Okay Okay

In the adolescence of my turf life, I often Blue lined it from the Sevens Pub on Charles Street in Boston to "Sufferin Downs".

Race cards were dominated by a smorgasbord of cheap condition races like non winners of a ham sandwich lifetime.

Then Rise Jim came along.
It was 1978 when he broke his maiden at the "Saratoga of New England" --Rockingham Park in Nashua New Hampshire.
Trained by an old vet Joe O'Shea, Rise Jim won 6 races in a row as a 2 yer old.
(talk about a foundation).
He opened his 3 year old campaign with another 3 consecutive wins taking down a few decent NY shippers in a Handicap.



This was 1979 and racing had been presented another Superstar 3yo in Spectacular Bid.
But you would never have known that hanging around the grandstand and backstretch in East Boston.
The Rise Jim gang were supremely confident they would ambush Spectacular Bid sometime in the summer or fall.

I guess they did not have speed figures... :)

They shipped him to Belmont for a 1 mile grass race --the Saranac---
The jock sent Jim out for the first 6f 1:07 and collapsed.

Rise Jim became a useful campaigner on the NY circuit winning from 6f to 1 mile if I remember correctly.

Ah! Memory Lane

http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=669440&registry=T