"All Heart"

Iron Boy did not have his "A" game today. So when we asked Paul about his ride, he responded that the horse was "All Heart". That was good enough for the win today and it wrapped up a great week - 2 wins, a second, and another horse to add to the mix (Wayuphi).

Next race: Lite Brigade - Race 7 on Thursday night. Upon early review of the entries, it's going to be a hell of a race; lots of high-quality runners. Hope to see you there.

Lucky No. 7?

We now have an interest in our seventh horse. We bought a 1/5 share in a $25k horse. Along with the same partners as Iron Boy/Twinpost, one additional owner wanted in on a share of a horse named Wayuphi. The horse is a lightly raced 7-year old with a lot of back class. His best races have been on the turf, so expect to see him there in a few weeks for us.

As far as today's race is concerned, given the lack of pace, I was very satisfied with Twinpost's runner-up effort. For Sunday's race, I would recommend to those in attendance to not bet any significant $$ on Iron Boy. It is likely that his win odds will not be any better than 3-5.

Thanks to Mother Nature

We definitely caught a break tonight with the race coming off the turf. With 3 scracthes, we became the horse to beat. And Diablo delivered to the tune of a 9.5 length victory! Things will get a little tougher this weekend for our "quarter" horses - Twinpost and Iron Boy. Hope to see you at the CBY.

Ladies Night(s)

Our fillies take center stage this weekend. Diablo is stepping up in class and stretching out on the turf. That said, I think she is going to be competitive. If we get some rain and the race is taken off the turf, that would improve our chances. The horse to beat (V'Ville Lady) would likely scracth. If it stays on the turf, the favorite will be tough.

Twinpost's race on Saturday looks interesting. Although it is the same class as her last race ($15k), the race came up a lot stronger. In addition to the 2nd and 3rd place horses from her last race, there are a couple horses coming in from a Starter $10k and another one that often runs in MN-Bred satkes races. So she'll have her work cut out for her, but if she can sit off the pace like she did last time, there should be plenty of pace to chase down.

Buck Night on Thursday and Golden Gloves boxing on Saturday.

The one that didn't get away

In the past, I have blogged about a few horses that we thought about claiming (or ones that we claimed but lost a shake), and were worth the $$. That is, after the race, I wish we had spent the money and claimed the horse. I am writing today to describe a little different scenario. In today's 3rd race, Jamie and I had all but decided we were going to drop a claim on Commander Pat for $10k. We studied his form, watched his race replays, and talked about where he fit in with upcoming races at CBY. We had the claim slip all filled out and ready to drop in the box when Jamie said he wanted to take one last look at him as he came into the paddock. About 5 minutes before the deadline, Jamie was uncomfortable with what he saw - his ankles were swollen and all wrapped up. We decided not to drop the claim. About halfway through the race, Commander Pat was pulled up. Soon after, the horse ambulance came to pick him up. Needless to say, he won't be racing anytime soon (if ever again). WHEW - we dodged a bullet. It was such a relief, it almost felt like we had won a race. Moral of the story: the claiming game is a tricky business. We certainly won't make all good decisions, but let's hope over the long-term, the good will outnumber the bad.

Next Race: Diablo runs in Race 4 on Thursday night. Hope to see many of you out at CBY for "buck night". Speaking of popular track promotions, there were over 16,000 patrons in attendance for today's "Extreme Day". A fun day, but a litle over-crowded for me. Especially as some of the casual fans were in the betting lines in front of me trying to use the automated tellers.

No Race on Friday Night

I just got home from CBY - we are scratching Iron Boy out of his race on Friday night. We're going to look for a race that fits better sometime next week.

Weekend Review - 7/16/07

Quite a week - we were about 10 inches away from a perfect 3 for 3. Brigade gave it all he had to hold off his rival but came up just short in the end. Combined with the wins from Chief and Twinpost, it made for a great 3-day run. Along the way, we added an old friend back to the barn (Silver Peagus). After receiving $7k in additional investments for this quarter, it made sense to pick up another horse. Next race: Iron Boy (Friday night - race 7).

Chief

I was pleasantly surprised by Chief's victory last night. It was one of our more dramatic wins in that with a couple hundred yards to go in the race he looked well beaten only to close with a rush. Who knew the old guy had that burst in him?! If you recall, Chief finished last in his prior race. Let's hope the same last-first effort is what we'll see tonight with Twinpost.

On a side note, I have promoted Thursday nights in previous blogs - In today's Star Tribune (Scene), there is a cover story about the appeal of Thursday nights at the CBY - check it out.

Full Meal Deal

Busy week ahead - We'll start with an appetizer (Chief) on Thursday, followed by the salad (Twinpost) on Friday, the main course comes Saturday night (Brigade), and possibly a little dessert on Sunday (Iron Boy). I would say that as the week goes on, our horses will be more competitive. Chief looks a little overmatched whereas Brigade should be ok if he runs his normal race.

Weather looks like it will be fine. Buck Night on Thursday and the Chris Hawkey Band will be performing on Friday night. In addition to a great card of races on Saturday night, there will also be Golden Gloves boxing in between races. All in all, a fun weekend at the CBY - Hope to see you there!

One less mouth to feed

In a somewhat surprising development, Chaffed Lips was claimed away from us today at PRM for $5k. She ran an "ok" race to finish 6th after a slow start. In one respect it's nice to get rid of a horse that we lost a lot of money on, but it did seem like she was coming around after the time off we gave her. Regardless, her departure won't materially change our overall financial position - during the last couple quarter-end valuations, I marked her value down to less than $5k. From a tax perspective, we'll be able to use the capital loss to offset some of the gain we realized on Peagus. In any event, time to close the book on what has been the biggest money pit for us in our 2+ year history.