June 11, 2013
Dear Readers,
How terrific, a dry track for the Belmont. No
excuses for any of the participants, and Palace Malice ran beautifully for his
trainer Todd Pletcher and the syndicate who owns him.
Frankly, how can you not love a horse who wins
a classic, and by several lengths, but I do think I’m even more impressed by
his trainer. Obviously Todd listens to the tale his rider has to tell after a
race. Todd’s decision to put blinkers on his charge for the Kentucky Derby
backfired when Palace Malice ran off on the front end.
There are several
reasons to put blinkers on a horse. A small sample could include, among many
others, to keep the horse from lugging out, particularly on the turn, or to focus
his attention on the business at hand. Sometimes, particularly colts, will like
to intimidate the horses around them, and adding blinkers will keep them from
looking their opponent in the eye, which can eliminate the bullying. But bottom
line, overall, the reason to add blinkers is to improve a horse’s performance
and hopefully get him to win.
Sometimes adding
blinkers, is an act of desperation. Nothing else has worked, and a trainer will
try blinkers as a last ditch effort before giving up on a horse and his career.
But generally putting blinkers on indicates to me that a trainer feels their
horse has more potential than he has shown to date.
This would
certainly be the case with Palace Malice. Even though the desired result of winning
the Kentucky Derby did not happen, Todd, the horse and the jockey Mike Smith
all learned a great deal that day. Todd watched
the way his horse raced, the same thing as listening to him, listened to Mike
Smith after the race in the Derby, skipped the Preakness, which let his horse
regain his composure and most importantly took the blinkers back off. Success.
With a mile and a
half race under his belt, I can’t wait to see this horse going forward. Clearly
he has speed, he can come from off the pace and he can go the longer distances.
It doesn’t take a brainiac to understand this horse, barring injury, is going
to be terrific next year when longer distances pop up for four-year-olds with a
satisfying frequency.
For all my United
States readers, who have not bought “Casual Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure,” sign
up for Goodreads. Starting Friday June 14, and ending Monday June 17, you can
enter to win a copy of my memoir. One copy will be available to one winner, who
will be picked by Goodreads, and I will send a signed copy to this winner. So go
to www.goodreads.com sign up and then go
exploring under giveaways-ending soonest and register to win. Good luck.
In the meantime,
be sure to check out www.shelleyriley.com
and you can email me through the contact me page.
Thank you for reading,
Shelley Riley
3 comments:
Hi Mrs. Riley,
I bought your book last week. I just started reading it a few days ago and I'm half way through. I don't know much about Blogs and all, but I wanted you to know so far I love the book. Anyone who will listen to me for a second, gets a run down of the great book I'm currently reading, which is yours. I can't wait to finish it, but when I'm reading a good book, I also don't want it to end. So far it is great. I'm not sure if it is appropriate to post how much I'm enjoying your book, right here on this blog. But like I mentioned I don't know much about blogs. So far the book is great. And thank you for signing it for me. Stanley sounds like a great horse.
Thank you for sharing your feelings about the memoir. We must have met at the Pleasanton First Wednesday street party. I am so pleased that people, like you, have taken the time to contact me and express their enjoyment. I am also pleased that the story of Stanley is resonating with nearly every age group, both male and female. One woman said to me it was difficult to find a book about horses that was written for adult readers.
I have never lost my enthusiasm for horses, of all types. A beautiful horse both makes me smile and makes me feel good. If Stanley's story makes people feel good, then I have managed to share the joy of the gift that was Casual Lies.
I trained hundreds of horses and each was different from the next, and yet Stanley’s personality from the very first time I met him, was compelling. No one ignored Stanley, he wouldn’t allow it.
If you would like to review the book when you are finished, I will post it on www.shelleyriley.com and feel free to post it on Goodreads and Amazon. You can also contact me through the website or here.
Take care,
Shelley Riley
I will post my review on Amazon for sure. There are many things I loved about the book, both written and unwritten. I loved learning about Stanley's personality. I loved that it seemed like you and your husband were a team. I loved that you and Stanley were set out as under dogs, but you showed everyone. I loved that you were once a dispatcher (I'm an officer) and that you got away from the rat race and although it was a lot of hard work you followed your dreams and made it happen. It is all very touching and inspiring. You are a very brave person and it all paid off. I love it.
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