Dixie’s Hope is Second in Racing Debut!

Dixie’s Hope  finished second in her maiden race on Saturday, 4/17/2010.  Keeneland Racetrack was featuring the Coolmore Lexington Stakes on Saturday, so a large crowd of nearly 30,000 were on hand.

Like many young horses just starting out, Dixie had never been in such a large crowd before. Another novel situation for her was breaking from the gate with eleven other fillies.

She was slow to get out of the gate and was bumped quite hard right near the start. She overcame the bump and the crowding and got in on the rail and started closing on the field as she was trained to do.

She was trapped on the rail in the stretch and the rider had to swing her around to the 0utside to get clear. After a rough trip like this, some horses will quit or tire, but not our gal. Once clear, she dug in her heels and passed the rest to finish sec0nd and win a purse of $10,000. 

The jockey said later she “had a lot left under the hood” after the race. She checked out all right when it was over, went back to the barn and ate right away and this morning is already back home in her stall and doing well.

We are terribly excited, needless to say. She went off at 35-1 and paid $30.80 for place and $11.00 for show. I picked up a show bet on her and  was quite happy to win my first bet on our horse. Next time I bet her to win!

The trainer plans to start her at Churchill Downs for her next race, probably another maiden special at a mile on the turf. I would like to thank Joe Deegan our trainer for bringing her along just right and Jared and Marc from Pocket Aces Racing who made this dream possible for me.

Stay tuned for the further adventures of Dixie’s Hope and Pocket Aces
Racing!