PaddockGirl update...

For those of you who know my little buddy Jessica, aka "PaddockGirl", I thought I'd let you know what's going on with her. We still talk sometimes and send text messages back and forth to keep in touch. She told me she won't be able to come to Oaklawn this year, she'll be working at Turfway Park this winter. She's still working for the vets and has been up at Churchill ever since the end of Oaklawn's last meet. Things are going well with her boyfriend, in fact he bought her a riding horse that she keeps at his parent's farm in, ah I believe Indiana.

This week she sent me a package, inside was an official program from this year's Kentucky Derby and the program from the Breeder's Cup... how cool is that, what a sweetheart! Also inside was the photo from Chindi's retirement ceremony that many of us at last year's Hottalkers luncheon were able to witness. If you didn't have a chance to see the photo, here it is:

Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo

Also I informed Jessica about the Hottalkers site shutting down, and her reply was "Oh how sad, I loved those people! They were so nice!"

By the way, as long as I'm posting racing photos, here's one from the first year I worked at the track. I worked for Gerald Romero as a lowly hotwalker:

again, click on thumbnail

That's Romero at the horse's haunches, then his wife, then ME in the green/tan. (Hey folks, notice I'm NOT A BLONDE in this photo? hahaha) It was fun, and a learning experience. Plus, he worked my ass off!!!! The first day I worked for him he had me rake the dirt of the barn aisle all day... I think he was surprised that I showed up again the next day! I worked 7 days a week at 5:00am (and I'm NOT, repeat NOT a morning person) for 4 months straight without a single day off (that's life at the track) and walked a good 8-10 miles a day by my figures, around and around the barn with hot, crazed racehorses coming in from exercising on the track, trying to pull me into the rafters. But during the meet he wound up giving me 2 raises, and from what I heard he didn't normally give out raises to employees, so I guess he liked me.

Then the next year I worked for Steve Asmussen (where I met Jessica) again as a hotwalker, then Dr. Norwood and Dr. Clement the year after that as a vet asst, and finally during the Breeder's Cup year here at Lone Star I was a mutual teller. THAT was fun taking bets from people, and I got kicked a lot less than when working with those crazy horses, haha! My track life in a nutshell...