Ender will go in race in a salty seven horse field in race seven.  He’ll break from post 2 with Quincy Hamilton aboard.  The race is another $15,000 optional claiming race over the dirt but THIS time we’re going 6 1/2 furlongs rather than the 5 1/2 last time.

Rolls Royce Deal (Diodoro/Arrieta) – Beat us last out when we finished 2nd.  We all know we surged a bit early and Ender got lazy up front.  Quincy got him going again but just too late.  Be assured that Quincy will have that in mind – he’s a professional who knows how to win.

Group 1 is in the paddock for this one.

ENDER (BROBERG/HAMILTON)

London Legacy (Van Winkle/Lindsay) – Gate to wire last out when Ender wasn’t on top of his game and blistered an 88 Beyer in the process.  This guy can certainly win to 6 1/2 furlongs and will be prominent early.

Awesome Emmit (Donlin/Goncalves) – Tried to push London Legacy last out but flattened out late.  He may be able to get closer with a 6 1/2 furlong race and will likely push London Legacy early.

Unleash the Beast (JSilva/Gonzalez) – Will absolutely be prominent early.  I’m sensing a pattern that I like…

Jerrys Pridenjoy (Richard/Hernandez) – Been running in allowance company and been getting close but not quite there.  A $15,000 optional is not much of a step down and will look to stalk and pounce.

I’m a G Six (Padilla/Loveberry) – Seems to prefer going longer though sprint efforts were in pretty salty allowances.  Should be trying to come from off the pace.

Ender is getting his preferred distance along with a decent amount of pace in the race to get after late.  By no means is this a lock for our boy, this is a good field, but the race sets up nicely for him and it’s hard to not be optimistic.  That said, it’s a horse race. London Legacy is no slouch and there are several solid allowance horses here that will be very hard to beat.  It should be a good one and we have a chance.

Laura Ray goes Saturday in a $7500 claiming race going a mile on the turf.  Nik Goodwin is on board and she’ll be breaking from the rail (post 1).  We really wanted a 5 furlong race at this level but one would not go so we can only run what we have in front of us.

Group 3 is in the paddock.

LAURA RAY (LITFIN/GOODWIN)

Deputy Dora (Westerman/Evans) – $2500 claim has since won at $10,000 and she’s hoit the board at this level and in a $15,000 optional.  She had a tough time against $16,000 claimers last out and drops down into this spot.

Miss Shawhan (Diodoro/Hamilton) – Won at $16,000 two starts back before faltering last time out at the same level.  She’ll be coming from off the pace and also drops hard into this level.

First Hunter (Robertson/Canchari) – Hard to see how, if First Hunter is on her game, that she doesn’t win this race. She’s won two in a row: a $50,000 stake against state breds and an open $25,000 claiming race.  She has the best Beyers and most class in the field, will be close to the pace – if not setting it – and really shouldn’t have a hard time with this group.

Cause to Wonder (MA Silva/Butler) – Solid 2nd at this level last out behind several of these in here at higher levels.  She may be close to the pace and try and push things along.

Ocean Dream (J Silva/Martin) – Finished just behind Cause to Wonder last out at this level but the sledding is going to be tougher in this race.

Raging Gold Digger (Berndt/Eikleberry) – Won a conditioned claimer two back at $25,000 and hasn’t missed the board since May 2018.  Will definitely be putting pressure on the field up front.

Gattaia (Diodoro/Arrieta) – Crushed a field of four when this race came off the turf last out at this level.  Has run best ‘off the turf’ but has hit the board recently over the sod in conditioned $16,000 claimers to open the meet.

This is a tough field.  Several solid class droppers including First Hunter.  She hasn’t wanted to rate and come from off the pace but may not possess the speed to battle the faster horses here.  Stalk and pounce will most likely be her best chance.  Realistically, if she can hit the board her day will be a success.

Next up: Ender race preview.

My apologies to you all that only get your Club news from the Blog!

I was away all week and when entries were drawn on Wednesday for Saturday I sent out a Tweet and then a more lengthy Facebook post on the Club page but whiffed on the follow up blog post.

Here are the details:

LAURA RAY: Race 4.   $7500 claiming race going a mile over the turf with Nik Goodwin up, post 1.  We wanted a 5 furlong race at this level but never got one so we can only write what is written so we go in the Mile.  Group 3 is back in the paddock for this one.

ENDER: Race 7. Ender was really feeling himself this week so Karl felt confident to not only bring him back this weekend but also to not drop him in class.  He’s back in in a $15,000 optional claimer with Quincy Hamilton but this time back to his favored 6.5 furlong distance.  He will be running from post 2. Back to Group 1 for the paddock.

A race preview and location for Club seating (if any) will be coming up later.

Again, my apologies to the group.  For future reference, if you are on Twitter, we are @CBY_Racing_Club; if you are a Facebooker, all you need to do is search for Canterbury Racing Club and “like” the page to get it on your feed.

What more appropriate day to close out the Club season than Closing Day of racing?

We will be gathering in Silks for one last time between 9-11 on Saturday, September 14 whether we have a horse or two or not!  We’ll have beverages, some pastries/donuts and probably see the last horses on the grounds going through their paces before moving on.

We can talk about the season, the future, next year and whatever else…one last chance to get together and enjoy the Club.

Please RSVP to me at ted@grevelisracing.com by Thursday, September 5 so we can get a head count.  If you have friends that may be interested in Clubbing next year (or if you’re following the blog and want to know more specifics!), bring them along!

Keep an eye on this space for race previews coming later today!

Most likely…both horses are doing well.  Ender came out of his race okay and will take another week to recover before heading back out.  We’ll likely come back at or around where we claimed him to try and get another win before the home team.

Laura Ray will be entering this week for the weekend.  We REALLY wanted to sprint her over the grass but can’t get a five furlong race to go for her at the $7500 level.  We will most likely have to come back longer, which is not ideal but we also can only run the races that are written/filled.

Finally, we’re currently looking into the possibility of having our annual “close out coffee” which, this year, would be the morning of closing day, September 14.  Nothing is official yet but I wanted to let you know so you have an idea.  One way or another, we’ll put out a post on the blog soon.

While that was certainly not the result we were hoping for, we can take something very important away from the race that we sometimes forget: horses are flesh and blood and, sometimes – no matter how good they may be at it – they don’t feel like working.  Today was one of those days for Ender.

He broke well and took himself back a little bit for Quincy.  Nothing too unusual there, that’s what he does and we know he’s going to want to come from out it.  As the top four horses battled for the lead we were about seven out and seemed to be ready to take advantage of the race falling apart with so much speed up front.

Quincy asked Ender for run heading through the turn.  No response.  Asked again straightening for home.  Again, no response.  He just didn’t give anything today and, against a group as talented and quick as this one, you can’t not bring your A game and get away with it. He seemed to come back in good order so we’ll let Karl and Clemente get him back to the barn and give him the once over, take some time and get ready for one more try before the end of the meet.  We’ll look for something longer and perhaps try and get some class relief as well.

Meanwhile we’ll turn our attention to Laura Ray and see if we can get her in going short on the grass as soon as possible.

Ender heads postward tomorrow in race 7 under Quincy Hamilton.  The race is another $15,000 optional claiming race going 5.5 furlongs over the main track.  We will be breaking from post six in the seven horse field and are in for the $15,000 tag.

Group 2 is in the paddock.

Awesome Emmit (Donlin/Goncalves) – A speedy race at this level but fell short at the wire.  Losing the half furlong should help, though it has not in the past.  Interesting to see if the horse is rounding into form or if the last race was an aberration.

Hot Item (Bethke/Butler) – Hasn’t shown a lot since the claim but was quicker early than past races.  That was the same 6.5 furlong race that we just missed in last out.

London Legacy (Van Winkle/Lindsay) – Claimed in every race of the last four, he has won one for those four with three seconds. Definitely quick early, will be trying to win first off the claim for David Van Winkle.

Dixie Fever (Diodoro/Arrieta) – A winner over many of these last out at this distance, he closed into a zippy pace to win.  Only 3rd race back off about six weeks off so will certainly be tough again tomorrow.

Kota Copy (Diodoro/Canchari) – Horse has shown both early speed and has also attempted to rate was second to the horse on our outside, French Quarter, by 1/2 a length two back going six furlongs, giving up the lead late.

ENDER (BROBERG/HAMILTON)

French Quarter (Berndt/Eikleberry) – Stalk and pounce trip two back at six furlongs resulted in a snappy 84 Beyer Speed Figure.  Came back and had a rougher time with it – same level, same distance – finishing 4th.

This is an interesting race.  Ender comes into it sharp but we have one thing working against us: the distance.  Five and a half furlongs isn’t ideal.  However there is plenty of speed in the race and we should have something to run at late.  The track hasn’t been playing particularly kindly to closers lately but we’ll be coming hard late.  I just wonder if we’ll be able to get there before the wire or if we’ll run out of racetrack first.

Because of Corgies and Cupcakes we do not have a space tomorrow.

GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY!

Here is the latest financial statement as of July 31: CRC 2019 Running Financials – August 1

Ender will be back in action on Sunday afternoon in the day’s 7th race.  Quincy Hamilton will be back aboard for the $15,000 optional claiming race going 5.5 furlongs over the main track.

The race is a small field, seven horses, and we drew post six.

There does seem to be some speed up front, though not as much as I would have thought for 5.5 furlongs.  It will be interesting to see this one unfold.

Group 2 will be in the paddock for this one.

We were also hoping to get Laura Ray in this weekend but that race did not fill.  That may result in an alternate plan for her if we can’t get the right level of race for short on the turf to fill next weekend – most likely another try at 7.5 furlongs and see if we can get her home.

We are looking into getting a day for a closing get together.  Traditionally that has been the second to last weekend of the meet, but one of my (Ted) sons decided to get married that weekend so we will be away, but we’re looking to see if something else may be available. We will keep you posted on that and a seating spot for Sunday – keeping in mind that Sunday is Corgis and Cupcakes day at Canterbury and space could be tough to come by.

Look for a race preview on Saturday and we’ll have more info then on space and, hopefully, on the potential get together.

Both Ender and Laura Ray came out of their races without issue.  It’s been a week now so they’ll each get one or two more and we’ll be at it again.  I can’t promise that we’ll be able to get them both back in on the same night again but we’ll get at least one more for each before the end of the meet…maybe two.

Laura Ray has been keen to go so we may go ahead and let her go, sending her short of the turf.

Ender will be back sprinting as well with 6.5 being the ideal distance but anything from 5.5 to 6.5 can work.  A lot depends on the composition of the race and the pace involved.

But both are doing well and both shall be back soon!

WOW!  We were so close…  Ender seized the lead in the lane and looked like he would prevail before he was collared right at the wire.  We lost the head bob ibn a really tough loss.

After talking to Quincy and Karl, the horse just does not know what to do when he strikes to the lead.  There was too much time left in the race and he relaxed.  He picked right back up when he heard the hoof beats and saw his rivals but it was too late and we lost the head bob.

Ender picks up a check for $4000 for his efforts and ran one helluva race.  He’ll come back, rest up and we’ll get right back at them.

Laura Ray just didn’t have any punch in the lane in her race.  Nik Goodwin did a nice job in placing her in good position all the way around the racetrack.  She saved ground and had room to maneuver but when it came time to lay out and do some real running, she didn’t go.

We’ll do the same with her and maybe her next race shake things up a bit.  The last couple of races she’s been particularly keen to run so maybe we go shorter and let her?  We’ll let Nevada work with her the next few weeks and we’ll go from there.

Thanks to all that came out to support our runners last night!  We certainly didn’t lack for any excitement.