Of course, a visit to the Camden Training Center

No trip to South Carolina is complete for us without a trip to the Camden Training Center. Many years ago, when I was a reporter for the Camden paper, I used to hang out at the training center with one of my friends who was an exercise rider for Hall of Fame trainer Frank Whiteley Jr.
As things evolved, I'd go to visit my friend Bob Witham, who trained for Shadwell Stable, until he died last December. Now my visits to the training center are more about reliving happy memories.
Jennifer, Bob's assistant trainer, still welcomes us to the barn. She is always happy to have Hayes learn about training and treat the new babies to peppermints. We watched this 2-year-old on his second day of taking a rider. Here Hayes gives the track pony, Pepi, some apple.
This time, however, Jennifer has offered us Bob's racehorse, Helen Four Legs, who Jennifer thinks just won't make it at the track. Words can't describe how excited I am at the possibility of owning Bob's horse and the sentiment that Jennifer thought of me first for a home for Helen isn't lost on me. I hope to go to Camden in a few weeks to bring her home. She has a cute personality and chased Chooj all over for the carrots he was holding in a bag.