Starting off with an answer to an earlier question, Clay and I determined that Eddie was about 16 hands high, maybe a wee bit bigger. Either way, that’s a pretty big horse and he really looks the part when he draws himself up and stands high.
[NOTE: Horses are measured in units called “hands”. A hand is 4 inches and you measure a horse from the top of the withers (shoulder blade) to the ground. So, if Eddie is 16 hands high, that means he measures about 5’ 4” from the ground to the top of his shoulder.]
I spent some time with Eddie and Clay the last couple of days and a couple of things for the news and notes page:
– He developed a small abscess in one of his rear feet which seems to have already resolved itself. Clay is going to give him today (Sunday) off and then he will go over to the track to start jogging over the surface tomorrow (Monday). That will give us some time to determine just how he’s doing after a few weeks of R&R and good nutrition. Even with a small abscess, Eddie still hasn’t so much as taken a misstep or shown any discomfort whatsoever. If all goes well, he is still being pointed to his first race for us the weekend of May 31st.
– We are looking to claim again. If I had to guess a level, I would say $12,500, but it really depends upon where the opportunity is. Our budget could allow us to go as high as $16,000. Again, it depends upon where the opportunity is.
– Eddie has an edge to him. He isn’t afraid to let you know if he doesn’t like something with a little bit of a nip or a snap at you. Nothing too harsh, but enough to warn you that whatever you just did – don’t do it again. That could stem from the way he was handled in the past or just his personality.
– Eddie already looks very good. His coat is shiny and he looks to have put on more weight. A lot of improvement in just 2 ½ weeks in Clay’s barn.
The watchwords going forward are cautious optimism but so far, so good.
Canterbury Racing Club 
Thanks for the update! It’s raining now ( sunday afternoon ) will he still run tomorrow if the track is sloppy? Would that type of delay set him back?
If the track is just wet, he probably would still go jog a bit. It really is a matter of degree and would be decided by Clay in the morning depending upon what he saw. Also, there are times, in heavy rain and bad track conditions, that the track could be closed for training as well. A day of jogging missed would not set him back substantially since he was very fit already when we acquired him and the swimming has kept his cardio up as well.
I am no longer in Camterbury Club, so please take me off this list.
Sue Mauren
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Clay is red hot after the first weekend, and I only hope we can draw Goodwin to accept our mount as well. The only thing Clay didn’t win on was a low level maiden claimer named Highjumpinjennie or jumpinjennie. This is obviously no fault of Clay’s as his numbers raise he has some horses that are definite “projects”. Congrats to Clay on a great start to the weekend. If any of you were betting enjoy the fair prices and odds on Brinson trained horses now, as likely won’t be much value soon.
Are we still pointing to the 31st for a race? And when are entries due for those races?
I think that we’ll be looking at the following weekend, June 7th, as a more likely date. We’ll want to make sure that Eddy can go pretty hard over the track and come back just fine before entering him. For obvious reasons (we don’t want anyone to know what we’re looking at!) we can’t list here who we are looking at, but there are some potential claims this weekend. Some further investigation is necessary as are Clay’s eyes on the horse on the way to the paddock, but stay tuned!
Here are the days that entrys are drawn:
For Race Day Enter On
Thursday Saturday
Friday Sunday
Saturday Wednesday
Sunday Thursday