With the State Fair shuttered for the year, it’s time for the Great Canterbury Racing Club Get Together! Well…coffee, donuts and horses working out on what looks like is going to be a beautiful day Saturday.

We’ll get started right around 8:30 and break up around 11 or when we break up. Workouts end around 10 when we’ll have the opportunity to talk about this year and next year. There will be some folks from the Alumni Group there as well so we can talk about a ‘next step’ group if anyone is interested.

Also, if you’ve been following us and want to get involved next season – come on out! We’d love to have you, answer any questions you may have and give you a chance to talk to present Clubbers.

I’ll ask Clay to hold off Vanderboom’s gallop, if practicable, until around 9 AM for us, as well.

So please RSVP below as we are closing out the count today! See you Saturday!

Looks like the big draw today will be wiener dogs and not Vanderboom Ridge. The race is coming off the turf and Clay thinks the track will not be to the horse’s liking by this afternoon so it didn’t make sense to run him over a hard or muddy race track – especially after what we saw last time out.

We already know of two other scratches out of that race so we’re hopeful that it gets brought back again so we can still run one more time before the end of the meet.

This most definitely has not been a great year with the scratches, injury, etc. but this isn’t an easy business either. Unfortunately we are experiencing nearly all the tough things racing has to offer in a single summer.

We’ll keep you posted and hope to see many of you on Saturday morning at the coffee and donuts gathering.

Amazingly there is a spot in Silks for us to use on Labor/Wiener Dog Day so look for the reserved signs. It’s going to be a very busy day at Canterbury so the spot should prove to be very helpful Monday. We will be over after the 4th race (if not before) and Group 1 will head on over to the paddock. Remember that the horses are led up to the paddock along the Continental Diamond Bridle Path next to Silks and that’s a nice photo opportunity about 25 minutes before the race.

Additionally, please don’t forget to RSVP below for the coffee and donuts the morning of September 10 (next Saturday) so that we can get a close approximation of numbers so we don’t order food for 100 and only get 10!

On to the race!

The race is race 5, a mile and 70 yard $7500 claiming race over the turf where we will break from post 5 with Dean Butler aboard. Approximate post time is 3:13 pm.

Kluszewski (Silva/Mojica) – entered as a Main Track Only entry, he’d be tough against these on a wet track but as of now (Sunday morning) we’re only looking at occasional showers later today and spotty t-storms very early Monday so, hopefully, we’ll stay on the turf tomorrow and he will not start.

Cocico (Bends/Velazquez) – His two latest were relatively flat efforts over the turf and this group looks a little saltier than the last pair.

Shoot the Loop (McFarlane/Goodwin) – Been running at lower on the dirt since arriving in Shakopee save for his last race at this level on the turf where he finished 8th.

Shipmaker (Bends/Nolan) – A very fine effort against higher in his last over the slop. Returns to the turf where he had a tough time carrying his speed 7 1/2 furlongs – today he moves to a mile and seventy yards but could be the speed of the field and Nolan can ration it.

VANDERBOOM RIDGE (BRINSON/BUTLER)

Tiger D (Rhone/Stevens) – While not all folks had hoped coming to Shakopee, his best efforts at Tampa make him dangerous in here, the lowest claiming level of his career.

Mimito Boy (Donlin/Mojica) – Very successful spring at Fonner but has had a harder time here. Returns to the turf after a very long time away.

Affirmed Cure (Peters/Canchari) – Minnesotan has had a bit of a tough summer, but he drops in class a bit and returns to the turf.

Behr Strike (Westerman/Hernandez) – Has slid a bit since his 2nd place finish three back but has shown the talent to be competitive at this level.

Megastar (Hop/Coddington) – Has really had a tough run here this summer after some moderate success in Arizona. Best off the pace.

Gentle As A Breeze (Van Winkle/Ramgeet) – Showed some speed in his last but faded late. Comes back a week after that effort and either benefitted by the longer trip or may be a bit tired late.

Saturday’s Light (Padilla/Delorme) – Speedy gelding will have its work cut for it from the 12 post. Even if 1 is out, that only moves him one spot in and will need to navigate a pair of turns early and try not to be trapped wide.

I really like our chances in here. There is some speed sprinkled in the race and if they all go, Dean should have Boomer in a really nice spot early. The class drop here should help but, objectively, while he was competitive at $20,000 early in the meet but still couldn’t win, nor could he win at $10,000 when we claimed him. The same can even be said last time in that tough $16,000 race. So…while I like us, it is not going to be easy.

Tiger D could perk up on the class drop and Gentle As A Breeze likes the course and might be able to get early position – though the speed to his inside will make it hard.

We could sit off early if the three with proclivity toward early speed go and, if they don’t, we have enough to take the lead and hold it so we’ll see how the race unfolds. Fortunately Dean can handle anything that comes his way and has a tremendous clock in his head to judge pace.

Should the races come off the turf, we most likely will scratch after that last effort unless the track dries out enough to NOT be sloppy or muddy in time for us to stay in. I’ll announce any scratch here and on Twitter (@CBY_Racing_Club) as soon as I know.

GOOD LUCK!

Vanderboom Ridge will make his second start for the Club on Monday afternoon in the special Labor Day matinee.

Boomer will break from post 5 with leading rider Dean Butler aboard. The $7500 claiming race is a mile and seventy yards over the turf course and is a large field of 12. It looks as if the weather is going to hold off until Tuesday, which is nice considering the way he handled (or didn’t handle) the off going last out.

Group 1 (Feldman – Laborde) is in the paddock on what promises to be a very busy day with the Weiner dog finals and the holiday Monday. The odds are good that we will not have a spot together, but we’ll check.

Good luck!

At the bottom you’ll see our latest financial statement. After a few of these, they are pretty self explanatory. That said, you can see the spike in vet charges as we worked on Miz Owell.

Speaking of Miz Owell, she is off the track now and we are looking for a home for her. There has been some interest but no concrete offers yet except for the “if you can’t find her a place, we’ll take her off your hands”, which is fine, but she has value and you should get some value for her. Additionally, I want whoever it is that buys her to have a real interest in her and her well-being. So we are now paying off track rates which helps a lot and, hopefully, we’ll find her a home shortly.

Vanderboom Ridge is doing well and we are looking to enter him as soon as we can. We really think we can get a win out of him before we leave for Chicago. That’s the goal now – get us in the winners’ circle!

We will be having a coffee and donuts get together so we can all get together one more time before the end of the meet. The day will be September 10 and we’ll start around 8:30 AM somewhere along the apron – location to be announced. All Club members are invited as are any folks that have interest in joining us next year. There may even be some alumni group members there are well.

There won’t be much of a formal program though I will talk a little bit about the year, where we are going next and what to look forward to next year as well as answering any questions from folks that may be looking at a larger opportunity in the future.

If you are going to be joining us, please RSVP with a comment below so we can keep track of the numbers. I hope you’ll join us!

CRC 2016 Running financials – JUL