Working Out and Getting Strong

This is Bright working with a partner last Sunday.  He seems to love working out.  He's getting an nice strong chest.  A picture says a thousand words about how a horse is feeling.  Bright is feeling good.

BRIGHT RUNS A LICK

HI RGR Group and Bright Journey Fans!
Bright worked at Santa Anita this morning a 1/8th lick in 13:4 with a buddy.
Howard Zucker says he is all business now.  Very professional.
HZ has hm on the Maryland Shin Remodeling Program so that Bright doesn't buck a shin
and so he gets strong bone for racing.
We also have him on bone supplements so that hopefully in about 3 months he will be strong to race. Next week someone fro Equix Bio in Kentucky is coming to make and analysis of his body and stride mechanics. I am excited to see what the analysis reflects, however, HZ already thinks that Bright strides out with good extension and that is a very good thing indeed.  Stay tuned.

BRIGHT GALLOPS

BRIGHT IS NOW SLOWLY GALLOPING WITH MANE A FLYING.  He looks happy.  He is going with a buddy and they are hard to tell apart except that Bright is about two inches taller with a bigger croup.  On his third go around, on the home turn, Bright did something really cool.  On his own, without any urging, he picked up his head and accelerated around the turn and past his running pal.  The jockey was a little surprised and took him back pretty solidly.  But Efrain said to me, "Hey did you see that?"  I said "Yeah.  What just happened?"  Efrain said, "Well its too early to say if he has any talent, but that was a move you like to see.  It was his idea to accelerate past the other horse on the turn.  You can't buy that....they have to want to do it - and I guess he does."   And thats a good thing. 

By the way, Bright is really looking like a stallion these days, if you know what I mean. He's got a good size neck and head.  His coat is shiney.  Efrain says he's the biggest colt on the farm right now.  Bright leaves for Howard Zucker's barn (59) at Santa Anita next week to start training harder to get ready for his first race in August at Del Mar.  How exciting.

NEW LOGO FOR RED GARLAND RACING

HOT OFF THE PRESSES!  HERE IS THE NEW LOGO DESIGN FOR RED GARLAND RACING.  ISN'T FABULOUS?  THANK YOU TRACY AND GREG AT FISHBOWL DESIGN.

BIT IN TEETH! 4-16-2010

BRIGHT JOURNEY IS BACK IN TRAINING! 

SURF CAT IS HANDSOME....BUT DON'T GET TOO CLOSE

Here is a photo of Surf Cat looking quite Handsome.  He's a good looking stallion.  He's got a few babies on the ground now at Old English Rancho and they seem to be getting stamped by him with dark coats.  My mare DreamingofaPrince just had one of his babies on Sunday evening at 9:45pm.  Her back legs were so long, she could not stand up until midday the next day.  She was just pitched too far forward.  Here she is standing next to her mare - who is crazy BIG. Poor little filly.  Its her first day and she needs longer front legs.

LADY MARQUISE DUE ANY MINUTE NOW!

Here is a photo of Lady Marquise from Monday 3-29-2010.  She is overdue by a few days now.  Lady is the dam of Bright Journey.  She is in foal to Marsha Naify's Surf Cat out at Old English Rancho. This will be her second foal. Then Bright will have a half-sibling.  Maybe we will have an Easter foal. 

BRIGHT'S KNEES CLOSED!

The vet came out and took x-rays yesterday. The news is very good.  Bright's knees have closed.  Now this might not sound like big news to you, but it is!! This means that Bright can now start training in earnest because he can bear weight ( a jockey) on a gallop.  So - we can now start giving Bright some easy gallops to get him into condition.  Bright is about 6 weeks ahead of where we were hoping he might be - so we are very excited that he grew big and strong early - and his kneees have closed meaning that his body is ready to run.  Bright continues to impress me with his maturity.  He will go back into gallops with Efrain on April 1 and we will plan to take to Santa Anita at the end of June so he can move with his trainer's barn to Del Mar for the summer meet there.  We are ahead of schedule!  Woo hoo!

DISCOVERY OF THE SPEED GENE

THIS IS INCREDIBLY EXCITING! I have spoken to Dr. Emmeline Hill of Equinome and sent off Bright Journey's DNA today to Ireland.  Stay posted for findings.  Meanwhile, if you want and explanation of the Speed Gene and what it means, watch this video.

BIG BRIGHT TURNS 2 YEARS OLD - Feb 26

He's Happy!  He's Flashy! and He's 2 years old so he gets a whole bag of carrots.
We went out to Once Over Farm on Friday and celebrated Bright.  I plucked 40 mane hairs and sent them off to Kentucky to have his DNA tested for the "Speed Gene."   We will find out if he's a sprinter, middle distance horse, or router.  No matter what he is, he's super swell.

Almost 2 Years Old

Bright is 6 days away from his 2 year old birthday.  Efrain estimates that his weight is about 975 pounds and that he will put on another 75 in muscle mass in the spring and summer.  We think he is about 16'1" right now.  Efrain is 5'11" so that makes Bright's withers at about 65 inches.  He seems to like it out at Once Over Farm.  He's got a nice paddock in the back out by the hills.  Very picturesque.  This morning was foggy but it burned off around 11.  The temperature was mild.   I took my Dad to see him for the first time.  Dad thought he was much bigger in real life than in his photos.  Bright ate a whole bag of carrots and then posed for us.  Efrain Guzman, who runs Once Over and trained Bold Chieftan as a two year old, is holding Bright in these photos.  Efrain said that Bright is a natural when it comes to posing.  I said, "I sure hope he's going to be taking alot of photos in the Winner Circle."  Bright will get cookies on Saturday for his birthday.  Some friends from Portola Pastures are coming to visit him. It will be a regular party.

PORTRAIT OF BRIGHT AND JEN

 

There are lots of reasons to smile about Bright Journey.  Look how nicely he has grown up. And he is a sweet soul.  I could not be happier with the way that he has turned out.

BRIGHT NOW AT ONCE OVER FARM

We moved Bright to Once Over Farm in Morgan Hill on Thursday. He had finished his first three months of initial training at Legacy and I wanted him a little closer to me so I could visit. He is only 45 minutes away now. I am very excited for him because he will have 6 weeks off and then go back in training with Efrain Guzman. Efrain trained Bold Cheiftain who just won the $500,000 Sunshine Millions race today at Santa Anita. Bold Chieftain has never raced outside of California but he is one of those rare Cal breds that has won over $1.4 million. Great horse. Efrain has great hands and is very patient with young horses. He gives them alot of personal attention. Bright will probably be with Efrain for at least 3-4 months before heading South. There is lots of growing for him to do in the Spring, but mostly it will be filling out and modeling the bone in his legs. Already though, he's a strong handsome colt.  Look how he has nice muscle on his front legs and a great top line.  BJ is at least 16' 1 now and he is taller than his sire - and much different than his dam in body type.  Lady Marquise was like a Quarter Horse.  Its interesting to see how he is the best of both of them.  He has all of Good Journey's flashy fantastic looks and some really great bone structure from his dam.  

BRIGHT LOOKS LIKE A REAL RACEHORSE

After Bright went around Legacy's 5/8th track once at a jog, his exercise rider brought him over to say Hi.  He looks all grown up now.  He takes after his sire in the looks department, but may even be taller than him now.  He still has a little more growing to do - and he will fill out a bit, but you are seeing a colt who is clearly going to be a big runner with a long stride.  He has nice round hooves and a balanced body. He will be a turf miler for sure.

BRIGHT OUT FOR A MORNING JOG AT LEGACY 1-16-2010

When I arrived at the Farm at 9 am, Anita whisked me to the training barn in her golf cart.  It was so cold and foggy, we draped a blanket over our legs.  When we got there, Bright was walking out of the shadow of the barn, fully tacked, and ready to go for a little spin.  His exercise rider legged up and they started walking to the track with another chestnut.  Bright acted like a total professional.  In this photo, Bright is on the left.  His rider is in blue.  You can see that he is quite a bit taller at the withers than his companion.  Bright is not ready to gallop yet.  His bones are still forming and you don't want to stress them too much.  He needs time to grow into his tall and lanky frame.  So he just walks and jogs a bit.  He is still a baby in his head and alittle spooky.  But he likes being out on the track and is easy to handle.  He enjoys his morning walk.  He has been in training for 2 1/2 months now and he's a good student.

BRIGHT IN TRAINING!

BRIGHT IS NOW IN THE BARN.  Play time is over. Starting the first of  November, he went into light training.  So he is inside in a fabulously big stall.  We went to see him one evening at about 6pm. It was freezing!  About to snow.  But he seemed pretty comfortable.  And happy to see us because we brought carrots.

MY BUDDY BRIGHT AND HIS BUDDY - 10-11-09

Here HE is giving me a hug the way that horses do. He's still sweeter than ever. Easy to handle. A nice animal and a good soul. He likes to nip and play. He's a colt - so he has a ferocious kick now. And in a few months - he could be a stud if we let him. He likes it when I rub his ears and his forehead. Today when we got to the pasture, he ran around and around with his buddies and got all sweaty. We just watched them and enjoyed their youthful exhuberance. I think that he did not recognize me for a little while. We sat on the fence and the dog ran up and down and they would come to a stop, check out the people sitting on the fence, then tear off again to the far corner of the pasture. Then they would come back a few minutes later. They did this three of four times and then I hopped down in the pasture and started walking towards Bright. He started - darted away - then quickly came back. Then all of a sudden - he got this look of recognition and he walked right up to me and bumped me. The way your cat does when he says Hi. It took him a little while but then it was like we were old buddies and he followed me around. I hadn't seen him in over two months and was so impressed by his growth. He had filled out considerably. Big bones. Not ribby any more. His coat is deep chestnut. His mane flies in the wind. He looks like a horse. A really beautiful handsome colt. Thats what he is.

THE THREE AMIGOS - ONE LAST TIME 10-10-09

I DON'T KNOW WHERE THESE THREE AMIGOS WILL GO FROM HERE WITH THEIR CAREERS AND LIVES, BUT FOR THE FIRST 20 MONTH, THEY WERE THE BEST OF PALS. IN WINDS, RAIN, COLD AND HEAT, THEY HORSED AROUND AND HUDDLED TOGETHER WHILE THEY GREW UP TO BE RUNNERS. BRIGHT IS IN THE MIDDLE - HE IS ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE WHEN HE RUNS. THATS JUST HIS STYLE.

LOOK AT HOW TALL HE IS! OCT. 10, 2009

Here I am leading Bright Journey. I am just a hair shy of 5 foot 6 with shoes on. Brights back is as tall as me. That means he's 16.1 hands tall and he is still growing!! He's got tremendous bone on his front legs, a well balance neck, and handsome head. He has nice round feet, and croup that is slightly higher than his withers, and a fantastic gaskin. He has long legs and good stride. He is built like a rachorse should be built.

One of the very nicest things about Bright is how well he handles. For a horse that has been in pasture all his life, he is very agreeable. He let me pick up his feet, and run him all over. I rubbed his ears, his forehead, his belly. He will let you do anything you like to him. And, he follows. Not perfectly well, but he is willing. He has such a nice disposition. I could not ask for anything more. He's really the complete package.

THE NOSE KNOWS CARROTS - OCT. 11, 2009

BRIGHT HAS A NOSE FOR CARROTS. AND A KIND EYE. HE IS SUCH A CUTE FELLOW.