End of the Quarter

It was a hectic month as we raced at a total of 7 different tracks. The results, especially the last week or so, were not great. Hawthorne has one of the deeper dirt tracks we will come across. Traditionally, horses will run better their second time over it. Let’s hope that along with a class drop will prove helpful for the 2 fillies that ran today. The same cannot be said for Spy Story – he pulled up pretty sore on Friday and will get an extended rest alongside Lumpy.

While they go to the sidelines, the news is better for Iron Boy. After an encouraging workout this morning, he should return to the races within a couple weeks. Also during the next couple weeks, Tytus will return to training with plans to race again late November/early December. Uno Way Calle will be entered into a race next weekend marking his return after a brief freshening. Prior to that, Darby Lee makes her Chicago debut on Thursday.

Despite the negative trend, I decided to dip back into the claim pool today. We bought ($25k tag split with Jagger) a horse I have been keeping my eye on since I saw him run for $40k earlier this year in Tampa. Art of Diplomacy is a 5 year-old gelding bred in Florida. He comes to us from a low % trainer with room for improvement. Apparently, the bettors didn’t agree with us as he went off at 36-1 odds and finished in the middle of the pack a couple lengths behind the runner-up (winner won going away).

Now that the racing is done for this quarter, I will calculate the share price within the next couple days. Given the recent on-track performance, I plan on lowering the values on quite a few horses. Combined with the higher expenses from all the travels, I anticipate a decline in the share price of roughly 10-15%.

Canadian Bust

Things didn't go well this weekend in Canada for Balsero and Lumpy. As the season changes, so does our focus. Opening day for Hawthorne comes Friday. I for one am looking forward to the change of scenery. After a summer of treveling between a few tracks, most of our races for the next couple months will be on Chicago's south side. Looking a little farther down the line, opening day in Tampa is just 77 days away.

This is about the time last year we started our run of good races. Can we repeat that performance or was that as good as it gets? Only time will tell.

Oklahoma is "OK" to us

Our first race in a new state with a different trainer was a success. Classic Trouble lived up to his name before the race when he flipped in the paddock. I guess Bernie was close to scratching him but decided to let him run. After walking out of the gate and trailing by 15+ lengths on the backstretch, "Trouble" launched a rally to just get up by about 2 inches in a blanket finish - all 10 horses finished within 5 lengths of each other.

Off to Canada for a pair this weekend.

All good things must end

Well, our unblemished record at Arlington came to a screeching halt today - Thrill of Victory ran a DUD!! Maybe it was the synthetic surface, or maybe he just isn't the same horse he was earlier this summer. Either way, I'll add that one to the "loss" column when calculating this quarter's share price.

Let's hope the week gets better from here with our 3 running this weekend.

Ho-Hum

Kind of an "average" effort yesterday from Darby Lee in Iowa - that wraps up our year at PRM. She keeps plugging away and cashing checks, but it will be nice to find some races for her at Hawthorne so that she doesn't have to keep shipping to her races.

Spy Story will be scratched tomorrow, leaving us with just the one race (Thrill of Victory) at Arlington. Elsewhere, Friday night in Remington Park will be the debut for Classic Trouble. It also marks the first time we run a horse with a trainer other than Jamie. In Canada, Saturday will be Balsero's final race for us and we will be entering Lumpy in a stakes race on Sunday.

Matt

"Happy to be upset"

While it sounds like a complete contradiction, that was my quote to Jamie when we talked after Dawn Raider's race. When it became clear that I would not be able to join Mark K. and Dan K. on their trip to Chicago, I told Mark that I hoped to regret the decision. Not only were Dan and Mark rewarded with a trip to the winners circle, they also hit the late Pick 4 that paid a little over $7k - now that's what I call a good day at the track.

Back to the race, 365 days (leap year) after Lite Brigade was victorious on the Arlington turf, Raider put in an equally impressive performance today. The other 8 horses came into the race with combined lifetime earnings in excess of $2.1 million. He got the perfect ride and had enough left in the tank to prevail. In the words of my favorite race caller (John G. Dooley), Raider "refused to lose".

Up next ??? One more week at Arlington to put our perfect 2 for 2 record on the line. Also one more week in Iowa to put our 2 for ?? record to the test. At Remington Park, Classic Trouble should be close to his debut and it looks like we might get one more race from Balsero in Canada. Also in Canada, Lumpy was nominated for a stakes race and may go there next weekend if we can't find a race for him in Chicago.

Stay tuned.

On the road again

As I write this, the horses are in their final hour or so in the journey to Chicago. Our first starter this year in the Windy City comes Thursday with Dawn Raider at Arlington Park. There's 2 weeks left in the Arlington meet and we won't have too many starters there, so I am thinking about taking a road trip on Thursday to see one of our horses race at one of the top 5 tracks in the country (my opinion). The field is tough and we have been assigned 8-1 morning line odds. Almost a year ago to the date, Lite Brigade surprised the Arlington bettors with a win at 10-1 odds. As you may recall, for me, that was one of the highlight races of 2007.

North of the border, Balsero lost his race on Friday by about 10 inches (ouch). It is unclear what is next for him. We did not bring him back from Winnipeg. We may race one more time up there or we may give him away. Either way, it does not look like he will see the USA again.

The Day After Labor Day

A few of you may remember that we went to Iowa last year on this day and won a race with Twinpost. That streak continued today as Rubialedo made his WG debut a winning one with an exciting stretch drive to just catch the leader on the wire (go to Prairiemeadows.com for replay). It was fun to watch that big white bunny hopping down the lane.

A Happy Ending

I am very pleased to pass along these details concerning Chief Magistrate.... As those who were in the barn late last night can attest, it got a little dicey as we were trying to track down the whereabouts of Chief after his race in ND and decide what to do with him.

We have donated him to an equine vet (Jen) who once was Chief's groom a few years ago. Jen has long had a soft spot for him and has made it clear to me that she would love to have him once his racing days were over. I just got off the phone with her - Chief is in her possession and she has his ownership papers. She indicated that she will let him unwind for a while before starting on what she hopes will be a long career as a show jumper. He is in very goods hands with someone who will take great care of him.

In this business, it is not always easy to make the "right" decision. But as all of you know, Chief is one horse that has meant a lot to me and I am comfortable with where he is going. Happy Trails "Chicken Head".

Summer's End

The temps are cooling, the days are getting shorter and another CBY meet is in the books. I was adding them up in my head on the way home, and I think we finished with 19 trips to the winners' circle. While that does seem like a lot, I would give the meet no higher than a B-/C+ grade. Numerous thoughts are racing through my mind, but I'll try to narrow it down to few general themes when I put together the 3Q08 review at the end of the month. As far as the last couple days' races are concerned, one horse was able to deliver the "Thrill of Victory". Beyond that, I thought Darby Lee and Lumpy put in nice efforts.

Action for the next few weeks will be sporadic as the barn transitions to Chicago - we send Rubialedo down to Iowa tomorrow and Balsero heads to Canada on Friday with what will hopefully be a one-way ticket.