Horseless; The Pride of Minnesota

Well, my feet are sore, my back hurts and I'm exhausted from two consecutive days on my feet (and one to go) at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. Of course the annual casino supplier extravaganza is hardly interesting for those of us that own racehorses (of course if we also sell slot machines, then it hardly gets more interesting). What is interesting is that I'm a man without a horse. VIP Stables sold I Am Woman yesterday in Ohio. It was a sound decision and one that was probably overdue. If she kept racing in Chicagoland at the $4000 claiming level, I think we would have been better off, but the decision was made to move her East for larger purses and, of course, tougher competition.


Over time, she only was able to race once or twice a month with much stiffer competition. Sure the purses are better, but racing every week for less ends up as racing for more if you can't get into a race. For those of you unfamiliar with Standardbreds, they can race every week with their gaits being much less stressful on their bodies than their Thoroughbred cousins. They need R&R from time to time as well, but you can get about 30 races a year out of them if you treat them right. She sold for $3,000 or $8,000 less than the RNA on her back in the Meadowlands sale last January. It's tough to call her a success by any measure.


No matter, the fact remains that I'm horseless. It's much more difficult attracting partners when you have no news! But I won't let that rush me and my team to grabbing a horse just so we can race. We'll take our time and make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity to win with the decision we make.


At this point, I really have two options: pick up a horse and send to (or claim with) Bernell and get ready for Tampa Bay Downs or do the same with Tammy Domenosky in Chicago. There really are only two bottom lines that I have. The first is that our horse needs to be able to compete well outside of Canterbury Park and the second is that we race at Canterbury over the summer. As we get larger, requirement #2 will change as we expand to other jurisdictions. However, right now I have several Minnesota partners and they want to be able to see their horse run in person. I can certainly respect that and there is no reason we can't be successful here and elsewhere.


Perfect Bull Ends Season


As you all know, I fell in love with Perfect Bull (Holy Bull - Perfect Moment - Dazzling Falls) when he was two and just shipped to Bernell Rhone's barn. He won the Minnesota Derby, Minnesota Classic and was second in the Prairie Meadows Derby this past summer. He finished off his 2009 campaign on Sunday under the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs where he was given a shot in the Commonwealth Turf Stakes (Gr 3). After being caught four wide in the first turn, Bull was fried and never really had a chance to close in the stretch. While it was a tough finish to the year, it was a remarkable season for the Minnesota bred winning four of twelve, hitting the board in half his starts and ammassing $124,848 in earnings. It was a helluva run this season for owner Red Dog Stables. Congratulations to them, Bull and the folks in the Rhone barn. Very nicely done and we're all proud of you!

Vetting

Who just loves buying a car? No one? What a shock! Well, the car-buying process is a hand me down from the horse days. You'd negotiate prices on horses just like you do cars today. Some folks were honest traders and others were snail oil salesmen. You couldn't really tell the good from the bad. Cars never became strictly commodotized like just about everything you buy in a store. You go into Target and pick out a of pants. The guy next to you buys the same pants. Guess what you both pay? What's on the price tag, of course. Another shocker. Such is not the case with cars. You and the couple four tables over may both be buying a Honda Accord but there is a damn good chance that you two aren't paying the same price. By the time all the double talk, delivery fees, dealer prep and other crapola are negotiated out of the deal, you finally get your brand new car. Instead of going home and showing off though, you have to go home and take a shower!

Now the horse business is not that bad. Check that. MY EXPERIENCE in the horse business has not been like that. I should avoid the sweeping generalization because I'm bound to get comments and e-mails from any person that ever got ripped off buying a horse. I have individuals I trust and have earned that trust over time. David Miller, Bernell Rhone, Russ Rhone, Royal Roland and others have been tremendously honest and helpful when it comes to evaluating horse flesh. To them I am grateful.

Right now I am in the process of shopping for our next horse. With the economy the way it is, there is one thing you're never short of: horses to buy. There may be a shortage of buyers (and partners, so drop me a line if your interested - we have a bit more room!), but everyone coast to coast seems to have a horse for sale and getting an accurate read on one for a private sale is brutal.

Here are a couple of horse buying stories for you among the many I have collected over the past few months. No names or locations, but the meat of the stories are what they are. Neither of these stories take place in Minnesota, thank goodness, that's not to say they could not have, but they didn't so "yay" for us.

Both horses were two year olds: one filly and one colt. The filly had some issues, but was one for one racing. A friend turned me on to her and told me what he had paid for a share of her. I went ahead and contacted the owner and inquired. I mentioned my friend (his partner!) had sent me, but not how much he had paid. It was my way of vetting the seller. How much could I trust the guy? His price to me was 66% higher than what he sold to my friend just a week before!! I worked on bargaining him down a bit, but he wasn't going to budge. I sorely wanted to tell him what I knew, even though I DID tell him that my friend had sent me, I hadn't cleared it with him to spill the beans on the price. He called me later about another colt he wanted to sell. I didn't return the call.

The second story is more of a cautionary tale rather than any chicanery on anyones part. This horse is a two year old that showed some real speed in workouts this past summer. After some extensive digging, the horse had developed some nagging injuries and, while the recent layoff probably did it a world of good, there may be some lasting damage - maybe not, but it was enough of a warning to make me pass. You can't expect perfection, but why knowingly start yourself behind the eight ball right away? Even at a low price, it makes no sense making a tough business any tougher!

So we keep looking and keep vetting. It takes an awful lot of time and research to try and get this right - and then there are still no guarantees. We'll get our horse(s) eventually. I'd rather wait a bit longer than leaping before we've had enough time to really look!

Handicapping Breeder's Cup Day 2 - Very Similar to Day 1

The similarity is not good either. As you recall, day one was a train wreck. Day 2 was not much better. Plenty of close, but never the cigar.

Juvenile Turf

I had this one surrounded, but left out Pounced. He certainly lived up to his name and Interactif, while in good position throughout, never had a second gear in the lane. I knew Bridgetown wouldn't get the mile, but missed on who would nail him in the stretch.

Finish: My top 3 finished 3rd, 2nd and 5th.

Turf Sprint

In order for this one to work out for me, Canadian Ballet had to go with California Flag. As I mentioned on the Show, if he's alone down the hill it's all over but the shouting. Canadian Ballet didn't and it was.

Finish: My top 3 finished 4th, 11th and 1st.

Sprint

OK. We ALL missed this one, so I don't feel too badly about it. My only mention of the winner, Dancing in Silks, was that he needed to go wire to wire for the win. Uh...no, no he didn't. Boxcar payouts on this one.

Finish: My top 3 finished 8th, 4th and 5th.

Juvenile

Another one that the world missed. Disregarded 30-1 shot Vale of York out headed hard charging favorite Looking at Lucky. It was another half back to my choice Noble's Promise.

Finish: My top 3 finished 3rd, 2nd and 13th.

Mile

I took a stand against Goldikova on this one strictly on value. My choice, Justenuffhumor (16-1) finished very well, but left too much work for the end. The filly did it again. As I mentioned in the Show, the performance of Zacinto and Delegator would be a bellwether on Rip Van Winkle's chances in the Classic. They folded and he never had a shot.

Finish: My top 3 finished 3rd, 1st and 11th.

Synthetic Mile

My lock of the day, Mastercraftsman, was hardly a master of his craft today. Another boxcar payoff when 21-1 Furthest Land won followed by 24-1 Ready's Echo.

Finish: My top 3 finished 4th, 9th and 3rd.

Turf

I thought I had the tri in this one, but Spanish Moon, trying to rate in 2nd most of the way, displayed no close and was passed by Dar Re Mi heading into the stretch. I gambled on Presious Passion holding on to win and, despite a very gutsy performance in the stretch, was nailed by favored Conduit.

Finish: My top 3 finished 2nd, 4th and 1st.

Classic

I had her wrong. I did not think Zenyatta would hit the board. My reasoning was the field was too large and too talented to give her the opportunity to win unless she was rated closer to the pace. When Quality Road scratched and she showed so much reluctance to load - both times - I figured I was spot on and she was a goner. Hardly. Mike Smith was stellar and the race was one for the ages. Absolutely magnificent.

Finish: My top 3 finished 4th, scratched and 10th.

It was a tough weekend. When I went for value, the chalk won. When I went for chalk, the long shot won. Sometimes you have days like that. Usually you don't have them so public that the world can see, but it is what it is and I'll take the good with the bad.

I'll recap the races in a bit more detail on the radio show Wednesday night, 9PM Central on Blog Talk Radio.