Sassy had a stunning win today!  This was her first race back after a long winter’s break and we were expecting that she’d need a race to get back into shape, but she surprised us all by running a huge race.

Here is a recap of the day in pictures:

Sassy walking around the paddock.  She’s pretty calm.

Here she is on the track walking in front of the grandstand.  I love the hot pink bandages on her legs and the hot pink browband on her bridle.

Almost in the gate.  She loaded perfectly.

And they’re off!  Sassy is the #1 horse coming out of the farthest away slot.

Now they’ve done one lap around, and the horses are coming down the stretch for the finish.

Here is a link to the race.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/race/USA/PIM/2015/4/26/5/race-5-aoc-at-pim-on-4-26-15

I’m not an expert at reading a race, but here is my impression of how things went.  Sassy broke well, just a touch behind the fastest out of the gate.  She was up at the front and the jockey, Edwin Gonzales, eased her back a little so she could sit just behind the leaders and avoid a speed duel.

Just before the first turn, Sassy was trying to catch up to the leaders and the jockey was trying to hold her back to the pace he wanted.  She was fighting him a bit, but she settled.  A  little later the jockey took her back a bit as she was again getting strong and trying to chase the leaders.  I’m not sure if this was really beneficial as it slowed her down a lot, but then he let her go in the last turn, and Sassy quickly caught up to the leaders tight on the inside rail.

As they came off the turn, racing room opened up on the rail, and Sassy who was hugging the rail put on the afterburners.  She opened up a lead in the stretch.  Yuzuro and Bear Access were accelerating behind her and came up quickly.  Sassy dug down and picked up more speed.  She was able to hold off Yuzuro for a fantastic win!

As the announcer said “Sassy Little Cat is a tough cat!”.

We are all amazed at how well Sassy was able to dig down to hold on and win this race.

This is really a tribute to our trainers.  The tough gallop up hills that Sassy has been doing in training has given her the stamina to go out and win a race going a mile and a sixteenth on her first time out!  Thank you Dave and Fenneka!

Here are some larger shots of a few pictures:

Sassy back in the receiving barn after her win.

Go Sassy!