Four horses were entered into race this week and we lost one due to a claim and two of the entrants ended up racing against each other as I did not realize I had them both in the same race. By the time I noted that they were in the same race, the event had already been carded. With one horse being claimed away, I made three claims to restaff the stable. Let’s take a look at this weeks runners and then at any success I had with my claiming bids.
NIANG, a five year old out of Include has been with the stable for nearly a year (obtained last March) and is the one that surprisingly was claimed away. He has raced in a mix of allowance and claiming races and he notched a 112 speed in his first start for the stable, a career best, which came in his only starter allowance while residing at the stable He raced a total of 11 times with a 3-4-0 record and 131 BP’s. 10 of the BP’s came this week where he returned to the track in a $35,000 claiming race after a two month rest. I stretched him to 10.5 furlongs to see how this late closer would handle the distance. He handled it like a champ, finishing 2nd as the 2/1 choice missing by less than a length. The larger 11 horse field allowed us to pick 2 sire cards, both being G’s. It was surprising to me that he was claimed for the pricey $35,000 considering he was untouched in a $15,000 claimer back in October. I very much enjoyed Niang while he was with the stable and was one of my favorites.
HOLIDAYS ARE HERE was a random bred horse where low-end sire cards were used with the hope of cashing in quickly on his first start where BP’s are bumped up on the first start. That backfired as he finished 6th and this week was his second start going in a $25,000 claiing race and distance of a mile on the turf. It was a bump up from the $4,000 claiming level in his debut but race selections in the region were limited. Another 6th place finish came his way and this one will be set free. I don’t see any potential coming from him and he’s been sent to the auctioneer. The race yielded one G-sire card.
Two stable mates ended up racing against each other in a 8.25 furlong starter allowance with a tag price of $7,500. SKORPIOVENATOR was the 3/2 favorite and making her second start for the stable and ANCESTRY NULL was the 8/5 second choice in the field of seven and also making her second start for the stable. Both horses finished 1-2 in the race with second choice Ancestry Null beating out his stablemate. Ancestry broke from the gate slowly and trailed at the back end and made her move at the midway point and galloped to the lead and draw off to a solid two and a quarter length win. This is her second straight win for the stable and she has now won three straight (going back to the previous owner.
As for Skorpiovenator she settled into a mid-field position of 4th and quickly advanced to second before the midway point. By the three quarter pole, she had taken control of the field but that did not last long as her stable buddy ran her down and drew away from her. Ancestry Null picked up 15 BP’s and two sire cards, one being an F, the other a G. As for Ancestry Null, she got 5 BP’s (which was reduced due to two horses from the same stable being in the same race) and she got no sire cards as there is a restriction that only one horse can earn cards in a race.
So this week the stable picked up 4 G cards and one F card. When combined with last weeks tally, the stable has 3-E, 2-F and 7-G. Trading up a set of 5-G’s brings the total to 3-E, 3-F and 2-G. Not too bad after almost 2 months of racing. 30 BP’s were a little less than expected but we’re always happy to collect them.
As i mentioned at the start of the article, I made three claim attempts. Two were for horses with a tag price of $7,500 and I missed out on both of those. I found success with CHUANDANGOELURUS in a $5,000 claiming race who was a co-favorite at 5/2. He finished second in the race, losing out to the other co-favorite. He’s been doing well in the cheap claimers since last August, hitting the board in 6 straight races. He’s been racing at distances of about a mile and has a bit of a late kick. He hasn’t gone longer than 9f and it may be worth testing him a bit. He will stay in the stable and occupy the void created by Niang when he was claimed away.
The stable has one vacancy right now and I plan to fill that later this week with BABS SEEKING LUCK who will be done with a long deserved rest at the farm. Babs Seeking Luck was an original horse that was part of last years The Challenge series and was the only horse to stay with the stable the entire year.
After earning BP’s racing this week and making a claim, the stable possesses 531 BP’s. Between last year and this year, the stable has a record of 42-48-24 over 200 races (21% win, 57% ITM). This coming week looks like we can get three horses scheduled to race.
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