After completing the challenge series in 2018, it’s time to start up one for 2019. The year ended with 554 BP’s on hand and I intended to spend much of that on a sire. Decisions changed a bit and after chatting with co-sim players in the chat room, I ended up acquiring Lope De Vega for the sum of 337 BP’s. Lope is largely breeds turf bound runners and can spawn out an occasional stake winner. Now we have to find some mares to accomplish a breeding. So there are quite a few BP’s left over and I’ll get to those in a little bit.
The quest for this year is again to grow the BP count up to produce a nicely top-bred horse. In this journey, we’ll refrain from exchanging sire cards to see how high we can run the count up and see what sire shares can be obtained or maybe just go right out and breed a horse depending on how the cards fall. I’m thinking we should be able to get at least 2-C cards by year end. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and draw a B or even an A card during the journey.
So after spending a chunk of BP’s for a sire share, the stable still has a chunk of BP’s on hand. We’re going to need a mare to breed with Lope De Vaga so I will be spending some BP’s via claims in search of a mate.
Week one, I had no entries so now is a good time to look at the runners that reside in the stable and barn:
HORSES IN STABLE
ANCESTRY NULL is a 4 yo filly that I picked up and used some of those BP’s, spending 7 of them in total as she was picked up in a $3,500 claiming race. She’s been running a variety of distances and her best is about a mile. She won the race I gained her from at 8.5 furlongs and she’s got a 4-0-2 record in 6 starts going 8 to 8.5 furlongs. She has been competitive on both dirt and grass with 11 wins in 19 starts. If used to breed, we’ll have some Dansili blood in a new born.
SKORPIOVENATOR is another one I claimed during the week out of a $7,500 claiming race, at a cost of 15 BP’s. This is a 5 yo mare who will be useful to earn some quick BP’s. She has been ITM 18 of 26 races and in 14 claiming races, she’s been ITM 12 times. Claiming is the way to race her and she can perform well on both surfaces.
BABS SEEKING LUCK just turned six and was with the stable the entire year in 2018, the only one to survive the challenge from start to finish. He raced 13 times with a 2-2-3 record and was responsible for 119 BP’s. Although his race record was not outstanding he seems to wake up everytime I think of pushing him into the auction. I’ve got that feeling again so maybe the alarm will go off and he’ll deliver. We’ll see.
RESERVATION FOR ME was claimed last June in a $6,250 claiming race. He’s a 6 year old who raced 7 times for the stable in a mix of turf and dirt races, primarily at distance over 10 furlongs. He’s done well in those 7 races sporting a record of 3-2-0 with most coming in the protected starter allowance class. 103 BP’s have been earned through his efforts and I expect more in 2019.
KYRGYSTAN (6yo) came to the stable in September as a claim in a $5,000 turf race. He’s raced his entire 34 races on the turf and one of these days I may try the dirt with the boy. He’s had 4 starts with the stable, 3 have been at sprint distances. I need to adjust and send him at the mile or better distances as the sprints have not been too well. He has a 1-0-1 record for the stable netting a decent 55 BP’s, a large amount coming off his win which was his first race after the claim.
SHAUNS STORM turned 6 as the calendar flipped years and he was added to the stable after being claimed at a $2,000 price tag in June. Until then, he was a turf racer and I tested him on the dirt and he has shown he can compete there as well. I’ve used him on both surfaces and may focus more on the dirt going forward. He’s raced 7 times with a 1-3-0 record and 88 BP’s during his residency.
In October, THIRSTY ARCHIE was obtained for $2,500 in a claiming race. He’s proven to be a front running dirt sprinter and in 4 races with the stable has established a 1-2-0 record. He’s never competed on the turf so I may toy with that at some time but it’s hard to back off the results on the dirt. 69BP’s were earned during 2018 by this guy.
3 year old filly DUNCAN BIRD is a horse that was bred by trading in sire cards and breeding the Danbird sire share that I got to a mare that was retired by the name of Dancingduncankieth. She first raced in June and broke her maiden first time out. She raced a bit more than I have for most of my stock that were 2 year olds last season with 6 starts in about half a year with a 2-0-1 record. It should be noted that the three races she was off the board, she finished 4th and earned some minor BP’s for those finishes. In total, she scored 124 BPS, with 50 coming from her maiden win debut. Her top speed to date is 70 and that she may be pressured to improve that during the upcoming year to remain competitive.
HOPES FOR THE BEST was a randomly bred horse where I through a stack of sire cards away to see what would turn out. She is now a 3 year old with three races under her belt and a 1-0-0 record. I’ve tried her on both surfaces and she won on the turf, failing twice on the dirt, so I’ll keep her on the grass where she posted her top speed of 67. Her breeding is pretty inferior and claiming races is where she will compete. I most likely will not have much patience for her, considering the cheap breeding, and if she fails to perform, her stay with the stable could be brief. 37 BP’s came during 2018.
THE CHALLENGE TWO is now three in age and was bred when I traded sire cards in for a share in what flopped to be Discreet Cat. The sire was bred with a mare I retired named A Kirby Prize. This colt has been racing on dirt only and in 3 starts has come in third once, with a speed of 77. He’s showing some want to run late and I think he may desire some route distances. Longer races will be opening up down the road for the three year old group and I’ll target a mile or so for his next outing. Only 17 BP’s so far from him, and hopefully more are out there.
HORSES AT THE FARM
I generally try to keep a few horses at the farm as most runners are of the claiming variety and are subject to be claimed away creating an open spot in the stable and having something in the farm makes for a quick fill-in. However, in the second half of 2018, I did breed several two year olds using sire cards and BP’s. For the most part, I desired to rest the 2-year olds for a bit and I have a few more at the farm than I expected when the Challenge series started last year. Here’s what are parked at the farm:
VYZA FRANCE who is a 4 yo filly and acquired in a $4,000 claiming race in October. She’s raced twice in sprints for the stable with a win and second in low end claim races earning 54 BP’s. She was sent to the farm in early December to move another runner into the stable that I desired to race. She’ll be available to move out of the farm in short time and I’m sure will find a nice race to keep her momentum going.
Claimed out of a $5,000 claiming race in October, ALWAYS CONFLICTED, a 6yo gelding raced in three starter allowance events for the stable with the best outcome being a third. I felt he was in need of a rest and sent him to the farm to do some grazing. We’ve got 20 BP’s so far from him.
FROST ADVISORY (3yo) was bred by exchanging sire cards for a share in Moro Tap. The sire was bred to retired mare Clarence Council and we ended up with this filly who has competed twice, both in dirt maiden claiming races. After a very competitive 2nd in her debut, she broke her maiden in her last start so she starts the new year with a 1-1-0 record. I’m impressed with her outings thus far, and she’s picked up 77 BP’s. Her name came to me while watching the weather forecast when a frost advisory was issued. She’ll find her way back to the starting line up and we’ll find out how real she is.
HOLIDAYS ARE HERE is a 3 yo filly who was bred entirely with sire cards, basically using up my supply at year end. She raced in a low-end turf claiming race and was a miserable mid-field 6th. I don’t forsee much coming out from her and she’ll fill an opening at the stable when I’m desperate and have no other options down the road.
NIANG is a 5 year old horse I’ve enjoyed having. My memory fails me a bit, however, I think he was picked up out of the auction in early 2018. In 10 starts for the stable, he posted a record of 3-3-0 running in mile or so distances in a combination of claiming and allowance races. He topped 100 speeds 8 times during the year and I sent him to the farm for a rest that he deserved. 121 BP’s have been earned by him.
In the 2018 challenge of this series, the goal was to obtain 1,000 BP’s to acquire a top-notch sire share. We ended up with a sire share in American Pharoah for around 700 BP’s. Added to this goal was to acquire the DS and DDS to breed to him. That was accomplished as A. Pl. Indy was picked up as the DS and Mr. Prospector as the DDS. Readers of the series helped with naming suggestions, which I blended together and a colt was born and named AP’S GOLDEN MUMMY. The AP’s can tie to either American Pharoah or A. P. Indy and the rest of the name ties to the Egyption them with the Pharoah. Anyway, we now have our hopeful superstar who has two starts, the most recent on Christmas day. Running the dirt both times in MSW races, he’s finished second both times with mid-80 speeds. 70 BP’s from our young hopeful and we’ll take our time developing him.
So that is the team for the stable & farm going into the 2019 season and we’ll start entering and racing horses this coming week.
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