Decisive Moment: Where are they now?
Lately, all the news is focused on Eclipse Award this or Promising three year old that. Due to this, I thought I'd write a follow-up article on a trio of pieces I wrote quite some time ago. Decisive Moment: A Love Story. Sound familiar? Yep, that's me, the girl madly in love with some black horse she had only met once. What happened to her? Well, I'll tell you, and it's nothing short of a fairy tale. Even if you haven't read my previous articles, (which I don't blame you if you haven't, because they aren't exactly recent) I'll tell you a heartwarming story that will hopefully make your day a little brighter than it was before. After all, who doesn't adore the idea of a girl falling in love with a black, beautiful horse?
I'll recap a little of my past experience for those who haven't read my past articles. I saw a horse in the 2011 Kentucky Derby, didn't think much of it, saw him at the Indiana Derby, took three pictures of him, didn't think much of it, went back to look at those photos, fell in love. Then I wrote an article, which got shown to the owner and trainer, who invited me back to the barn and into the paddock when Decisive Moment ran in a Stakes in Indiana. Anyway, I went back to the backstretch to see him (twice!), went to the paddock with him, watched him run a few good races, but never catch a win. Finally, I've ended up becoming quite great friends with not only DM's trainer and owner, but the people that also loved DM. Through it all, I've met so many great people, from owners who love nothing more than thoroughbred racing to exercise riders trying to make a living. I'd trade little for this experience, and certainly nothing for the thing that happened to me on September 7th, 2014.
I got the call about a month earlier. My friend Milly, who has horses train under Juan Arias, the same man who trains Decisive Moment, called to tell me that my favorite horse was going to run in a Stakes race! When I asked where, I was immediately disappointed: Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pennsylvania was a good five hours away, and there was no way I was going to get my parents to take me. However, after a good two weeks of pleading, I finally got the answer I wanted. My mother agreed to drive me five hours to see Decisive Moment hopefully pick up a win!
Long story short, the five hour drive was full of translating pop culture songs into Spanish and imagining scenarios for the big race. This was also our first time meeting Milly, and I was beyond excited to see Juan again nonetheless. Needless to say, Juan Arias is one of the nicest men you can ever meet, and the rest of the team is not far behind in kindness. What can I say? Horses sometimes attract the best people.
My mother and I arrived at our hotel Saturday afternoon, the race to be run Sunday night. Right across the street from our hotel was the track where DM would either give us unmistakeable joy or send us into a dark pit of foreboding dispair. We settled in, went shopping, and explored the quaint town of Erie. All day my stomach was churning, knots and butterflies wrestling in my stomach. Neither the beach nor the mall could calm me down: I was a nervous wreck. What happened if he lost? How would I react if he won?
After having breakfast the next day with my mother and Milly, we went to the backstretch to see Juan and the big horse. We pulled up to the stable gate, where after five minutes we finally see a white car pull up on the opposite side of the fence surrounding the barn area. While we watch it and wonder if it was possibly the man who was going to get us through the gate, a medium-height, tanned Panamanian man stepped out and started towards the stable gate. My heart jumped: it was Juan! He was and still is one of my favorite people ever, and by then, I had only met him twice. By then my heart was beating faster than Decisive Moment's would be during the race later that day. I struggled to comprehend the fact that my horse, my little brat, was in one of the few barns just furlongs away.
I anxiously hopped out of the car and quickly paced over to the small building that held the security headquarters for the entire barn area. I swung open the heavy-duty door and saw two security guards and one small trainer looking over a piece of paper that would allow us to enter the backstretch safely. Juan turned his head, saw us, and a smile came over his face. Soon he hugged all of us individually, and the security guards were fazed little, aside from wearily eying the newcomers. It was such a great pleasure, seeing a crucial member of our Decisive Team again. There was only one thing that could have made it better; seeing the owner himself, Ruben Sierra. During our entire drive to Erie, my mother and I believed that we would be seeing Ruben during and prior to the race. However, at the end of our breakfast at Cracker Barrel, Milly informed us that she didn't think Ruben had arrived in Erie when he was supposed to. Curious, we got him on the phone as soon as we could; much to our dismay, it turned out that he was sick, and he couldn't make it. Though this was sad news, we weren't going to let it ruin our excitement; we still had a horse in a $200,000 race later in the day!
After Milly, my mother and I all got our backstretch passes, Milly drove her rented car with us in it back to one of the barns, following Juan's rented car. We got out and Juan led us to the barn that the big horse was staying in. Eventually, we rounded the turn and were immediately immersed in the backstretch scene: curious heads of horses poking out of their stalls, grooms milling about their daily business. With a determined look about him, Juan showed us down the shedrow and stopped in front of a looming, black giant of a horse.
Decisive Moment was staring out of his stall window, watching the pre-race events take place. He looked as calm as ever, but that wasn't what struck me: he looked good. I don't just say that because he's my horse or because I'm biased, either. Had I randomly seen him being walked about the backstretch, I would have stopped to take notice. His coat shined with a gleam I hadn't seen in him for a while, and his muscles were as defined as they had ever been. All in all, he looked ready.
We were all commenting on how great he looked, and Juan was telling us about how he rode DM out onto the track earlier to get a feel for the track. Juan said Decisive Moment had absolutely loved the track, and that he was definitely due for a win today. My heart jumped: he had to win, he had to! The Tapeta synthetic was his favorite surface, and the weather was cooperating just so it fitted DM perfectly.
I strolled down the shedrow only to find another ham that belonged to Just for Fun Stables: Alpha Slew! One of my favorites, Alpha is a light gray dapple with a heart shape splotch right on his forehead. Nonetheless, he is also a big fan of people: Alpha would be content with being pet for the rest of his life if he could be. As much as I loved him, I turned my attention away from him and went back to the big horse. It was Decisive Moment's day, and I was going to focus as much attention as I could on him.
The rest of my September 7, 2014 journey will be recounted in two more articles on this site: stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed experiencing it!
Written by Madison Jackson