Otsego owner waiting for stable changeover...

We've always fancied ourselves as a racing stable.

For many seasons, I dabbled in breeding but did not really commit to it. I always preferred buying veteran racers or unraced youngsters rather than making the stall-consumptive decision to breed my own foals and wait for them to attain racing age.

Because I wasn't housing broodmares and foals, I had room for plenty of racers. However, over the years, I've found that it is intrinsically more satisfying to breed and race your own; even if it means racing quite a bit less.

Hence my changeover to a breeding farm. It'll be a transformation over the next season and a half, but I'll emerge as a leaner organization. I envision 7-10 racers with the rest of my space being allotted to studs, mares, and foals.

Next year will be a transition year. I'll only have four new 2yo's, and one of them (War Hammer) will be a late bloomer who'll get a pass for most of the season.

In 2014 however, we will throw ten 2yo's into the fray, including some of our most compelling foals ever. Including...

Azrael (c) - Nightwing x Affirm Gal
Deep Magic (c) - War Machine x Isca's Revenge
Quasar (c) - Revenge x Nova
Xtra Run (f) - Run Missy Run x Xtra Heat
You Know My Name (f) - Union Jack x Shattered Record

Now, if I can just get through next year. I hope Nebula (Dubai Gold x Nova) can help ease the pain of waiting...

One of us is crazy (and it's not me).

At 8pm today, the auctions for Eminem, Rich, and Katana expired. The high bids were $1000, $2000, and $1000 respectively.

"It really is perplexing", commented Otsego owner Jim Webber. "The fact that the PF community sees no value in these horses is quite surprising".

Eminem is a 5yo sprinting male who won his last race and collected a $42,000 purse. He was at auction with a slim $15,000 reserve and garnered just a single bid of $1000.

The 3yo filly Rich, who has earned over $100,000 this season, had a high bid of just $2000. "Shocking", Webber said with a shake of the head, "This horse has another year of racing in her and the makings of a decent broodmare to boot. $2000? Are you kidding? I've got pairs of shoes that cost more than that".

Katana is a lightly raced 2yo filly and the expectation was that the $15,000 reserve would be easily met. Again, another $1000 bid was all that was seen. As the auction deadline was reached, Webber exclaimed, "By the lack of interest, you'd think Katana was one of those 2yo donkey's throwing up negative PSR's. This gal only has 3 races under her belt and they've all been decent showings."

Webber stated that all three horses will remain at Otsego Farms until the end of the season, "I'll reevaluate their status at that time." As his iPhone rang with a trumpet fanfare Call to the Post ringtone, the Otsego Farms owner apologized. "Sorry. Hang on a sec please" and with a wink added, "it's probably a PF owner who wants to buy War Hammer for $1000".

Finally. A bunch of perfectly appropriate broodmares for War Machine.

War Machine has been a stud for 5 years. During that time, he has sired a total of just 7 foals for Otsego Farms.

Why so few? Well, two reasons come to mind.

First, Otsego Farms used to have a very small breeding operation. Second, up to this point our broodmares haven't been quite right for him.

Happily, both of those problems have been rectified this season.

We've made a commitment to breed 10-12 foals every year, half of which will come from War Machine. And, we've taken drastic steps to acquire nice mares, specifically chosen with the Triple Crown Champion in mind.

Immortal, Second Strike, and False Demon were all picked up primarily due to their compatibility with War Machine. These mares, along with Nova and the occasional leased mare, (Isca's Revenge last year and Bold Alanna this year) have given me new hope in tapping War Machine's potential as a stud.

We're very excited to finally have the means to start cranking out more War Machine foals.

Incidentally, Shattered Record, In Spirit, Affirm Gal, and Ace Of Grace will produce my future turf stayers, who will usually be sired by Nightwing and Union Jack.

For Heavens sake...someone stop me!

I swore I wasn't gonna do it. Buy any more horses, that is.

I've got 45 total stalls, 39 of which are currently occupied. I've got 11 foals coming in next year. As you can see, it doesn't add up very well. I gotta get rid of some horseflesh, not bring more aboard.

In fact, I made a small step in the right direction recently when I decided to send The Reflex back to Bally Doyle for future considerations. That actually opened 2 stalls for next year; hers and the foal she would have had.

I was feeling good and had even made plans as to which other horses would be sold to get me where I needed to be. Then Noble decided to have his stable blowout.

In spite of my resolve, I got to Mike early and picked up a couple nice horses. There were a few others that I coveted as well, but my sanity eventually reasserted itself, in the nick of time.

I just couldn't resist the broodmare False Demon. She is Prefer, Prefer, Prefer on dirt and has distance capability of 10-16 furlongs (best 12). That make her a picture perfect match for War Machine. So, the stall improvement I gained from The Reflex (and foal) is gone.

Then I saw the filly Xtra Run, and it was love at first site. She's Run Missy Run x Xtra Heat and that, my friends, ought to be a very fast horse. If not, the PF breeding program is in line for major revisions.

Those of you who own HRF know that Xtra Heat has the highest speed rating in the game and RMR, of course, cranked out world records like a Pez dispenser. Translation: Xtra Run should be fast. And, the fact that she has Classic distance stamina also bodes very well.

So... I'm in a stall crunch again. Some of my boys will have to hit the sales page after this weekend.

2013 Racing string decisions...

The 2012 season is winding down and the time for tough decisions is here.

OK, I admit it. I've been procrastinating. I know I need to clear at least 5 more stalls, but I've chosen to let it slide a while longer to see what happens. Some recent developments have further confused the issue.

Here is a laundry list of horses that will/may be shipped off before next season:

1. Eminem - He'll be a 6yo in 2013 and hasn't exactly been stellar this year. He won his last race though and that makes me wonder if he still hasn't got enough to stick around another season. Chances of going: 90%


2. Petenwell - He'll also be a 6yo next year. He's still competitive though and usually has a 50/50 chance of posting a PSR of 100. If he goes, it'll be back to Smokey's. Chances of going: 70%


3. Kostya - Won his last race and still has good speed. Plus he'll only be 5 next year. Chances of going: 10%


4. The Reflex - Acquired in a swap with Bally Doyle for Rogue. Pretty much done as a racer and I was thinking broodmare all the way when I got her. However, I may need to pare down by one mare, and if I do, she'll be the one who goes. Chances of going: 60%


5. Rich - She also won her last race and is still a young 3yo, so the jury is still out. However, she's not spectacular and I really need the stall so she may have to be sacrificed. Chances of going: 40%


6. Tombstone - I like him and I think he has upside, but his progress has been pretty slow. Chances of going: 15%


7. Katana - I was crucified in the forum for making a behind the scenes deal to acquire her (Otsego Unethical was the topic headline). After all that grief, she has not panned out. Chances of going: 75%


8. Titanium - Spent $750,000 at auction to buy this filly because of her sire, Dubai Gold. She has also been a disappointment. Because of the high investment, she may get a little more time to prove herself, but maybe not. Chances of going: 33%


9. Leaning Tower - A nicely bred colt that I bought for a song. I figured he'd crap out and I'd sell him at season end. He came up with a nice 2nd place recently and spun out a 94 PSR. He will probably get another year to prove himself. Chances of going: 15%
   

Five of these horses are gonna go. Maybe only four if one of them is The Reflex, because that would mean one less foal next year as well. I have just a few weeks to sort it out. If you have input, I'm listening.

Otsego studs knock out competition.

War Machine. Nightwing. Union Jack. Three successful fighters who were capable of going the distance.

War Machine usually delivered his knockout punch early. Wire-to-wire wins were his stock in trade.

Nightwing got stronger in the late rounds. When the competition was getting leg weary, The Iron Horse would land a haymaker and blow past his rubber-legged competition.

Union Jack was the quiet assassin. Never the flamboyant superstar, he would simply lull the competition into complacency, then outpoint them for the victory.

All three were stayers. All three were stars. Wonder why more stables haven't made arrangements to their send breeding mares to Otsego Farms?

Not including internal Otsego spots, War Machine has 6 bookings, Nightwing has 2, and Union Jack has just one.

"Frankly, it's preposterous", Otsego owner Jim Webber recently exclaimed, then softened a bit and continued, "It's really my own fault though because I have done absolutely no advertising, nor do I intend to."

Webber continued, "These guys were all heavyweight champs and they should be getting a full book every year, but it's really no problem. We don't charge for the spots anyway. We typically trade breeding rights in order to acquire the studs we want. That's how we got our Run Missy Run, Jenny's My Gal, and Doomsday slots this year, so it's worked out pretty well."

When asked about his own breeding plans this year, Webber shrugged and said, "That's all for today fella's. I gotta fly. I'm off to the gym for a half hour on the heavy bag." Then he motioned to a passing Otsego groom and chuckled, "Hey Mitch, you got that picture of LaFleur taped on that bag yet?"