This has not been one of my favorite months. The weather has been bizarre, getting horses races in the proper spots (or any spot for some) has been close to impossible and the few that have run have disappointed. That being said March is only a little over 5 weeks away which means that Spring will soon be here.
Target Practice had a nice pace set up to run into last night at Penn. He sat 5th behind a very quick pace and when he moved up to challenge going into the final turn I felt good about the way he was moving. However as soon as that thought crossed my mind I could see that he was no longer advancing on the tiring leader but was actually starting to labor. Once they straightened out in the stretch it was obvious that he no longer has it. He finished 7th, beaten far enough that keeping him in training is a mistake. Better to find him a new career while he is still sound and attractive to people looking for OTTB's than to chase cheap purses to no avail.
Fusaichi Pretty and All Peace N Quiet were entered yesterday at Parx in a $25000 nw2 race and maiden $12500 respectively. Neither race went nor did they draw enough entries to be brought back as extras. If I was a more paranoid sort I might believe that there is a conspiracy. February 2nd at Penn National in the same condition is the likely spot for FuPretty and January 28th in the maiden $25000 at Parx (where I will be running 2 PA breds) for All Peace n Quiet.
Angry Dragon is training well and there is a real shot that we will be entering her in a MSW at Parx on February 18th.
Hippocrates Jones is going to be entered for the races on the 28th at Penn National and should be tough as the brief freshening seems to have done him some good.
Normandruth is gearing back up and will be running sometime during February.
Southern Access was entered in the maiden 40000 races which did not go so she is in the 1st race on Tuesday which is a MSW going 6 furlongs at Parx. Again not the ideal spot but young horses don't get experience in the morning, they need to race.
Sweetjudyblue Eyes is in the 1st race on Monday which was not our 1st choice either. However she is training really well and most of the field consists of PA breds anyway.
Who We Gunna Call is still getting over a quarter crack issue but has resumed training and after watching the race at Penn National that he is eligible for I can't wait to get him ready for that spot.
Lloydobler is pointing to a maiden $7500 race going 6 furlongs at Penn National on February 3rd.
Cascades Comet is now going to be pointed to the maiden $25000 claiming race at Parx on the 28th since it appears that getting a PA bred MSW going two turns to fill is a near impossibility.
Red Baroness worked this morning at Parx in 49.93 and is a gate work away from being ready to run. There is a maiden $25000 going 5 1/2 on February 13th at Parx that we are tentatively looking at. While I believe that she will eventually find more success going longer on the turf this should be a good starting point for her.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Winter Blues
Well Target Practice finally drew in a race on Saturday night's card at Penn National which sounds good until you look at the weather report for Saturday which calls for snow in Grantville. Let's hope that it passes through without disrupting the racing schedule.
Of course the PA bred Maiden Special Weight race for Cascades Comet and Sweetjudyblue Eyes didn't fill and with the next one scheduled for sometime in March we are going to go to plan's B and C. Cascades Comet is going to run in a maiden 25 at Parx on the 28th (making the far from guaranteed assumption that the race will fill and be carded) and Sweetjudyblue Eyes is going to be entered tomorrow in a Maiden Special Weight race going 5 1/2 furlongs on Monday. These races aren't where we want to be but 4 year old maidens need to run, not sit in the barn waiting for state bred races that may not come. I appreciate the owners of these horses being so understanding as they are scratching their collective heads trying to figure out how a state bred racing program supposedly as great as PA's claims to be, fails to even offer state bred maiden races. I can say without a doubt that PA is going to lose more than a few mares because of the lack of racing opportunities for those owners wishing to keep the foals and race them in restricted statebred company.
Slumber Smarty is on course for her next start on Febuary 6th at Parx going 6 furlongs.
Lyle's Angel is being pointed to a NW1x allowance race next Sunday at Parx going 6 1/2 furlongs.
Jelly Donut is in maiden 12500 limbo. Seriously he worked well this past week and is going to try to run again on the 30th at Parx in a maiden 15000 race around 2 turns.
Angry Dragon worked really well on Tuesday and is inching closer to her return.
Outta Jail and Speedy Trial both worked nicely on Tuesday at Westampton and will ship to Parx next week to start serious gate work. The Crown Racing fillies are still a bit ahead of their male stablemates Extradite and One Time Richie who need more training miles underneath their belts before they start breaking from the starting gate.
Of course the PA bred Maiden Special Weight race for Cascades Comet and Sweetjudyblue Eyes didn't fill and with the next one scheduled for sometime in March we are going to go to plan's B and C. Cascades Comet is going to run in a maiden 25 at Parx on the 28th (making the far from guaranteed assumption that the race will fill and be carded) and Sweetjudyblue Eyes is going to be entered tomorrow in a Maiden Special Weight race going 5 1/2 furlongs on Monday. These races aren't where we want to be but 4 year old maidens need to run, not sit in the barn waiting for state bred races that may not come. I appreciate the owners of these horses being so understanding as they are scratching their collective heads trying to figure out how a state bred racing program supposedly as great as PA's claims to be, fails to even offer state bred maiden races. I can say without a doubt that PA is going to lose more than a few mares because of the lack of racing opportunities for those owners wishing to keep the foals and race them in restricted statebred company.
Slumber Smarty is on course for her next start on Febuary 6th at Parx going 6 furlongs.
Lyle's Angel is being pointed to a NW1x allowance race next Sunday at Parx going 6 1/2 furlongs.
Jelly Donut is in maiden 12500 limbo. Seriously he worked well this past week and is going to try to run again on the 30th at Parx in a maiden 15000 race around 2 turns.
Angry Dragon worked really well on Tuesday and is inching closer to her return.
Outta Jail and Speedy Trial both worked nicely on Tuesday at Westampton and will ship to Parx next week to start serious gate work. The Crown Racing fillies are still a bit ahead of their male stablemates Extradite and One Time Richie who need more training miles underneath their belts before they start breaking from the starting gate.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Frustrating
The best part of training horses is racing. So it is very frustrating when you have horses ready to run and find yourself with nowhere to run them. Jelly Donut is sitting on ready yet was excluded from a race last weekend because of a stupid rule stating that any race with 8 PA breds entered automatically becomes a restricted state bred race (excluding the other non PA breds despite the field not being full). So the racing office brings the race back as an extra the next week and despite getting 6 horses in the race, they don't use or bring it back. Which leads me to Lloydobler who was entered the other day in a 7500 maiden race that supposedly only drew 6 entries as well. The race was brought back as an extra for the next racing day and lo and behold 13 entries materialize. Being that they only run 12, guess what horse was excluded...that's right Lloydobler who didn't get a chance to run 1st because there wasn't enough entries and then because there were too many. Tomorrow I get to enter 2 PA bred fillies in a PA bred maiden race at Penn National (Parx has now decided that they aren't going to card PA bred races unless of course the wonderful 8 PA bred entered rule kicks in). The last 2 times this race was written it failed to fill despite a $39k purse so I am crossing my fingers that some of my cowardly (and stupid) training brethren decide that "hey maybe it makes sense to run a PA bred maiden in a PA bred race with a $39000 pot that takes a low 50 Beyer figure to win". Not holding my breath. Target Practice was supposed to run this week in a staple of the Penn National card, the dated 4000 claimer yet the race was so popular with the brethren that it overfilled. Always a nice statement about the quality of horses competing at your track when the $4000 claiming race for horses that have not won a race in 6 months attracts an overflow field yet a $39000 maiden race doesn't even get close to filling.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
1st (real) post of 2012
It has been a mild Winter weather wise in the Mid-Atlantic region which has allowed us to train normally for the most part. We had a successful December with 3 wins and several other close calls and are looking to carry that momentum with us into 2012. Currently we have quite a few horses that seem to be sitting on big races and are looking forward to the return of others that have been laid up for various reasons.
Slumber Smarty was one of the December winners and she ran great Monday afternoon at Parx, finishing 2nd by less than a length in her first attempt against winners. She broke alertly from post 2 and quickly had the lead but was soon joined on the outside by another filly with early speed. Those two battled through the turn and down the stretch till passed on the outside by the favorite who was dropping in class and wound up with a perfect trip. Slumber battled on and held 2nd place, only losing by 3/4's of a length. We will probably look to try her in a starter allowance race next time out.
Lyle's Angel is training well and will be pointed for an allowance race later in January at Parx.
Cascades Comet ran a flat 4th on New Years eve at Parx most likely due to the fact that because of the lack of two turn races for PA bred maiden fillies we ran her at 7 furlongs. She was forced to chase a soft early pace which isn't how she likes to be ridden and after moving up to challenge at the top of the lane she faded in the stretch. She came out of the race in good shape and is pointing to a PA bred MSW on the 20th at Penn National.
Normandruth didn't fire in his latest race after some tough luck efforts. He has been raced hard since his return in October and we will freshen him a bit before looking to run him back in February.
Hippocrates Jones also has been raced quite a bit over the last 6 weeks and ran a dull 4th a few days before Christmas. We are going to give him 35 days before his next race on the 28th at Penn.
Lloydobler came in a few weeks ago from Gary Sciacca at Belmont. He needs a little class relief and we are entering him in a maiden 7500 race at Penn on Saturday and expect he will run well.
All Peace N Quiet ran 3 races in a 5 week period and also got a little sick at the end of the month. She is now doing well and we will look to run her soon.
Extradite has been training great since his brief layup last summer. The 3 year old PA bred owned by Crown Racing will start doing gate work soon and we are hoping to get him to the races in late March.
Southern Access is training really well and will be entered in a maiden 40 race on the 17th at Parx.
Angry Dragon has also been doing great and we are looking at getting her back to the races in a few weeks.
Cox's Event is entered at Penn National tomorrow night. This is our first start with him and we are expecting improvement from his recent form.
Target Practice is being entered to run at Penn National in a 4000 nw 6 months race on Saturday. He needed his last badly and should run well against the softer competition not to mention he has a great record over the track there.
Sweetjudyblue Eyes stumbled badly on the 31st in her first start for us. Kristina McManigell did a great job simply staying aboard her and she actually rallied to be in contention at the 1/4 pole before tiring from the effort. She is also being pointed to the PA bred MSW race at Penn on the 20th.
Speedy Train and Outta Jail were both a little under the weather during the holiday season but are back in good health now. The 2 fillies owned by Crown Racing are back on the worktab and will be heading to Parx soon to get gate work in. There is a realistic chance that they will both race in March if things continue to progress.
Midas Terms has been dealing with a foot issue that has forced us to slow down his training. He appears to be over the issue and should work this weekend weather permitting.
Slumber Smarty was one of the December winners and she ran great Monday afternoon at Parx, finishing 2nd by less than a length in her first attempt against winners. She broke alertly from post 2 and quickly had the lead but was soon joined on the outside by another filly with early speed. Those two battled through the turn and down the stretch till passed on the outside by the favorite who was dropping in class and wound up with a perfect trip. Slumber battled on and held 2nd place, only losing by 3/4's of a length. We will probably look to try her in a starter allowance race next time out.
Lyle's Angel is training well and will be pointed for an allowance race later in January at Parx.
Cascades Comet ran a flat 4th on New Years eve at Parx most likely due to the fact that because of the lack of two turn races for PA bred maiden fillies we ran her at 7 furlongs. She was forced to chase a soft early pace which isn't how she likes to be ridden and after moving up to challenge at the top of the lane she faded in the stretch. She came out of the race in good shape and is pointing to a PA bred MSW on the 20th at Penn National.
Normandruth didn't fire in his latest race after some tough luck efforts. He has been raced hard since his return in October and we will freshen him a bit before looking to run him back in February.
Hippocrates Jones also has been raced quite a bit over the last 6 weeks and ran a dull 4th a few days before Christmas. We are going to give him 35 days before his next race on the 28th at Penn.
Lloydobler came in a few weeks ago from Gary Sciacca at Belmont. He needs a little class relief and we are entering him in a maiden 7500 race at Penn on Saturday and expect he will run well.
All Peace N Quiet ran 3 races in a 5 week period and also got a little sick at the end of the month. She is now doing well and we will look to run her soon.
Extradite has been training great since his brief layup last summer. The 3 year old PA bred owned by Crown Racing will start doing gate work soon and we are hoping to get him to the races in late March.
Southern Access is training really well and will be entered in a maiden 40 race on the 17th at Parx.
Angry Dragon has also been doing great and we are looking at getting her back to the races in a few weeks.
Cox's Event is entered at Penn National tomorrow night. This is our first start with him and we are expecting improvement from his recent form.
Target Practice is being entered to run at Penn National in a 4000 nw 6 months race on Saturday. He needed his last badly and should run well against the softer competition not to mention he has a great record over the track there.
Sweetjudyblue Eyes stumbled badly on the 31st in her first start for us. Kristina McManigell did a great job simply staying aboard her and she actually rallied to be in contention at the 1/4 pole before tiring from the effort. She is also being pointed to the PA bred MSW race at Penn on the 20th.
Speedy Train and Outta Jail were both a little under the weather during the holiday season but are back in good health now. The 2 fillies owned by Crown Racing are back on the worktab and will be heading to Parx soon to get gate work in. There is a realistic chance that they will both race in March if things continue to progress.
Midas Terms has been dealing with a foot issue that has forced us to slow down his training. He appears to be over the issue and should work this weekend weather permitting.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
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