Much needed rest in store for Really Uptown!
![Co-owner, Violet 'Letty' Hodge said, 'You can’t keep a horse forever, you wish you could, but injuries happen and [horses] get hurt so you have to give them time to recover… athletes get injuries all the time so horses are no different.' Photo: VINO/File](https://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/cache/images/800x_l_Letty_Really_Uptown_strike_a_pose_01.jpg)
While explaining that the horse had been active for a six-month period during which he broke two records and was on a phenomenal winning streak, she said he is currently on some well deserved rest.
“Every month it was a different distance,” Hodge noted, “so, it’s something that’s not really seen around here and I think it’s time… six months running straight, I think it’s time to give him a little rest.”
The L&B Stables co-owner also stated, “You can’t keep a horse forever, you wish you could, but injuries happen and [horses] get hurt so you have to give them time to recover… athletes get injuries all the time so horses are no different.”
Really Uptown will next be prepared for the August races to be held on Ellis Thomas Downs racetrack at Sea Cows Bay in Tortola.
L&B stables lost one of its most promising horses in Lake Texoma when he suffered a broken leg during training last July and had to be put down subsequently.
If Really Uptown wins the races scheduled for August Tuesday at the track, he would have essentially won all the Classics over a one-year stretch, another feat that would be considered remarkable, the horse owner said.
The horse has already won the Triple Crown in addition to the Governor’s Cup. The feature race held last August at the track was won by St Thomas’ Bud White.
Hodge would not be drawn into any comparison between her horses, Actspectation and Really Uptown, describing each of them as being good for their own era. “The two of them are good in their own right,” she said.
She felt that though Actspectation had won nineteen races in a row, most of his races were “match races” and this was something that couldn’t be helped during his time. “When he ran, he ran the best… they used to bring in a lot of horses to try to beat him.”
Really Uptown, she said, was being entered in challenges and these were always competitive races; the two simply shouldn’t be compared.
Meanwhile, the Horse Owners Association is scheduled to have a meeting during the upcoming week to decide on the way forward for the sport after not having met for some time.
Hodge was pleased that the government had previously offered financial assistance to the Association towards the purchase of horses and noted that it augured well for the sport. “That should be something good because it will surely encourage people to come back into the horseracing [arena],” she said.
She also felt the issue of pari-mutuel betting was something that will continue to be discussed by the group and proposed as a necessary implementation within the Territory to advance the sport.
.png)
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
15 Responses to “Much needed rest in store for Really Uptown!”
go back to the drawing board and figure out how to beat a champion horse.
gate burst and they are running watch JET BLUE the camera dos be on the front horse not the trailers