Horse Racing Random

[dryrunguy]

Isn't the Preakness winner's trainer in California? I'd think some would choose his barn for relocation with the Preakness win and so many years of training with Pletcher. I thought Pletcher was in NY, so that's quite the move if that's the case for some of these owners.

Yes. I like Michael McCarthy A LOT. He just seems like a very authentic person. But he's fairly new. He didn't start having major success until 2018-2019, so he's a fairly new player in the training game. But I'd say he's definitely on the rise. For California owners, though, I suspect trainers like Doug O'Neill, John Sadler, and maybe a few others might be higher than McCarthy on their lists. But those names won't impress the other folks at the dinner party like Baffert (used to) or Pletcher.

::

I forgot to mention this tidbit... A few days ago, Baffert was also voted OFF of the Thoroughbred Owners of California board.

https://www.horseracingnation.com/news/ ... _board_123

[ti-amie]

Isn't the Preakness winner's trainer in California? I'd think some would choose his barn for relocation with the Preakness win and so many years of training with Pletcher. I thought Pletcher was in NY, so that's quite the move if that's the case for some of these owners.

Yes. I like Michael McCarthy A LOT. He just seems like a very authentic person. But he's fairly new. He didn't start having major success until 2018-2019, so he's a fairly new player in the training game. But I'd say he's definitely on the rise. For California owners, though, I suspect trainers like Doug O'Neill, John Sadler, and maybe a few others might be higher than McCarthy on their lists. But those names won't impress the other folks at the dinner party like Baffert (used to) or Pletcher.

::

I forgot to mention this tidbit... A few days ago, Baffert was also voted OFF of the Thoroughbred Owners of California board.

https://www.horseracingnation.com/news/ ... _board_123

Baffert seems nice...not

[dryrunguy]

Um, talk about your terrible twos... This happened before a 2-year-old race last night in Japan... FYI, both of the horses involved are colts. I'm guessing the 11 will get the ultimate equipment change before his next start.

[ponchi101]

Straight out of "Biological Exuberance".

[Omess]

Straight out of "Biological Exuberance".

Poor guy , he got close then went for it …


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[Deuce]

Looks to me like a pretty basic reminder that horses are beautifully wild animals, and not things for humans to control for entertainment and profit.

[dryrunguy]

So, I have updates.

Danceswithbourbon continues to be a challenge. It's not her fault. We just can't figure out where to spot her next without incurring a high risk of her getting claimed. (Our partnership leader clearly has plans to keep her as a brood mare prospect in the future.) I want to bump her up in class a bit and take a stab at 8 or 8.5 furlongs on grass. But most of the discussion is leaning toward dropping her in class, staying on dirt, and risking the claim if need be. I keep saying I don't think she likes Indiana Grand, but that suggestion keeps getting poo-pooed.

Unified Dreams SHOULD start serious training in a months or two. Right now, he's just schooling and galloping and getting used to his new surroundings.

Rock Along's foot problem came back, so she is OUT of the Colleen (the Monmouth Stakes race I was so excited about). It's not serious; she just needs a little rest. Not sure where she'll go next.

Cryptic Creed has been a production of late. He started out training well on dirt, and then his works went south. Badly. So we shipped him over to a synthetic training track. That made a WORLD of difference and he clocked the fastest time at that distance (4 furlongs) that morning. So when he finally races, which should be soon, it will almost certainly be on turf. (Horses that like the synthetic tend to like turf, and his pedigree has solid turf influence.) He is headed to Ellis Park in KY soon.

Unconscious continues to progress. She doesn't have any published works yet. But I think she's getting close.

That's it for now.

[ponchi101]

When you write UNCONSCIOUS CONTINUES TO PROGRESS, I don't know if you are writing about horses or it is a social critique
Glad to hear things are working. And I do hope you keep DWB. The offspring should be called "BourbonShots".

[dryrunguy]

We tried to enter Danceswithbourbon in another race at Indiana Grand for this week. I'll spare you the race details because only she and one other horse were entered. The race was cancelled.

The we tried to enter her in a race at Ellis Park on Saturday. Not enough entries. That race was also cancelled.

We'll just keep watching the condition books at about five different tracks.

::

Unified Dreams will begin serious training later this month/early August. If all goes well, he will race in September.

[dryrunguy]

Danceswithbourbon will race at Ellis Park ON TURF at 5.5 furlongs this Friday, July 16. It's a class drop. Total purse is $19.5K. She will be in for a claiming tag of $30K. This will be the first time she may race against older horses (older than 3). I don't like the condition or the claiming opportunity. But I like the fact we'll give turf a whirl very much. Many of the Outwork progeny love turf, and the Gone West influence in her dam's pedigree should help.

If only she was built like a traditional turf horse. But hey, you never know.

::

This coming Friday, we will enter Cryptic Creed in a 2-year-old MAIDEN CLAIMING race at Colonial Downs in Virginia for July 21. It will certainly fill. The race will be on turf at 5 furlongs. The purse will be $40K. The claiming price will also be $40K. This marks the first time the Shooting Star partnership has offered a horse for claim at its first outing. I could be wrong, but that tells me Saffie doesn't think much of Cryptic Creed--and the partner leadership is ready to cut its losses. Or maybe Saffie just assumes no one would claim him on his first out. Saffie is hard to read. And it's not like I get to talk to him directly, so I'm guessing.

As a handicapper, though, I am always very suspicious of first-time starters who are already up for the claim on their first out, especially when the training works have been paltry at best. That said, Saffie is smarter than I am, so... He may have a plan up his sleeve.

[ti-amie]

[JazzNU]

Not surprised. In particular, NYRA didn't help their cause by banning all of his horses from Belmont, not just Medina Spirit or Bob himself and letting his other horses race with other trainers like the Preakness allowed. It's a harsh penalty without your own investigation or at least a failed in-state test. If racing was uniform across the country, it would've likely been fine, but all these independent state associations makes it seem like there's no single umbrella for much of any of it, i.e. he didn't violate the agreed upon NFL drug policy, just the NY Giants'.

[dryrunguy]

Not surprised. In particular, NYRA didn't help their cause by banning all of his horses from Belmont, not just Medina Spirit or Bob himself and letting his other horses race with other trainers like the Preakness allowed. It's a harsh penalty without your own investigation or at least a failed in-state test. If racing was uniform across the country, it would've likely been fine, but all these independent state associations makes it seem like there's no single umbrella for much of any of it, i.e. he didn't violate the agreed upon NFL drug policy, just the NY Giants'.

Yes, that's precisely the problem. No overarching body of governance. There has been a lot of talk about moving in that direction. Everyone says they want it. But when those people have any track- or state-specific power they may lose, then they don't want it anymore.

[JazzNU]

Yes, that's precisely the problem. No overarching body of governance. There has been a lot of talk about moving in that direction. Everyone says they want it. But when those people have any track- or state-specific power they may lose, then they don't want it anymore.

I'm sure it'll happen the moment they can make it more lucrative. So if there's like a TV contract on the table for a US Horse Racing League with a set schedule of races or something, that'll turn the tide. Until then, I'd imagine they'd be sacrificing influence and money. Because for certain state associations, I'm sure the related gambling money is too high to think about altering the current model.

[dryrunguy]

So, I can report that Danceswithbourbon absolutely LOVES running on grass.

She finished third, just a neck behind first and second. But she shot to the lead out of the gate and ran 22.1 in the first quarter. That's fast. She led the whole race until the last 10-15 feet. I was super proud of her. But I knew she was screwed the moment Matt Caruthers at TVG picked her to win just seconds before the race. She had a lot of support from the public. She went off as the third betting choice at 9/2. Her preliminary Equibase speed figure for the race is 82. That's 31 points faster than her previous race on dirt and 15 points faster than her best ever speed figure to date (67, all races on dirt).

The better news... She did NOT get claimed. So that's a relief. The winner, Miss Is Zippy, however, did get claimed for $30K.

So I think we've finally found her a home on grass. She ran with a beautiful and comfortable stride, much better than any of her previous performances. But my gut tells me she really does want more ground, and she'd probably prefer to sit off the pace and stalk rather than taking the lead. But since she's never gone as short as 5.5 furlongs before, I figured Jesus Castanon would hustle her out of the gate and force other horses to pass her.

A second place finish would have covered her barn bill, but $1950 isn't bad. That will pay a lot of bills, and she still has some cushion from her debut win purse. We're okay.

P.S.--Here's a link to the chart of the race: https://www.equibase.com/premium/chartE ... y=USA&rn=3.