Miz Owell finally has a stablemate, the 5-year old gelding Vanderboom Ridge. Boomer is by Borrego and out of the Come Summer mare Cristina Ridge, bred in Kentucky by Winchester Place Thoroughbreds.

This is one that we’ve been following for a while now. He was a bit expensive, and perhaps overpriced, at $20,000, this drop to $10,000 was very appealing so we dropped the slip and got the Club a new runner.

He’s run 18 times now with 3 wins, 3 seconds and a third. He’s been successful on the dirt and turf and has been competitive from $10,000 – $20,000 so we should have some nice options going forward. We’ll get him back to the barn, give him a once over and he’ll walk for a few days before heading back to the track and we’ll look for his next start.

Speaking of Miz Owell, she may have been a little tired late in the last race from her earlier colic episode but that has shown no signs of returning. She was galloping over the track today and came back well. Miz Owell is being pointed to a race on August 6 – another $7500 over the grass at 7 1/2 furlongs, but more on that as we get closer.

We passed on a few today. They couldn’t pass scrutiny, even with the relaxed vetting process: either they looked physically poor, were too slow or under suspicious drops in class.

That said, we look to be active on Thursday night and there are several possibilities that are intriguing.

Also next weekend are the Minnesota Oaks and the Minnesota Derby as well as a handicapping seminar by the renowned Steve Davidowitz…corgis and cupcakes, too. Hopefully it will be a big weekend all around.

Below are the financials for the month of June. The largest expense, aside from training, was the vet bill which is to be expected considering her colic issue. She’s been to the track the last few days and will have a pedicure in the next day or two!

We are looking at several races tomorrow for a potential stablemate so I hope to hear us announced with a new horse tomorrow afternoon.

CRC 2016 Running financials – JUN

Miz Owell will head back to the track and start galloping again tomorrow. She’s been walking since her race and Clay said she’s none the worse for wear except that maybe she was a little tired because of the training time we had to miss with her. That should be straightened out before the next start. To bounce back and run as well as she did so soon after the colicky episode was pretty good on her part.

The new condition book just came out so we’ll be looking at something for her in about a week or 10 days and get her back in.

We’re also looking for another horse to join her. In response to a post in the comment section yesterday, we are relaxing the standards a bit in what we’re looking for in order to widen the net. With that comes increased risk as well, but time isn’t going backwards so we’ll be as careful as well can while relaxing the standards.

While we still most likely will not claim at the bottom, we will be looking at horses with conditions left, knowing that if we can clear the conditions we will most likely need to drop in claiming level. But at that point we would have money in the bank and the hit won’t be too large. I am hopeful that you’ll hear our name announced on a claim this weekend.

Here is a look at our race tomorrow evening horse by horse:

MIZ OWELL (BRINSON/VELAZQUEZ)

She’s Mighty Fast (Padilla/Delorme) – Third to our girl 2 back but faltered a bit in her last.

Lauren’s Powerplay (Spencer/McNeil) – Huge class drop from the first level allowance back into claiming company. Could be dangerous late.

The Real McCoy (Sheehan/Butler) – The last 2 over the turf were flat but was solid over the turf back east at higher levels. Another late runner.

Warrensmysterydice (Hop/Coddington) – Didn’t have a particular good first out at Canterbury but should be tracking early.

Tactical Girl (Sweere/Franco) – Has won on this turf course before but it was a while back. Two back was flat but bounced back in a big way after dropping and moving to dirt. First out for new barn.

Ebony Elegance (Lazarre/Escobar) – Dropped to back to her initial claiming price. Still eligible for non-winners of 3.

Pink Lipgloss (Silva/Mojica) – Big jump off the claim and will try the turf again. Was okay last on the turf but has never won over it.

Emma Lea’s Song (Herb/ACanchari) – Was second to our girl two back after surging to the lead a bit too early. Stretching out a bit further.

Sweet Tango (Bethke/Bethke) – Has good speed and will need it coming out of the 11 post out the chute. Could be well placed early and will be the one we’re all chasing late.

Usually that inside post isn’t too terrific coming out of the chute because there is the possibility of being trapped down inside. However our girl will be coming from off the pace and Denny will have the opportunity to settle back a bit before he can get pinned in. The rail has moved in a little from last weekend as well making the going a bit easier for closers.

While Sweet Tango is the speed in the race, she has to overcome the far outside and two early turns which is entirely possible given the dearth of early speed in the race. Hopefully Hugsforhennyhall and Tactical Girl will want to go early as well to keep her wide. While we’ll all be running late, I think if we get a clear path down the lane we can win this thing.

Good luck everyone and see you tomorrow!

Below is the program analysis of our race tomorrow night. I’ll be posting my own traditional look later on today as well.

The MTA’s morning with a trainer program is on for Saturday. Attendance is a bit light for Saturday so there may be some room if you’re interested. RSVP to Kay King at kay@minnesotabred.com.

Spend a Morning with a Trainer

Unfortunately the group areas are sold out Friday night at the track so we don’t have our own spot. After the replays of Race 2 we’ll meet Group 2 (LaCasse – Ryshavy) over at the paddock. According to the weather folks, we should be dry so away we’ll go!

Here is the program analysis:

Race 3:

Sweet Tango has finished in the money in six of twelve starts on this turf course, including a $12,500 open company claiming race two starts back on June 11. She was bumped up to the $16,000 price last time but could not catch the wire-to-wire favorite Shesa Sweet Secret. I would expect her to improve off of that race dropping back down in price and could be the one to upset Miz Owell here at 6-1 on the morning line.

Miz Owell was heavily favored and victorious in a $7,500 claiming race April 24 at Laurel Park. Clay Brinson claimed her last time for $10,000 in a race she also was the winner as the favorite. She drops back down in price here and could prove to be the one to beat if the new conditioner can continue that same form she has shown as of late.

Lauren’s Powerplay will be dropping from allowance to the $7,500 claiming price. She was a winner on the turf at Sam Houston in a starter allowance race January 18. She has yet to finish in the money since, but has been facing allowance company at Sam Houston, Prairie Meadows and on the turf here June 30. She was likely outclassed in each of those races and would expect her to do better here racing for a claiming price.

Race Selections:

1st Place: #11 Sweet Tango
2nd Place: #1 Miz Owell
3rd Place: #3 Lauren’s Powerplay