Monthly Archives: June 2012

Where Are They Now?

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After so many different twists and turns in the claiming ranks, we thought it was time to take a look and see how all of the horses we have either claimed, or attempted to claim, are performing. Here’s a little update on all of the prospects:

Great Bam: Obviously, you’re familiar with this guy. The first horse we attempted to claim, we won a shake for him. Clay has him walking the shed row daily at this point and hopes to have in back in training soon.

Smokin Silver: The second horse we attempted to claim, we lost a shake for Smokin Silver. He has raced three times since the claim, an allowance race at Fairmont Park and two $5,000 claiming races at Prairie Meadows. He has one third place finish from those three starts and was claimed last time out by Mike Bolinger from trainer James Watkins. Hard to know what he could have done here but at the very least he would have been a great horse for the Claiming Series.

Abuela Emma: We lost another shake for Abuela Emma. Another horse that was taken down to Fairmont Park, she has run in an allowance race and a claiming race following the claim with one third place finish.

Rare Action: As far as wins and losses go, Rare Action has done the best following our failed claim attempt. Also running at Fairmont Park, Rare Action finished second in a starter handicap, then won a starter allowance and most recently ran third in a starter allowance. She’s another one that, at the very least, would have fit well in the Claiming Series races here.

Hammer’s Bullet: We attempted to claim this guy for $5,000 over at Churchill on a day where he encountered some trouble and ran a non-threatening fourth. He came back on June 14 for $7,500 and ran second. He is entered on Saturday at Churchill in the seventh race which will go about 8:35PM Central.

Downerbythemeadow: We were successful in claiming Downerbythemeadow on May 25. She came back to run second for the group on June 8 and was subsequently claimed away from us by Valorie Lund. She is now entered in a state-bred allowance race on Saturday. Will be interesting to see how she performs.

Lovely Tak: Claimed out of the first Claiming Series race for fillies and mares, Clay is training her up to the third qualifying race on July 12. Hopefully, she’ll be ready to put in a good effort for the club two weeks from today.

King of Rhythm: Scratched at the gate last weekend, we’ll have to see where he comes back. Maybe he’ll be entered back in next Thursday’s Claiming Series for colts and geldings? We will see…

It’s not really possible to draw any conclusions from this information as one would never be able to know how things would have turned out with a different trainer, different surroundings, etc. However, it is interesting to see what path some of these horses have taken following our interest in them.

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Tour Information & Another Claim Attempt Gone Bad

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First of all, we attempted to claim King of Rhythm out of today’s first race today. However, King of Rhythm acted up in the starting gate, and because he was scratched, claims were revoked. We continue to try to find a horse but you are getting a first hand experience of just how tough it can be.

It sounds like there were 3 claims in on the horse, so it may not have worked out. However, it is still disappointing.

Tour Date Picked

On a brighter note, we are happy let you know that we will have a backside tour on Wednesday night (6/27) at 5:30PM. We will meet up and take a tour of the barn, see your horses and talk a little bit about what goes on in the barn area on a daily basis.

If that doesn’t work with your schedule, we will be planning a Saturday tour date in the near future.

Please e-mail Jeff (jmaday@canterburypark.com) or Andrew (aofferman@canterburypark.com) and let us know if you will be attending.

Racing Club Update with May Bills & Info on a New Horse

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As a few of you have mentioned, Clay did claim a horse for the Club tonight out of the Claiming Series Race (Lovely Tak). Lovely Tak ran sixth and doesn’t really appear to have an affinity for mud as she has never performed well in it during her career.

The hope is to run her back as the Claiming Series continues. For those that have not read up on the Claiming Series, it gives you a chance to run your $3,500 horse for a $25,000 purse. More information is available on the Claiming Series here.

Jeff and I will go back to the barn in the coming days and find out a little more about Lovely Tak and about how she came out of the race.

Racing Has its Ups and Downs

As we’ve tried to explain to you all throughout this journey, racing is a roller coaster ride. Unfortunately, earlier today, Clay called to tell us that Great Bam’s quarter crack was worse than anticipated and that it will require special treatment, stall rest and protective bandaging.

Obviously, this is not the news that we wanted to hear. Clay and the farrier believe that this issue will require 3-4 weeks to fully heal before he can resume training. Therefore, we’re likely looking at August before Bam may be able to race.

We’ll continue talking to Clay to find out the plans and the progress that Bam is making. He was very disappointed when he gave us this news as he was expecting this horse to run big here this summer.

Canterbury Racing Club Financial Update

Next, here’s an update on the Club’s finances through May (less vet expenses):

Cash Balance at the end of April is $34,856.45

Less the following expenses:

Thyroid Treatment & Phenylbutazone (Great Bam) – $60

Shipping (Great Bam from Chicago to MN) – $350

Farrier (Great Bam) – $120

May Training (Great Bam) – $1,860 (31 days at $60 per day)

Claim of Downerbythemeadow – $3,500

May Training (Downerbythemeadow) – $360

May Dental Work (Downerbythemeadow) – $85

Cash Balance on May 31 – $28,466.45

Remember, this doesn’t really reflect the current state of the account it only deals with where were at on May 31. We have collected $3,500 for the claim of Downerbythemeadow plus more than $2,400  in revenue for the second place finish on June 8. Plus, there are vet bills to pay for May.

The revenue will be realized when we walk you through this information for June.

Obviously, there is a lot of information to digest in here. Please post questions and comments if you have them.

June 12 Racing Club Update

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As a few of you have mentioned, Great Bam did work out this morning. He went five furlongs in 1:03 and 1/5 which was ranked 8/8 at the distance.

Clay reported that he noticed a small quarter crack on one of Great Bam’s hooves after the conclusion of the workout. A quarter crack is a crack in the side wall of the hoof. When detected early is can usually be fixed relatively easily through the application of an acrylic patch.

For those that were in the group last year, Crown the Cat dealt with something similar and didn’t have any problems continuing to run throughout the summer. Clay plans on having the farrier come over in the morning to determine the best way to patch it up and, at this time, doesn’t believe it will impact his plans for Bam to race within the next week or so.

As of now, the plan is to get the new Condition Book when it comes out later this week and point Bam toward the next race he fits in. Hopefully, that means he’ll have a race within the next 7-10 days.

Where to Find Another Horse?

There have been a lot of inquires as to where to find the next horse. At this point, we are looking at claiming a horse out of the Claiming Series races. The claiming series is an opportunity for $3,500 claiming horses to run for a $25,000 purse in early August. The first one of these races takes place on Thursday night (Race 6).

Click here to learn more about the Claiming Series.

If you really want to get into the details of the Claiming Series, full rules can be found here.

Per usual, please send in a comment if you have questions.

Downerbythemeadow Runs 2nd, Gets Claimed

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Well, it was a little good news, bad news tonight. Downerbythemeadow ran a nice race sitting just off the pace-setter but was unable to fend off a challenge from Gail’s Jewel and the red-hot Tanner Riggs who rode the first five winners to victory on tonight’s card.

For the second place effort, you get 20% of the purse (before expenses) and because Downerbythemeadow is a Minnesota-bred, you also get 20% of the Minnesota Bred Purse Supplement. All total, you should have netted slightly more than $2,000 before expenses.

Unfortunately, Downerbythemeadow was claimed by trainer Valorie Lund for Zephyr Stable. The claim price was the same $3,500 that we claimed her for, so the purchase price and the sale price basically become a wash. In all, you should have done a little better than breaking even with this specific purchase… so it’s not all bad.

Click here for a chart of the race

Looks like we’ll have to start looking for another horse or two…

We’ll post soon after we get a chance to talk to Clay and find out what he thinks the next plan of attack should be.

Friday Night’s Big Race

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As I’m sure many of you are aware, Downerbythemeadow is the second-choice on the morning line at 7/2. That is enough to get anyone’s hopes up. However, this is a humbling game so we are proponents of keeping expectations reasonable. As of right now, we are happy with how our horse looks, but there are a couple of other contenders including Pecosa who ships in from Chicago and a couple of others shipping in from Iowa.

Paddock Information & Protocol

Friday’s fifth race is scheduled go off at shortly after 9pm. Horses should begin arriving in the paddock for race number 5 shortly after the conclusion of race 4.

Due to the fact that this year’s club is so large, we are going to have to split the group into two segments and trade off turns in the paddock. On Friday night, those with last names starting with the letter A through the letter L will be able to go into the paddock (if you’re name starts with M through Z, you are still encouraged to come to the paddock and watch from outside). Next time, we’ll flip flop and those with names beginning with M through Z go in the paddock and A through L hang out outside.

Those of you with last names A through L that want to go in the paddock should head that direction immediately following the conclusion of Race 4. Jeff and Andrew will be both be there to help direct traffic and get everyone in. We have a huge group involved, one of the largest to go into the paddock.

Downerbythemeadow will be wearing the orange saddle towel associated to program number seven. You will see a sign on the ground within the paddock with a number 7 on it just to your left when you enter the paddock. That is where Jockey Denny Velazquez will go when he comes into the paddock. We will congregate inside the walking ring in this area.

When in the paddock, it is most important to make sure we don’t frighten the horses. As was previously mentioned, this is a large group, one of the biggest any of these horses have ever seen. Always keep in mind that horses have the right of way. We won’t exit the paddock until the last horse makes her way out of the walking ring en route to the track. The number one rule is to pay attention to your surroundings at all times.

All owners should feel free to watch the race from the terrace that overhangs the track. Directly in front of the finish line, there is a section reserved for horse owners. You should feel free to sit in that area during the race. If you prefer to sit in a different lucky spot, by all means do so!

Watch the first few races to see where winning owners enter the winners’ circle after the race for their picture. Should Downerbythemeadow win, we would all crowd into that area for a picture right after the race. Don’t worry, if we don’t all fit, Clay has mentioned taking two photos or finding another way to get everyone in the photo. We’ll make it work!

We both look forward to seeing all of you here on Friday. If you have any questions about the race or about the order of operations, please feel free to post a comment below so that all can see. Also, Jeff will send out an e-mail with some of the same details so that everyone gets this information.

Best of luck on Friday!

Downerbythemeadow Entered for Friday

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Downerbythemeadow has been entered in a 6 furlong, non-winners of two races in the year (races for $3,000 or less excluded) on Friday, June 8. We’re in the fifth race which will go off a little after 9:00PM. It’s a field of seven where she should hopefully be competitive.

You can see the entries for the race by clicking here.

Jeff and I will get back to the group later in the week with details about paddock procedures, group seating possibilities, etc.

Great Bam Works Out

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Great Bam worked Saturday morning, covering four furlongs in 47 seconds.
Clay reported this morning that the workout went according to plan and Great Bam came back well from that work.
Following a workout, a horse is usually walked in the shed row for a couple of days. Clay watched Great Bam walk this morning and everything looks good. He likely will work Bam one more time before we have the opportunity to race.
Ownership involves a great amount of hope and patience.Bam went through one set-back but seems to be back on course. That is where the hope and patience come into play. Clay thinks Bam will win here. The Brinson record thus far gives us know reason to doubt that.