MARYJEAN Steps Up; Face Six Foes

Posted on July 31, 2014 by tlgrevelis

MARYJEAN steps into allowance ranks Friday night and it does appear that her figures make her competitive here. Let’s take a look at the field.

1) Platinum Lady (Heitzmann/Butler) – She had two near misses in MSW company followed by a powerhouse win. Her huge jump in speed figures appears to be an anomaly, but may the addition of Butler made the difference? If her last is an indication of her true ability then we are all battling for second.

2) Visual Blessing (Bolinger/Martinez) – Hasn’t won since May of ’13. She finished 4th at this level two back before being outrun on Extreme Day in the 2 furlong dash.

3) Informal Fannie (Bethke/Stevens) – Took a state bred allowance last out. Speed figures appear to make her a cut below the rest in here but she does have some early speed which can be dangerous at Canterbury.

4) Holiday N Newport (Brinson/Martin) – Clay’s other horse in the race is a $6250 claim who ran third at this level, off the turf, last time out. It is worth noting, however, that she was beaten soundly by the top two. She likes to be near the lead and with our girl’s running style, a pace prompter is always welcome.

5) Princess Dinah (Padilla/Canchari) – This is the lady that Alex is riding. She had a very solid two starts at Arlington over the polytrack there and had a respectable third in her first out here in June, though fialing as the favorite. A former Brinson runner, Clay does not think that she is out of our class at all.

6) Mount Stepney (Sweere/Escobar) – She’s hit the board in all three career starts and finished second behind an excellent performance by It’s Amore at this level last out in her first start of 2014 where she tried to come off the place rather than show the speed she did in her two 2013 efforts.

7) MARYJEAN (BRINSON/EIKLEBERRY)

Winning this one will be difficult. If PLATINUM LADY is the real deal then, like I mentioned above, we’re all running for second. A couple of things do play in MJ’s favor: PLATINUM LADY will want to be close to the lead but many of the others will want to be on or near the lead as well. This should hopefully push the pace along quicker than anyone (but us!) want it to be. If Dean Butler can rate the favorite off the pace and not get dragged along too quickly, they are going to be really tough when the running starts.

MJ may be coming from a bit further off the pace than she is used to in what promises to be pretty quick early fractions. I think she can outrun VISUAL BLESSING and PRINCESS DINAH – I’m just not sure if she came overcome Platinum Lady.

Good luck and see you tomorrow night!

Racing Friday Night

Posted on July 27, 2014 by tlgrevelis

MARYJEAN is going on Friday night. We entered her in a first level allowance race for horses that have never won a race outside of maiden, claiming and starters which is why she fits in this condition – she’s only ever won a maiden race and claimers.

We had the option of possibly dropping her down to $5,000 claiming to get a race but the thought was that there are times when these first level allowances come up light and she’s been training excellent so we’d give her a shot there with the option of dropping down later in the meet. The race is the 5th going six furlongs over the dirt with a purse of $28,500. Alex Canchari has opted to ride another in the race but we don’t miss a beat with Ry Eikleberry getting the mount.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Friday night at the track is a very busy time and all the venues are booked so this is one of the rare times that the club will not have a place of our own for everyone to gather. I will meet you all in the paddock prior to the race.

Group 5, you all are up this time. As a reminder, group 5 consists of Schneidermann – Ziegler.

We are aiming for TERICE to run on August 9.

No Race Thursday

Posted on July 26, 2014 by tlgrevelis

MARYJEAN’s race did not fill again but this time it was not brought back as an extra because of the lack of entries. I’ll get with Clay and we’ll figure out something, most likely dropping her down a notch or two to get her a race.

Q&A #2

Posted on July 25, 2014 by tlgrevelis

I’ve been gathering more questions and we’ll tackle them here. Several were on purse distribution and others had to do with horse identification.

1) What is the purse distribution of a race and is the purse amount for the winner or split among all the horses?

– The listed purse for the race is what is to be divided among all the participants. Purse distribution is related somewhat to field size. The winner always gets 60%. In races with 10 or fewer starters the 2nd place finisher receives 20% which decreases to 19% for 11 starters, 18% for 12 and 13 starters and 17% for 14 starters; races with 9 starters and under the 3rd place horse gets 11% while any more starters and the horse gets 10%; Fourth is a little more spread out from 6% for smaller fields to 3% for larger fields while 5th on is generally 1% unless the field is small where the also-rans get 1.5% and 3% for six and five horse fields, respectively.

2) How are horses identified? When are they tattooed? Will microchips ever be used?

– Horses are identified by a tattoo on their upper lips. It’s not a tattoo that you would see on a human but a quick, basic set of numbers made up of dots. There is a method to the madness. A Thoroughbred tattoo has one letter, which indicates the year of birth, followed by four or five numbers, with horses over 25 years of age having only four. Horses foaled outside North America will also have an asterisk (*) at the beginning of the tattoo.

– There has been no indication that I know of that The Jockey Club is inclined to move toward using microchips as identification, though it would seem to be a much easier method of identification.

No Race Sunday

Posted on July 24, 2014 by tlgrevelis

The race we were pointing MARYJEAN for, $10,000 claiming, did not fill. It was brought back as an extra for Thursday night – this time at 6 furlongs instead of 5 1/2 furlongs, which is better for her.

So we wait and enter this weekend for Thursday night so I will update you all again on Saturday afternoon.

Tour and a Work

Posted on July 22, 2014 by tlgrevelis

Our thanks to everyone who came out for the tour this past weekend. It was a lot of fun with a lot of good questions and some quality time with the girls! Heather took a bunch of photos and we took a few and published them below for everyone.

MARYJEAN worked out this morning and fired a good one: four furlongs in :47.2, the fastest work at the distance today out of 24 horses. She’ll have a black dot (a “bullet”) next to that workout in the next Racing Form indicating that. In track slang that’s called “firing a bullet”.

We’ll enter on Thursday for Sunday so we’ll know on Thursday evening if the race fills and we’ll be racing.

Part of the group watching morning workouts. As it turned out, TERICE came out on to the racetrack for a gallop which was an unplanned surprise.

TERICE galloping by under Juan Delgado.

A closer look at TERICE

Done for the morning, Juan takes TERICE off the track and back to the barn to cool out and wait for visitors!

Clay with Jeff – as Jeff wags his finger at the photographer and says something about security…

A visit to the pool where we watched a few horses work and learned about the therapeutic benefits of aquatic exercise.

“CHEESE!! I’m swimming!!!”

TERICE soaking up the attention.

Not to be left out, MJ basks in the lovin when it was her turn!

Tour and Directions

Posted on July 19, 2014 by tlgrevelis

We’re full up for Sunday! Very exciting stuff. Michelle, Heather and I will meet you at the stable gate and then escort you all in.

If you’re not familiar with where the stable entrance is, here are some directions:

If you come off of 169 on Canterbury Rd, go past the track, past Culver’s and you’ll see the KMart warehouse on your right and the backside on your left. Take the next left and then your first left into the stable gate area. There is some parking available. If you can’t fit, you can park across the street near the open field, but please make sure that you are pulled as far to the side off the road as you can be.

See you Sunday!!

Update on the Ladies; Tour Update

Posted on July 16, 2014 by tlgrevelis

MJ and TERICE appear to be doing well. TERICE heads back to the track to gallop tomorrow and MJ continues to train well. It looks like we’ll be bringing back (at least trying to!) MJ on July 27th, same level, while TERICE may make her Club debut on August 3 in a step up.

The RSVPs for this Sunday’s tour are a little over 30. If you haven’t sent me your RSVP to ted@grevelisracing.com for Sunday yet, please do so. We will meet you all at the stable gate at 9:30 AM. While we may wait a couple of minutes, late comers cannot be allowed entry to the backside, so please be prompt. We will check out the end of morning works, visit the admin building, go up to the pool and then head over to Clay’s barn to see our girls. Here are some ground rules to keep in mind:

– There will be a LOT of walking so wear comfortable shoes and be prepared. The tour will take about 2 hours, perhaps a bit more so be comfortable and dress for the weather;

– If you’re bringing kids, keep a close hold of them. There is a lot of potential for injury and we cannot be responsible for kids wandering off. Which leads to the next point…

– Horses have the right of way at all times. We’ll keep the group close together and make sure that we give the horses a wide berth. There will be a lot of activity this time of the morning and we need to make sure that we stay out of the way.

– When we get to Clay’s barn we will gather outside, like we did last year for those of you that went on last year’s tour. There are simply too many of us to go inside the barn. Remember that while this is a tour for us, it’s also their workplace. Juan will bring our gals out one at a time and there should be the opportunity for petting, photos and mint giving!

See you Sunday!

More on TERICE and June Financials

Posted on July 12, 2014 by tlgrevelis

Terice came back from her win the other night in fine fettle, though we always know more when they head back to the racetrack. We’ve heard she can a bit to handle but she seemed nice enough when we went to go see her in the barn. Of course if she wants to get feisty when she heads to the racetrack, I’m okay with that!

Here are some pictures of her the day she foaled and then another a little while later. Also attached are her lifetime past performances which shows her flexibility and the updated financials for the month of June. It should be noted that we still have not received a vet bill.

Terice on her birthday

Close up birthday shot.

A little older and stronger

Terice PPs

2014 CBY RC Running Financials June

Welcome TERICE

Posted on July 10, 2014 by tlgrevelis

The Club finally claimed our second horse, a six year old mare named TERICE.

Foaled in Minnesota, at our very own Michelle Benson’s family farm, TERICE has been a very solid mare. She has 35 career starts, notching her 10th win this evening. She’s even a stakes winner, taking a minor stake at Fonner Park a few years ago.

She appears to be better than she ever has been, earning a career high 83 Beyer Speed figure in her last start.

While this race was a $7500 claiming race, we claimed her for $12,500 because there is a premium placed on Minnesota breds in open company. However, we will also earn additional money as a Minnesota bred in open company where she has been competing successfully.

Canterbury Racing Club

Helping Minnesotans Learn About Race Horse Ownership

Monthly Archives: July 2014