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Description
I just had a horrible nightmare and now my legs are actually watery when I try to walk. That's never happened before.

When you hit the top, where can you go but down? So why go anywhere at all? With Poseidon out of the picture (and sitting quite happily in BCC blue back in the stallion barn), Ember had no competition. So we kept her at the top.

We kicked things off in January with the Santa Monica Handicap. Ember landed the far outside post, which was not ideal but hey--you live with what you get. She broke smoothly on the synthetic and rocketed to the front. Three other mares moved in on her tail but our flame would have none of it. She tossed her head, grabbed the bit from Dolorez, and found another gear to power home with a length and a half lead over the rest of the field.

When she returned to the barn, though, Ember was soaked in sweat and slightly overheated--a difficult thing to accomplish in the dead of winter. We had her checked over, but nothing immediately sprang out at us so we let it slide as just an overwork.

Nevertheless, we decided a little less competition would serve us well, so we dropped from GI to GII in March with the Distaff Handicap at Aqueduct. We hoped the shorter distance would give her less of a work, but the trip was much the same. When Ember came back drenched in sweat despite the snow falling on the track, we pulled the plug.

The track vet and our personal vet both looked her over but found nothing. A trip to the hospital for a full body check came up with the same results.

So, near as we can tell, it wasn't anything physiological that was upsetting Ember on the track. That left psychological.

We will never know for sure, but we suspect it was the showdown with Poseidon in the BC Sprint last season that had changed the wiring in our flame's brain. Now when she thundered down the stretch, she ran hell-bent toward the finish and needless worked herself up.

We decided to give her five months off, then train her for a month up to the Ballerina in September.

She was restless at first, as are all racers who aren't racing, but eventually settled into a happy routine back at the homebase.

When September rolled around, her morning works were mediocre at best.

We scratched her from the Ballerina and officially retired her to brood the following day.

Some people occasionally ask us how it was possible to have so many GI winners under the same stable name. Our answer: we listen to the horses. If they want to run, they run. If they don't... then they don't.

Foal Pic and Bio

Racing Season: 4 Year Old
2 starts--2/0/0
$270,000
Important Wins: GI Santa Monica H, GII Distaff H

Racing Stats

Total Wins: 12 starts--10/0/1
Graded Stakes Wins: 4 GI, 3 GII, 2 GIII
Career Earnings (in US currency): $2,263,530
Racing Style: Frontrunner, 5f-7.5f (sprinter)
Titles: Champion Female Sprint Horse (3yo)

Art and Character (C) Me

Description
I just had a horrible nightmare and now my legs are actually watery when I try to walk. That's never happened before.

When you hit the top, where can you go but down? So why go anywhere at all? With Poseidon out of the picture (and sitting quite happily in BCC blue back in the stallion barn), Ember had no competition. So we kept her at the top.

We kicked things off in January with the Santa Monica Handicap. Ember landed the far outside post, which was not ideal but hey--you live with what you get. She broke smoothly on the synthetic and rocketed to the front. Three other mares moved in on her tail but our flame would have none of it. She tossed her head, grabbed the bit from Dolorez, and found another gear to power home with a length and a half lead over the rest of the field.

When she returned to the barn, though, Ember was soaked in sweat and slightly overheated--a difficult thing to accomplish in the dead of winter. We had her checked over, but nothing immediately sprang out at us so we let it slide as just an overwork.

Nevertheless, we decided a little less competition would serve us well, so we dropped from GI to GII in March with the Distaff Handicap at Aqueduct. We hoped the shorter distance would give her less of a work, but the trip was much the same. When Ember came back drenched in sweat despite the snow falling on the track, we pulled the plug.

The track vet and our personal vet both looked her over but found nothing. A trip to the hospital for a full body check came up with the same results.

So, near as we can tell, it wasn't anything physiological that was upsetting Ember on the track. That left psychological.

We will never know for sure, but we suspect it was the showdown with Poseidon in the BC Sprint last season that had changed the wiring in our flame's brain. Now when she thundered down the stretch, she ran hell-bent toward the finish and needless worked herself up.

We decided to give her five months off, then train her for a month up to the Ballerina in September.

She was restless at first, as are all racers who aren't racing, but eventually settled into a happy routine back at the homebase.

When September rolled around, her morning works were mediocre at best.

We scratched her from the Ballerina and officially retired her to brood the following day.

Some people occasionally ask us how it was possible to have so many GI winners under the same stable name. Our answer: we listen to the horses. If they want to run, they run. If they don't... then they don't.

Foal Pic and Bio

Racing Season: 4 Year Old
2 starts--2/0/0
$270,000
Important Wins: GI Santa Monica H, GII Distaff H

Racing Stats

Total Wins: 12 starts--10/0/1
Graded Stakes Wins: 4 GI, 3 GII, 2 GIII
Career Earnings (in US currency): $2,263,530
Racing Style: Frontrunner, 5f-7.5f (sprinter)
Titles: Champion Female Sprint Horse (3yo)

Art and Character (C) Me