Sunday, July 19, 2015

Shoeless Tahoe Warrior Scores Another Victory in His 102nd Start; Gelding Is Now 12

racehorse wins age 12 without shoes



Remember Tahoe Warrior? A lot of people do, because he's crossed a lot of paths in the last 12 years. The still-got-game Thoroughbred gelding chalked up his 19th career win on Thursday, in his 102nd career start.


Tahoe Warrior is what you might call an artificial surface specialist. He lives and runs without shoes, for the most part. In 2014, he was claimed (at age 11) and his new trainer shod him. He won both with shoes on and shoes off last year, since his longtime trainer, Florida's Wayne Rice, claimed him back a month later.

After a long winter off in Florida and an unsuccessful test on the new dirt track at Keeneland in Kentucky in April and May, Tahoe Warrior returned to the Tapeta surface at Presque Isle Downs on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania but trainer Wayne Rice said today that he thought a foot abscess "or something" was bothering him, until this week.

"It wasn't something you could see," he said. "But you could hear it when he walked. He was just a little off."



Rice prefers to race on synthetic tracks, and keeps most of his string barefoot.

Tahoe Warrior runs about every two weeks. He went off as second favorite at 5-2 under his usual jockey, Arienne Cox.

"He's back," trainer Rice said cheerfully today. But it's not like he ever left.

More articles on Tahoe Warrior:

Just Wait Til Next Year: Shoes Off, On, and Off Again as Shoeless Senior Racehorse Tahoe Warrior is Claimed and Re-Claimed

Shoeless and Ageless, Tahoe Warrior Wins at Keeneland

Shoeless in Lexington: Polytrack Podiatry at Keeneland's Last Artificial Surface Meet

Ageless Tahoe Warrior Runs Again: In Shoes, This Time, for Keeneland's New Dirt Track

Top photo by Bradley P. Johnson.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is the news service for Hoofcare and Lameness Publishing. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a headlines-link email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  
Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal
Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page
 
Disclosure of Material Connection: The Hoof Blog (Hoofcare Publishing) has not received any direct compensation for writing this post. Hoofcare Publishing has no material connection to the brands, products, or services mentioned, other than products and services of Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.