ANOTHER STAR FOR GOOD JOURNEY

GJ HAS ANOTHER WINNER IN AUSTRALIA. He has a giant 17.2 hand 3 year old gelding named "Miles Above."

Miles Above scored a scintillating last to first win at Sandown in September. Trained at Camperdown by Dennis Daffy, Miles Above walked out of the gates and tailed the field throughout before sweeping home with a powerhouse burst to take the 1500 metre (7.5 furlongs) Ratings 68 event by a length. The win followed on from an equally impressive maiden victory at Bendigo on August 7, his second run following a debut fourth at Hamilton on July 20.“That was a big performance after missing the kick, although knowing the horse as I do I always thought he’d power home,” said Daffy, who purchased Miles Above for just $20,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.

HE'S ON HIS OWN NOW

Bright is on his own now. Lady Marquise went back to the farm to hang out with Queen of Paris. Bright's job is now to grow up big and strong. Here he is with his pals. He has nice big flat knees. Still a little skinny and lanky, but looking more horse like every day. He's got good room to run, and when it rains or gets hot, he's got a run in to get out of the elements. Legacy Ranch is definitely a nice place to live. He has been halter broke, but he won't start to train for another year. During that time, he will just eat and run around.

THREE AMIGOS

Bright is now a part of some juvenile gang of chestnuts in his 10 acre pasture.

Its funny to see. There are three chestnuts and four brown/black horses. They stand apart in groups from each other like 6th graders on the playground. I think Bright is the leader of his little band. Let me put it this way, when I would try to catch him to give him a carrot, he would run off and the other red horses would follow. The nice thing about this exercise was that Bright seems to handle the wet grass really well. Great stride. Nice turn of foot. He's the best turfer out there. In this photo, he is the horse on the outside with the strip of white down his face.

CARROTS ARE HIS FAV

BRIGHT LIKES CARROTS. Now that he is weaned, or in the process of it, Bright is eager to receive carrots from me. I think we've built a sort of trust over carrots. He has an expectation of me now. Alot of the foals don't know what they are because no one has ever come to give them carrots. No one has ever brought them any treats at all. But not Bright. He gets treats everytime I visit. He's going to be easy to train as long as you give him carrots. Anita and Diana (Legacy Ranch folks) both told me that he is such a nice tempered animal that he will be easy to train, and because of that, I can leave him a colt for as long as he needs to be. Everyday now, he gets walked from his stall on halter. In three weeks, he should have the hang of it and then go into an outdoor paddock with other colts to frolic and play.

BRIGHT GETS WEANED!

Bright got weaned last Thursday at the age of 6 months and a week. If you don't know what that's about, its the process of separating him forever from Lady Marquise. The two have been stuck to each other's side since he was born and he has had the opportunity to nurse at will. In order to wean him, they put him in the barn under the misters in a stall and put Lady back in a far away paddock with another broodmare. The reason they do this is to encourage Bright to eat regular hay now and to start the process of halter breaking. Usually, this is a really anxious time for both mare and foal, but because they had the opportunity to stay together for better than 6 months, the process has been a little easier. Bright does not seem to upset, but rather very very friendly. When I walked into the stall he cozied right up to me and sniffed for carrots. I guess he thinks I am the carrot lady now. I show up about once every three weeks and bring him delicious, cold, hard carrots. He's a really really sweet horse. I like him a lot. Lady Marquise also seemed to be handling foaling with great equanimity. She didn't seem bothered at all. The other broodmare she was with just kept pacing the fence line looking for her foal but Lady just dozed in the shade trying to stay cool. That is one smart and solid headed horse. She passed that on to her son.

Bright has a nice new foal halter on in this photo. The folks at Legacy made him a very nice brass plate with his name on it. Anita, the broodmare manager, told me that she thinks he has great conformation right now but is a little skinny. Alittle sucked up because his system is in shock because he can't nurse anymore. Also - he is growing tall like a weed. He's lanky. If I put my arms out straight, his back comes right up to them.

THE THREE OF US

Here we are. The three of us. Jen, Lady & Bright. This may be the only photo that I have of all three of us together. They look great. I am very happy. It was 102 out at the farm, but a really good day to go. Bright still stays close to Lady and still nurses. But in a little while, they will be separated forever. Then he will be sent to a back pasture to hang out with colts. He's growing up so nicely. His body is just long and strong. He has a beautiful shoulder and high croup. Long back legs for lots of power. Diana says he looks like a miler. I hope he has heart. If he does, he is the complete package.

TWO WEEKS UNTIL WEANING

Bright is only about two weeks away from being weaned. He is almost 6 months old now. So this may be the last photo that he takes with Lady Marquise. Here he is with Kate and Diana. Diana works with the broodmares and attended Lady when Bright was born. She helped him into the world. Now he is bigger than her. But still shy.

FRIDAY AT THE FARM WITH BRIGHT

Bright seems to like either Kate - or the baseball cap that she is wearing - which says his name. Kate is 5' 1" - so Bright is considerably taller than Kate right now. Look at that.

5 MONTHS BIG

Bright has a very handsome body. Good bone structure. Long legs. Nice high croup. He's a good looking athletic horse. Its nice to be able to look at him in comparison to other colts his age. He is bigger and stronger than most. And there is something else about him that is interesting to me. He is not a frivilous horse. He is no nonsense. He doesn't want any part of goofing off with other foals. He has one friend that I coudl tell and he nibbled on his mane. Other than that, he wants to just hang out with Lady.

BRIGHT IS FIVE MONTHS OLD

I went for a visit on Sunday July 20, 2008, and Bright and Lady M are now in the front pasture at Legacy with about 40 other foals and mares. Its so fun to see them all out together. Its colts only. The fillies are in another pasture because the colts like to rough-house. Except for Bright - who reminds me a little of shy sweet boy in a sandbox with feisty Irish kids from big families. Bright stays away from the trouble makers. And I suppose that's good because he will avoid getting hurt. Still - he had a bunch of bite marks and scratches on him. Lady and Bright are still a team and he is still suckling. But he's also nibbling grass and eating carrots. He's looking like a horse now. Just a small version.

NEW JOURNEY ON THE WAY

I've got a new foal on the way. I think it will be a filly. Her dam is Queen of Paris. I spent the morning at River Edge Farm outside Solvang. It was a clear, bright, warm morning. The Maples are full and leafy. We saw so many beautiful foals and mares. So much hope on the hoof. Saving the best for last, after seeing an incredible display of yearlings getting ready to ship to Keeneland, they brought the Big Gun out. Bertrando himself. In splendid living color. What a fantastic looking animal. For me - it was like meeting a Rock Star! The Great Bertrando. The sire of Bitey Bert!

Breeding horses is such an act of faith. It is an unreasonable willingness to accept the unknown as an adventure - and to launch a new journey. Faithful Journey is an adventure of hope and courage. Courage is a word that comes from the French word, "Couer" or heart. Courage means to have heart. Breeding horses takes heart. Its leaping into the unknown, taking the risk, and taking part in the story of life. Its being a part of circle of life. Breeding horses in this day and age, without land, isn't smart or reasonable or even a good business decision. But it is doing something that transforms the landscape for the better. Internal and external. Present and Future. And when I am standing in front of a foal, I feel fully alive with possibility. Ageless. I think alot of people do. I don't think you can get that feeling very often, and certainly not from investing in stocks. Faith is trust in the future, whatever that holds. And as Rimbaud once penned, "I came to live out loud." I am so looking forward to next Spring.

"WE HAVE A HEARTBEAT"

Those are magical and exciting words to any breeder. And a big relief. Today I got a call from Katie at Magali. Its been 28 days since Queen of Paris was bred. Katie simply said, "We have a heartbeat."

That made my day. I was on my way to Court to file a pleading and the phone call was so unexpected and so far removed from a breach of contract case that I had been working in all morning. In fact, just the opposite. It was a promise of new life. A beating heart. Something like a seahorse now, but like an acorn, the beginning of something beautiful and exhuberant. Barring any unforeseen catastrophy, in 330 days, we should have another lovely foal. The Promise of a new Journey.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

DON'T GOOD JOURNEY AND BRIGHT JOURNEY LOOK ALOT ALIKE?

GJ IS A ROCK STAR AT STUD!

GOOD JOURNEY IS BEING SHUTTLED TO AUSTRALIA IN JULY AND ALREADY HE HAS 115 MARES BOOKED TO HIM. Lindsay Park is expecting a book fo 150. That's just insane. That means that he will be in the breeding shed every day. The Aussie mare owners are flocking to him at $18,000 a tryst. Despite having just 23 live foals in his first crop, he is among the leading Second Crop sires in Australia this season. From his two crops of racing age, 21 have faced the starter for 11 individual winners, highlighted by Group 1 WA Derby winner Grand Journey (also G2 winner of the WA Oaks) and the exciting G2 winning three-year-old Sound Journey. Sam Hayes from Lindsay Park said.“We wanted a horse with a strong female family and we saw this as a good opportunity to fit a proven horse into our roster to go with our young horses."

QUEEN OF PARIS IN FOAL!!

QUEEN OF PARIS IS IN FOAL TO GOOD JOURNEY!!

That means that we will have another Good Journey foal next spring - probably in mid May. He or she will be a one-half sibling to Bright Journey. Different dams. Because QOP and GJ are both red horses, we are assured of having another Chestnut. We won't know the gender for a while. Time to play the name game again!!

Bright has a Big Back End Now

Its disproportionate now. He's got a big ass. I have to think that's a good thing. Lots of acceleration in a big assed horse.

He's got a few cuts and scrapes on his legs too. He must be motoring around and getting into trouble. Isn't that what colts do? Sort of as a rule.

BRIGHT EATS HIS FIRST CARROT

May 26, 2008 - Memorial Day

Bright got daring today and decided that he wanted to try a carrot. Here he is taking his first nibble. I don't think he has back teeth yet - so he just bit the tip off and rolled it around in his mouth before swallowing it. But he liked it well enough to keep coming back so we fed him the tips of the carrots for an hour. He's still adverse to being caught though - but he was much friendlier than last time. I was talking to Pete and Evelyn for a few minutes about the upcoming CARMA poker party in Del Mar and he and Lady came up behind me and started pestering me for carrots. Lady shoved me around and he nipped at my pants and got me in the calf. He's still nursing from Lady Marquise - but I don't think that should last too much longer.

RUNNING OUT FRONT 4-27-08

BRIGHT JOURNEY IS 2 MONTHS OLD NOW.

MAMAS BOY - 4-27-08

IT WAS A HOT ONE TODAY. When I got to the farm it was 91 degrees. These two were inseparable. He never strays very far from her. He is sort of becoming a mama's boy. I tried to cox him out to play but he just hid behind her mostly. He still won't eat carrots. Not interested in an apple either.

NEW JOURNEY COLT BORN - 4-27-08

While I was at the farm today, a mare went into labor. Turns out, she was carrying another Good Journey foal. It only took 16 minutes from the time the water broke to the time the foal was delivered. She had a nice brown colt. Here is a shot of his two front legs emerging. His head is still in the sack. He's not breathing yet. Very cool!! Another first crop Good Journey colt. We will have to keep an eye on his progress.

GOOD JOURNEY COLT SELLS FOR $90k IN SYDNEY

THIS JUST IN FROM SYDNEY!! THIS GOOD JOURNEY COLT (A YEARLING) SOLD FOR $90,000 at the Inglis Easter Sales in Australia. He's from Our Egyptian Raine, an extremely good G1 placed mare who sold herself for $900K. He is her first foal.

GOOD JOURNEY SHUTTLES TO AUSTRALIA

BRIGHT'S SIRE HAS NOW BECOME CALIFORNIA'S ONLY SHUTTLE STALLION TO AUSTRALIA! That is a huge deal because that means Good Journey will get more good mares to breed and that means the Australian's really like him, and that means the value of his foals has really shot up!! Indeed, Good Journey is now an internationally recognized producing stallion - and Bright Journey is one from his first US crop. Lindsay Park is owned by one of the leading trainers in Australia, David Hayes, a Melbourne Cup winner. It stands some very fine stallions, including Fraar, winner of the Caufield Cup. Lindsay Park is located 60km outside Adelaide. Its nice country. Good Journey will depart in July, go into quarantine, and then start servicing mares around September. Then he will be back in California in February. How exciting.

ON THE RUN WITH BRIGHT JOURNEY

WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THIS? Already, he's striding out in front of Lady. Bright has three white socks. My pal Lou, at Portola Pastures, has told me that three white socks is a good sign. I asked why. He said, "Secretariat had 3 socks - and he turned out to be a pretty good runner." Its hard to disagree with such an understatement of fact. However, for the record, Secretariat has two socks in back and a front right white sock. Bright has two back socks and a left front sock. But its true that they are both red horses. :)

Lady and Bright Make a Nice Pair

WHEN LADY AND BRIGHT SAW ME TODAY, Bright was laying down and Lady was grazing. Then Lady figured out that I had a big bag of carrots. This is a photo of Lady determinedly walking towards me in anticipation of some cold, snappy carrots. This is also an excellent photo of two things: (1) the amount of distance that Bright allows between himself and Lady given his choice, and (2) the general environment of Legacy Ranch where they are staying. They have a nice pasture in the back which they share with another foal and mare. Very pleasant.

LAZY SUNDAY - 4-13-08

When I got to the Farm today, it was 90 degrees and all the foals were laid out flat taking a noon time siesta. Bright was no different. Also - foal coats are too warm and fluffy for all this spectacular weather so they have started to molt. Patches around the eyes and muzzle are coming off in favor of a thinner, lighter coat now. Bright still isn't eating alfalfa with any earnestness, but while he was down, I noticed that he nibbled at some grass. Don't know if he was eating or just playing with his food. He's only 48 days old now - so he's still just nursing.

GRAND JOURNEY WINS GRADE 1!

Grand Journey WON the $500,000 Grade 1 for 3 year olds on Sunday, April 6, by beating a field of colts at 2 miles at Ascot in Perth. Grand Journey defeated favoured gelding Yuro by Fusaichi Pegasus. Grand Journey (a filly) now has 5 wins and 5 placings from 17 starts for $604,850 earnings. Winning sire, Good Journey, who was used almost exclusively in Australia by private owner Written Bloodstock (covering 27 mares in 2003, 44 in 2004, 47 in 2005 & 22 in 2006 for a total of 160 AUS foals) before being exported to the US is the sire of Bright Journey!! (Grand Journey was purchased at auction as a yearling for $6,500. From now on - Journey horses will fetch much more than that).

GRAND JOURNEY HAS NOW QUALIFIED TO RUN IN THE MELBOURNE CUP. That is the most prestigious race run in Australia. Her next race is on April 30, 2008. The Melbourne Cup is in October. If she runs - I will be there.

This is amazing news! When I decided to breed to Good Journey, none of his foals had run yet. He was an unknown quantity. The fact that he has sired one Grade I and Grade II winner in his first crop means that he is a demonstrably prepotent stallion who will stamp most of his foals as runners. That bodes really well for Bright. Many good stallions never get a single Grade 1 winner in their entire career. Good Journey got one in his first crop. This is very exciting. I took a risk breeding to him because I believed in his pedigree and talent. Looks like my faith in him might be well deserved.

This is Good Journey's first crop of runners. From 27 mares bred, 23 foals were born. 16 have made it to the track, and of that number, 9 are winners and 2 are graded stakes winners. For a new stallion, you could not ask for a more impressive debut. Good Journey is the real deal!

The Journeys Start to Win Big!

THIS IS SOUND JOURNEY. He is a 3 year old colt by Good Journey racing in Australia. On February 16, 2008, he won a Grade II race at one mile with a purse of $159,896. Sound Journey is the first graded stakes winning horse from Bright's sire - Good Journey. He's got another horse in Australia named "Grand Journey" who is also doing well. At the current time, 16 Good Journey horses have raced in Australia and 9 of them have won. They have a win percentage of 17.9% which is considered high. The Australian racing press says that Good Journey is "princely bred." Good Journey's half brother, Aldebaran (by Mr. Prospector), is now the leading second crop sire by earnings in the United States. Good Journey's US crop will not be ready to run until at least 2010 and Bright is part of his first crop. This is all good for Bright's future prospects.

DAY 32

Bright was just full of it today. Not easy to catch and not easy to hold, but he settled after a little while at least enough to take these photos with me. Lady M didn't mind at all that I wanted to pet him. She just munched away on alfalfa. One of my favorite things about Bright is his mane. Its just adorable. I like to rub him behind the ears too. He seems to like that alot. He calmed down considerably. Bright hasn't learned or figured out how to kick out yet. That's a good thing. He did rear up on me but it wasn't anything grand. Nan says that when he does figure out how to kick, I'm going to be at the top of his list to kick first. Nice.

Day 32 - Bright's First Run

LOOK AT HIM GO!! THIS IS HIS FIRST RUN. ALL FOUR OFF THE GROUND. Doesn't he look just great. Tail straight out. Ears pricked forward. Right by Lady's side. He likes to run. Its evident. He's built so well for it. After I took this picture I said to myself - "He's an easy goer."

Day 32 - Out in Pasture

Bright Journey is now out in pasture with Lady Marquise, which they share with another mare and colt. He loves being outside. Today was warm and sunny at the Farm and Bright was sticking close to Lady. He's been out for only three days. He's got a spot on his neck where they shaved him to put a plasma jug of antibiotics. When we got there, all the other foals were laid out on the ground napping, but not Bright. He was nursing. He still won't eat carrots or grass. Still only interested in milk, but he's big and strong. They have put a foal halter on him and I was able to catch him, but it was like trying to reel in a big marlin. He really fought me. Eventually, I had to let him go and he ran off with Lady to the far end of the pasture. Nan noted that his legs are almost as long as Lady M's legs right now. He's a tall fella.

Day 11

BRIGHT JOURNEY WAS FEISTY on Day 11. He is still not eating regular hay or carrots. Lady Marquise was happy to have all the carrots to herself. Bright ran around his stall alot and he wasn't into having me pet him so much. But when I sat down and just hung out, he came over and sniffed on me for a long time and then laid down to nap. He just finds a sunny place and sprawls out in the middle of the shavings. Very cute. You can see that over the course of the last seven days, his croup has become higher and more pronounced. He has a very serious bubble butt, and his shoulders are also starting to show. He already has a nice body.

4 DAYS OLD

DOESN'T BRIGHT LOOK BRIGHT! I think he does. I went to the farm today to visit the little fella and Lady M. They were outside in a paddock so they could enjoy the lovely afternoon. BJ has really filled in. You can barely see his ribs anymore. His face is symetrical now. I don't think it was before. He's got a nice back and a high croup. Doesn't he look great?

When I got there he came right over to sniff me. He seems very friendly. Curious and sweet. He was defintely in a good mood being outside in the sunshine.

Lady M is doing great. She seems to be recovering quickly. She was still cranky with me - but I guess that just the way its always going to be. I still don't have feeling in my pinky where she bit it off.

BRIGHT JOURNEY STANDS FOR THE FIRST TIME

So here is Bright Journey standing up for the first time. I'm giving him a little stability. This is about 55 minutes after he was born so its 2 am in the morning. He's doing pretty good huh? This is the moment that I waited for all 9 days of waiting and waiting. I wanted to help him up. Sometimes they need a little lift on the back end to make it. His hooves are still very soft - kind of like rolled wet newspaper and it was amazing to me that he could stand on them. But he did.

LADY MARQUISE GUARDS THE FOAL

Look at Lady M body block me from the foal. Isn't she something? She's been a stellar mother. Very protective of her little colt. Its fun to watch her around him. She really likes the little fella.

BRIGHT JOURNEY HAS ARRIVED!

Bright Journey arrived last night (Feb. 26) at 1 am at Legacy Farms in Clements, California. Here is his first picture with dam Lady Marquise.

We registered him with the Jockey Club as "Bright Journey" because he looks so much like his sire, "Good Journey." He has three white socks, a blaze, and very long legs. And as you can see, he's bright Chestnut. He will be a red flash on the track. Lady M was only in labor for 15 minutes after her water broke. It was an easy birth and both dam and foal are healthy and well, and everything went text book perfect.

This Blog is dedicated to him and his progress to the race track and on the track.