Thanks for a great year. I have to start with that because I had a great time and it’s due, in large part, to all of you in the Club that I had the pleasure of meeting this summer and interacting with here and in person.
ASK EDDY was a helluva horse for us. When Clay called and asked me to take a look at two horses in a race the last day at Hawthorne I was torn. EDDY seemed to have more upside while the other was a consistent money earner. I gambled on EDDY and it initially looked like I lost. EDDY was a mess, but messes appear to be Clay’s specialty and between he, Juan and the grooms in the barn, EDDY was a racehorse again. He had some physical issues that prevented him from climbing the ladder, but he is as honest as the day is long and gave his best whenever he ran. EDDY won four times for us and did a nice job keeping the coffers filled.
More importantly, EDDY brought joy. That grumpy old gelding brought a lot of joy – not just in winning but in being. That first race one partner (I shall use no names here!) was in tears realizing a life-long dream to be in the paddock. Ending up in the Winners’ Circle was nearly too much to bear and she broke down in very happy tears. THAT moment alone made the summer worthwhile!
I took a flyer on MUNDY and, in hindsight, made a mistake. She was all out for 7 furlongs and needed to have the race set up just right for her to win on the front end. The Canterbury turf is a different animal than the Turf Paradise surface and I failed to take that into proper consideration. She tried hard but we couldn’t get her the trip she needed to win and lost her to her original connections (who won with her about a month ago back in AZ). I should have been more insistent on trying her over the Canterbury dirt which probably more closely mimics the turf in AZ than our turf course did! And she trained so nicely over it as well.
A couple of lessons learned with MUNDY: don’t stress so much about picking up a horse that you overlook pertinent details (or talk yourself into discounting them) and though I trust my trainers implicitly, when I have a sound reason for an action I need to be more insistent.
The backside tours, while sparsely attended compared to what the interest level seemed to be, went very well. Much thanks goes to Jeff, Jalique and Michelle for pitching in to help and, of course, to everyone on the backside that were so accommodating to us. It’s so much fun to be back there and I only wish I could you bring you all back there at the crack of dawn – it’s one of my favorite places in the world that time of day. Thanks for coming out, asking questions and making the most out of your experience.
Roughly speaking, with no bills in yet from November, it appears as if we will be down right about MUNDY’s claiming price, maybe a bit more. All in all, not a bad season at all, but I hope that we can measure it more than by dollars and cents. I hope that you all learned a lot (or some anyway) and had fun doing it. A lot goes in to racing a Thoroughbred and while the process appears to be shrouded in mystery, I hope that by pulling back the curtain a bit that process was de-mystified for you.
If any of you are interested in moving on to a smaller partnership I hope that you will include me in your deliberations. Drop me a line (ted@grevelisracing.com) and I can get you some information, add you to the email list and we can go from there.
Thank you all so very much for participating and my personal thanks to Jeff for allowing me this opportunity. Stay tuned for details for next year’s Club. One change I know is definite is that we will be closing membership 30-days earlier in order to allow more time to claim horses so keep that in mind as you look to sign up. Have a great Thanksgiving and I look forward to seeing you all at the races!
Canterbury Racing Club 
Count me in for next year. It will be my 4th season with CBY club. I love the experience of “Owning” a race horse! I traveled to Hawthorne for the first time and had a blast. Thanks you to Jeff, Ted and Clay, etc. for giving me the chance to be in the winners circle.
Thanks again Ted and everyone else involved. We had a great experience in the club this year ( truly one of the neatest things we’ve done! ) having been a horse racing fan for better then 30 years this was a great inside look at ownership. We look forward to next year. Have a great holiday season. Sam & Julie Dalton
Oh wow what a great job and year . I and my family and friends had a great time. Thanks . We will be back in the club this year. The BW AUTO SALES crew.
This was my first year in the club. I had a great time and learned a lot about the horses and what goes on behind the scenes. I certainly plan to be a member next year and possibly would look at a smaller owners group down the road. I still have a lot to learn.
Thank you to everyone involved.
Jon and Karen Kindem
It was a great time – thanks!
Did we ever find out how Eddy was a day or two after the race?
Nothing other than what I posted earlier: we know what the injury was, it is minor, not life threatening bit he should need some rest.
So happy it was a minor injury but it made me curious about what the claim protocol would be if a more devastating injury had occurred. Does ownership go to the claimant immediately and irrevocably as the horse crosses the wire regardless of his condition? Or is there a injury (or worse) escape clause for a claimant, like the track vet would rule or a certain “soundness” time frame exists? If you claim a horse that is injured (but will recover) during the race, does new or former owners pay for vet bills? If a horse should not even finish the race, injury or disqualification at the finish, is the claim still valid?
Also, my congrats to the 2013 club! I have been a member a couple of times and I keep following the activity and learning more whether I am participating or not.
The vast majority of states have claiming rules which indicate as soon as the gates open and the horse is a starter, the new owner takes possession – regardless of the outcome even if there is a fatality. California and New York have added regulations which would void a claim if there is a fatality or an injury that results in a fatality, but there are no others that I’m aware of – including Minnesota.
Thanks for the great season. We saw some great times with Ask Eddy and a rare 4 win season from him. We also got to see what a great looking claim like Mundy can turn into something unexpected… with some disappointments. It was a very good year and we are looking forward to next years Club. I’m hoping that Midwest Thoroughbreds sends Eddy to Tampa Bay Downs with former Canterbury Trainer Jamie Ness. We have plans to visit there this winter and would love to see him. Look forward to seeing all of you for Racing Club version 2014. Hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
For those interested Mundys entered in the 5th at Turf Paradise going a mile 16th. On the Turf. Starter stakes $10,000. M L 8/1. Should be fun to watch.
Have we rcvd final bills, etc yet. Also, any decisions on next years club details yet?
Happy holidays to all !!
We are still waiting on the final vet bill before we close things out. Then we’ll have details for next year’s Club once we can finalize 2013.
Mundy wins wire-to-wire at Turf Paradise with the Baroness Anne Von Rosen aboard! Well done Mundy! Went off as the favorite at 3/2 in a $12.5K claimer. Sadly I couldn’t get out to make my money, but at 3/2 I probably wouldn’t have bet much in any case.
I was new to the club this year and had a great time. Thanks to all that did all the work.
I see Mundy ran 2 firsts and a second at Turf Paradise since she got claimed.
What do you think made the difference; trainer, track, jockey or something else?
Mundy won a race in AZ yesterday –
Mundy now has won 2 races and ran second once since being claimed from us. Does that speak to the level of competition she is running against at Turf Paradise or is the turf course there that much different than Canterbury’s and she is more suited to that?
Seems a little tacky to me to bring up the success of a horse after it leaves a barn, to the former barn and it’s owners.. That’s just me though.
I can understand your feelings, but I also understand that sometimes once you’ve owned a horse you want to keep tabs on him/her just to see how they’re doing. She’s a good girl, I’m glad that she’s doing well. I can very much see both sides of this one.
I don’t think Eddy has run since being claimed. Anyone heard if he is resting or maybe recovering from an injury?
Glad to see Mundy doing great.
This was my first year with the club but think the right horses were selected. I enjoyed following both. One did better than the other, but hind sight is easy. Racing is gambling.
Hope you all have a great holiday season and see you at the races in 2014!!!
I don’t know definitively, but I’m 99% sure he’s recovering from grabbing that quarter in his last race. My guess is that we’ll see him when Hawthorn reopens in 2014.