Both TERICE and MARYJEAN are back in Clay’s barn at Hawthorne and are doing okay. As we thought, TERICE was very keen to move under Tim Thornton in her race and he had to dance a fine line between trying to rate her but not discouraging her so much that she wouldn’t run anymore either. He felt that when she swung to the lead that that was going to be all she wrote but she tired late – perhaps because of her struggles earlier in the race. We know she’s okay on the dirt and has enjoyed success over a sloppy racetrack but the track was sealed (rolled to keep the moisture out) and perhaps a bit hard and wasn’t entirely to her liking.
MARYJEAN was simply too far back early and when the time came to run, she did her thing, swinging wide and passing everyone (almost) in the lane to put 5 1/2 between her and the third place horse but she was just too far from the eventual winner to catch her. It was a solid second and a check that paid the bills ($2600) but she will run again at Hawthorne next. Though the money was good in Ohio, part of the reason Clay was able to get three horses there was that trainer Joel Berndt was heading there with his own and had some room. Otherwise, he says rides to get to the Cleveland area infrequent and, therefore, expensive, so we’ll wait at Hawthorne and look to go about 3 weeks after her last start (October 1).
While there is nothing in the book for TERICE over the turf at this level ($8000), we will wait a few weeks and see what develops. Worst case we will run her back over the dirt again at this level or maybe even a step lower since the objective now for us is twofold – get a win, but also have them move on to new homes.
On another note, here is a link to more on the ongoing saga in Illinois for those of you that are interested: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141004/ISSUE01/310049970/horse-tracks-stumble-amid-painful-wait-for-slots#
Canterbury Racing Club 
Hi Ted — this may be a naive question, but if Terice & Maryjean are running well, why can’t we just keep them (assuming they don’t get claimed) into our next Club year instead of claiming a couple of new ones? (I admit, its hard not to fall in love!) Thank for your answer, as well as all the work you do.
Lyn Cowan
Lyn – It’s because of the organizational structure of the Club. In order to keep it from becoming a true partnership with all the tax and legal implications of one, the Club is structured as a one year deal with all the assets having to be sold off and the group disbanded by the end of the day on 12/31/14. To try an illustrate a little better, in my partnerships I have anywhere from 8 – 15 people who own anywhere from 5 – 25% of the horse. We carryover horses from year to year and in January I send all the expenses to my accountant and she goes ahead and provides K-1 forms for each member and then each member can go ahead and hand those of to his/her accountant for their taxes. This is only one aspect, though an important one. You can imagine how unwieldy this can become trying to get taxes done for 200+ people as well as other legal issues that stem from having a partnership. This way we can provide the Club members with the educational experience we’re all looking for without extensive legal (a longer term partnership would then be seen as an investment, which then triggers securities related issues) and accounting hassles that a longer term partnership would entail.
While I was too late for membership this year, I too was wondering a similar question. Since others know the rules of the club, do they wait for you to put these horses up at lower claiming prices before they buy, knowing you have to get rid of them.
Would this be a way around your issues stated above. You have a single buyer who agrees to buy the horse before the 12/31 deadline with the assumption they will sell it to the next year’s group for the same price they bought it + any expenses incurred during the ownership, ie vet fees, food & lodging etc.
So far we’ve been fortunate but there have been years when horses have been sold probably cheaper than we would have liked because of the deadline. In theory we probably could do something like that but the Feds don’t seem to like it when you try and tap dance around their rules and regulations.
Quick question regarding Terice. She has shown to be competitive in the $7,500 – 8,000 claiming levels, both at Canterbury and elsewhere. That was really the level she was at when we claimed her — but we had to pay $12,500 because she is a Minnesota bred. Was paying the MN bred premium a god idea, especially since our timeframe is so short? Seems to me we paid $12,500 for a $7,500 claimer, and we will be lucky to get $7,500 for her within the next couple of months. Was there extra purse money available to her at Canterbury because she was a Minnesota bred? Thanks for all the hard work. Not trying to complain — just trying to learn the process.
The extra purse money she received at Canterbury was indeed because she was a Minnesota bred. What would have made that a bit more lucrative would have been to get a win rather than just hitting the board. If we didn’t lose a start due to her tying up issue, we may have made that premium back. It was a calculated risk. I’ve been pretty open about my reluctance to claim MN breds at this time but we thought that she was one that could win here and in Chicago so was worth the chance. It’s not over yet, but we will have her claimed from us for less than what we bought her for, I’m just hoping we can get a win to mitigate it.
Hi Ted I just wanted to say that I have been in the partnership for two years and think you have done an excellent job. You have been on top of things and have answered questions quickly and accurately. Just wanted to say thank you for all you have done for this club!
Scott
Thanks, Scott. Very kind of you to say. I’m always trying to do better and if I’m fortunate to be back next year, I’ll do what I can to keep improving.
Have you heard how Alex is doing?
I don’t know a lot of the details but I do know that the surgery was successful, he’s out of the hospital and recovering. It’s going to be a long process for him, but he is young, strong and healthy and that’s going to help.
Any word on the gals next spot or possible spots?
Potentially Terice on the 25th and Maryjean on the 30th. There is the possibility that we may run Terice earlier on the dirt at a step lower to try and entice a claim, but that’s still up in the air. Both are working well and came back from their last races well.