Two weeks ago, we watched – with great anticipation – Sweet Halory’s return to the track….almost 8 months since she won her debut at Delmar. We watched that race on TV and shouted with joy as we watched her win, but then she would miss months because of an injury. On June 30th Glen (co-owner) sent us a text that read “This Friday, Sweet Halory, 6f with Hall of Fame Jockey Mike Smith ????”
Well what do you say to that, except “OMG Mike Smith, Go Sweet Halory”.
Our girl ran a great race, closed well and took second to Bendable, a Claiborne homebred — so Winchester Road produced the exacta in the fourth race at Santa Anita that day. Yayyyyy! After the race, Mike Smith’s comments were that he loved her and “two turns and we catch ’em”. I’m not sure that Mike Smith would remember but he rode Brushed Halory (Sweet Halory’s dam) in her last two career starts. One was a Grade III stakes race at Gulfstream. I sure hope he gets to do the same, and more, with Sweet Halory.
Sweet Halory’s pasture mate as a youngster was Miss Noble Rose. You may remember Miss Noble Rose was training great… being sent out to work with Grade I winners and she was always holding her own. Well, she unfortunately did not bring her ability to the races in the afternoon.
I have heard the term “Morning Glories”…they are horses that train great in the mornings and give you all kinds of hope that they are going to be great. But no, they decide they don’t like running in the afternoon. Now we own TWO Morning Glories…If anyone reading this knows a cure for “Morning Glories”, we are all ears !!! Doug thought maybe we should let Miss Noble Rose mature and try again.
Sooooo we shipped her home, but she got as far as Colorado before she spiked a temp and was taken to Littleton Clinic, where she received great care. When she was better we were faced with the dilemma of where could she go to convalesce. Not knowing of any facilities in Colorado, I called our dear friend Ford who helped us. She went to see Miss Noble Rose at the clinic and found us Cottonwood Stables, where Miss Noble Rose received not only great care but also lots of TLC until she could make the rest of the trip home. It’s like having a child away at camp become ill…we very much appreciate all the good care she received.
The B&B has been hopping with guests wanting to get their baby fix for the year and to see how the babies they saw last year have grown into beautiful yearlings. In late May, we enjoyed a first — having a bride and her attendants stay with us. The wedding was held at the Wallis House so the girls didn’t have far to travel.
With a 6:00 pm wedding time, I was glad to see the bride not fretting Saturday morning when it was raining with the forecast not looking good for most of the day. She was hopeful it would stop before the garden wedding started. I had met the bride’s mother earlier this year and it was obvious where she got her sweet, calm inner spirit.
It was a special experience, and they left the nicest review with us on TripAdvisor: “This was a wonderful experience for my daughter & her bridesmaids. They all came in on Friday & were able to be together for the entire wedding weekend. Lyra is an incredible hostess & the guest house is just perfect. The girls were close to the wedding venue (Wallis House) & Rosecrest Farm is breathtaking. Thank you for a most memorable wedding weekend.”
By the way, if you want to read more of the reviews our guests have been so kind to leave for us on TripAdvisor, click HERE .
Several more of our two year olds have been named and are in training:
- Charley’s Hope ’14 is Sassy Rose,
- Indefinable ’14 is now My Sweet Reward, and
- Rose Dela Troienne ’14 has the name Pistol Packin Rose.
I will elaborate more on these and the yearlings in our next blog.
Thanks for the info. I put all 3 in my Virtual Stable. Good luck .
Hello, I love your blog and your horses (my mom and I visited last year towards the end of June) I got a goat 2 months ago that I named Halory, after Sweet Halory! I have a couple questions though. 1, is the indefinable 14′ baby the one by Warriors Reward who was at Keenland Sep? Did she not sell? 2, why was she ridden by Gary Stevens yesterday instead of Mike? And 3, Is Halory ok? Why was she pulled up in her race yesterday? I’m sorry I have so many questions, I just love your horses and facilities!
By the way, in question number 2 I’m referring to Sweet Halory, not the Indefinable 14′ filly.