Jeff and I went back to talk with Clay today to get some updates on the condition and progress of both Great Bam and Downerbythemeadow. He seems pleased with both at this point. Check out his comments first hand in the video below:
Covering some other questions that have been asked recently:
1. Neither horse really has a barn name. They typically go by their full names or shortened abbreviations of their actual names.
2. Right now it is most likely that all horses will race in Clay Brinson’s silks.
3. Clay uses a lot of different jockeys and doesn’t have any plans set in stone for your horses at this point in time. Nik Goodwin was aboard Great Bam for his workout, so he may be the most likely candidate for him. However, Clay said he will discuss that with us further when we get closer to race day.
Lastly, there is a possibility that the group will get a third horse tomorrow. There is a horse racing at Churchill that Clay has had his eye on. We’ll be sure to keep you updated if anything happens on that front.
Jeff and I went back to get a closer look at Downerbythemeadow today and by all accounts she appears to be in good shape. She could stand to gain a little weight but Clay had already noticed that prior to claiming her. She walked the shed row today and will likely do that again for another day or two which is typical of any horse following a race.
Above you can see her in her stall this morning after her walk. Additionally, Jeff took a picture of Clay’s daily work board to show you the plan he had today for all of his horses. You’ll see Downerbythemeadow listed under walk and Great Bam listed under jog.
Hope you are all enjoying a great holiday weekend! Please continue to post any questions you might have in the comments below.
Well, after multiple attempts, we have finally secured a second horse for the Club. The club claimed #2 Downerbythemeadow out of tonight’s second race for $3,500. She has won 6 times from 30 lifetime starts and three of those victories have come here at Canterbury Park. Tonight, she finished third behind Havasu and Lovely Tak and that is actually a good thing for us as she remains eligible for more races than if she would have won.
Jeff and I will go back tomorrow to try to get a better look at her and give you Clay’s report on how she came out of the race. Clay had a chance to look over her prior to the race and agreed that she gave us some options as to where we could race her next.
Check out this link to watch a replay of tonight’s race.
Congratulations on getting a second horse!
Jeff went back and talked to Clay this morning and reported that Great Bam went back to the track yesterday (Wednesday) and jogged both yesterday and today. So far, so good and no problems to report. They plan on galloping him tomorrow in hopes of getting him ready for a workout early next week.
The break in training will keep him out of a potential race on Monday. Looking through the Condition Book the next possibility will likely be on June 8 or June 10.
On June 8, there is a $10,000 non-winner of two lifetime and on June 10 there is a $5,000 non-winner of two lifetime. So far, the $10,000 race has failed to fill. We’ll have to play it by ear when the it comes time to enter him in a race. Options may be limited to the claiming price that draws enough runners to be used.
Jeff and I spoke with trainer Clay Brinson yesterday and he reported the horse experienced a set back during training yesterday. Clay said that Great Bam was out for a gallop and the exercise rider noticed that he was bleeding from the nose while galloping.
Although this sounds bad, it is relatively common for horses to suffer from a condition known as Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (read more about EIPH here). As a precaution, Clay had a vet examine him after returning to the barn to determine if there was a larger problem. The vet reported that everything looked fine and placed Bam on antibiotics to avoid an infection.
Clay said that he plans on giving Great Bam a couple of days off before returning to the track. He’ll continue to keep a close eye on him and will let us know if anything changes.
Obviously, the inability to go to the track for the next couple of days makes it less likely that he’ll be able to race next weekend. However, we’ll let Clay continue to monitor his progress and let us know when he’ll be ready to race.
On the subject of finding another horse, Clay told us that he is looking a horse at Churchill that he used to train that may be available for purchase. Additionally, he’s looking at horses he might be able to claim here.
Racing is a game of up and downs. It’s easy to ride the waves of emotion but sometimes you need to try to keep an even keel.
Jeff and I went back to talk to Clay about the horse, his plans and what race he believes is best for Great Bam. If you did not read the previous post, it may be helpful to go back and take a look. The explanations of types of races will help you when going through this post.
As you heard in the video, Clay has picked out two races that are possibilities, one on May 25 and another on May 28. The plan for right now is to enter the one on May 25, and if it doesn’t draw enough horses, go in the race on May 28 which we hope will have enough horses. Obviously, we won’t know what happens until entries are taken for those days.
Entries for Friday, May 25 will be taken a week from today and entries for May 28 will be taken a week from Friday. The races are nearly identical in that they are both sprints for horses that have not won two races lifetime; however, the race on Friday, May 25 carries a $10,000 claiming price while the race on May 28 carries a $5,000 claiming price.
Yesterday’s blog discussed the condition book. You can find the condition book by clicking here. The May 25 race looks like this in the condition book:
You’ll notice that the purse is $9,000 (to be split amongst all runners in the race), the race is for horses three years old and up, the claiming price is $10,000 and the race will be run at a distance of six furlongs on the main track.
The race on May 28, looks like this:
You’ll notice that the purse is $7,000 (to be split amongst all runners in the race), the race is for horses three years old and up, the claiming price is $5,000 and the race will be run at a distance of five and one half furlongs on the main track.
It’s likely that both races will not go, so we’ll have to play it by ear. Clay will be on top of the situation and will keep us abreast if anything changes.
Please post comments or questions that you may have about the condition book, these specific races or anything else that interests you. We hope that all of you are enjoying a wonderful Mothers’ Day.
Great Bam worked out Friday morning going four furlongs (half a mile) in about 48 seconds. Unfortunately, due to a mix up in the racing office, his official time was not posted among the other workouts for the day. Check out the video below to see him coming down the stretch during his workout.
Clay seemed to be happy with the workout and the plan now is to try to find a race. There were a few comments on the last post about condition books, how to know what race a horse should be in, etc. Therefore, I thought it would be best to walk the group through the process of determining how to find the right race for your horse.
When owning a racehorse, it is important to work with the trainer to pick the right race for your horse. Depending on the relationship between owner and trainer, picking the right race can fall on either party, or in the best case scenario, all parties agree to the right race for their runner.
Just like humans, not all horses are created equal. Therefore, a wide variety of races are offered at all tracks in an attempt to match up competitive groups of horses. A track employee, known as a racing secretary, puts together a book filled with different types of races. This is called the aforementioned Condition Book and traditionally, a new one comes out every two or three weeks. Trainers and owners use these books in an attempt to find a race where their horse will be the most competitive.
Understanding Different Race Conditions
Traditionally, horses are grouped into one of four different categories:
Maiden – Horses that have never won a race. Once a horse has “broken its maiden” by winning a race, it must progress into one of the ranks listed below.
Claiming – The most common type of race, any horse in this type of race can be purchased for a stipulated price. Claiming prices vary from low to high and, theoretically, the higher the price, the better the horse. The thought process is that this class level keeps people from running too good of a horse in too easy of a race because someone will purchase that horse.
Allowance – One step above most claiming ranks, allowance horses are not for sale. These types of races are typically contested amongst better horses that are preparing to compete in stakes races.
Stake – These races are made up of the most talented horses on the grounds and are typically run for the largest purses. Traditionally, it costs additional money to start your horse in a stake race.
Within each of these classes, there are subclasses that allow for horses to find even more competitive race. Furthermore, races are typically divided such that fillies (females) run against one another and colts (males) run against one another.
Picking the Correct Race for Great Bam
When you look at Great Bam’s past performances found in the image below, you’ll notice that he’s been running in races called $5000N2L and $10,000N2L.
The $5,000 and the $10,000 stands for the claiming price Great Bam was running for and the N2L (or NW2) means that the race was for horses that had not won two races during their lifetime. Typically, claiming races are conditioned like this in that the horse is given a condition by the number of wins it has lifetime (or during the calendar year) and the claiming price that makes the horse run competitively.
There are all sorts of claiming races and claiming prices. At Canterbury, our most frequent claiming races are run for claiming prices of $3,500, $5,000 and $10,000. Additionally, we offer races for horses that have never won two races lifetime, never won three races lifetime, haven’t won a race during the year, haven’t won two races during the year and a few other less popular conditions.
Due to the fact that Great Bam has been fairly competitive at the level he is running at, it makes the most sense to look for races that closely resemble the competition level that he has been running against. This is where using the condition book comes in handy.
There are two important pieces to a condition book, the first is called the index. The index contains a shorthand list of all the different types of races and the dates that they will be run. You can find the first index here. The second is the actual book and this is where you find full details about each race. For those that have not found it, you can check out the first condition book on our website by clicking here.
In looking through the index, we’ll be searching for $5,000NW2 and $10,000NW2 races to try to find a good fit for Great Bam. If you take a closer look, you’ll notice that three options immediately fit these categories:
First, there’s a $5,000NW2 going long on May 18.
Second, there’s a $5,000NW2 going short on May 28.
Third, there’s a $10,000NW2 going short on May 25.
If you look each of these races up in the full condition book, you can get more information about each race, including: exact distance, the purse, age restrictions and the amount of weight the horse will be required to carry.
We’ll let Clay decide which option is best for the horse. When he makes a decision as to what he believes is the best spot, we’ll post more about the full condition book and other information that is contained within it.
This isn’t easy information to absorb as it is full of racing lingo. Please post a comment or shoot Jeff or myself an e-mail if you have any questions.
We were able to make it out to the stable yesterday to get a look at Great Bam. Clay reports that he’s happy with the amount of weight that he has put on and he has been galloping on a daily basis over the past week. Check him out!
Clay also mentioned that he expected to give Great Bam a more aggressive workout sometime next week. You can get updates on workouts by using the tool we mentioned earlier this week at Equibase. Check out this tool if you want to get e-mail notifications of important racing information. Sign up for an account, then click on Add a Horse and type in the name of the horse (Great Bam) to get notifications sent to your inbox.
We’ll be back later in the week with video talking more about how he looks, upcoming plans and potential races for the Great Bam!
Clay and Great Bam got into town earlier this week. Jeff went back and talked to Clay on Wednesday and we’ll plan on going back mid-week to get pictures, video and more. Jeff reported that he looked good and was on the track on both Thursday (jogging) and Friday (galloping). Additionally, Clay reported that he had been in contact with his brother about buying another horse and that he is examining a couple of possibilities. Obviously, we’ll pass along more information when we hear back.
Bills have started arriving for Great Bam, so as we promised, we’ll track them on the blog so that you can follow along and better understand the costs.
In total, we have 145 Club members and our 5% owner. This generated a total starting balance of $41,250.
Our expenses to this point are:
Claim of Great Bam – $5,000
19 Days of Training (April 12 – 30) Great Bam at $60 per day – $1,140
Full Equine Blood Work Panel – $128
Thyroid Treatment & Phenylbutazone – $125.55
Therefore, our cash balance at the end of April is $34,856.45
Earlier, people had asked about how to track workouts, entries, etc. Check out this tool from Equibase if you want to get e-mail notifications of important racing information. Click on Add a Horse and type in the name of the horse to get notifications sent to your inbox.
Canterbury Racing Club 