The weather continues to be a thorn in the side of racing operations nationwide and we are not immune to whims of Mother Nature in either location. After another week of interrupted training (snow and cold temps at Philly and rain in Florida) we are holding our breath and hoping that Philadelphia's Sunday card goes on as scheduled with Richwood Silver in the second race. She is dropping hard in class after her bizarre behavior in her last race when she tried to bolt on the backstretch while on a clear lead. The snow late in the week eliminated a couple days of training and she will be quite fresh coming into this race. Hopefully that will translate into her normal effort (which includes making both turns) which should be enough to get the job done today. If they actually race...
Target Practice missed a key work because of the snow however his race did not even come close to filling so we will look down another more ambitious avenue with him. Three solid works will get him entered into the March 20th Private Terms stakes at Laurel going 1 mile. The jump from a maiden race to a stakes is a large one yet improving three year olds need to run in order to continuing progressing and allowance races have not been filling. Target Practice will work 5 furlongs on Monday, 6 furlongs next Monday and another 5 furlongs on the 15th. This schedule gives us a day leeway either way in case of continued inclement weather or poor track conditions.
Albin finally got the job done last Friday after many close calls and tough beats. His schedule moving forward includes a $50000 nw2 race at Tampa mid-March leading into a potential try at Keeneland or an early Arlington Park allowance spot. Spending the winter off track has helped him mature and the alternate training avenues we have at the Classic Mile really benefit horses like him.
Big Shake is another who should benefit from the Classic Mile but he hasn't yet made the leap to be a useful horse. We were hoping to work him on the turf this week but rain got in the way. He has coughed a couple times this past week and with his health history we are being cautious with his next spot especially considering he has the vaunted "special" date. March 10th for maiden 50k on the grass looks like the next logical spot.
Normandruth's training schedule has been affected by the mid-Atlantic region snow as well. He will also work tomorrow and we will keep our fingers crossed that his next scheduled race, an entry level allowance on the 8th at Philadelphia fills.
Rochelle Rochelle's skin issues are finally beginning to resolve themselves and we will start to ramp up her training this week. Hopefully we can get an late March /early April start (win!) for her that will set her up well for the beginning of the Arlington Park meet. I will go out on a limb and say she will be the most improved horse in the stable this spring
Colonel Klink came out of his tuneup race in good shape. We are pointing him to a 7 furlong allowance race at Keeneland over the polytrack on April 9th before he heads to Arlington and Illinois breds.
Missus Mayflower didn't break well and got tired yesterday in her final tuneup for a proposed March 4th start at Tampa. While a bit disappointed she will miss this date, I am glad that we didn't find these things out after a weak effort in the afternoon. Tampa's new condition book is due out this week and we will find a different spot for her in 2-3 weeks.
Mizz Liza is doing well while recovering from a strained suspensory.
Hippocrates Jones is still a project as he recovers from shin issues. He tends to not use himself properly (his front end "pulls" his back end along) and we have switched his equipment in an attempt to get him to travel in a better balanced fashion. He is ready to work and Thursday on the grass going 3 furlongs will be his first breeze back. He has displayed flashes of ability and hopefully with some maturity he can fulfill his potential.
Redboard King worked really well yesterday under jockey Diego Rodriguez at the Classic Mile. We had been hoping to get another work on the turf with him this week but the weather didn't cooperate. However with the track getting muddy we went ahead and worked him anyway and were surprised with how well he went. Diego said he handled the muddy surface great (better than the turf) and was impressed with the work. though the time was nothing special (50.20) the track was getting heavy and he went his last 1/8th in 12 with minimal urging. It has taken some time but he is finally starting to put things together and may be an interesting horse for Dee Tee stable this Summer.
Gondorf's foot issues continue to plague him though when he has been able to train this winter he has impressed. The latest malady is an abcess that is going to come out of the coronet band of his non-patched foot. While this is a setback, it is relatively minor and he should be able to get back up to full speed quickly.
While I was disappointed with Missus Mayflower at OBS yesterday, I was pleased with how well her workmate Appoint went. She broke alertly and worked alongside MM under wraps and galloped out well. She was clocked in 51.80 over the synthetic surface that was playing very slow. Afterward she recovered quickly and appeared fitter than Missus Mayflower who was winded, despite this only being Appoint's second work since last fall. A late March/early April tuneup at Tampa to prepare for the Indiana racing season is still on schedule.
Graphite Halo has been caught up in the rainy weather also. I was hoping to work her on the turf on Thursday but with the rain taking out training that day and subsequently Saturday as well we decided to wait it out and not work her over a heavy or muddy surface which she hates. We will work her on Monday over a dry dirt track and point for next Tuesday on the turf with a more serious move.
Cool Clue is now a winner with a boatload of conditions and options. The fact that he can handle both sprint and route distances gives him many possibilities but with his back bothering him a bit and us not being able to stretch him out with training we passed on the latest spot. There are so many options available in the coming weeks but the 20th at Philly sprinting is a possibility.
Kickin N Screamin is doing fine but i want to give her a little more time off of three closely spaced races in a row.
Ships's Cabin is entered for March 2nd at Philadelphia Park in a 25000 nw 3 race going 6 1/2 furlongs. It looks like a good spot and with any racing luck he will be right there at the finish.
Hemissesu and Slumber Smarty finally arrived in Florida after some weather delays. They are nicely mannered fillies and will be heading to the track this week after spending last week in a field learning about the Classic Mile and lead changes.
Angry Dragon and the unnamed Smarty Jones-No More Ironing colt have been galloping 1 1/8th daily and have progressed nicely.
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