The SC visit: Camden Training Center

Our last field trip during our visit to South Carolina was to the Camden Training Center on Friday. This is where the young Thoroughbred racehorses get their start and I was fortunate enough years ago when I was a newspaper reporter to "hang out" at the barn of Frank Whiteley Jr., a Hall of Fame trainer who guided the greats like Ruffian, Damascus and Forego. Mr. Whiteley died in the spring at age 93 and it made me a little sad, but I was thankful I had written him years ago how appreciative I was he let me lurk around his barn many, many mornings when he seriously disliked reporters.

This trip we watched the Shadwell Stable babies (who all turn 2 on Jan. 1) learn to navigate in paddocks with a saddle on for the first or second time. Most of the babies were very well behaved and took their schooling like professionals. I'm sure it didn't help that Chooj was climbing up and down the paddock fence for one colt, but when Houston gets to the races and things are magnified a million times and he doesn't jig around, maybe we can thank Chooj for his part in that training.


Hayes tried to entice some of the babies to have their first peppermints. Most sniffed them suspiciously ("Hey, this might be medicine.") and dropped the mints on the ground. A few spoiled fillies took the rest off Hayes' hands and Hayes was able to plant kisses on a couple of noses since we miss our horses when away.

I always love being at the training center and I was already counting on going to Camden's Colonial Cup steeplechase in November until I remembered this morning that I have a prior commitment to perform at a nearby library on that day - drat it all! The next time we go, those babies should be galloping around the training track