Marcus' Second Race

On Saturday, July 28, 2012 we had Marcus in the 9th race at Colonial Downs.  It was a true miracle that he was there, at all, after what he had been through on July 20th (see "Colonial Downs Doesn't Like Me").   Lot's of prayers had been sent up to God on Marcus' behalf from a lot of people and God had listened, as Marcus was 100% sound.

Prayers for weather, calmness, and more had also been sent up to God.   As the 9th race approached a storm approached the area.   This was Marcus 4th trip to Colonial Downs in 4 weeks, and the 3rd time a storm would hit the track or near the track.   The first time Marcus came to the track to race, a tornado bounced around the track facility and this has left Marcus afraid of thunderstorms.

As Marcus headed over to the paddock for his race, the lightning could be seen to the north and east, so we hoped it was passing by us, but it was close enough that Marcus was well aware of the storm.

Luckily, our wonderful trainer had gotten special permission to have the pony horse brought into the paddock with Marcus to help him during saddling.   The calm Paint Horse helped Marcus maintain his composure, so he could get saddled and the jockey could get onboard.   He was obviously a bit nervous, but the Paint Horse really helped.   I continued to pray for him to be calm and not get upset about the storm.

Once out on the track, Marcus appeared totally fine, during the post parade and warm up.

At the gate, several horses gave the starters a major workout, including the horse right before Marcus was to go in.   Marcus was the last horse to load, so he waited his turn, very quietly and patiently.   Once that horse was in, Marcus walked in like a pro and the gates flew open.

He was in post position 12, so when they got to the first turn, he was out wide, due to his post position and there being no where for the jockey to steer him over, just yet.   Marcus maintained 7th around the first turn, in the field of 12.

Once onto the backstretch, Marcus' jockey was able to move him over to the rail, where Marcus was moing very comfortably and moved up to 6th, which he held the remainder of the backstretch and onto the final turn.

As the horses came onto the homestretch, Marcus' ordeal of the past week caught up with him and he began to tire.   He faded to 11th, at the wire, but only was 16 lengths behind the winner, so the field was not that spread out.   In the whole scheme of things, he did not get totally destroyed in the race, as I've seen horses lose by a lot more, that have been through a lot less.

We are all very proud of Marcus, from his trainer and her husband, to all the partners.   I praise God that Marcus got a good experience this time and hopefully will carry this good experience to the next race, which will be at a different track, since Colonial Downs meet is now over.

I also praise God that Marcus has come out of his race sound, with no issues.   The jockey said he was moving well and the only effects he noticed was the tiredness at the end, which is very understandable.

Marcus will be given some time to fully recooperate and he will tell us when he ready to race, again, whether that be 2 weeks or 30 days, we'll give him what he needs.   He is a special horse to us all and we will take care of him as best we can.