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.