When It Counts

Chapter 1: The Start

The sun was rising on the third Saturday in April, horses had been filing into the 20+ barns on the backside of the track. It was opening day at Prairie Meadows. Although I was only here April through August, this place felt like home.

"How's it feel to be back?" top trainer Chris Richard said while we watched horses workout in the early morning.

"Great. We're back home." I responded "Is Ron coming up this meet?" speaking of Ron Moquett, a leading midwest trainer.

"He has around 10 stabled at my barn." said the runner up in the standings last year, Ray Tracy.

"Here comes my big horse..." I said as the 5 of the top trainers stood together watching our horses train. The horse was Irish Police, a son of top Iowa sire, The Deputy. He was 4th in the Bluegrass Stakes 2 weeks earlier, and was getting ready to run in The Golden Circle on the Friday night before the Kentucky Derby, which was one of his 2 preps for the main target, the Iowa Derby.

"He looks like he did in Kentucky..." said Kelly Von Hemel, 5th in the standings last year.

"I don't want to face that monster." said the 4th place finisher, Federico Villafranco.

"We'll see what he can do in a few weeks." I said, then walked off to get in my truck and head back to the barn area after the workout. I had around 50 horses in training, and last year I was able to finish 3rd in the standings, and was 4 wins away from winning the Oaklawn meet that ended last week, losing to Ron Moquett.

I grabbed my DRF once I finished checking over the imposing chestnut colt and reomving his red blinkers.

Prairie Meadows Meet Begins Today

"The top 5 trainers from last year's meet at the Altoona, Iowa Track all return, locked and loaded for the 2018 meet, last year won by Chris Richard. Trainers Ray Tracy, Jeff Seward, Federico Villafranco, and Kelly Von Hemel all were within 10 wins of winning last year's meet. Top trainers like Steve Asmussen, Ron Moquett, and Ken Mcpeek have a few stabled on the backside, many of them aiming for the major stakes at the track.

Top horses like Graded Stakes winning Irish Police, Willyonaroll, and Fantastic Fleet will be the leading local contenders for the 3 major graded race during the Iowa Festival of Racing, the Iowa Derby, Cornhusker Handicap, and Iowa Oaks.

Per usual, the leading jockeys like Ramon Vasquez, Alex Birzer, and David Mello all return to ride this meet.

The meet will run from this Saturday to the 2nd Saturday of August, running from Wednesday to Sunday."

After reading the article, I went to make sure my other runners were good looking, then went home.

"I'm home." I shouted as I got home, my wife, Mary, greeted me at the door.

"How are the horses?" she asked.

"Great. Where's Ally?" I asked, referring to my 5 year old daughter.

"She went to school, of course."

My name is Jeff Seward, I'm 35 years old, and I train racehorses on the Mid-west circuit, Prairie Meadows in the summer, Remington in the fall, and Oaklawn in the winter and spring, but Prairie Meadows was my home track. I was born in Belmond, Iowa, a few hours north of Prairie Meadows. I went to the track often, thanks to my father, who was a big gambler. I remember the early years of the track, when I watched some of the first Cornhuskers and Iowa Derbies. I graduated from the University of Kentucky at the age of 24, and at 30 became a trainer on my own. I had won 6 graded stakes, most recently with Irish Police in the Springboard Mile last fall.

A horse that was a while away in Iowa was about to ship to Prairie Meadows. A son of Sheriff Cogburn out of Seaneen Girl, he was at Marty and Bonnie Wint's Happy Sun Farms, the 2 year old colt would soon be in the barn of Jeff Seward. His name was, When It Counts.