Quick Hits

There is great satisfaction in looking at my stable and seeing the broodmares Promised Land, Southern Charm, and Memorabilia at the top of the list.

I'm a little nervous about Le Chiffre's race this weekend.  His numbers dipped radically in his final race of 2019 and I attributed it to shortish rest.  His AR states that he will have a long peak, so I figured he'd be good to go as a 5yo, but that stamina drop to 72 in his last race has spooked me.

I noticed that I have two 4yo colts, Helikaon and Rico Suave, that have never been out of the money in their careers.  Rico finished 2nd in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont last year.

My current crop of 3yo's are looking to be a rather pedestrian bunch... with the exception of Tag You're It, who I cannot take credit for because I didn't breed him.  He was bred by Laurabelle and donated as a prize to the Pick Winners contest a couple seasons ago.

Battlestar is racing this weekend, so we'll see if there is anything left in the tank as a 6yo.  He had three wins last year and was pretty consistently over 100 PSR's.  His "average" peak though put him at risk of a precipitous falloff in ability.

Spaceman from JD Kayll Race Club is running this weekend as a 9yo!  I've been wondering for the past couple years when this guy was gonna retire, but one look at his record explain why Josh keeps racing him.  He's making money!

Only 5 horses in the $1.8M February Stakes?  And two of them from Absinthe.  Seems like a high profile race like that would have attracted a little more interest.  I wanted to throw in one of my girls but it would have been a waste of money since I do not have a miler who can compete with the likes of Elvira or Overdue.

I really like 4yo Simply Charming.  She is not overly blessed with raw ability, but she seems to have a real knack for being competitive.  Her record now is 16-9-2-3.  I'd like to keep her on after she retires but I really don't have the need for a sprinter/miler type.  

Tesseract has the ability to be a Kentucky Derby horse, but his surface pickiness is really hampering my plans.  He is a scratch machine!  I doubt he'll qualify because I can't get the bugger to run.

Broodmare quality improvement

I have always been on the lookout for quality broodmares.  But as we all know, good ones are very expensive and very difficult to obtain.  That's because everyone else is also on the lookout for quality broodmares... which makes the availability of Promised Land and Memorabilia all the more surprising.

Promised Land was used as a broodmare in 2020, and then was summarily dismissed to Endless Vista.  Memorabilia was sent to Endless Vista with the dissolution of Hopeful Farm, then inexplicably ignored during the EOY Auction.

I was able to pick these two gems up for $100,000 apiece to augment my breeding operation.

It's true that Promised Land, at age 19, has only one season left in the breeding shed.  But I have wanted her for as long as I can remember, so I could not pass up the opportunity to own her, even if it is only for one year.  My plan is to pair her with Nightwing (if I can pry a spot from Smokey) to try to recreate another Daredevil.  

Memorabilia, at age 16, has a few productive years left, and will certainly be a mainstay in my band of broodmares until her retirement.

Now, these two newcomers, along with Southern Charm, Enlightenment, House of M, In Spirit, Champions Dream, and Quake, give me a rather spiffy bunch of gals.

Alas... if only Promised Land was just 10 or 12...

Fun With Numbers: And They're Off!

We've finally made it. It's the eve of the start to the 2020 racing season. In celebration of this national holiday (Okay, it isn't really a national holiday, but c'mon, shouldn't it be?), I figured that I'd take a look at the races. The Fun With Numbers way.