Just a reminder concerning War Machine....

War Machine is fully booked for the 2008 breeding season. I've had a couple inquiries recently from people who have not seen previous posts or notifications.

The 2009 book still has two openings at this time.

I have never published any AR information on War Machine, but for the sake of those who might consider him in the future, here is the critical information:

• Matures quickly
• Short peak time
• Prefer hard dirt
• Prefer soft dirt
• Good in mud
• Good on hard turf - although he didn't show it on the track
• OK on soft turf
• Very hardy
• Recovers fairly quickly
• Flexible - but generally ran On Lead
• Good acceleration
• Handles 10-16 furlongs, best at 16 furlongs - raced best at 10 furlongs

His HRF ratings were: SPEED - Excellent STAMINA - Very Good

I'm not sure about his other foals from last season, but my War Machine filly, Rogue, looks like a chip off the old block. From the looks of the limited AR, she could be a carbon copy of the Big Fella. I can't wait to see her on the track!

Loose lips sink ships....

Most owners are silent as the grave when it comes to what races they are entering.

We are all looking for that small soft field with the big purse that we can easily win. So, we keep our mouths shut and try not to advertise our plans. Bill of Stonewall Stables and I had this discussion on the forum a couple years ago, and we agreed....there is just no advantage in letting others know what your plans are.

The reasons are two-fold:

1. If another stable has a horse that has your boys number, you are giving them a roadmap to another victory. Not advisable.
   
2. If you are actively trying to avoid a particular horse, you sure as heck don't want them to know where you are racing.

Common sense, huh?

I broke my rule during War Machine's career.

Brimming with confidence, I actively advertised where he was going to race. At one point, I offered up a $250,000 bounty for the first horse to beat him during the 2006 campaign. That was prompted by my utter conviction that he was unbeatable, and my desire to ensure that there would be entries in his races. You see, as he piled up wins, the size of the fields began to dwindle. I was actually afraid that a couple of those lucrative races might actually be canceled due to lack of entries.

By the way, Amanda of Bally Doyle collected that reward when Dancing Delaware beat War Machine at Hollywood Park in the Swaps Stakes during the 2006 season. War Machine looked flat and finished a dismal third in that race. Bombed Out from Bowen Lodge came in second. Before you ask....no, Bowen Lodge did not also collect the bounty. In my offer I specifically said I'd pay the winner of the race in which War Machine lost.

My point is, with a horse like War Machine during his prime, or Thunder Arctic, or A Bus, you can let everyone know where you'll be racing and damn the torpedoes.

For all the others in the lower tiers of talent, it's best to keep quiet.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that Nova will be at the Breeders Cup Sprint?

Dang! That slipped.....

No consensus on 2yo Emeritus

The fate of Emeritus has been a topic that has bounced around our stable for months.

There is definitely a faction that suggests we sell the brown colt. In limited action, he has fashioned a 4-0-0-0 record with just $5000 in earnings. His speed scores have also been low.

On the other hand....we like him.

By Octagonal Waltz out of Awabuy, he shows interesting traits and we're just darn curious how he'll turn out as he matures.

He's good on dirt or turf and is very consistent. Emeritus is also a bit of a slow starter who like to trail the field. These are traits I admired in Nightwing, which may explain our attachment to the Big E.

Overall, his ability, and the AR compiled by out trainers can be described as average at best. And yet, we're inclined to stick with this fellow.

Because we like him.

Profile of a Champion - Nightwing

This was a horse who always took on the best.

Nightwing never shirked a big race and consistently took on the top horses of his era. He finished with a record of 46-11-13-5 with $6,653,000 in earnings in 3 racing seasons.

He finished first or second in 24 of his 46 starts. All 13 of his second place finishes were in Grade 1 or Grade 2 races against top flight competition.

As a 3yo Nightwing finished second in the following races:

• Wood Memorial Gr2 9 furlongs - Thief of Hearts, the sleek chestnut stallion currently owned by Parklands was the winner. He was speedier at this less than optimum distance for Nightwing.
• Queens Plate Stakes Gr 1 10 furlongs - All-time great Dansilver formerly of Kings Park and now owned by the Long Island Hayburners, won this race. Ten furlongs proved to be about the maximum viable distance for the Silver Streak.
• Alister Clark Stakes Gr 2 8 furlongs - At a distance that proved much too short for Nightwing, Thief of Hearts again used his speed to prevail.
  
• Prince of Wales Stakes Gr 1 11 furlongs - The immortal Thunder Arctic of Rainbow, a horse Nightwing was never to beat, was the easy winner.
• Haskell Invitational Gr 1 9 furlongs - Again, Thief of Hearts, who had a excellent career with 12 lifetime wins, used his shorter speed to beat Nightwing.
• AJC Australian Derby Gr 1 12 furlongs - Bonai Farms Blushing Approval, who just recently dropped out of the top 25 in all-time earnings, prevailed at a distance at which he excelled.
• Oak Tree Derby Gr 2 9 furlongs - Dubai World Cup winner Troll Tower from Gorforwand Stables defeated Nightwing in this Grade 2 affair.
• Breeders Cup Endurance Gr 1 16 furlongs - The black stallion Memcay, he of the unending stamina from Bowen Lodge, won the BC Endurance at Nightwing's expense for the first time in 2003.

As a 4yo, Nightwing had three more second place finishes:

• Gold Cup Gr 1 16 furlongs - Recently acquired by Stonewall Stables, Promised Land, the late charging stayer, bested Nightwing here.
• Pacific Classic Gr 1 10 furlongs - Nightwing was eclipsed by old nemisis Troll Tower.
• Breeders Cup Endurance Gr 1 16 furlongs - Memcay again bettered Nightwing.

In his final season at age 5, Nightwing was to finish second twice more:

• Perth Cup Gr 2 16 furlongs - Winner was Promised Land.
• Sydney Cup Gr 1 16 furlongs - Promised Land again bested Nightwing. She was raced almost exclusively at 16 furlongs and was very good at that distance.
  

Turf or Dirt, 10 to 16 furlongs, this was a horse with an iron constitution and the heart of a champion. Had he been raced against lesser competition, Nightwing almost certainly would have had 20+ wins in his career. He is currently standing stud at Otsego Farms.

Patience or Cut and Run?

For most of us, the purpose of this game is to race.

We wait impatiently for that foal to turn two so we can get him to the track. If his AR happens to say that he is slow to mature, that is ignored. After all, we've been waiting for a year in real time to race the hotshot foal from that killer sire and dam combination.

It takes a steel resolve to hold off and not race a slow maturing 2yo. Most of us cannot do it.

We race the colts and fillies, even if we have a pretty good idea that they will not mature until they are 3 or even 4 years old.

In these cases, we are usually disappointed in the results. The off-the-board finishes start to pile up. Four, Five, Six starts out of the money. Next stop for the immature underachieving horse? For Sale in the forum.

I'm not trying to be sanctimonious here, I've fallen prey to this scenario myself.

So, what should we do? Should we exercise patience and leave the slow maturing horse on the shelf, maybe for their entire 2yo season? Or, should we throw him to the wolves, then find him a new home if he fails?

Very tough choice. After all, the horse is occupying a stall, which costs money. Naturally, we want to get him on the track so that we can begin to recoup our investment.

I've decided that I am going to try to use restraint in the future. Take my 2yo colt Firefighter for example. You really couldn't ask for a prettier AR. But, he is slow to mature.

As a result, I've raced him just twice this season. I just wanted to see if he had anything to offer as an immature 2yo. The answer is an emphatic no.

Therefore, my decision is to stop racing him this year. I'll bring him back as a fresh 3yo next season with big expectations. He'll get an extended trial then and if he still fails to produce any encouraging results, he'll get shipped out. After all this is a business right?

If I can find the strength, I'm going to completely refrain from running immature 2yo's. I've has some success with unraced 3yo's in the past, namely Nightwing and Doomsday, so I'm inclined to think that holding off until age 3 may not necessarily be a bad thing.

Time will tell....but I hate waiting.

One man's breeding opinion

I'm not a prolific breeding stable.

In fact, I have only two homebred horses that are currently racing. Therefore, there are other stables whose opinions may carry more weight on this subject.

I also have three yearlings who will join the ranks of racers next season and three the season following that. A grand total of eight homebred horses. Hardly enough to make me an authority on breeding.

And yet, I'll forge ahead.

Currently, my hombred racers are the filly Nova and the colt Kid Flash. Nova has a record of 19-6-6-2. Kid Flash checks in at 6-0-1-3. Their combined record is 25-6-7-5. Pretty good. It works out to 72% in the money (not counting any 4th place finishes).

I'll admit that the good results are based on a very small sample. But, I'm encouraged enough by the race results, and the AR's of my younger horses, to continue breeding with the very simple formula that I follow.

When looking at a prospective breeding pair:

I don't care at all about their Maturity, Ratability, Traffic Ability, Weight Carrying Ability, or Recovery Time.

I pay very little attention to their Consistency, Length of Performance, or Resistance to Injury.

I do look at their Running Styles as an idle curiousity.

For me, it's all about Speed, Surface, Distance and Acceleration.

I look for striking similarities of the Sire and Dam's abilities in these areas. I will not mix a dirt lover with a turf lover, I will not match a sprinter with a router, I will not combine good and poor acceleration, and obviously I'm always looking for speed. Period.

I really prefer that these four attributes are exact matches whenever possible. In this manner, I feel that I'm building on their strengths rather than watering them down.

Speed, Surface, Distance, Acceleration. In my opinion, the four building blocks in breeding a champion foal.

Racer Preview - Mister Fantastic

Mister Fantastic by Dayjur out of Exotic Wood. Will race as a 2yo next season.

We chose that matchup to produce a front-running sprinter. With top speed ratings of 92 and 91, and both sire and dam preferring the On Lead running style, the Dayjur/Exotic Wood match looked likely to produce a can't miss prospect to burn up the track at everything less than 8 furlongs.

Funny how things work out.

Based on our observations and close scrutiny of the AR, we've got ourselves a fellow who likes to run classic distances.

He likes all surfaces, perhaps a minor preference for dirt. Shows incredible consistency, and accelerates like a bullet.

If he inherits the raw speed from his parents, to go along with that endurance that popped out of the gene pool so unexpectedly, the name Mister Fantastic may very well be prophetic.

Otsego Farms store opens

Genuine Otsego Farms apparel is now available at our online store.

As you can see, the trademark blue and yellow Otsego oval is predominately displayed on these quality tee shirts and sweatshirts.

You can be the first on your continent to own one of these beauties. Just visit the store with the link at the right.

Praying for another Superstar

Once you get a taste of the big-time, it's hard to settle back into mediocrity.

Otsego Farms was the toast of the town when War Machine was running roughshod over the competition. But, that was two seasons ago.

I'm praying for another star.

We had great hopes for Doomsday. Hasn't panned out.

We thought Shattered Record might be the real deal. Not quite.

Now we're pinning our hopes on Nova and Union Jack.

Nova has been spectacular this year. Eight races with five wins. Every race with a speed score over 100. She hasn't hit the big money yet though. That may change in a few weeks when she tries her hand at the Breeders Cup Sprint.

Perhaps our best chance lies with Union Jack. He won five out of eight last season as a 2yo. He has also won a big money race this year, The Derby, pocketing a purse of $1,380,000. All indications point to a great second half this season.

Yup, that's the ticket. Union Jack will win the Eclipse Award for Champion Male Turf Horse next season as a 4yo. He's the next Otsego Farms Superstar. Amen.