Winding down 2012

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only a little more than a week away. For the most part we are settled into our winter quarters of Westampton Training Center and Penn National racetrack. This morning the temperatures in South Jersey were in the mid 60's though perhaps that may be fool's gold as the lows tonight are supposed to be down into the 30's and with that the last vestiges of Summer will seem to have been extinguished.

Small Town Talk worked in his usual pokey 103 this morning at Westampton though considering the track was pretty slow today that might be a better move than usual for him. He is scheduled to run in the Swatara Stakes next Wednesday at Penn National. The Swatara is a $100000 race going 1 1/16th on the main track and Pedro Cotto is scheduled to ride.

Made to Love Her also worked this morning going four furlongs in 49.40 at Penn National under jockey Erica-Micklos. We moved up her work a day because of the expected rain coming tonight and she finished up well enough to stretch her next work out another furlong probably on Sunday. There are a number of possibilities for her 1st race back off of the layoff including an allowance race or several stakes in New York or Maryland.

Oklahoma Den only went three furlongs this morning as he was struggling with the deep ground. He went in  38.10 and appears to want a tighter surface than the one offered at Westampton this morning.

Bourbon County was just stretching his legs a bit, shaking off the cobwebs that may have developed since his last work in August. He has matured quite a bit since summer and we are anxious to get him rolling once again.

All Peace N Quiet has been installed as the 9/5 morning line choice in Tuesdays 8th race at Penn National. We are all hoping that the fifteenth try is the charm in her quest to finally shed that professional maiden title. Manny Chaves has the riding assignment from post position number six in a field of eight.

Southern Access is also entered to run tomorrow night at Penn National in the 2nd race. That race is  a maiden event for $12500 going 5 1/2 furlongs on the dirt. After several futile attempts to get her on the turf this fall we have finally succumbed to the inevitable call of the winter months and placed her back into a dirt race. She has trained well despite the time off and hopefully will run well in this spot where she may be overlooked due to her inactivity and poor recent form in her last few starts this spring. 

Pleasantly Miranda, Frosty's Whirl, Frosty Merry Eri and Goonsquad are all training well as they work their way towards the races.

Mustang Island is stuck on the proverbial island in the middle of nowhere as a turf only horses in the Northeastern past of the countries increasingly dirt only world.

Coax Liberty relocated to Penn National to get a bit more serious in her training on the road back to the races. She had an easy work last week and will soon be back on the work tab as she acclimates to the surface at Penn.

I Can See Russia steadily chugs along toward her debut. She worked in 106 in company with older filly Rochelle Rochelle on Saturday though the time seems extraordinarily slow they worked faster than 5 others at the distance with the days fastest time of 25 workers being 102.20. She doesn't have sprinters speed but does have some quality and will be better going two turns as she grows into her frame.

Latent Charm worked the same day in 104 though the clockers didn't publish the work for whatever reason.

We are looking for a spot to run Malibu Murmur and there are several at Penn, Parx and Laurel towards the end of the month. She has done well recently and should improve off of her disappointing comeback race at the Meadowlands.

Moonstruck Cowboy ran 4th last Friday night at Penn and was claimed out of the race.  I'm not sure what the jockey was thinking of when engaging in a three way speed duel with a horse who stalks and could have had a seemingly perfect trip but that is Jevon Crumleys problem to deal with now.

Pennypennypenny is at Penn and she continues to train forwardly for her much awaited debut.

Ski Bum continues to keep his speed in check while working though he did manage to get approval from the starting gate last week. He is relentless and should make his debut sometime in December in the 1st step on the road to the North Dakota Derby.

Getting sorted out after Sandy

We survived hurricane Sandy relatively unscathed especially compared to many others in the area. While the training center in Westampton and Penn National escaped without much damage, Monmouth Park wasn't as fortunate. The last weekends race card at the Meadowlands was scrapped and Monmouth Park's backside suffered some damage and flooding and the racetrack was deemed unsafe for training without a significant overhaul which at this point in the season seemed pointless. We are in the process of moving our remaining horses out of Monmouth to Westampton and Penn. That process has been hampered by the conditions in Northern New Jersey and the shore area including a lack of power and gasoline and the fact that everyone is wanting to leave at the same time which has put additional strain on the shipping companies. We should have everyone settled in by the weekend when we can go back to focusing solely on finding winning spots for the horses.

Small Town Talk ran very well last Friday when finishing 2nd to grade 1 winner Hymn Book in the Frank "Pancho" Martin stakes at Belmont Park. The race which featured three other graded winners including Monmouth Cup winner Rule was run over a sloppy track on a rainy, gray day. Pedro Cotto rated Small Town Talk in 3rd behind a solid pace and moved to briefly take the lead turning for home before being passed by Hymn Book in the stretch while finishing a clear 2nd, 12 1/4 lengths ahead of Rule who was third. He continues to improve with each start and we are planning to run next in the $100000 Swatara Stakes at Penn National on Thanksgiving eve.

                                                                Small Town Talk

Midas Terms had two tough trips in both his October races finishing 2nd and 3rd in order. He came out of the last race with a minor injury which will sideline him for the remainder of the year but he should come back 100 percent next year.

Made to Love Her worked really well last week going 49.1 under a strong hold at Westampton. That was only her 2nd work coming off of the layoff and she is training quite forwardly for her return to the races. Right now we are planing on a tuneup in an allowance race prior to moving back into stakes competition with her. She has relocated to Penn National to continue her training on a larger track.

                                                         Made to Love Her galloping

Pennypennypenny shipped out to Penn National this morning and will begin more serious training as she works toward her debut.

Coax Liberty is training well at Westampton. We have been slowly picking up the intensity of her training and she is responding well and while we still mix in some swimming she is close to a timed work as long as the weather cooperates.

                                                                       Coax Liberty

Bourbon County is now at Westampton while still in light training awaiting maturation of his knees. He has grown so much over the last few months and is very impressive looking.

All Peace N Quiet ran a decent 2nd last week at Penn National. She made a nice move to get into contention around the final turn but a shipper dropping down in company from Delaware park had gotten the jump on her and she just couldn't make up the ground in time. I won't hold the fact that she has single handily depressed my winning percentage for the year against her as we will try her back soon in a similar spot.

Latent Charm was a little headstrong and set too strong of a pace and paid the price for it as she tired in the stretch in her first try against winners. We are regrouping with her and going to work on getting her to relax and listen to the rider though cutting back in distance is not out of the question either.

Angry Dragon was sent to the farm on Wednesday and may be retired soon.

Candy Lass has been sent to Gumtree Farm and may be retired from racing.

Frosty Merry Eri has been training well at the farm and is close to a timed workout.

Frostys Whirl is relocating to Westampton and will also have a workout soon though the hurricane has caused him to miss most of this weeks training at Monmouth.

Goonsquad is also close to an official workout at Westampton. She hasn't run since this summer at Monmouth.

I Can See Russia is developing quickly though she can still remind you of the fact that she is a two year old on occasion. She is scheduled to work out of the gate this week and we are hoping to make her initial start in November.

                                                                   I Can See Russia

Moonstruck Cowboy ran a very good race in his last start, just missing at the 16000 nw2 level. We are looking to run him back next week at Penn in a similar spot.

Oklahoma Den ran greenly in his first start last week at the Meadowlands. He broke a touch slow and then was cut off going into the first turn which left him last a few lengths behind the next to last horse. he made a nice move on the 2nd turn and made up quite a bit of ground to finish 6th. We are looking at running him back in a NY bred race at Aqueduct soon.

Pleasantly Miranda is going to start tack walking next week as we ease her back into the training routine.

                                                Pleasantly Miranda and Hank last Spring

Rochelle Rochelle worked 1/2 mile in 51 last week and is scheduled to work again tomorrow. She should be ready to run by the end of the month.

Sweetjudyblue Eyes was turned out at Gumtree Farm for a brief freshening.

Ski Bum has 3 official works and is scheduled to work again this weekend as he inches closer to his debut.

Verveitup has been retired from racing and is being retrained as a show horse.

Southern Access was supposed to run at the Meadowlands on one of the cancelled days so we are looking for an alternate spot for her as she is ready to roll.

Malibu Murmur was also scheduled for a possible race this weekend at the Meadowlands and another spot has to be found for her as well.