Happy birthday, Red

They just grow up so fast!

On June 18, 2009, my mare Lady's Wager was foaling a chestnut colt by West Virginia-based sire Inner Harbour.

Today, that youngster -- named All In On Red -- turns the full age of 2 (though officially, of course, he was 2 on Jan. 1 this year).

The photo was shot this week by Sarah Warmack at Hilltop Farm VA, where Red was foaled and will receive his initial breaking and training.

You can see pictures of Red at various stages from age 5 weeks to 2 years on his page at the highly recommended site FoalTrack.com.

One of the last new foal photos you'll see this year

Pictures are in, and stepping into the light for his close-up is the birthday boy ... as yet unnamed. But it's early. He's only 18 hours old.

Sarah Warmack of Hilltop Farm VA said he was a bit slow to nurse, so she milked the dam and syringed colostrum for him. And his IgG test came in over 800 this afternoon, so he's well-stocked with immunities from mama. Good job, Sarah!

Mom did stand a bit soon and pulled on the umbilical cord, so they're watching him for development of a hernia, but he's begun nursing well, so all seems to be good for now.

"He's a handful," Sarah writes, "loves to whinny and likes to play in the water bucket. He's very intrigued about the water buckets. Very odd for a newborn."

Sarah also says he's a "pensive" foal, maybe a bit of a thinker.

That's interesting, because while I was expecting a filly, the name that I had settled on was "Innermost Thoughts." ... Remember, the sire is Inner Harbour (Capote-Blue Sky Princess, by Conquistador Cielo) the dam Lady's Wager, by Valid Wager, out of Lear's Lady, who was out of the mare Idiomatic (by Verbatim).

"Idiomatic" means "peculiar to," particularly in the case of language (i.e., "idiomatic English"), that is, an expression often hard or impossible to define except in its common contextual usage within that language. Example of an idiom: "Beat him to the draw," a North American English phrase derived from gunfighting in the Old West.

It also can describe someone able to speak a language fluently when it is not his native tongue: "Though raised in Los Angeles, he spoke idiomatic French."

A third applicable definition involves displaying a distinctive style, for instance, "an idiomatic composer."

Anyway, perhaps it was a stretch, but "Innermost Thoughts" seemed, to a degree, to play off both sides of the pedigree. But, at risk of sounding -- I dunno, chauvinistic? -- it sort of seems too touchy-feely for a colt or gelding.

A couple of names popped to mind, considering he's a chestnut and his dam's name is Lady's Wager.

First, and sticking with me all day, "Bet It All On Red." ... Per Brisnet, seems to have never been issued by the Jockey Club. But doesn't really pay any homage to his sire.

Then, just now it hit me, "All In On Red." ... We get some "In" for Inner Harbour, and the spirit of the "Wager," as well. ... Likewise appears never-issued by the JC.

Those who have never been the breeder of a foal, nor the purchaser of an unnamed foal at the sales who still needs to be registered, probably had no idea how much thought goes into the naming process. At least, how much can go into it, depending on the person doing the naming.

Yet to own a winner, but ...

If somebody else's horse winning a race is this exciting, I can't wait until one of my own does.

I'm new to the breeding business, with two foals expected this year, one any day now as the foaling season winds down. (Many Fugue readers have already "met" my first foal as a co-breeder, Oracle at Delphi.)

The dam of the pending foal is named Lady's Wager (pictured). She was sired by a pretty good racehorse in Valid Wager and out of a winning mare named Lear's Lady (Lear Fan-Idiomatic, by Verbatim) who was half to an Aqueduct stakes winner. So when "Lady" became available inexpensively late last spring, I took a chance both on her and on a booking to unproven stallion Inner Harbour (Capote-Blue Sky Princess, by Conquistador Cielo), who stands at O'Sullivan Farms near Charles Town, W.Va.

I'll admit that Lady's pedigree was a head-scratcher for me. Her dam, Lear's Lady, was a turf runner (won on both surfaces, better on grass) who was by a Grade 1 European turf horse, and out of a female line stemming from 1950s French-born turf stakes winner Sylvanaise. Valid Wager, her sire and not a turf horse, doesn't particularly strike me as a good match.

Nevertheless, she was a plucky racehorse, and though she never advanced to stakes company, she managed to win 10 of 36 lifetime starts for $71,519. She broke maiden for a $20K tag at Calder and eventually won her 10 races at eight different tracks, including Suffolk and Rockingham allowances and claiming races at Laurel, Pimlico, Tampa, Charles Town and Penn National. All were on the main track; she had but one turf start, her first try after breaking maiden and her first try at a route. (Bumped at the gate, she finished poorly and none of her connections ever tried grass again; probably not a fair gauge of her turf ability.)

She was also 3-for-3 lifetime over a wet strip -- the Valid Appeal sireline is sometimes noted for its mudders -- and so it might be no coincidence that her first foal, West Appeal, broke his maiden Friday in the slop at Charles Town.

Yes, it's just a $5,000 maiden-claimer at CT. But he's getting better for breeders Dale and Patricia Shockey. (Dale is also his trainer.)

After missing the break something awful in his first start last year at 3, he flipped his palate in his second effort, underwent surgery for it, and was on the shelf all winter. He's returned to finish fourth, second and now first by a drawing-off 5 3/4 lengths, in command throughout despite hitting the gate and getting bumped by inside horses at the start. (He was the 9).

So maybe he can move up in the claiming ranks, or even try WV-bred allowance horses someday. ... Even if not, it's nice to see that Lady's Wager can produce a winner. It's something her female-family has done quite a bit of, especially when mated to Bold Ruler- and Seattle Slew-line horses; hence my choice of Inner Harbour. (Nine Bold Ruler-line stakes winners including Slewpy-G1, Croeso-G1 and Super May-G2, trace to Lady's fourth dam, Forest Song.)

The Shockeys tell me they're high on his younger half-sister, Lady's Bopette (by Bop), a 2-year-old who will go back to the training track when her knees close up in a couple of months. Obviously I wish the Shockeys the best with her, for the good of the mare's page, as she's now mine.

So, yes, I was in a celebratory mood Friday night, probably more so than you'll ever see from somebody who didn't breed nor own the winning horse. Nor, for that matter -- living in wagerless North Carolina -- did I have a nickel bet on him.