I have a real weakness for these types of pieces... very happy you posted it as I, surely, would have missed it.
(Awesome story about John Henry and the baby bird). I love this kind of stuff.
Since we're on the subject of companions and even though I already posted the link on the NZ thread I hope you don't mind if I add in Ed's piece here as well. He is a wonderful writer and is on The Informant so I hope it's alright to give a plug!
http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...Crown-aspirant