Harper's First Ride

It was the most literal of dream scenarios. The thing is, it had happened before. From time to time, Valerie Mastromonaco will have a dream--always about a horse--and then something will happen to bring it to life. Nothing dramatic, most of the time. True, once she dreamed that a particular horse in the barn had a problem, and unfortunately turned out to be right. But she doesn't take the phenomenon too seriously, as a rule; nor expect anyone else to do so. "I've no theories," she says. "I just think...

It's a tough game, selling nominations; and, except for those sparkly new stallions, getting tougher all the time. So we should have every sympathy with the farms trying to drum up custom. True, WinStar doesn't hold back in introducing Paynter on his homepage as "one of the most popular and courageous runners in racing history." But if that's a pretty heady claim, even for a horse whose recovery from desperate illness so captured the hearts of the racing public, then the son of Awesome Again has certainly moved the conversation...