Leasing out the Hill

Racing
1

Hey Guys,

It’s been a miserable year for the Hill, and I think mostly because I’ve been preoccupied with other things–applying to grad school, finishing up work, moving…and now…starting graduate school.  I have not been able to dedicate time and energy to fiddling with the ponies and making sure they run well.  I know folks out there have more time than I will and would be able to give them the time and attention they deserve.  I’m looking to lease out the bulk of my string of racers.  I have not decided on prices, but I imagine I’d be asking about $2k-$5k from September through December.  Probably less for “unproven” horses.  There may be an option to renew in December.  They may be an option to purchase some of the horses.  There are a couple I would like to see campaigned in stakes, but I’d leave that up to the leaser’s discretion.  The bottom line is that these horses do need more attention than what I’m giving them…and I need to focus on school.

I do feel that recent performances are more due to a lack of my management than any lacking abilities.  All have been shipped home as of today.  Most have been home for a while and should be mostly ready to run.

Please PM, if interested.  It may take me as long as a week to respond.  So, please be patient.

Arizona Dream 2yo, F
Canaryinacoalmine, 2yo, C
Circle of Trust, 2yo, F
Dagnabit, 2yo, F–pendingHigh Intellect, 2yo, C
It’s a Girl, 2yo, F
Light of Ceres, 2yo, F
Maya, 2yo F
Mr. Right Now, 2yo C
Notachanceinheck, 2yo C
O Say Can You See, 2yo F
Odysseus, 2yo C
Sludge, 2yo F
Soupy, 2yo F
Things Like Fate, 2yo C
This I Believe, 2yo F–>may be stakes material…maybe not–pending
Tickled Pink, 2yo F–>want to see SW (Multiple Requests)
Toast of the Town, 2yo F–>may be stakes material…maybe not–pending
Trouble’s My Name, 2yo C

Classic Royal, 3yo, C–pending
Fleeting Lady, 3yo, F
Idolized, 3yo, F
Lazy Summer Days, 3yo, F
Lonely at the Top, 3yo C
Madly Yours, 3yo F
Nolanda, 3yo F–pending

Demand the Best, 4yo, C -->needs 4 SW for studification
Desert Heat, 4yo, C–>needs Gr. 1 Win for Studification (Multiple Requests)
Dodge the Draft, 4yo, F
Forgotten Road, 4yo, F

Buy an Angel, 6yo, M
Thank you.

Cat

2

I will lease [color=green]Buy An Angel and [color=green]Dagnabit

Just let me know!

3

I thought that we were to PM you and just sent you one. Just in case, it is copied here as well:-

Hi Cat,

I would be willing to lease a few of your horses and race them for you. The ones I am interested in are:-
  High Intellect
  Tickled Pink (Will try her in a few Stakes races if you want)
  Odysseus (Only interested because he is by one of my Stallions, Magic Glory)
  GCh. Demand the Best (Will try and get him the 3 SW’s he needs for “Studification”)
  GCh. Desert Heat (Will try and get him the G1 SW he needs for  “Studification”)
  NCh. Buy an Angel

Let me know what you want for leasing them, also if you have any preference as to training or distances or types of races, equipment, etc. for each of them.

Let me know.

PS: If Zurg wants Buy an Angel, that’s OK with me as I’ve requested a number of others.

4

i might be interested in Light of Ceres since i actually tried to buy her at auction but got beaten out , depending on the price as i only have one stakes racer as of the moment

5

For those horses for whom I only received one request, lease offers have been made.  For those horses who received two requests, I’ve tried to share the wealth.  For the most sought after horses, I’m allowing a couple more days for people to contact me before I make a decision.

If you’re interested in leasing any of the horses listed as available, please contact me via PM.

6

I have accepted the leases for the three you offered me. If any of the other three I mentioned are “unclaimed”, I will be happy to race them for you as well.

If you have any preferences as to Training routine or Location or Type of Surface for any of them, let me know. From looking at their prior racing form, Buy an Angel looks like she likes Steeplechases of 8 furlongs or more and Demand the Best likes 8 to 10 furlongs on Turf. They both also seem to have a preference for the New York tracks, although Woodbine seems to be an reasonable alternative.

Odysseus has only run three times, twice on Dirt and once on Turf. His best finish was the one on Turf when he finished 4th, however, from what I’ve noticed from their first year and a half racing, Magic Glory progeny seem to be backward at 2YO (0 wins from 57 races) and don’t start to come into their own until 3YO (15 wins from 97 races to date). Anyway, I’ll try him on Turf and see if we can pick up a few small purses in the last third of the year.

7

@Lewis: Do what you think is best.  I’m hoping he’ll run well for you, even though he is only a 2yo.  =)

Just a reminder that I have not made a decision on horses for which I received multiple requests yet.  So those waiting for Light of Ceres and a couple other horses, I haven’t forgotten about you.  Promise.

8

Hey Cat,

Could you please check on the leases for the three horses that I recently leased from you, Odysseus, Demand the Best, and Buy an Angel.

Although they show up in my Active Horses lists (also my Shipping and Training Summary Lists), I am unable to enter them in any races. They don’t have an “Upcoming Races” button on their Horse Information page and they don’t say anything about “Leased By”.

I have another horse that I leased from a different stable and his Horse Information page has an  “Upcoming Races” button on his Horse Information page and it also says “Leased By Starfish Stables”.

I have filled out a Bug Report but thought I’d ask you to check to see if there was anything else you needed to do to complete the Lease process.

Have any of the other Stables who leased horses from you had a similar problem?

Thanks.

9

Hi Lewis

It could be because the lease doesn’t start until 1st September. I’m not sure if that is it, but that would be my guess :slight_smile:

10

Duh! I forgot about that. I guess I got confused by the fact that they showed up in my Horses/Shipping/Training Lists.

I better go and cancel the Bug Report ASAP.

11

You’re right.  Leases start on Sept 1.  I wanted to make sure everyone was well rested going into their leases.  =)

Offers have been made.  I’m sorry I couldn’t give everyone the pony that they wished, but I tried to be as fair as I could be. 

I will put the rest up to the general market.  I request that if you do lease them, please race them.  If they’re going to sit at the track, they might as well be sitting at the Hill. 

12

Cat,

I noticed that, out of all the horses you listed as being available, Dagnabit appears to be the only one not leased out. If that is the case and she is still available for leasing, set it up and I’ll lease her from you.

13

Hey Cat,

Don’t know if you noticed that Demand the Best won the G2 Kelso Breeders’ Cup over 7.5 furlongs yesterday. That is the first of the three SW’s he needs to qualify as a Stallion. His next race is expected to be the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Oct 30th, but, in the meantime, he will be sent to my farm for two weeks to recharge his batteries and prep him for the BC. This was his 2nd race since the lease started, in his first he was 10th out of 12 in the G2 Belmont Breeders’ Cup over 9.5 furlongs. 7.5-8 furlongs seems to be his preference, so hopefully the BC Mile will be right up his street. He has now graduated from Ch. to G.Ch. Status with this win.

After running 3rd in the G3 Arlington Matron Handicap three weeks ago, Buy an Angel ran disappointingly in an Allowance race yesterday, finishing 9th out of 14. Don’t know whether it was the change of Venue (Woodbine instead of Arlington) or the extended distance (14 furlongs as opposed to 9.5 - although she did win over 16 furlongs for you in May). Her next race will probably be on Oct 27th over 12.5 furlongs.

Still trying to figure out Odysseus. After finishing 7th out of 14 four weeks ago, he did at least finish in the money (4th out of 6) on Saturday. His next race is planned for Oct 27th.

14

Hey Lewis,

I noticed. Good job with him!  Here’s hoping he does well at BC.  =)

I wouldn’t be too hard on Buy an Angel, she’s getting to be an old lady.  If I call correctly, she prefers the shorter distances.  Just keep doing what you’re doing.  =)

And Odysseus is still pretty young, so don’t take his non-performance too seriously.  He’s bound to be finicky.  I’m glad he has earned you some money, though.

15

Cat,

Looks like you were right about Buy An Angel liking shorter distances. Ran her over 12.5 fur on Oct 27th and she won. In fact, she was the first leg of a Cricket Hill/Starfish Stables double as Odysseus also won on that day.

Demand the Best ran well on Saturday to finish 3rd in the BC Mile. I’m going to keep him to Stakes Races for the rest of the year to try and get him the 2 SW’s he needs for (as somebody put it) “Studification”. According to the BS Qualifiers List, he is qualified for the Breeders Series (although the list is screwed up as [color=blue]HE is qualified for the 3YO Dirt & Turf Series’ and the 3YO [color=red]Fillies Dirt & Turf Series’). Once this list is fixed, if he is still on one of the lists, I will definitely run him in them. I don’t think I’ll have any Starfish Stables owned horses qualified (the only SS horses in the current lists are both at Stud), so I won’t have to divide my loyalties.

I will send him back to my Farm for a short rest before the BS as that will be 3 tough races in the space of about 5 weeks. That will take him up to the end of the Lease. The other two will probably get two more races each before the end of their leases (as they don’t appear to be BS Qualified).

BTW - I would love to have Buy An Angel visit one of my Stallions next year if you retire her to Stud and will give you a 50% discount to any of them if you are interested (I will be adding Tottenham Hotspur to the Breeding Barns at the end of this year - he won the BC Turf on Saturday).

16

Hey Lewis,

Thanks for the update.  I’d be psyched if Demand the Best qualifies as a 3yo, as that would take a lot of stress off his 4yo season (Now I have to worry about Desert Heat getting his Gr. 1 SW at age 4, almost 5…sigh). 

Glad everyone’s running well, including Buy An Angel. 

So keep doing what you’re doing. =)

Best,
Cat