8 Sleeps for the Famous Pony, as she says goodbye to Victoria.

There are eight sleeps to go.  What for?????  That's a silly question!  The Famous Pony, Black Caviar, will face the starter for the 24th time in 8 sleeps time.  That's what for...

Have I started pacing the house yet?  Not quite yet, but already the pressure is rising and the anticipation is growing.  It's a busy period between now and then, and there are 2 very important photoshoot outside of my trip to Warwick Farm on Saturday that we are trying our best to schedule before I arrive on course at Moonee Valley.  They may well fall on raceday, which means that I am likely to collapse exhausted by the end of Friday evening.  There will be no rest (apart from a short sleep on the plane), because I am unlikely to be home from the Valley before midnight on Friday evening and then I am on  a 7.30am flight from Melbourne to Sydney for the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill Gardens.  More Joyous and Pierro should be awaiting me on this day.  But it is fair to say that, from Sunday onwards, there will be only one (well, actually, another 3, and they are closely related and therefore intertwined with the Famous Pony) horse on my mind.

Am I sad that following her march even further into immortality is now a solo journey for me?  Absolutely....  And I suppose the realisation that we really are approaching the end of her career is adding to this sadness.  There are other friends to share it with, and I realise this, but it's not the farewell tour as I foresaw, and dreamt and talked about...

I think that I am beginning to realise just how deep the emotion I have attached to the mare goes, and I have no doubt that I will feel overcome with emotion after her race, as it's all now part of saying saying goodbye to her now.  And goodbyes are crap!  They make me cry, and crying is crap!!!!  I like to hope that I will continue to have a role in the great mare's career as a broodmare, but I never take anything for granted, so like everyone else, I am just taking it one day at a time.

Having said all this, recalling how I sat in despair at having to miss her trip to Ascot in June last year, every single moment I have spent with her since she returned home to Australia has been an absolute bonus, and for these special moments I shall be forever grateful.  Because at one point, it seemed unlikely that we would ever experience the thrill of seeing her race or under saddle again.

Behind the scenes



 


My wonderful Lyn Beaumont with the painting she's just completed of Black Caviar, based on my photograph.  She's the benchmark in equine art.


Valley Days..
 









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