Really, Woodbine, What Were You Thinking?

The RCMP at Last Year's Plate

It's Plate Day, and despite plans to be there, I am spending my afternoon watching my horses, painting, and keeping tabs on Horseplayer Interactive.  I'm not a happy camper with WEG at the moment.  Thanks to changes in the media department, I didn't snag a media pass as I have in past years.  The individual who was so kind as to make sure I had a pass in the past, so that I could take photos for paintings, was among the layoffs this year (thank you, Ontario Liberal Government).  The individual I had to deal with instead, has never been the least bit helpful to me at all.  I mean, let's face it, doesn't everyone at least deserve the respect of an answer to an email or phone call?  I really don't care if you've decided I'm a nobody.  If I ran my business that way, well, I'd be working at Tim Horton's or Starbucks because I would have no customers.  Anyway....I could whine and feel sorry for myself for quite a while about this, so I've been trying to distract myself by working on a painting of 2011 Plate winner Inglorious - from my *own* reference photos.  My thanks to that considerate individual, I hope he's got a better job and is doing well.

Anyway....this year, I guess the marketing Powers That Be decided they needed a signature drink for the Plate.  I mean, the Derby has always had the Mint Julep, right?  Trust WEG to be decades behind.   So what do they call this drink?  The Blue Diamond.  Um....what?  Okay.  It is pretty.  What exactly that has to do with the Plate, I have no idea.  Shouldn't it be called the Gold Sovereign?  I think they should have just hired me.  ;-) 

All right....enough griping!  Time to turn on the TV and watch the big race alone in the comfort of my studio.  There haven't been very many Plates I have missed attending in the last 35 years, and if things had come together with my friends, I still would have gone, but I didn't really relish battling the crowd solo when I know I can't get any decent race photos.  I must be getting old!

(Go Nipissing!  I hear it's pouring rain at the moment...at least that no longer affects the track surface...and it will cool things off for the horses!)

Pruning, or Amputation?

In my quest to decrease my word count, I hacked out most of an early chapter, removing a whole event. That was hard, but I had to ask myself, was that section really necessary? How much did it add to the storyline? In my first draft, that part wasn't there - I'd added it to add some conflict and expand on some characters, but if you didn't know it had been there, would you miss it?

The joy of things these days is we have the internet. I don't know how many novels I've read where I wished I could read more, I just liked the characters so much. So why not post some of the cut sections on the blog? When you buy a movie on DVD these days, you inevitably get cut scenes.

I've been thinking about Saratoga this past week, trying to start planning the annual trek. So perhaps a little clip making reference to the Spa would be appropriate.

Lise glanced over to where her parents stood with the winning owners. She and Emilie had come with Claude and Anne, and Lise knew they didn’t plan on staying long. “We’ll probably have to go soon.”

“Oh, stick around for a bit. The way you’re skyrocketing to stardom, how often are we going to see each other from now on? Dean and I could drive you back. You too, Em.”

“I really should go with them,” Lise said. “I’m heading back to New York in the morning.”

“Yeah, and you probably don’t have to get up half as early as you normally would, so I’m not buying that excuse. But I guess it’s good to know New York hasn’t corrupted you, when I couldn’t.”

“You should come down for a weekend,” Lise said.

“Now that would be fun – if I could afford it.”

“Saratoga!” Emilie chimed in. “Road trip!”

“You’re sixteen, Em!” Lise said.

“So? You’re eighteen. And Faye’s just twenty, so she’s not even legal down there.”

Faye was looking thoughtful. “I might have to work on that.”

Lise felt a twinge of regret as she looked out from the back seat of her father’s Jag when he drove out of the backstretch, aware she was once more leaving the comfort of Woodbine behind. It was odd to feel like a visitor, making such a short stay. Tomorrow, it was back to Belmont. In three short weeks she had achieved renown there, but she still felt out of place. Before her string of winners in New York, she’d been a spectacle – a woman in a man’s game, Canadian, and the daughter of a major owner in her home country. Now, though she may have been forgiven some of those things, the scrutiny had only escalated. She hadn’t anticipated this part of her chosen career, and couldn’t imagine ever getting used to the public aspect of her inadvertent popularity.

Canadian Content: The Queen's Plate

Last Sunday Woodbine celebrated the 150th running of the Queen's Plate, the longest continually-run stake race (and sporting event) in North America. A documentary was produced and aired on CBC, and has also been released on DVD. I watched it when it aired, and was really impressed. It hit the nail solidly on the head, explaining what this race means to Canadians, and why it is more important than even the Derby to us on this side of the border. It's supposed to be available for purchase, though I haven't found out yet exactly where! I gladly scooped a copy at the Plate week festivities. Canadians can probably catch it on demand at CBC.

Watching some of the older footage, I was reminded how some things have changed since I wrote my story. When I was a horse-crazy youngster attending the Plate each year, it seemed it was the exception when the track was fast. There were many, many muddy Plates.

A crack of thunder woke her — there it was, finally. She glanced at the clock — two AM. Short moments later the torrential downpour began, and her spirits sank still lower.

She rolled out of bed, the thin shirt sticking to her body, and reluctantly closed the window as the rain blew in through the screen. After so many weeks of dryness, it should have been welcome. She lay down again on top of the sheets, on her side staring out darkly at the brilliant flashes of light, coming now in quick succession.

Bloody rain. It was traditional as the fifty guineas.

Now, with the new Polytrack, that variable has been eliminated. The verdict is still out on whether or not Poly is a safer racing surface, but I have to say for the purposes of fiction, it's far less interesting!

Last Sunday was a model first day of summer - sunny, warm and clear - one of the nicer Plates I've been to. And to be standing in the paddock, for the first time connected to a starter - even being that close was special.

Procrastination, or Fear?

I know, I know - more blog neglect. I've been getting nudges to take my late great novel here seriously. I go from feeling inspired to take the next steps towards trying to get it published, to thinking there's no way it will ever happen, and then a sort of terror at the possibility!

This week, for the first time since the first foal of the season arrived, I've started back working on the sequel. I'm into a more serious re-write now, to see if I can make it something worthy of following the first book. It's kind of fun when where I'm at in the story kind of parallels where things are at this time of year. Last week I shipped out the two layups that wintered with me - one to a training centre, the other straight into Woodbine. The training track opened February 11, so things are picking up in there. First day of racing is April 4.

Now, my story is set back when Greenwood still operated. I have had the time frame of the novel questioned - can I take readers back to the early 80s and have them get it, or do I place things in the present and just hope the folks that know better to go along with me when I hang onto some of the old scheduling and omit something as huge as the Breeders' Cup? Including Greenwood plays a big part in my story, because winter and spring racing at Greenwood provides a much better contrast to the Florida sun than Woodbine does. I mean, racing when it's snowing isn't fun anywhere if you ask me, but it's just a lot nastier if you have to drive down the Gardiner to the Lakeshore there and back to do it!


The other place that I cling to that is no more is Hialeah. There are probably sentimental reasons that I do that, due to my own memories, but it was such a beautiful track, and even back then Gulfstream seemed commercial in comparison. I'm glad I haven't been to Gulfstream since the more recent changes, because I've heard a lot of complaints!

I've decided in the month of March I need to work on a synopsis and query for the LGN (that is, the Late Great Novel, haha). Once I have those, and work through a few minor edits, well, guess it's time to dive in. I figure those things are doable amid the tasks that actually pay their way - my usual duties running the barn, preparing for the next foal, getting things rolling for the new breeding season, and of course, continuing to paint. Maybe by posting my intentions here I'll keep myself accountable!

(Photos: cold mornings at Woodbine!)