The Challenge – Week 40….Gearing up for Grade Race & a Question for Readers

That’s right, the headline states we are gearing up for a Grade level race and that would be AP’s GOLDEN MUMMY.   Mummy was the choice  bred horse from last year using a ton of BP’s to breed a topline sired horse.  He won last time out in his first listed stake run and now it’s time to step him up another notch.   He will be running in the G3 Select Bud, a 7 furlong dirt race scheduled on October 13.   It’s going to be an anxious week waiting to see him run next Sunday.

Next, I apologize to readers as last weeks headline indicated that horses were added to the barn.  They were, but I never reviewed them.  NELSON ECHO was picked up out of a $3,500 claiming race at 9 furlongs.  He has been racing turf quite a bit lately with one win in 13 lifetime starts.  It’s time to move this 5 year old boy over to the dirt where he has more success with 7 wins in 19 starts.

Also added last week was 6 year old NEVER FIND A WAY.   He looked like a good buy dropping from the $150,000 claim level to the bottom $2,000 wrung.  He has run speeds over 100 a few months back as well as competed in listed and grade level events.   The 91 speed and fourth place finish were disappointing outcomes for the horse who was 6/5 favorite.  He can race in all levels of starter allowance races, but the poor outcome in his recent start is making me wonder if this will turn out to be a bust.

On to this weeks races.  GODS ARE made his first start for the stable, which has turned out to be his only start.  He was added to the stable via a claim for a $2,000 investment.   He’s raced well on the turf with all 27 starts going on this surface.  I placed him on the dirt for the first time to see what he can do.  Turned out he can Win!!!.   He took to a mid-field early spot in the mile race and chipped his way to the front and pulled off to win by over 3-lengths and a 101 speed!   A very convincing result on his dirt running ability.  Problem came up that he got claimed away from the stable.   Most of the time, it doesn’t bother me losing a horse in a claiming race, it’s all part of the sport.   But I would have loved to run this horse a few more times.   Picked up three sire cards for the win and the large 12 horse field.   2 were F’s and 1 G (not bad) and 30 BP’s.

BRED TO CHALLENGE ran on an off-track turf race and the outcome was bad.  He finished last in the allowance race and never was a factor at all.   He has  been off the board in two prior starts and this makes three in a row.  I’ll chalk this one up to the disliking of a wet track plus a shorter rest than I normally give to two year olds.  I’ll rest him at the farm for a few weeks and see where we go next.  1 G-card for the poor outing.

FROST ADVISORY stayed in NY and after finishing third in a 6-furlong $15,000 claiming race she was placed into a 7-furlong, $17,500 claiming race.  A slight upward move in both class and distance.   After running a mid-field position early in the race, she just failed to hold on and was not a factor, finishing last with a drop in speed to 82.  Rest seems to be in order for her too.  1-G card was all we got.

With three holes now in the stable, the two horses claimed last week, Nelson Echo and Never Find A Way have been moved from the farm to the stable.   One spot remains empty and I’ll be looking at claimers and auction to find some talent to fill the gap.

For the week, 2-F cards and 3 -G cards.   I already posses 2 G-cards, so trading them all in, nets another F-card (for a total of three).  However, I already have three of those, so now I have six, and five are exchanged for and E-card.   Hold on…I have 4 of those already, so now there are five, enough to exchange for a D-card.   So after all this wheeling and dealing the stable possesses 4-D and 1-F.  As for BP’s, there are 1,779 of them.

Now a question for readers.  The goal of this challenge was to amass as many cards and trade them upward to see what we could end up with and trade them in for a random sire card, hopefully something high-end.   There is a little over 2-months to go in the year and unless lightening strikes, getting anything higher (C-card or better) looks unlikely.  We may be able to earn one more D-card, which can be exchanged for a C-card, but would need 2 C’s to get a sire card.   That’s assuming we can trade up to get the D-card.  And if we do get the C-card, we can only use it with other cards to build the DS and DSS, which would most likely be low-end cards.    So the question is….should we trade in the 4-D cards and build the back end with the BP”s earned (and start racing right away) hoping for something decent or continue forward?  Please let me know by posting to this article.

Thanks Readers!

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