Monthly Archives: August 2013

End of Season Wrap

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While we’ll still be racing even after the Canterbury season ends, we thought it would be nice to wrap things up in style with a little coffee and donut get together, enjoy morning works and put a bow on our summer.

Next Saturday, September 7, we’ll open up Silks and gather around 9:30 until…whenever. If we can get the race to fill, we may even have ASK EDDY going in the afternoon!

If you could RSVP to me at ted@grevelisracing.com to give us an idea of the numbers by the end of the day on Monday, that would be great.

Look forward to seeing you all there!

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July Financials

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A win per month has done us a world of good, though we still don’t have July’s vet bill in yet, we’re doing okay. Our largest monthly expense is training, as expected. Our second highest expense? Winners’ circle photos! THAT is a nice expense to have. We do get a special rate from Coady Photography but given our numbers, it still gets pricey so please remember to pick up your photos!

Take a look at financials through July here:

CBY RC Running Financials – July

ASK EDDY Preview

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EDDY will be off in the 2nd race of the evening tonight, about 7:02. As I mentioned, I’ll be hell bent for leather to get up there for the paddock, but I’ll be hustling – just like EDDY shall.

No disguising this one: it’s going to be a tough one. A change in, or really a return to, strategy will hopefully give the big fella all he needs in order to be more competitive with this group this time out.

Magic Bullet (Van Winkle/Rivera) – finished just ahead of a tiring EDDY last time out. He kind of loped along behind the leaders and then picked up a check.

Raton Pass (R.Rarick/Barton) – Alex is off which may be helpful. This guy stalked EDDY beautifully before sticking a head in front of Dontlaffhespaidfor and prevailed under a very strong ride.

Dontlaffhespaidfor (Tronche/Escobar) – Had the tables turned on him by Raton Pass as these two take turns beating each other. Hopefully that battle with EDDY last time and then the struggle with Raton Pass in the lane took a lot out of him.

Awesome Year (Van Winkle/Eikleberry) – Two consecutive wins (though DQ’d out of one) and 3 of 4 at Canterbury this season, this boy wants to be close to the pace and that’s what we want – pacesetters. He’s going to be tough in here.

Freedom First (Donlin/Butler) – Dropping WAY down in class after being dominated in a $35,000 claiming race and the Blair’s Cove. The 2nd place finisher in the $10,000 Lakes opening weekend stretches out for the first time in a while and certainly has the class to do well here.

Morganouska (Schnell/Von Rosen) – Claimed last out for $4,000 off a turf win at this distance, he likes to come from just off the pace like EDDY but now debuts for a new barn with a new rider. Maybe this sprinter stretching out will flash some speed?

ASK EDDY (BRINSON/MARTIN)

EDDY will need some speed in this race to sit behind and then run at. Breaking from post 7 should help and he’s not so far outside that he’ll be carried too wide through that first turn. There are not a lot of unknowns in here, only if EDDY can rate enough that he can make one good run at the top and let his guts carry him home. Eddie Martin is good off the pace rider so, while we know it will be tough, we’ll hope that Eddie on EDDY will be magic!

Good luck all and see you this evening!

MUNDY, MUNDY, MUNDY…

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She came back well last night. I spent some time with her and talking with Clay. She got hooked up with that cheap speed and she was fried by the lane. It was interesting watching the replay with Clay because it turns out we were thinking the same thing at the same time: when she shook loose from the 6 we thought she might be able to do it; then in the lane we thought she just might hit the board; then we knew we were dead…

She is sound as can be and really needs to be loose on the lead so she can relax. We will make sure the next few days that she is okay (all appearances are that she is) and look for our next spot. It may be we need to drop her another notch. If she goes, she goes, but we need to get her confidence back and get her on the earning train again.

We’ll turn our thoughts to EDDY tonight and see if he can turn the tables on this crew. Stay tuned for my thoughts on that alter this morning.

Here is another wonderful video put together by Shelly Benson on MUNDY’s evening:

Racing Arrangements

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Canterbury venues are booked solid this weekend – starting this evening. I will meet the respective groups in the paddock for the races. I have an appointment in southern MN tomorrow but should make it in time for the paddock – I’ll be hoofing it to get there so if you have any state trooper or sheriff friends, let them know that the red jeep charging up the highway is on an important mission!

Good luck everyone and see you this evening.

MUNDY Takes on Eight as Tepid Favorite

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You don’t see many morning line favorites at 4-1, but MUNDY is one tomorrow night as we drop her down in class and look for her elusive first win.

She does her best running on the front end and we’re hoping she can outbreak the other speed in her race on her flank and settle down on the front end, relax and have enough against this group to carry her home.

Here’s a look at the field:

Befuddler (Bravo/Butler) – Has only placed 3rd in 12 turf attempts and is 0-4 over the Canterbury turf.

Grace of Greatness (Robertson/Franco) – Minn bred has hit the board in 7 of 9 Canterbury turf starts including a 3rd in the 2012 Princess Elaine Stakes. Has not registered a win since 2011 however.

Moonshine Promise (Rarick/Canchari) – Had probably the most visually impressive win of the Canterbury meet, winning by 23 1/2 lengths in a dirt mile $6,250 claiming race. Her turf debut at $7500 immediately following however, was less impressive. She was 4th, beaten by 3 1/2 at 7 1/2 furlongs.

Visual Blessing (Bolinger/Martin) – Stretching out a bit after narrowly missing in two allowance dashes, she also switches to the turf for only the 4th time having never hit the board prior. She’ll look to be coming hard late.

MUNDY (BRINSON/RIVERA)

Sixtysix Margaux (Chambers/Stevens) – Sharp winner last out in a $10,000 claiming sprint on the dirt. Never been 7 1/2 but the added distance shouldn’t faze her much. Has hit the board in 2 of 3 turf tries, but it’s been a while. Main worry? She has some early speed.

Terice (Kirby/Goodwin) – Minn bred has stuck to dirt sprinting recently but has a pair of 4ths last year over the Canterbury turf at 7 1/2 and a mile and a 1/16.

Sera’s Tunnel (Asmussen/Bell) – D Bell on the turf has been deadly this season – he has been a turf whiz. Narrowly missed catching another Clay Brinson horse, Lookinatmindy, last out at this level. Rugged mare has hit the board in 23 of 36 turf starts and looks to be in a good spot here.

Perfect Fashion (Donlin/Eikleberry) – Missed by a neck two starts back at this level and distance. Dropped down a notch last out but was bothered at the start and never got involved.

This is a very interesting race. The sprinters trying to stretch out from 6 furlongs could flash some early speed that will bother our girl. Some of the horses that are coming in after closing in their last few victories have shown early speed in the past – which style will they show this time?

MUNDY on a lead will be dangerous and Juan knows this mare very well. Against this group we should have a fighting chance when the running starts through that turn for home and we’ll hope that those sharp works she has had were an indicator of good things to come.

I will see Group 2 in the paddock before the race. We are efforting a spot at the track for the evening, but the last few weeks have been very busy at the venues. I will post information tomorrow when I know if we have secured a spot.

After the two races this week over the weekend we’ll post the next month’s financials as well as the first vet bill that finally reached us.

EDDY Goes Friday Night

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EDDY on Friday

ASK EDDY is back in action this Friday night. We’ll be looking at the same race – and nearly the same field – that we looked at last time. This time EDDY gets the outside post (7) and the services of Eddie Martin, Jr and we’ll see if the Eddie on EDDY combination will carry us back to the winners’ circle.

Group 3 gets paddock access on Friday night. As a reminder, the breakdown is:

A – F – Group 1
G – K – Group 2
L – R – Group 3
S – Z – Group 4

EDDY will be race 2, approximately a 7:02 post time.

Tour

Thanks to everyone who turned out for the two tours this year. I hope that you all had fun and feel like you have a bit better insight into the goings on on the backside. We should get some pictures up this week. Both horses were on their best behavior…once MUNDY settled down from those scary, scary manure trucks!

Tour Tomorrow & MUNDY Thursday

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Tomorrow will be our second backside tour.  There are a few more folks signed up this time so we may be separating into two groups with videographer extraordinaire, Shelly Benson, grabbing one and I shall take the unlucky rest of you!

Please meet at the stable entrance by 9:45 and we’ll get you all in and get started!  Wear comfortable shoes and expect plenty of walking.  We should be done in about an hour and a half to two hours.

MUNDY

MUNDY will be taking on nine on Thursday night.  The race is a $10,000 claiming race on the turf going 7.5 furlongs. At first glance it looks like she may have a shot to get the early lead, but more on that later in the week.  The race will be the 4th and Group 2 will have paddock access.

EDDY

ASK EDDY came back from his race just fine, though a bit tired.  No one was going to beat those top 2, but I expected more out of him.  However he inherited the early lead by virtue of a small field and a great break and that’s just not where he wants to be.  We’ll be looking for a $5,000 claiming race next up in about a week and a half or two and hope that it fills…it has been really difficult getting those races to go.  We may move up to $6250 if we have to in order to race.

EDDY Good; MUNDY Treading Water

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EDDY appears to have come back from his race just fine. It was a tough spot for our boy and, as I feared, he inherited the early lead and that’s not where he likes to fire from – he likes to chase, not being the target. Now we’ll look see how he is when he heads out to the track later this week and start thinking about his next race. The $5,000 open claiming races are not filling so we may have to go to $6,250 or even $7,500 to find him a race.

Here is another great video presentation by Michelle Benson of the evening:

MUNDY is working really well as you’ve seen. We entered her for Friday night going 7 1/2 furlongs over the turf ($7500 CL) but the race did not get used. It was not brought back as an extra for Saturday, so we’re looking to see if it gets brought back for Sunday or the following week while also looking at maybe a dirt race for her going 6 1/2 furlongs.

Short, but Tough, Field for EDDY

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It will be fun to be able to watch ASK EDDY run without the risk of a claim looming over the race. As you all know, I have no problem losing a horse but sometimes it’s nice to sit back and watch the race without wondering if you’re going to need to go shopping just after your trainer got the horse right.

There is a certain amount of joy you can take in a short field as well – especially when you have a horse that’s fit and going well. The odds of a bill-paying payday get much better in a shorter field.

As comforting as both of these aspects of racing tonight are, this short field is a tough one and will go a long way in telling us how far EDDY has come and what he still has left in his tank.

1. ASK EDDY (BRINSON/GOODWIN)

2. Seven Tuff (Rarick/Stevens) – Don’t let his last race fool you, this 6-year old gelding has some talent. Stakes placed in Arizona and an allowance winner in Canada in the last year, his recent starts may not be stellar but there is some back class there and if you can get a classy horse relatively right, they can occasionally throw a big race again. Don’t overlook him, especially with the crafty Hall of Famer aboard.

3. Magic Bullet (Van Winkle/Rivera) – Horse is a big fan of trying to get out early, something that no one else in this field can boast. And we all saw how early speed did last night… Closed out the 2012 Hawthorne meet with a win at $14,000 claiming before running in mostly starter allowances and starter handicaps. Was 4th last out behind a dominating performance by the morning line favorite in here.

4. Tigerstark (Suter/Hernandez) – Hasn’t won in a very long time and his best efforts have been on the turf.

5. Dontlaffhespaidfor (Troche/Escobar) – The 8-year old had virtually a career best performance last time out, dominating a field at this level by 8. He had been running at considerably higher levels – and hitting the board – prior to that start and just lit it up that day. That said, at 8-years old it’s hard to find the consistency to put together back to back performances like that…but not impossible. The one to beat.

6. Raton Pass (Rarick/A Canchari) – Had a bit of a tough trip against the favorite last time but still finished 2nd. The connections must have sighed when they saw they were up against him again today! Horse is a consistent sort and solid in that $5000 – $8000 range.

What chance does EDDY have? Not a bad one, really. Clay has said that if EDDY is going to step up and take on a tough field, this is the time because he is training so well and appears to be really feeling good. There are concerns, of course. If Magic Bullet shakes loose on the lead, everyone could be in trouble. EDDY isn’t one to wire a field but he’s going to need to be close after what we saw last night with speed prevailing and the difficulty closers had bridging any gap in the lane.

Heck, it’s possible that if Magic Bullet doesn’t break well that EDDY inherits the lead by default. In his last two starts, EDDY has been away very well and with the rail and a race void of speed, he and Nik could find themselves on the front end. If Nik can then control the pace it will be very tough for anyone to get by EDDY in the lane. Ideally we’d like to stalk an move through the turn but I’m not sure that the complection of this field is going to allow it.

Jilique should be there for you all in the paddock before the race, Group 1, and there is space reserved at Wild Horse Saloon for the Club this evening. I hope Group 1’s luck can carry through to another win!

Good luck and safe travels!