2/27

Racing How'd You Do?
1

Awesome day!!

First, picked up claimer [color=blue]Confirmed Account from his race.  His is by the silver ranked chef de race stallion, Affirmed, out of the silver ranked reine de course mare, Take Account.  He is half to MSWs ICh Take Me Away and GCh Hollywood Magic.  His record is 3–2-1-0.  I am very excited to get this guy and work with him.

Then, our only starter of the day…  [color=blue]Ch Player went out in The Metropolian GI.  He ran a tight race and nosed out a very nice colt, Storm Warning, to get the win.  This is his 3rd stakes win in a row and 1st grade I win.  This guy is on fire this year!

2

Awesome day for Snowbird too!

Started off the day with race 36, a 6.5 Allowance for 4yo+ for Firestarter. We had a good feeling about running him in this race, and right it was! He wired the race to take his first start of the year as a win.

Next up was Crimson Dahlia in the 6.5f Ungraded Best Turn Stakes for 3yo. She was one of the favorites, being one of two fillies. She was 2nd at 2f, but fell back to take 3rd at the finish earning her Champion status, so we’re pleased! :slight_smile:

Last was Alyjoy in the 7f GIII La Habra Stakes for 3yo F. She has a very small record, but we felt she would at least place in this race. She managed to hold 5th place until the finish. It’s a place, so we’re happy!

As for claiming, Snowbird put in a claim on Death Becomes Her, a previously multi placed mare by Rumor Has It out of Willing to Kill (Killing Time). She managed to win her race, and find a new home in New York :slight_smile: Woo!

3

Indian Summer was 3rd and Evil Omen was 4th in an NW2.

Tuesday Afternoon was 4th in another NW2

Jazz Sonnet was 3rd in an NW3

A.P. Cigar was a dismal 11th, but League Of My Own won the allowance race they both ran in. Nice to see Lomo in the winner’s circle again.

Shawnee Sunrise was 3rd in a maiden. Gonna keep plugging away with her…

Another double entry – Master & Commander was a discouraging 11th, but Touchstone did nicely, placing 2nd.

Didn’t do very well in the ungr. Best Turn Stakes. Caledonian was 5th and Born To Run was 12th. As Kim pointed out in her handicapping, both of these horses seem like they prefer turf a lot better…so if I can actually remember that, maybe they’ll be okay.  :stuck_out_tongue:

4

Well, we’ve had better days.

Fool’s Gold has been mega inconsistant this year.  She came in dead last, even though she did break her maiden this year–she’s done squat since.  We have a hope and a prayer that she’s just immature, though she is technically still in the projected "mature horse’ height.  Bah.

BlessinginDisguise came in 13th, after running 2nd for part of the race.  This horse has absolutely no staying power–and this was a 7f sprint!  I think some equipment changes are in his future.

Sunday Joy led for a mile and then fell to 9th place.  I’m hoping she’s just another sprinter.  Bleh.

Continental was our one bright spot, breaking her maiden with an off-the-pace run.  She’s our second bite at the apple with American Chance.  We owned her older sister, American Grafitti, but lost her mistakingly in a claimer ( back when no one ever claimed and claimers were relatively safe).

McTaggaret continues to confuse.  At least this time, he brought home a paycheck.  Even if it’s a 4th place paycheck, we’ll take whatever we can get from this pony.  Per usual, though, it was an uninspired run.  I don’t know what’s up with him.

5

Large group went out today, most of them seem to have decided to take it easy though :wink:.

Prince William, a Storybook 3yo we claimed back a couple weeks ago, managed 4th in his NW1 Allowance.  He won his claimer on the lead the entire way, and this time he stayed back in 4th.  Last time out he broke sharply, but faded towards the end in a 9f race.  Looks like we have a sprinter…

Whaddaya Know Joe seemed to like the track pretty well, coming home 2nd of 14 in his 2nd start as a 3yo and did it against 3yo+ company.  Maybe some playing with his equipment will get him back to the winner’s circle.

Sent out Captain Crunch and Gaelic Promise against each other in a NW2.  Despite multiple very nice, consistent stakes places Captain is still a maiden and I thought he had a good chance of fixing that today.  Instead, Gaelic Promise came home the winner.  Oh well, makes him 2-1-1-0-0 for the year!  Captain was his consistent self, coming home 3rd :wink:.  Nothing like a maiden with a quarter million in earnings!

Penny Lane is our delicate baby flower horse.  She seems to be starting to mature some as a 3yo (at least she’s not a pony anymore!) and managed 5th in her maiden race.  We’ll keep her at the lower levels and give her some time to find her legs.

Sesen went out in the G3 Palm Beach Stakes.  Honestly, I’m not sure why I ran him there as he’s not a turf horse… He came home 9th.  That one’s my fault.

Gypsy Feet pleased us by coming home the winner in the Ungraded Charon Stakes.  She’s 3 for 3 in stakes this year, so I think we’ll start easing her up in company.  I’m tentatively pointing her towards the Kentucky Oaks if she doesn’t mind the distance.

Prospero is probably going to England to defend Storybook’s English Triple Crown after his 2nd place finish to fellow-Storybook-bred Via Crucis.  Prospero hasn’t finished worse than 2nd in 3 starts this year.

Over all a pretty good day.  Almost everyone in the money, just wish a few of those were in the winner’s circle as well :wink:. :slight_smile:

6

Small group out today, but overall, we’re happy. :slight_smile:

Spoils of War was supposed to have a nice, easy, confidence-boosting allowance, and instead he finished 6th.  He was 6th the entire trip, though, so maybe he just got stuck in traffic? :wink:

Fly Me To The Moon continues to be ever-consistent, and ever-frustrating, with a 2nd place finish.  In 9 races, she’s finished off the board only once, but has yet to reach the winner’s circle.  She’s bred to jump, though, so maybe she’ll perk up there.

Houdini is proving quite the 3yo with his second win this year, and first lifetime stakes win.  We’re tentatively pointing him towards the English Triple Crown, if he continues to be this consistent. :slight_smile:

Heartoftheocean put in a disappointing lack of effort to finish 7th in her second SC start.  After her last race, we were hoping she’d have a few more races in her.  We’ll give her a couple more tries before sending her off to the breeding shed.

7

Only sent out a few today.

I switched Daisy Doo to SC. She ran an OK 6th, i’ll need to play around a bit. Hopefully this switch was a good idea…

Omnipotent ran a solid 3rd out of 10 in the Palm Beach Stakes. I’m happy with that, its his first ever stakes place. He’s looking like he’ll shape into a really nice horse

8

Very good day for us!

The very consistent Infinite Frontier went out in a 8.5f allowance, bringing home a second. He lost it after the 6f pole, but still a pretty great placing. He also earned Champion status today, yay!

Another consistent runner of ours, Gambler’s Road, won his allowance today. He appears to have finally grasped the concept of breaking on the lead and actually keeping it. :slight_smile: He earned Grand Champ status today.

Playin’ Hookie broke back of the pack and stayed there, placing 8th in his allowance, although I didn’t realize that it was dirt until today. So hopefully he just prefers turf and the lead.

And finally, the best race of the day. Iglesias, one of my starters, WON the Gr. 1 Donn Handicap! I’m so excited! It’s Skyclad’s first Grade 1 win, and what a shock! Apparently his five year old year is suiting him, as this is his second start of the year and his second win.

A great day for us! ;D

9

Pretty dismal day over at Oakwood Farms.

Ballroom Dancer ran 12th/14 in an Open Allowance against the boys. She did well two starts ago against her own gender so I may just have to find a race against fillies and mares.

Downbythebay hasn’t been running well in the three steeplechase races I have put her in, today she finished 8th/9, she’s been running against the boys, may need to run her against her own gender also.

Foolish Pride ran evenly against the boys in a NW2. She may also need to run against her own gender. 5th/10.

I put Wicked in the Ungraded Best Turn Stakes on a whim simply to see what he would do. He didn’t do well but he did finish about mid-field which isn’t as bad as he could have done. 8th/14. He may not be stakes quality but he may also just want some distance.

Sleipnir’s run today made me want to strangle him. I usually don’t train my horses unless I can’t find them a race when they need it. I decided to try getting my horses fit and train them. So Sleipnir went into the GI Donn Handicap fit as a fiddle and had energy to boot with a recent trip to the farm also and yet ran DISMALLY 9th/11. He looked promising, stalking the pace in third through the first 1/2 mile but soon the jockey really started riding him and by the 3/4 pole he was 6th and fading fast. We’ll see how he comes out of the race and we might try him at a sprint or even on the turf and shake him up a bit. Otherwise maybe he likes coming in to races as fit as a couch potato. (Congratulations Skyclad on Iglesias’s win!)

Oh Rhett was our only real positive run from the day. Ran in a NW3 steeplechase and stalked the leaders then moved up well and managed to run a strong 2nd/11.

10

Finest Flyer ran sixth in her allowance.
Goforbust ran fourth in his allowance.
Misty ran sixth in her claimer (we claimed her!).
Outflanked ran fifth in her allowance.
Easy Decision ran a great third in The Metropolitan. She’ll keep plugging away in the stakes.
Peer To Peer was the best of the day with second in the Caulfield Guineas. She was a $5k claim and she has run three consecutive seconds in stakes for me (and finished behind a boy three times). Can’t wait to get her against the girls!
So Assertive was a decent fourth in the Caulfield Guineas. Pretty happy with him.

11

Really nice day overall for Coleman Branch.  Sent three boys out, of which two came home with wins.

[color=blue]Tiz Fresh, a five year-old claimed last year, took first in a 7f Allowance.  He’s 2 for 3 on the boards this year (one 1st, one 3rd).

[color=blue]The Fugitive, a four year-old with decent lines, disappointed by coming in 5th/9 in his 10f Allowance. 

[color=blue]Reason to Serve, a four year-old by War Admiral, ran 1st/11 in his 11.5f Allowance, proving that he can conquer short and long distances.

12

Two out for Ivy Creek yesterday:

[color=green]My Return ran a so-so 7th/14 in his NW2.  Hrmph.  Need to try something different, I think - new track, SC…something.  His record for the year so far is 3 (0-0-1).  Meh.  Although to his credit, this is the only time he didn’t at least hit the 3rd place position at some point in the race, and he did have an SF of 45, which isn’t too bad (better than the many '0’s I’ve seen!)  Maybe it was just too tough a field…

Next up was [color=blue]Magic Flyer coming off his recent win in the 5f turf Hollie Hughes Stakes (ungraded).  Today, we sent him out in the Best Turn Stakes (ungraded) to see how he’d fare in a dirt stakes over slightly longer distances (6.5f).  Showing his flexibility, he came home an impressive 2nd/14.  Now to try even longer distances…  Not sure where he’ll be heading, but I’d like to aim him for some bigger races.  Time to start plotting…  :slight_smile: