Meeting Expectations

Coming into the weekend, I thought we had a good shot at winning one of the 3 races we entered. I was a little disappointed with Lumpy today. While I did not think he had a great shot to win, I thought he would finish no worse than fourth. In hindsight, maybe his effort a couple weeks ago gave us a little false hope. His next race should come against more realistic competition. The latest drop in class did the trick for Dawn Raider. It was gratifying to see the horse who did so well for us last year finally break through this year after taking several steps back in Tampa. Let's hope yesterday's race established the floor and he will be able to compete at this level throughout the summer. No such luck with Tytus - we are already on the ground floor with no where else to drop. While I continue to try to find someone to take him off our hands, it would be nice to see him win one just so he can pay for his stay here at CBY.

Next Up: Darby Lee takes on a field consisting mostly of the foes she beat last week. Once again, the race is scheduled for the turf and I would like to see her hit the lawn. However, since it worked out so well last time, I would not be too upset if the race came off.

2 down, 8 to go....

One down, nine to go

Something interesting will happen if we win 10 races at CBY this summer (more details to follow if we get closer). As for the racing action this past weekend, Mother Nature blessed us with some outstanding weather. As it turned out, even the little bit of rain that came Saturday morning worked out well for us. I would have liked to watch Darby Lee on the turf, but the race coming off and being run on the dirt resulted in a trip to the Winner's Circle.

Next up: this weekend has the potential to be a busy one. Between CBY and PID, we will be entering a handful of races. But as we have seen already, getting the races to fill can be quite difficult. My guess is that we will get into one race at PID and a couple at CBY.

Opening Weekend

Another opening weekend has come and gone at the CBY. We didn't have quite the bang we had last year, but it was still good to catch up with a number of folks who I have not seen for 8 months. There was a noticeable absence of some familiar jockeys and trainers who won't be back this year. It was also strange to see Jamie's barn only half-full and quiet (very little traffic passing thru).

As far as the racing action is concerned, the 2 third-place finishes left much different impressions. I was pleased with Lumpy's effort. Coming off the long layoff, I really had no idea what to expect. As it turned out, the 2 horses he lost to have been running down south for the last few months and had a considerable fitness edge over the rest of the field. It was a good start for him. If he can move forward from here, he could have a nice summer. As for Tytus, I think we are now finally resigned to the fact that the sooner he finds a new home, the better off we will be.

Horse for course?

To date, I have tried to find every possible excuse or silver lining to justify Tytus' poor performances this year (rust, injury, competition, post position...etc). Here's one last hope - Tytus has run exactly one race in his life on the Canterbury dirt surface (Shot of Gold Stakes), and that race was pretty good. At this level (horses who have not won in 2009), sizing up the competition is pointless. Bottom line: if he feels like running, he should win. As I mentioned earlier, my expectations for all horses at CBY will be low, so any win will be a pleasant surprise. Nonetheless, I will be there and as Chris mentioned in his e-mail yesterday, he has attached a link for free admission passes if anyone else feels like an afternoon of outdoor entertainment on Saturday.

As for Thursday's race, Straight Laced is training well enough to be cautiously optimistic. However, the competition does appear to be formidable and the few days of races we have seen so far at Presque Isle suggests there might be a bais against speed horses - not good news for us if that trend continues.

"much the best"

More often than not, the person who writes the comments in the racing form does a pretty good job of accurately describing the race in just a few words. Today's comments for Wild Adventure were "much the best". Granted, she was facing a pretty weak field, but I will take the win. Especially since a few of our recent races were described as "no factor", "never involved", "steady fade". Today's win marks the 4th in a row for W.A. - a first for us! Also, it means that we are undefeated at Thistledown.

Half-Full?

Tampa concluded its meet yesterday and I have mixed feelings. We had some nice wins (10 total), but it also was very disappointing for Tytus and Dawn Raider. Now the stable shifts north and will be split into 2 camps - Canterbury and Presque Isle (PID). Our better horses will be with Jamie at PID where the purses are much better (thanks to onsite casino). If things go well, we could make a lot of money out there. Additionally, there are a handful of tracks within a 2-hour drive from PID, so we may see a lot of different tracks pop up in the entries. As for the other half of the stable, they will be relegated here in hopes of being able to compete with a lower quality of horses for much less purse $$. While it will be nice to get Lumpy, Spy Story, and Slewey Armstrong (hopefully) back in training, I can't foresee us having a successful/exciting experience up here. As a whole, it looks like Canterbury is in for a really challenging meet - expect a lot of small fields for maidens and MN-Breds (yuk).