Star-Crossed Star

During the summer this year, I made my first-ever trip to Saratoga for racing at The Spa. Needless to say, the entire experience was tremendous. From the Hall Of Fame located across the street to the amazing treat of seeing some of the finest horse racing I have ever seen, my trip to Saratoga had many highlights. Of course, Winter Memories rallying from was out of it to win the King George and checking in with Tom Durkin in the Saratoga announcer's booth. However, I was also privy to seeing a track record performance while I was at Saratoga. J.C.'s Pride set the five-furlong track record on July 27th, defeating his competitors by almost four lengths and winning with a time of 56.54 seconds for the distance.


Sadly, the story of J.C.'s Pride does not have a happy ending. The promising juvenile colt had to be euthanized this week after contracting a infection that had spread from his salivary gland to his kidney. In the DRF.com story, trainer Robert Barbara described losing the horse as "a big blow." Of course it is, to the connections as well as the sport itself. J.C.'s Pride had to be pulled up during the Hopeful Stakes later this summer at Saratoga after suffering an ankle injury. Regardless of that, this was a horse that could have been a major star as he matured and the fact that we are denied seeing that progression is most unfortunate.


J.C.'s Pride will no longer be able to perform on a racetrack, but we are able to recount a wonderful memory that he left us with. Here is the link to the video of his track record performance from that summer day at Saratoga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHWSmpuYsMc.


Tune in again tomorrow for more from They Are Off. For right now, I am Gone... GOODBYE!