - despite the Link up being closed!
ReplyDeleteJust dropping by to tell you that I LOVE your blog hop and seeing all the posts by everyone on my list :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!