Alumni Report

Chaffed Lips won another turf race today down at Ellis Park (son of a bitch!). A couple other horses from our past (Leather N Lace & Coppersmith) are entered in bottom-of-the-barrell races up in Canada (Marquis Downs) on Friday.

As far as our current stable is concerned, Lite Brigade races in an extremely salty field on Saturday @ CBY (race 4). This race came up tougher than many stakes races run at CBY this year. The 7 horses in the field have started a total of 46 races this year. Of those 46, there are 17 wins, 14 places, and 6 shows and a combined earnings of over $267,000. I'm not thrilled with drawing the rail - he'll need to be on his game in order to get his picture taken. Either way, it should be very exciting. We'll find out tomorrow if Iron Boy will race on Sunday. As of now, it does not look good for finding Peagus another race here.

Winding Down

One week remaining in the live racing season at CBY. 5 racing days left to achieve the goal I set at the beginning of the season (more details to follow in next week’s CBY review). We have Chief running on Friday night (race 6). Brigade, Peagus, and Iron Boy are ready to race – hopefully, we can find a race for them over the weekend.

As far as last weekend’s races are concerned, Twinpost pretty much ran as I expected to finish a respectable second. On the other hand, Wayuphi was a major disappointment. He’s got some issues between the ears that will need to be addressed. At the very minimum, a drop in class will be in order.

That brings me to Diablo. If the class jump, surface switch, and stretch out weren’t enough obstacles for her, there were a couple other factors working against her. The grass was very soft – typically, that type of surface does not bode well for front-runners. Additionally, after the race, it was discovered that she was under the weather (coughing quite a bit in the test barn). As such, we can be very encouraged with her runner-up effort. The timing is good that we can now give her a few weeks off to recover as we transition the stable to Chicago next week.

Destined for 2nd?

A quick review of the Racing Form yesterday might have led one to conclude that Chief was destined to finish second. Coming into the race, out of 55 lifetime starts, Chief had won 10, finished second 9 times, and third 10 times. So after yesterday's race, he now has 10 wins, places, and shows. Kind of spooky?

A look ahead - in addition to Twinpost running on Friday night, we'll have a doubleheader on Saturday (Diablo and Wayuphi in back-to-back races 7 & 8). Wayuphi faces a similar field to his last race, so he'll need to improve a bit to hit the board. In Diablo's case, we're mixing it up a bit - double-class jump and stretching out on the turf. Should be a good acid test for her. I'm really looking forward to her race. For those racing this weekend, it will be the last time we see them here at CBY this summer so come on out.

Lastly, if anyone is interested, I still have 1 T-shirt and 1 Polo shirt available - both are size Large.

The Week Ahead

With the sloppy weather this weekend, it was not a bad week to have no races. This week, we are sending Chief to Iowa on Tuesday for a race that fits his condition really well (horses who have not won a race over a mile this year) If the track stays dry, he should be very competitive. Twinpost races on Friday at CBY against a field that looks very similar to those she has faced the last couple times so she should have a solid chance.

Fun With Numbers

http://www.equibase.com/leaders/racingleaders.cfm

The link above takes you to a page on Equibase that lists 2007 leaders in several categories. I was browsing the lists last night and came across a couple interesting nuggets. For the top horses (by wins), you can find Iron Boy and Diablo. More impressive, for the Top Trainers (by wins), you can find Jamie ranked # 14 in the country with 91 wins and earnings over $1 million. This is an amazing accomplishment for Jamie - I'm glad he's on our side.

Just looked at Saturday's entries - we will have no races this weekend.

Full House

We'll have the photo on the blog soon, but as you'll see, we had over 50 people in support of Diablo's win yesterday. It was nice to win with such a big turnout. It would have been great to get 2 wins on the day, but Peagus ran into a tough bunch. The consolation of his 4th place and Wayuphi's 4th place on Friday night is that with the realtively high purse money, 4th place still earns a check big enough to pay some bills. So overall, it was a good weekend.

Looking ahead to next week, it could be a quiet weekend. We already know entries for Thursday, Friday and Sunday's races are restricted to MN-Breds. As such, Saturday is the only possibility for Twinpost and/or Chief to come out and play. We'll know Saturday's entries on Wednesday.

Thanks again to all who came out yesterday - if you get a chance, check out the Canterbury Report (netjamstv.com) from last night for a little recognition of our fan support.

16 Days

Only 16 racing days left this year @ CBY. Two of those days this weekend will be of interest to us. Wayuphi races tonight - I think he might be one race away from his peak effort, but he should be competitive tonight. Sunday offers a doubleheader. Right now, with Twinpost and Diablo entered in the same race (race 4), it looks like we will scratch Twinpost. A few races later, after a brief freshening, Peagus will make his return for us - that should be a great race. Very competitive field.

A look down the road.....it looks like Chicago will be the site for our Fall racing this year. I can see myself taking a couple weekend trips to the windy city. Speaking of traveling, I will be making more than one trip down to Tampa next year. A few of you have expressed interest in getting a group trip together. If you think you might want to join us, let me know and we can try to coordinate a date that works.

Ominous Sound

As I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of rain hitting my house, I knew the chances of Chief winning his race were not good - he hates running in the mud. As it turned out, his third place effort was a good showing.

Next race: Wayuphi makes his debut for us - Friday night, race 3. He'll be running against some good allowance (N2X) foes.

Note from Sunday's races: Chaffed Lips won a race down at Ellis Park. We were never able to find a turf race for her that fit her condition. She returned to the grass for her win today and looked much more comfortable.

No More Bridesmaid

After a string of runner-up efforts, Brigade broke thru last night for the win. Given the claiming level and the quality of competition, this was definitely a huge win for us. At the other end of the claiming ladder, Chief will give it a run for us tomorrow (Race 2).

Just a quick note on the administrative side - when I send out 3Q07 financial information, you'll see a big bump in the shares outstanding. After resolving a number of hurdles, we finally cleared the way for a sizable investment into the stable at our last offering price. We will continue our recent efforts in adding higher-quality horses to the stable.

We had a great turnout at the track last night - hope to see you there on Saturday.