Horse Racing Random

[Fastbackss]

Is the "not to win" have anything to do with claiming?

[dryrunguy]

Is the "not to win" have anything to do with claiming?

No, not at all, if I am understanding your question correctly.

There are a lot of trainers who have reputations for winning first time out. Wesley Ward would probably top that list. He won't race them until he thinks they're ready to grab the lead out of the gate and go gate to wire.

But sometimes, you just want to get the horse on the track and get some experience--winning isn't the priority. That doesn't mean they can't win. It's just means that's not the primary objective.

Given everything Danceswithbourbon has gone through with her growing pains (growing too much too fast as a 2-year-old), Jordan and Matt just want to... Ease her into it. I think she'll ultimately want something in the ballpark of a mile.

The main reason we don't want her in a claiming race is because we think she has decent potential. Danceswithbourbon was a $50K private purchase for the primary owner. (Of course, that's pennies in this business.) But he has a lot invested in her, especially after the setback. And I suspect he has plans for her over the long term as a brood mare.

[Fastbackss]

Thanks for clarifying - it makes sense.

I just wondered if there was a "hidden" backstory that made sense to let her come out of the gate slower - something I wouldn't know as a casual observer.

[dryrunguy]

Thanks for clarifying - it makes sense.

I just wondered if there was a "hidden" backstory that made sense to let her come out of the gate slower - something I wouldn't know as a casual observer.

You always want a horse to break well out of the gate and make a good showing--poor breaks can quickly become a bad habit (aka, Tiz the Dude). And if you can get a win first out, that's awesome. We'd take that. It costs roughly $3000US/month to properly maintain a racehorse. So there are always bills to pay.

For Jordan, though, a win first time out isn't the priority.

[dryrunguy]

in the past 6 days, three horses racing at Charles Town (WV) have been euthanized on the track after sustaining fatal injuries during a race. And that's with no racing on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.

[Deuce]

in the past 6 days, three horses racing at Charles Town (WV) have been euthanized on the track after sustaining fatal injuries during a race. And that's with no racing on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.

This is pathetic. Really. These horses - beautiful animals - are used and essentially sacrificed so that some people can get their jollies.

I've never been a fan, and never will be.

[JazzNU]

in the past 6 days, three horses racing at Charles Town (WV) have been euthanized on the track after sustaining fatal injuries during a race. And that's with no racing on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.

Yikes! That's not good. Are they going to investigate to make sure there's nothing causing this or is that solely going to be a Santa Anita thing?


Changing tunes. Have you been there @dry? Wouldn't be that far from you.

[dryrunguy]

in the past 6 days, three horses racing at Charles Town (WV) have been euthanized on the track after sustaining fatal injuries during a race. And that's with no racing on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.

Yikes! That's not good. Are they going to investigate to make sure there's nothing causing this or is that solely going to be a Santa Anita thing?


Changing tunes. Have you been there @dry? Wouldn't be that far from you.

I have been to the casino, and I have been to the area where people bet, but that was a long time ago. Charles Town is a little over 2 hours away.

I routinely watch Charles Town. While it is well known for one of the most horrific wrecks in horse-racing history (that was a long time ago), and while Charles Town is widely considered the "bottom of the barrel" when it comes to U.S. horse racing (there are worse), I have never seen anything like this.

The last time I saw a horse go down at Charles Town was on October 8, 2020 (Lil Mr Matt). I thought for sure it would be a fatal injury. It wasn't. He just fell, got up, and everything was fine. He raced again 6 weeks later (very cautious race, I remember it vividly, didn't finish well). Since then, he has been second in his last two starts. Before that? I don't remember anything in the past year.

I don't know what's going on. The track veterinarians scratch about 3-5 horses per race day because the veterinarians suspect the horses are not sound enough to race. That's a good thing. Perhaps they can do more. I guess I am more concerned by the trainers who plan to race horses track veterinarians think are not sound enough to race.

I saw all three races involving the fatalities. In two of the three, it appears the horses just broke down for no obvious reason. Venetian Drive was trying to pass about three-wide on the turn--and went amiss. Tonight, Mio's Long Term was between horses on the turn and ready to make his usual move and fell down sideways. Horrible.

In the other instance (don'tmesswithbull), the horse and jockey were in horrible traffic. You could feel the disaster just waiting to happen. Don'tmesswithbull was stuck behind a wall of horses, looking for a way to get through; there was nowhere to go; I think he clipped heals with a horse in front of him, went down... Again, horrible.

::

It just seems like too much too fast in too short a time at Charles Town to chalk it up to bad luck or coincidence. But why? I don't know.

It breaks my heart, that's for sure.

[dryrunguy]

Six-year-old Monomoy Girl made her 2021 debut in the slop in the Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park today. Going into the race, she had 13 wins and 2 seconds out of 15 career races. That includes a gap where she did not race at all in 2019. In addition, going into today's race, she had earned $4.4 million in purse money.

She went off at 1/5. The race starts around the 1:58 mark. How I wish they would retire her and let her have babies. Watching her race makes a wreck of me. But she clearly loves what she does.

[dryrunguy]

Meanwhile, there are a few races I want to share with you that had serious Kentucky Derby implications.

First, I'll share Greatest Honour's race in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream. Next up for him will be the Florida Derby.

[dryrunguy]

And here's the Southwest Stakes yesterday at Oaklawn--on a monstrously sloppy track. Essential Quality is the #1 horse. He beat Spielberg, a Baffert horse. Spielberg is not Baffert's best prospect for the Derby, but he improved significantly over his previous races.

[ponchi101]

Isn't that dangerous for the horses? Running on that mud?

[dryrunguy]

Isn't that dangerous for the horses? Running on that mud?

It seems like it would be, but I can't remember seeing a horse sustain an injury while running in mud, though I'm sure it has happened.

Some horses absolutely love running in slop. Remember Justify during the Triple Crown in 2018? He loved it. Pretty much any foal sired by Super Saver loves a wet track. On the other end, all indications are that most American Pharaoh babies don't take to mud at all.

And then there are some horses that love running in slop but only if they have the lead. As soon as they lose the lead and have mud flying into their face, they stop. And then you have horses that don't mind getting mud on the face at all. Essential Quality looks like one of those horses.

But some horses hate the slop. Which is why you'll typically see a bunch of scratches on any given day at a track where the conditions are muddy.

Wet grass is something else entirely. In the U.S., even a small amount of rain generally gets turf races moved to dirt. But in European and Australian turf races, they run through the rain. I have a lot of questions about that.

[dryrunguy]

Well, it's official. I finally scraped together enough coin to join the 2021 Shooting Star Syndicate--the same syndicate I joined in 2020. The check and the signed contract went in the mail yesterday.

This time, Shooting Star is only offering one syndicate instead of one cheaper syndicate (my syndicate from 2020) and one more expensive syndicate. Like the cheaper syndicate from 2020, it consists of three horses--though only two of them ever raced. They out-earned the more expensive syndicate BY FAR.

In any case, here are my three horses for 2021. These are in addition to my other horse, Danceswithbourbon, from another syndicate, who will likely make her debut as a 3-year-old later this month.

::

Here's Cryptic Creed--a 2-year-old colt. He is a son of Jimmy Creed, the sire of the only filly who beat Bold Article twice. LOL! His dam, a daughter of Big Brown, won twice in 14 starts. Both wins came at a mile and 70 yards at Delaware Park.



Here's Rock Along--a 2-year-old filly. She is a daughter of Bayern, who won the Breeder's Cup Classic in 2014. The dam is a daughter of Rock Hard Ten and won her first and last of eight career starts--both wins were sprints. She has produced two winners.



And here is Unconscious--a 2-year-old filly. She is a daughter of Uncaptured, who was the leading freshman sire of 2017 before he was sold to South Korea, out of an Overanalyze mare who never raced. Unconscious appears to be the mare's first foal.



Last I heard, two of the three should be ready to race early. But I don't know which two. And SHOULD is a very big word.

[ponchi101]

Beautiful animals, Dry. Hope they run like the wind!