Week 28 brought a few changes to the stable and barn. I had three runners this week which started with CREATIVE IMPACT. This young 3-year old gelding made his first appearance for the stable and I moved him into an 8.25 furlong, $2,000 claiming race. Leading into this race, he had won three of five routes which was convincing enough to place him. The choice worked very well as he hit a speed of 99, the highest of his career. In the 10-horse field he took a mid-field slot and made a late move through the stretch. He lost out on the line by a head, finishing second and was the 5/2 betting choice. A very nice outing worth 30 BP’s and 2 G-sire cards. I wish I could make plans for his next start but he caught the eye of a few others and was claimed away, creating the first change for the week.
A disappointing outing from NIANG this week. He’s a colt that I claimed for $12,500, one of the more expensive choices in this Challenge series. He finished 7th in the field, going 10 furlongs this week in an allowance race, a furlong more than he’s raced for the stable. The speed dropped to 96, the lowest since I’ve had him and I’m attributing this to a needed rest. He’ll be shipped to the barn for a spell as I’m sure I can get more BP’s out of him down the road. A G-sire card was the only item that was brought back after the race.
THE CHALLENGE TWO is a newly bred 2 year old colt that was bred out of retired mare A Kirby Prize using the Discreet Cat sire share that was obtained a short while ago. He made his debut in a 4.5 furlong allowance race and was 6/1 in the field of 8. His race was rather uninspiring, as he raced about 2 strides off the leader throughout and in the sixth spot. He did finish fourth as he watched horses tire and drop behind him. The fourth was worth 20 BP’s and a G-sire card. He’ll be sent to the farm for a rest as I prefer to give the young ones adequate rest at the age of two and I think he can improve off this effort.
So all the starters this week are either claimed away or heading to the farm. I did pursue a few other horses of the female gender. As i denoted in last weeks article, I have a shortage of mares to breed with should the time come when I exchange the sire cards in. I went after two in the auction, giving up when the prices rose higher than I desired to pay and eclipsing the amount the stable holds, which is under $100k. I missed out on two claims early in the week but found success at the tail end. GLDREWARD was the first of two I claimed. She is a five year old mare that has won 6 of her last 8 starts, finishing second in the other two. She has won 10 of 28 career starts in a blend of dirt and turf races, making her nicely versatile. Added to that, she has been ITM 75% of her starts, making her a BP gem and a bargain for the $2,000 claiming price. I’ll be pointing her to starter allowance races but after having two starts already this month, she’ll wait a bit at the farm before transferring to the stable.
WITH JOY is the other horse I claimed for a cost of $5,000. She’s a six year old and was outmatched back in June when she raced in a G3 event, well outside her ability. She shuffled to another stable after that race and placed into a $5,000 claiming race in a 8.25 turf race. She finished fourth, which was a disappointment considering she largely race in allowance events prior to the G3 start. She’s a front running demon but generally tires in the stretch. I’ve set the jockey settings to 80 with hopes of relaxing her a bit on the front end. She’s got a little Seattle Slew in her bloodline as DS and could be a nice bump when breeding with her. She’ll be moved into the stable to fill one of the prior mentioned vacancies.
Also moving from the farm to the stable is BABS SEEKING LUCK. He was sent to the farm back in May after a rough outing in a $20k claiming race, which may have been too much to ask for him and a distance of 10 furlongs may have been a bad choice on my part. Prior to that, he hit the board in 5 of 6 starts and has been with us as one of the original horses Thechallenge2 stable started with. He’ll prep for about two weeks and make his return and I’m looking forward to it.
For the week, 4 G-cards were earned, netting me a hand of 4-F and 6-G cards when added to the total on hand from last week. A decent 50 BP’s were picked up from the trio of runners this week but the total was reduced by the two claims made which cost 14 BP’s for a net weekly gain of 36. Grand total is now at 886 and that 1,000 target is coming up on the radar.
I currently have one slot open in the stable and have opted to breed a horse using four of the G-cards on hand. This will leave me with 4-F and 2 G-cards, but will give me a runner to use this week with a chance to pick up some BP’s, if any luck comes my way with the random breeding. I opted to breed a 2 year old and the stork delivered a filly with bottom of the basement breeding line of Magic Cat x Planet Earth x Figaro. The horse was named HOPES FOR THE BEST. The breeding line does have connections to good bloodlines of Storm Cat, Nijinsky 2nd and Mr. Prospector, so maybe the “Hopes” will be fulfilled.
With that task completed, the stable is again full and with the new baby, I’m looking at five potential entrants this week.
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