The Challenge-Week 40 DS Share Acquired

This week, I had planned for three horses to start but it turned out to be two a I could only get the third one scheduled into the upcoming week.   I started the week with NIANG, who had been racing quite a few allowance level races for the stable and after a pair of 7th place finishes he was demoted to a $40,000 claiming race.  His last start was at 8.5f and ran a speed of 102.  He replicated that same speed this week at 9f.  The softer claiming race allowed him to be closer at the half than he had been in the allowance level, as he usually runs on the rear end in the early stages.  He was able to put some late foot running to use and cut a 9-stride deficit to just under 2 when the winner crossed the line.  Niang finished second and was the favorite at 2/1, a very pleasing outcome.  17BP’s and 2 G-sire cards were collected from the larger field.

BABS SEEKING LUCK ran today in a $2,500 claiming race and was the 5/2 second betting choice.   This guys been with the stable since the start of the challenge series back in January and this race marked his 11th start.   Like Niang above, he is also a slow starter and in this 8.25f field and spotted the front runners a dozen length lead by the half way point.  That got cut in half by the three-quarter pole and he continued to make up ground and finished second with a 98 speed.  He’s been a charm and pretty much has kept the speed consistent all year long.  He too brought home 17 BP’s and also 2 G-sire cards.   Overall, he’s responsible for 112 BP’s during the challenge.

The stable has an abundance of 2-year olds on the farm so I made three claims and surprising, landed all three.  There are a few horses in the stable I  may change out and having something decent in the stable to take their place was the goal.  ALWAYS CONFLICTED was picked up in a $5,000 claiming race.   This gelding notched a speed over 100 in his last start at $60,000 claimers and dropped drastically to the lowest level of his career.   He finished fifth in his start at 3/1 where I claimed him.  He likes to run on the lead but tends to tire down.  I’ve set his early speed to 65 to see if this will lead to improvement.  The BP cost came at 10.

MOTIVILLE is a turf runner who has shown life of late.  He took a long 5 month recess and returned to an allowance race in January with a poor outcome.  But the second start after a rest was a strong second when going in claimers.   From there he’s earned a win, finished third and picked up another win which came in the $5,000 claiming race I picked him up from and was in the same race as Always Conflicted that I claimed.  The two wins were with speeds over 100  and he looks to be in very good form.  This one also cost me 10 BP’s.

The third claim is a mare that has won three of her last five starts and includes a pair of seconds.  She won back in September in a mile distance, $3,000 claiming event with a career best speed of 95.  This week, I picked her up in a $4,000 claiming event at 4.5 furlongs where the speed receded to 84.  She started closing slight ground to get second and I think we’ll find her to be a better runner at a mile, maybe even longer.   She has one other race at a route and that was in a G1 as a 2-year old at 8.5 f and she finished a not so bad fifth with an 85 speed.  This was by far her best speed as a 2 year old, supporting that she can do better at the longer distance.   She came at a cost of 8 BP’s.

For the week, 34 BP’s came in from the two runners and an ouflow of 28 for the three claims, netting only 6 BP’s for the week.  Also, 4 G-cards were picked up.  When added to last weeks total, I now have 3 F and 10 G cards.  Trading in the G’s gives me a total of 5 F-sire cards which I’ll hold for now.

Thechallenge2 stable spent 480 credits this week to acquire a DS share in A.P. Indy.   We hold a sire share in American Pharoah and will need a DDS share which will complete the breeding.  Getting closer to completing the year long challenge of breeding a horse with high quality sire shares.    With that said, the stable holds 127 BP’s and will need to build that total up and it looks like three horses will be racing this week so we may get this to grow quickly.  The good news is that DDS shares can be obtained at a lower cost.  Any suggestions?

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