A Special Christmas Tradition
Holiday traditions. We all have them. Christmas Eve at Grandma’s. Turkey dinner on Christmas Day. Wrapping presents while sharing apple cider. Trimming the tree with home made popcorn. Fun, familiar, comforting.
And so it is for the trio of trainer Marsattack, jockey RBokie, and veteran marathoner Bob The Cob. The three amigos have a tradition which will be repeated on Saturday for the fifth consecutive year. Holiday racing in Tennessee.
The story began in the summer of 2002 when three year old Bob The Cob went to Nashville and won under veteran rider Ryan “RJ” Bokie. RJ was battling a weight problem so instead of drinking all the Labatts and eating all the Hostess snack cakes himself, he gave half to Bob The Cob. The big son of Geri thrived on the beer and junk food diet. After winning a conditioned allowance by eight lengths, Bob reeled off successive wins in The Bob And Ryan Twinkie Marathon and The Bob And Ryan Ding Dong Dash.
Bob then went in search of graded gold as he left Tennessee with a seven race winning streak. Before leaving, Marsattack promised RJ that he and Bob would be back for the holidays. And they were.
On November 30, 2002, Bob and RJ teamed up for an eleven and a half length win in The Bob Comes HO HO HOme for the HOlidays allowance. Bob stuck around Nashville the entire holiday season and raced again on December 21. In that race, Bob and RJ tasted defeat for the first time as a team, settling for second behind another graded winning millionaire, Plum Elrod.
Holiday season 2003 found Bob back in Tennessee. On December 6th, he and RJ overcame a nine length deficit to win going away by eight and a half in the Ho Ho Home for the Holidays II. But things didn’t go as well on December 27th when a hung over Bokie and a beer and junk food bloated Bob staggered home third in The RBokie For Jockey of the Year Special.
Bob returned to Nashville for one December race in 2004. It would be the final race for Bob and RJ together. Bob ran off by four under the 197 pound Bokie but the weight issue was too much for RJ and he hung up his tack for good.
Never fear, racing fans. This tale has no sad ending. No, indeed! Last year Ryan Bokie Junior got his license to ride and the kid turned out to be as good as dad. Bob paid a midsummer visit to Nashville to meet Junior and race a few times. A good time was had by all as Bob and Junior reeled off three consecutive wins, including the Congratulations Ryan and Karie race which was run in honor of Junior and his lovely bride. Bob was back in Tennessee for a Christmas Eve engagement but he and Junior could not get past the sharp Golden Jubilee(GB) II and settled for place honors.
This year Bob returns to Tennessee longer in the tooth and longer in the odds. At 7-1, Bob is tied for the longest price in the seven horse field. Bob got a little extra rest for this test and he is as sharp as a tack. Last week he drilled a bullet :59 for Junior and did it under wraps. Besides that, Bob is on another roll. When he gets hot, he tends to string wins. He’s won three in a row including a sixteen and a half length blowout last time out under C. Winter.
Let’s see how the big horse does. 3077.7416 for those of you who want to share in a special holiday tradition.