Somebody pinch me...

Crossbones, the colt by Nightwing out of In Spirit held up his end of the bargain today by becoming my third highly-touted 3yo to win their 2014 racing debut.

He won the GR3 8.5F Santa Catalina Stakes, following House of M and Nebula who both had victories last week.  Ironically, the fillies also won GR3 races at 8.5F.  On the heels of these victories, Otsego Farms is off to our best start in many years. 

The week was not a total victory however.  Shatterstar faded in the 12F Tattersalls Plate to finish a disappointing 10th in a 13-horse field.  He ran very well for 10 furlongs before giving way badly in the last 2 furlongs.

On a side note, newly acquired Refractor ran his last race for Rainbow, finishing 7th.  He'll get a long rest before resuming racing activities.

Otsego welcomes 3yo colt Refractor

"My hand was shaking when I wrote the check for Refractor", Otsego owner Jim Webber confided after he and EC from Rainbow finalized the deal that brought the Columbian colt to the Michigan stable.

At $2,000,000, it was the largest transaction in the history of Otsego Farms, dwarfing the $1,000,000 purchase of Xtra Run (Run Missy Run x Xtra Heat) from the now defunct Noble Farms.

"I've always tried to limit my exposure by buying horses as economically as possible.  It's because I'm fiscally responsible...and Dutch on my mother's side", Webber cracked at the news conference when the purchase was announced.

"All kidding aside, I fell in love with this big fella when I first saw him.  He has a tremendous amount of stamina and that's what interests me.  I contacted EC and he was very gracious in listening to my pitch.  After a brief, polite negotiation, a deal was struck."

Refractor (Thunder Arctic x Succubus) has a current record of 5-0-0-1, but is still quite immature and great things are expected when he gains a little more experience.

Moondragon to soar in 2014?

Moondragon, the towering 17.3 hand brown filly by Moet out of Monsoon will make her debut in the next month or so and Otsego Farms owner Jim Webber is giddy with anticipation.

"She is so dang big and strong.  I can't wait to see her racing", he commented after watching her prance by on the way to the track for a workout. 

"Monsoon had some talent and we thought that Moet would be a great match for her.  We were hoping for a miler and I think that's what we got.  What we didn't expect was such a bruiser out of two relatively diminutive parents.  Hopefully that will give her the strength she needs to compete at 8 furlongs."

"Outclassed" 3yo War Hammer to get extended layoff.

"Except for being terrible out of the gate, his complete lack of speed, and poor stamina, he looked great", commented Otsego Farms owner Jim Webber after he witnessed his 3yo colt War Hammer flounder in the recent 8.5 furlong Holy Bull Stakes.

"He was completely outclassed and truth be told...I was embarrassed", Webber continued as he sipped an ice cold Perrier at Gulfstream Park after the race.

Going off at 99-1 odds, War Hammer finished 10th out of 11 entries, 38 lengths behind the winner, Mongoose from Oak Tree.  It was disclosed after the race that the last place finisher, Bally Doyle colt Majestic Rooney, was injured during the race.

Asked when War Hammer would see the track again, Webber commented, "Not for a good long while.  He's either very immature, or simply a very poor racehorse.  The only reason he didn't finish last again was because Majestic Rooney was in there."

Then seeing Bally Doyle owner Amanda O'Brien stroll by, Webber winked, raised his voice and said, "I can't depend on Bally Doyle entering a horse every time War Hammer runs, can I?"

2014 Debut: 2 Up, 1 Down.

The 2014 racing season started well for Otsego Farms with two wins in our first week of racing.

House of M, 3yo filly by War Machine out of Classical Music picked up a nice win in the Sabin Handicap.  One of the favorites at 7-2, she started slowly, took the lead late in the race, and cruised home for the victory.  She now has a career record of  5-2-1-0.

 Nebula, 3yo filly by Dubai Gold out of Nova,  also won in her 2014 debut.  She took the GR3 Affectionately Stakes by jumping to a rather fast start, gaining the lead by mid-race, and hanging on for the win.  She now sports a 5-1-1-3 lifetime mark.

Three year old colt War Hammer, by War Machine out of Shattered Record did not fare as well.  After a disastrous first race in 2013, he was shelved for the season.  Coming back more mature this year, improvement was expected.  Unfortunately, it was not to be.  He looked awful coming in at 99-1 odds and barely avoiding a last place finish only due to an injury to Bally Doyle's Majestic Rooney.  He'll get one more try to show a little more ability.

Evidently, I'm a bargain hunter...

I wasn't in the market for a horse.  Especially a non-racer.  But I just can't resist a bargain.

I was a big fan of Olmo Dorato's Beamington when he was a racer but haven't managed to get a piece of him yet.  In Glenmore's recent yearling and foal sale, I spotted Sun Dial, a 1yo filly by Beamington out of Pembertons Sign and was mildly intrigued.

She wasn't attracting much attention, probably because the breeding match with Pembertons Sign wasn't all that good.  The dam didn't have much ability over 4.5 furlongs and Beamington was a classic-type racer.  Not a pairing I would have arranged, but you never know.  At least PS had some speed at the shorter distances and if the pieces arranged themselves right, maybe Sun Dial got mommy's speed and daddy's stamina.  The AR does say she likes a lot of distance so we're halfway home right there.  One can always hope.

The clincher though was the sales price of $8000.  At that rock-bottom cost, I figured I could afford to gamble.

So, Sun Dial will be in the stall right between Samurai Jack and Tomyris and training starts as soon as she arrives.  We'll see...

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya Tomorrow!

Hope always springs eternal here at Otsego Farms.

On the heels of several less than stellar racing seasons, we are expecting major strides torwards respectability in 2014.  Based on the form they showed last year, we think that 3yos House of M, Nebula, and Crossbones are all poised for success.

House of M compiled a record of 4-1-1-0 as a 2yo.  She was in the money for her first three races before inexplicably finishing last in a 5-horse field to conclude her season.  She was a 6-5 favorite in that race but ran out of gas early and struggled to the finish.

Nebula has not broken her maiden yet, but has fashioned a nifty record of 4-0-1-3 and did it with an average PSR of 90. 

Crossbones put together a 4-0-1-1 season last year, just missing a win by a head in the Illawarra Mercury 2yo Classic. 

Additionally, Otsego Farms has nine 2yo's to roll out this year; our biggest crop ever.  When asked about the potential of the new crop, Otsego owner Jim Webber responded, "To steal a phrase from Forrest Gump, a new batch of 2yo's is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're gonna get."

"We're real proud of our stallions and broodmares and we've mixed in a few guest sires as well.  We've done the best we could to match sire and dam effectively and I think the odds are in our favor genetically, but it's still anyone's guess as to who will succeed and who will fail."

Deep Magic (War Machine x Isca's Revenge), Quasar (Revenge x Nova), Xtra Run (Run Missy Run x Xtra Heat) and You Know My Name (Union Jack x Shattered Record) are the youngsters most likely to make the sun come out for Otsego Farms in 2014.