Landfall, Four Days Out

Somerset Sam galloping out after working from the gate at Canterbury Park

"Paul, I've done all I can do. Now it's up to the good Lord and Jerry Bailey."

~ Mac Miller, during a televised interview prior to the 1992 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in his message to owner Paul Mellon.

Nine months ago, things looked pretty bleak for members of the Star of the North Racing partnership. Their 3-year old filly Somerset Wish had been forced to the sidelines with some soundness issues. At the same time, their 2-year old colt Somerset Sam needed time to mature and the decision was made to turn him out as well.

They always look good grazing contentedly in a grassy pasture, but for the guy who sends bills out to the racing partners, thinking about the spinning wheels on the meter that measures board and veterinary bills is producing a grapefruit-sized ulcer.

Then the time comes when you finally get them back into training.

More waiting.

And the wheels on the billing meter really start spinning.

And you find yourself praying every time the phone rings:

"Please Lord, let this be no bad news concerning one of the horses."

Finally, you get them all back to your home track. And now the members of your group are invested, in some way or another, in even more horses, as new claims and this year's 2-year olds make their way into the picture.

The time allotted for praying for the health of the partners' horses increases.

You get a phone call from the partnership's trainer: The 3-year old maiden is scheduled for a gate work tomorrow -- Can you make it?

You wake at 4:00 AM, convinced you might miss the work. Driving in darkness, in silence.

The phone rings as you approach the stable gate. The track is frozen and won't open for training until 9:00.

Coffee and a bagel while you chat with one of your partners. The sun comes out. The track thaws.

Then the 3-year old walks into view. After four months in Kentucky, he doesn't look like a shaggy pony anymore. He makes his way to the gate, hesitates a moment, then walks right in.

Breaking with two other horses, you can see his rider's red helmet cover as he races outside of his company through the stretch on the far side of the track. As he emerges from behind the cover of the tote board, he has pulled clear, his rider sitting motionless.

He widens. Now being asked, he kicks well clear and gallops out right in front of the viewing stand.

Your hometown race meet is just four days away. Your partners are smiling.

The rest of the racing world's attention is focused on a racetrack hundreds of miles away and on a race that will provide one of the defining moments of the year.

And you smile to yourself thinking that you may never know what it feels like to own a Big Brown, but the feeling you get after a morning like this one will do just fine.

DMM