Turning the page

It’s no secret that our relationship with Jamie has been deteriorating for about a year or so. It was not a question of “if”, but when/how would the relationship end. The answer to those 2 questions came this weekend at Canterbury. Jamie was in town for the Claiming Crown and there was an opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting and put an end to the frustration. When all was said and done, we sold our ownership in Stumbling Block. I will disclose terms of the sale in a later e-mail to WG investors.

Selling the most successful horse in our 5+ year history was not an easy decision and was the last option of the many I considered. But in the end, my motivation to cut ties with Jamie outweighed my desire to hold on to Block. With this chapter coming to an end, I can redirect the time wasted with Jamie to exploring other opportunities. While we have had no runners this year at Canterbury, I have spent time evaluating potential claims as well as planting a few seeds for a possible addition to the stable through a merger with another stable. We will continue talking to Tom about claiming a horse with him.

Also this weekend, I was able to spend a few minutes with Dan Centeno who was in town to ride some horses on Saturday. While “”never” is a strong word, I don’t foresee him riding for us in the future since he was more or less a package deal with Jamie. Therefore, I took the opportunity to thank him for all the great rides he has provided for us over the years at Tampa. He reciprocated the gratitude and we left on good terms.