There have been a few comments on other posts regarding other possibilities for Crown the Cat. I’ll list them in order and will give a brief description of each condition, whether our horse is eligible for the condition and what the positives and negatives might be for each race as far as Crown the Cat is concerned.

This race is a $10,000 claimer for three year olds and upward which have never one two races. In essence, it is the same race being discussed above; however, it is not restricted to fillies (female horses). Therefore, this race is likely to be tougher than the race scheduled for Saturday. At this point, there is certainly no advantage to running Crown the Cat against the boys. Although both boys and girls run together in other countries, the United States tends to separate the two. As long as a version of the race is available that is restricted to females, we’ll go in that direction.

This race is an allowance race for three year olds and upward which have never won a race other than maiden, claiming, etc. This is a race that Crown the Cat would be eligible for; however, it is going to be much more difficult compared to our preferred option. If you read this condition carefully, it exempts victories in the claiming ranks. Therefore, instead of being restricted to horses that have not won two races in their career, it instead is restricted to horses that have never won a race other than maiden, claiming, etc. It is possible that a horse could have 10 wins in claiming races and would still be eligible to race in this condition. Where we are looking to place Crown the Cat, we are certain that the only horses she will face are ones with one career victory. This condition would force her to potentially face horses that have multiple wins or those that won their maiden race against top competition. In short, this may be a little too tough of race for Crown the Cat. Additionally, this specific race is not restricted to fillies either, it is open to both boys and girls.

This is the same race as the race immediately above with the exception of the fact that it is restricted to fillies. It is likely to be more difficult that the race we have tentatively picked out due to the same reasons listed above (the possibility of multiple winners). The first time this race was offered, it did not draw enough horses to be used. It could meet the same fate this time around.

This race is for three year old fillies which have never won a race other than maiden or claiming or you can enter your horse with a $15,000 claiming tag. The problem for us is that this race is only for three-year-old horses. Crown the Cat is four, therefore, she is ineligible for this race.

There are always ways to get creative and see what else you may be able to do with your horse. It could be as simple as examining moves up in class or moves down in class; however, at Canterbury Park we have one other alternative, changes in racing surface. Due to the fact that we are fortunate enough to have a turf course, one can always take a peak at what kinds of races are being offered on the grass.

To this point in her career, Crown the Cat only has one career start on the turf. However, it was against a tough field of maidens in Chicago and it was going short – only 5 furlongs. See below for a running line of her one turf start:

Her pedigree doesn’t suggest that she should be a star on turf; however, her running style may fit the turf course well given it’s current condition. There would be a lot of unknowns with this move at this point in time, so it would certainly be the more risky option. Furthermore, this is a move that would need to be discussed with her Trainer Kenny Jansen to get his opinion on whether or not she would be able to handle the switch to turf. At this point, we have not had that conversation.

The race that would fit her best on the turf, a $25,000 claimer, fillies that are non-winners of two races lifetime, will not come back until Condition Book #2. Therefore, we’d have to wait at least another week to run. (Given on how long it has been since this race was last used, it is most likely that the race will come back on June 16 or June 17). The last race contested at this condition was run on May 29 and was switched from the turf to the main track. (See below for the chart of the race – note that Morgan’s a Blumin was scratched and that Carousing won the race … therefore, Carousing is ineligible at this level moving forward).

If we decide that she should again try going long, this may be where we are forced to enter given the make-up of the current horse population. The best news is that if we decided to give this race a shot and it rains, the race will likely be switched to the main track, where we know she can run over a muddy or sloppy surface.

At this point, we plan on moving forward and entering on Wednesday in Substitute Race #2 in the Condition Book. The race is a $10,000 claimer non-winners of two races lifetime restricted to fillies. Based on her last effort, it looks like this is the best spot for your runner. We’ll monitor the entries on Wednesday morning and will let you know what happens as soon as the information becomes available to us.

Per usual, please post any questions you may have below, there is a lot of information in this post and I’m certain that in some instances it raise more questions than answers.