The Equinic Diary Of East-West Connection                             DAY 1 The date of the Equinics was fast approaching, and clearly, for logistical reasons, the entire EWC could not descend upon Missouri in order to take possession of the torch and then carry it to SERA. It was decided that the trainers who were lucky enough to have Equinics representatives would comprise the EWC delegation. This band consisted of lordpye, simond, bluetaffy, theprofit, thetiler, mingo, laxe, ousooner, easy, devineequ2, hornedfrog2, n2racing2, calumet, and fixby. Several of these trainers were talented enough (or lucky enough, depending on your point of view) to have more than one horse representing the EWC. Because my writing ability is marginally better than my training ability, I was elected to join this elite group to act as a scribe/diarist/gofer. The fifteen of us picked up the torch in St. Louis, a town caught up in the upcoming Super Bowl, without a hitch, and headed across the “Big Muddy” into EWC territory. While we didn’t have enough time to cover all the EWC tracks, the proposed schedule for the next five days was fairly grueling: from Missouri into Illinois, then swinging north to Wisconsin (near Minnesota, where the torch route began), a side step for some of us into South Dakota, then the full group would head over to Michigan with a quick detour into Ontario, then a quick southern swing through Ohio and Indiana. From there, a quick jet flight down to Florida, then another to Arkansas, and then finally, New Orleans, Louisiana. Happily, some kind benefactor had donated the funds, plus the use of a couple of tour buses (and by that I don’t mean a Greyhound type bus, but rather the modified sort used by bands, etc. High class all the way) and private jets to accommodate this schedule. That same person had also provided us with a bunch of sippy cups, puffy hands and little flags, all with the EWC logo, to hand out to children during our travels. * * * * * * * * * * With the Bears’ unfortunate loss in the playoffs, Chicago was more than ready to turn its attention to the Equinics. The stable ponies were brought along, and we rode horseback with the torch through Soldier Field, which for once, was packed with horse racing fans instead of football fans. We rode up along Lakeshore Drive, past the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, and a host of other Chicago landmarks, accompanied by a cheering crowd. “I haven’t seen it this packed since the Chicago marathon,” I thought. At the end of the riding leg, the ponies were loaded up into the trailers, and we descended upon Uno’s for some of Chicago’s best deep-dish pizza and some drinks to celebrate the kick-off of the torch. Unfortunately, we couldn’t linger on as we had to head up to Milwaukee for the next stop to keep on schedule. Surprisingly, for a town known for its breweries, Milwaukee is an attractive city, with a marina and lakeside park that is quite pretty. Unfortunately for us, not everyone was as aware of the Equinics as others. When we stopped at the gas station to ask for directions to our hotel, a little girl came up to us. “Wow, the Olympics torch!” she said. We tried to explain to her that this was the Equinics, to no avail. She peppered us with questions about how horses were involved in the Winter Olympics, and it soon became clear we couldn’t change this five year old’s mind, nor could we withstand the onslaught of questions. We finally gave up, patted her on the head, then got back into the tour bus (no goodies for her). That incident aside, the remainder of the Wisconsin fans that showed up for the torch route were fairly knowledgeable and cheered us on. After a long day, we settled down to sample some of Wisconsin’s finest.                 DAY TWO Some lucky souls got to sleep in. For those of us responsible for the short sidetrip to South Dakota, the alarms went off all too soon, and we staggered out to prepare for the next leg. It was a quick flight from Milwaukee to Sioux Falls, and it was still early morning when we landed. The locals came out in full force, however, and that, along with several strong doses of caffeine, lifted our spirits. Just an hour in the chilly morning air, and then it was back on the plane, this time to Detroit. Luckily for us, the Red Wings weren’t on that night, so once again, our band and the Equinics torch were the center of attention in Hockeytown. We rode through Greektown, past Joe Louis Arena (the “Joe”), down by the church which remembers the ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald, a ship which is also memorialized in song. We didn’t go all the way to Toronto, and just crossed the Detroit River into the little town of Windsor, which is part of Ontario. We didn’t stay very long, just enough to show the torch off, and then it was back across the border. With the torch safely stowed for the night, we went to Greektown to eat, and then to an irish pub downtown near the Joe. When we were finally ready to call it a night, a crazy guy drove us back in the bar’s green bus (known affectionately as the Shillelagh Bus), veering through the streets of Detroit, back to our hotel. He even drove up onto the sidewalk to drop us off directly in front of the door! The ride had made some of us slightly dizzy, and we were relieved to be safely back at the hotel. DAY THREE Pretty much a travel day; we just swung quickly through Indiana and Ohio, as the SERA group would also be trekking through those states, although the ponies were flown ahead to Indianapolis and missed much of the monotonous drive. We did get permission to ride our ponies and carry the torch around the Indianapolis 500 Speedway, with Lordpye as our fearless leader around the circuit, which was a neat experience (even if the steeply banked turns were a little disconcerting to the ponies). We also checked on two of our contenders who were stabled in the state: Simond’s Ozark Dancer, who had prepped in the Warfare Stakes in week 1264, finishing second. The filly was to head to Vermont, while Coomer3's Hero Returning was Hong Kong Bound after winning the Tarleton Oak Stakes (109 SF) in week 1271. We watched Hero work out, and he looks primed for his best effort. DAY FOUR We flew with the torch from Indianapolis to Miami, and what a difference! After the chill of the Midwest, the warm and balmy air felt wonderful. South Beach is something to behold. It is rather otherworldly, with its Art Deco architecture and European influence. We all dressed in black, to fit in with the crowd, and we rode slowly through down Ocean Drive, watching the people almost as much as they were watching us. We were a bit warm in the black, but no one has ever said fashion is comfortable. Next, we went to Hialeah, the lovely old track which probably won’t be with us much longer. There is no racing there currently, but she was a lovely place, with the palm trees and the sense of history, of Citation and other Calumet greats, and flamingos in the infield. Stabled there was Hornfrog2's Bluegrass Serenade, who had recently won an allowance in 1271. She was bound for Vermont, and as I fed her a carrot, I whispered that she was in for a temperature shock. The filly snorted knowingly as she crunched on the treat. Unfortunately, we would not get a chance to experience the night life in South Beach (which again, is quite an experience - there the nightlife it is only starting to gear up when the rest of the world is headed off to sleep and lasts well into the dawn), as we had to fly to Little Rock, and from there, travel to Oaklawn Park. DAY FIVE “You didn’t bring a map?” We’d taken the ponies for a quick ride in the middle of nowhere to stretch their legs, and somehow had lost sight of the road. Apparently, one of my duties as gofer was to have maps for out-of-the-way places. We came to a little stream, and let the ponies drink, while we figured out roughly which way to go. It is spooky how quickly an active imagination can make a perfectly ordinary scene seem ominous. All I needed was a stick figure or two, and I’d be in full fledged panic. I sensed one or two others in our group felt the same way, although the majority looked quite calm, if a little irritated to be thrown off schedule. Luckily, we kept our heads and followed the creek. After a few minutes, the creek met the road, and we emerged about about 100 yards south of the caravan. None the worse for our little morning adventure, we loaded everything back up and headed to Oaklawn Park. Once again, the fans were great (and most appreciative of the sippy cups and other goodies we had). We were tired, but our tour of duty was almost done. At the Fair Grounds, after we showed off the torch to the racing fans, we went to the stable area and checked on Devineequ2's Boulder Fireworks. After finishing a rallying fifth in her final prep race, the filly was on her toes, and poked her head out of the stable, whickering curiously at us as we patted her and fed her a mint or two. Also stabled there was Ousooner’s Tow’s Conquistador. His final tune-up was a smashing second in the El Famoso Stakes (110 SF), and he looked primed for another peak effort. Both were getting ready to ship to Vermont for their chance to bring home Equinic gold. We also stopped at the grave of Black Gold (pictured), to pay tribute to the horse for that the Equinics’ Black Gold Keles (4yo & up, 1 1/4 mile) honors. Also buried there is the great filly Pan Zareta. It was an honour and a privilege to carry the torch, even though it was a bit exhausting. Lordpye and Simond headed off to meet the SERA representative and hand off the torch, while the rest of us set off to explore Bourbon Street. Hopefully, we’ll make it back alive and get to the Equinics in one piece for what should be a strong EWC showing!