Honcho finishes in the money!

Shannon's Honcho finished fourth yesterday in Oaklawn's first race. It was racing against other Arkansas born and bred horses.

My grandfather has spent much of his retirement breeding and racing thoroughbreds. Many of my family members talk about this hobby with angst and chagrin because of the stress and cost, but it's caused alot of angst and joy for my grandparents who enjoy travelling to DeKalb where the horses train and then watching them run at Louisiana Downs and Oaklawn.

Because of the family discussions, a while back I told Pop he should name his next horse, Shannon's Inheritance. He must've thought that was a good idea, because he submitted a list of names to the thoroughbred association... Shannon's Inheritance, Shannon's Money, etc. The Association can pick one of those names or any name they darn well please and they did just that... choosing "Shannon's Honcho" to reflect a horse's name in the bloodlines.

Shannon's Honcho ran my last day on air at KTAL, and a few crew members went out to the Downs to cheer the horse along to an almost last place finish. It's run once since then, and it seems to start gaining ground the longer he goes. Yesterday, Pop decided to enter him in a mile and a sixteenth race. He stayed in second place most of the way and after a mile, fell to fourth. Not too shabby.

Here's the results:

Win: 6, Fortune Hall, jockey: Borel

Place: 4, Wasabi, jockey: Hamilton

Show: 9, Tuffy Ward, jockey: Campbell

Fourth: 7, Shannon's Honcho, jockey: Parker

Which begs this question: Who in Arkansas names a horse Wasabi?

And here's Addison on John's riding horse, Kyd, with John and Niki watching. This is at my grandparent's house. I had to include it on the horse entry because she's so excited about being up there.