Sadly that race did not go as we had hoped. TENS acted up in the gate but broke well and was positioned well through the turn and down the back side. It looked like he wanted to run a bit earlier than Chris wanted him to but I wouldn’t exactly call him rank either. When the time came to chase down the leader he had absolutely nothing left in the tank at all. It was a very disappointing effort.

I haven’t spoken to Clay yet, that said, these aren’t machines and they don’t speak either so he can’t tell us if he wasn’t feeling well, didn’t feel like racing or something else entirely. It’s a disheartening given the roll he’s been on but they can’t stay sharp forever and, sometimes, they throw in duds.

We’ll take a look at him back in the barn and make sure he’s okay and then drop him to the bottom for one or two more starts while I also look to sell him privately. Given that last performance he’s not going to impress anyone but we’ll keep on keeping on. Fingers crossed he came out of the race okay and we’ll point him to his next in a couple of weeks.