Let's make a deal

We made a trade today - After injuring himself in Iowa a couple weeks ago, Silver Peagus needs some extended R&R. The cost for this "vacation" usually runs at least $500 a month. Alternatively, we found someone to board Silver in exchange for Halory's Blush. As such, we no longer own her and are not on the line for her cost of training (approx $2k per month). Not one of my better claims - I thought she might be able to knock down a win or two for us here at CBY. But after Thursday's poor performance, it was clear that she was not going to live up to even the most modest of expectations.

The results for the rest of the weekend were much better - 1 win and 4 places from the 5 races. We were about a combined 15 feet or so from turning 3 of those seconds into wins. Lumpy ran a good race in his return and if all goes well, his next race will be a $60k stakes race on Mn-Bred festival day in 3 weeks (fingers crossed). Secret Lies caught a muddy track she didn't like, Darby Lee needed her race to be 20 yards or so longer and Dawn Raider just could not get to the winner today.

Spy Story porvided the highlight of the weekend with an impressive score. In that same race, we re-claimed Thrill of Victory. "Thrill" ran a poor race on Friday, so let's home a return trip to the barn will be just what he needs.

3 days off and we jump right back into action on Thursday night w/ Uno Way Calle. On Friday, we'll have at least 3 runners in action - we have Slapout and Essence of Texas entered in the same race but will likely scratch one of them. That race along with Chief and the barn's debut with Tiz Stormin should make for an entertaining evening.

Matt

Something for everyone

No matter what your racing tastes are, this weekend's menu should have something you crave. We have races for: dirt and turf, boys and girls, long and short, old and young, claiming and allowance. Additionally, CBY has buck night and boxing (tonight), live music (Friday), gopher sports (Saturday) and family day (Sunday).

6 races total - I would say that Lumpy might be up against it a little on Saturday and Halory's Blush will have to show a lot more than she did a couple weeks ago to hit the board. Beyond that, the others look to be well-spotted in races where they should be competitive.

Matt

Power Hour

Friday night, in a little more than a hour, we will be running three races. In addtion to races 2 and 4 at CBY, we'll be running Darby Lee down in Iowa (race 6). Post times range from about 7:25 to 8:40 - should be exciting!

Matt

Back on track

After a dissapointing stretch of races, it was nice to get back in the winner's circle a couple times this weekend. On Friday, Slapout ran an even fourth, but after the race, Paul made a couple suggestions that may help next time. Mooji's Sister might have found a new niche (turf sprints) after an exciting rally put her in front at the wire. Today, Balsero took advantage of a real soft bunch and came home first. It was his first win in quite some time - maybe getting his picture taken will lead to a few more good races. Our stable will only be as strong as the weakest links. As such, it was great to see a couple horses that we have had for a while finally contribute to the group.

Not all news was good this weekend - it turns out that Silver Peagus reinjured his leg last weekend in Iowa and is done for the year. We will attempt to put Humpty Dumpty back together again at his favorite track - Tampa Bay Downs.

We're back at it again on Thursday with Halory's Blush and we follow that up with a doubleheader on Friday (Secret Lies and Spy Story).

Matt

Another Scratch

FYI - Mooji's Sister will be scratched from her race in Iowa on Tuesday.

A weekend to forget

Not much good to report on for the weekend. I thought Essence of Texas ran a decent race on Friday night, but other than that, it was a whole lot of yuk. The best thing to do is turn the page and look ahead to next week - we have Mooji's Sister in Iowa on Tuesday and Slapout here on Friday night. The best news to pass along is Iron Boy's return to the track - it was great to see him back in the barn. He has a LONG way to go before returning to the races (at least a few months if all goes well). There is no certainty he will return, but he has taken the first steps of a long journey.

Sidenote: I was just reading the charts from other races today and saw that Ravencliff is up to his old tricks. He was leading his race when he jumped tire tracks, lost his action, and finished second. Ahead scratcher indeed.

Matt

Scratch, try again

As planned, we found another race for No Tolerance (Sunday @ CBY) and will scratch on Friday night. Unplanned, we had to scratch Silver Peagus from his race in Canada because we could not get the papers needed to travel out of the country in line soon enough. Consequently, he is going to Iowa for a race on Saturday night. That makes 1 race a day for the weekend - Good Luck to us!

Matt

Friendly Fire

Jamie won both races today that he had horses entered. Unfortunately for us, he had another runner besides our two and they were victorious. La Celeste ran a good race to finish second, but I had had higher expectations for Darby Lee (4th place). Oh well, good for the barn. A couple new claims make their debut for us on Thursday (Halory's Blush) and Friday (Essence of Texas). No Tolerance is also entered on Friday as part of an entry with another horse trained by Jamie. However, early indications are that he will be scratched while the other runs. Based on today's results, that may be a good thing.

That wraps up the long holiday weekend of 6 races - 3 wins, 2 seconds, and a fourth highlighted by Chief's win yesterday. It was great to see Tanner back in town for the ride and he gave Chief the perfect trip and it all came together for the old guy.

Matt

Upon Further Review

I wrote last night's blog with the DQ fresh on my mind. Today, I tried to talk to a number of objective observers (including a couple jockeys) to get their opinion. While I still think the wrong decision was made, I was enlightened to the fact about how our jock created a potentially dangerous situation and was punished accordingly. Moving on, Secret Lies made amends today with a narrow victory.

Tomorrow, we roll the Chief over for a run over the lawn. The jump in class will definitely be a lot to overcome, but he just may be up to the challenge.

Matt

Fireworks on the 3rd of July

I'll make this short - we got screwed tonight. The rule of thumb when it comes to disqualifications is did one horse cost another horse a better placing? The judges determined that the horse who ran second tonight behind Uno Way Calle could have won the race if not for "Calle" cutting over in front of him in the early stages of the race. That's a bunch of B.S. - there is no way that horse was beating us tonight.

On to the better news - Dawn Raider took care of business in his race, there was a good concert after the races, and the fireworks were impressive. We've got a few more runners this weekend that could help get rid of this sour taste in my mouth.

Matt