Mixed Results

Did anyone happen to notice the name of the horse that beat Brigade today (Uncledannysbrother)? It was a tough loss - he was a step slow coming out of the gate and in a short race like this, the margin of error is slim. I was not real surprised that he was claimed away from us. That said, I would be lying if I said that it did not sting a lot when the claim was announced. Brigade never finshed out of the money for us and both times sold for more than what we bought him for.

As I mentioned in my 3Q07 review, the quarterly valuation of the horses can be quite tricky. As such, when applicable, once horses are sold, I will try to pass along the details of my evaluation. For Brigade, I valued our share on 12/31 at $15,000. After the claim today, purse $ won, and expenses paid out, his total realized value to us since quarter-end was approximatey $22,000. We should expect to get more claimed away from us as we continue to be aggressive in placing horses in races where they should be competitive (see General and No Tolerance races in the next couple days). Subsequently, we will have to be smart about replacing them with new buys.

Now on to the best part of the day - Peagus put forth a HUGE effort. Similar to Brigade's race, I had a pretty good idea about the outcome soon after the gates opened. He finished the 6.5 furlongs in a tick off Tytus' track record. Nice!

Matt