Tag Archives: Horse Ownership

2015 Racing Club

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If you’ve been a member in the past you already know this information but if you’ve been following along wondering when you would get a chance to join up – this is for you.

Members will pay $250 to join the Club. There are no additional fees and the only additional expense will be if we are fortunate enough to get into the Winners’ Circle, there will be small charge for a photo.

The Club ends at the end of 2015 or when we have sold off our horses. As an example, two years ago we closed in November because our last horse was claimed then and it made no sense to claim a horse for only a few weeks but in 2014 we raced straight into December before we had our horses claimed away.

Members get admission to Canterbury Park for the season as well as, if available, a special location to watch the races, rotating paddock access and – again, if we’re lucky – access to the Winners’ Circle. We will conduct a few backstretch tours during the season as well so we can visit the barns and get a glimpse at life on the backside.

You get to follow YOUR horse(s) during the year!

Members can only get back as much money as they put in. This is a not for profit venture and is used as an educational experience to get people familiar with all the ins and outs of race horse ownership and “pull back the curtain”, if you will, and de-mystify the game.

We’re in the midst of our “open enrollment” period, if you will. We’ll be looking to close out by February 15, 2015. Clay Brinson will once again be our trainer. Last year we had two horses, Maryjean and Terice, and between the two of them we were able to win 6 races and only finished off the board once, I believe. Not bad at all. That bar is pretty high to beat this season but we’re going to give it our best shot.

Sign up forms are at the bottom of this post. Please let us know if you have any questions!

2015 Horse_ Ownership_Club_Membership_Agreement

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A Second Group (Maybe) For 2015

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As you all know, the Club is ginormous – which is a very good thing, I think! We try and keep the Club’s focus on the educational aspect of racing, giving everyone the ability to “pull back the curtain” on horse racing and, hopefully, having some fun doing it.

One thing I think we’ve all noticed is that there are folks who would like to step up to the next level: the ability to carry horses over from season to season; maybe buy a better horse and run at higher levels; having a profit motive, among other things. The problem, I think, is that the next step is a smaller racing partnership that offers folks entry at $2000 or $2500 – quite a leap from the $250 buy in now for the Club.

I’m thinking of offering a special partnership group ONLY for folks that have been in the Club. This would be an “intermediate” group, if you will. The buy in will be less than a ‘regular’ partnership (though higher than the base Club), there will still be free admission for the members and, if I can arrange it, discount winners’ circle photos (should we be lucky enough to win) and a meeting location to watch the races (when available). There will also be an attempt to make money for the members so there will be tax consequences from year to year as well as a downside risk – the track will not be the safety net for this group. If the group looks at a deficit, members will be billed for the cost.

The basic parameters will be (roughly, we’re still working on the specifics):

$1,000 buy in
50 member limit (25 member minimum)
Clay Brinson will train
Admission for the season
Carry over of horses
Members CAN make money (though NOT guaranteed)
Members responsible for proportional amount of any shortfalls
Group will have it’s own name and LLC
Canterbury will not have an affiliation with this group

Group communication will be handled through a private Yahoo! group that will be specifically for the group only as opposed to the open blog for the Club. While we will be running the Club via GRS, ownership will not be under Grevelis Racing but under the group name as a separate ownership entity. We will be looking to either claim or privately purchase a horse with Clay and, if the group is filled up, we would look at possibly two horses around the $15,000 price point or a single horse that might be closer to $25,000 that we can hopefully compete at a higher level.

The Canterbury Racing Club and it’s parameters and primary mission will still exist and, hopefully, continue to be popular with fans. This is designed for folks that may be ready to move on but not quite ready to jump in THAT deeply.

I’d like those folks that are interested to email me at ted@grevelisracing.com and let me know. Obviously if the interest isn’t there we won’t go forward with this but it seems to be the right time to offer a group like this. This way I can get a head count and we can determine if we will move forward with the group.

And We’re Off…2014 Style

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Those of you already in the Club got the email yesterday, for those of you following along on the blog – here we go, we’re launching the 2014 Canterbury Racing Club and we’d love to have you!

A quick rundown for folks unfamiliar with how the Club operates:

Members will pay $250 to join the Club. There are no additional fees and the only additional expense will be if we are fortunate enough to get into the Winners’ Circle, there will be small charge for a photo.

The Club ends at the end of 2014 or when we have sold off our horses. As an example, last year we closed in November because our last horse was claimed then and it made no sense to claim a horse for only a few weeks.

Members get admission to Canterbury Park for the season as well as, if available, a special location to watch the races, rotating paddock access and – again, if we’re lucky – access to the Winners’ Circle. We will conduct a few backstretch tours during the season as well so we can visit the barns and get a glimpse at life on the backside.

You get to follow YOUR horse(s) during the year!

A couple of changes from last year’s club: earlier closing date and Winners Circle photos.

CLOSING DATE

We will be closing the membership on February 28, 2014. Last year we literally were down to the final day of the Hawthorne meet when Ask Eddy was claimed. Of course that turned out well but it is tough to get into a spot where you ‘have to’ claim a horse. The number of horses the Club will own will depend upon the number of members: the more members, the better chance we have of having multiple horses.

PHOTOS

Because there were a large number of pictures unclaimed we will be using the following procedure:

– A limited number of Winners Circle photos will be available at the gift shop as soon as we can get them printed. Similar to past years it will probably take a couple of days to get them there.

– There will be a $10 charge per photo. The list price of a single photo is $25 so we will heavily subsidize the purchase price.

– When the initial supply is exhausted, you can purchase a picture at the gift shop in advance and your name will go on a list. We will hope to have the additional pictures available by the second racing day after ordering and you can pick them up then.

In this way we will eliminate the waste of purchasing photos that are never claimed and that money can stay within the Club. I hope that we have plenty of photos to worry about this year! Heather Frisbie (heather@grevelisracing.com) will be coordinating photos as well as taking more photos of her own for us this year.

I already spoke to Clay Brinson and he is excited to be on board again this season and is very happy that we’ll have an additional 4 weeks to claim a horse, allowing us to be a bit more discriminating.

For those of you rejoining, check your inbox. Jeff has sent out an email to all of you with the instructions on rolling over your membership. For those of you that will be new this year, click on the agreement below to read the details.

Payment can be made by credit card, cash, or check made to Canterbury Park. You’re always welcome to contact me directly (ted@grevelisracing.com) but the easiest way to sign up is to please contact Jeff Maday at 952.496.6408 or jmaday@canterburypark.com to make payment arrangements.

Canterbury Park
c/o Jeff Maday
1100 Canterbury Road
Shakopee, MN 55379

See you at The Park!

2014 Horse_ Ownership_Club_Membership_Agreement

Spring Dawns and Sign-Up Deadline Looms

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The first day of spring dawned this morning over Shakopee with a brisk 7 degree temperature and more snow than should be legal on the ground this time of year.  But you may have noticed that though the temperature didn’t get above freezing yesterday, there was still some melting going on and that’s because the sun is higher and stronger in the sky and that means it’s almost time to go racing!

Indeed, in places as far flung as Arkansas, Louisiana, Arizona, Florida, Illinois and even at training centers here in Minnesota, horses are gearing up and getting ready for the May 17th opening of Canterbury Park.  Horses aren’t the only animals getting ready for the season, we humans at the Racing Club are gearing up as well – and if you or your friends want to be a part of it, there are only 11 days left to get signed up!

I spent some time in Chicago last week visiting with Clay and he’s ready to get rolling as is Bernell in Florida if we end up with enough sign ups.  Currently we’ve eclipsed last year’s numbers (roughly at 150 members) and are excited about the possibilities that this brings: more members means more horses which hopefully translates into more starts and more shots at the winners’ circle – and more fun at Canterbury all summer long!

So if you haven’t signed up yet and have meant to or have friends that have been saying they are but haven’t, don’t delay – time is running out.  As we say at the track: “Don’t get shut out!”

2013 Racing Club Ready to Launch

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The Canterbury Racing Club 2013 is now being formed! You have the opportunity to be involved again this year for the very reasonable price of $250. This club will teach you more about the costs, decisions and day-to-day operations involved in owning a racehorse.

If you were a member in the 2012 Racing Club, you can simply roll-over your remaining 2012 membership balance of $159.72 and submit an additional $90.28 along with a completed club membership form.

There are a few changes in the way the club will be run this year. With Andrew Offerman moving into Canterbury’s Live Racing and Mutuels departments and my desire to separate Canterbury management from the day-to-day Racing Club decisions such as claiming horses, we have found an experienced manager to run the club.

Ted Grevelis, a Board Member of the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association, has managed partnerships for a number of years and is also an excellent communicator, which is key to this club meeting its goal of being educational for all members. As the manager, Ted will receive a monthly fee which is explained in the membership form. I believe this to be a very reasonable solution considering other factors.

Here’s a self-introduction from Ted:

Ted

We all have a moment when the racing bug bit us and we couldn’t shake it off. Mine was
the 1986 Preakness Stakes. I knew it was all over for me because as a 20-year-old in the Pimlico infield I was captivated by the horses and not the party/meat market that was raging all around me.

I continued on as a fan for several years frequenting the tracks around my native New England as I finished up my government degree at Colby College. After graduation, I even paid my way through a year of graduate school at the University of Maryland punching tickets at Pimlico and Laurel Racetracks. Life eventually intervened and between owning a restaurant and then moving halfway around the world to Guam, racing took a decided backseat for nearly seven years.

A return to the mainland and settling in the race book Mecca of Las Vegas put racing back on the front burner and into my consciousness again, but it wasn’t until I moved to Minnesota in 2005 that I dove into ownership. I started as a small partner in a California stable and was able to see our claim, King Mobay, finish 5th in the Cal Cup Classic.

My appetite properly whet, I turned my attention closer to home and became a partner in two Minnesota bred siblings: Somerset Sam and Somerset Wish. During this experience, my co-workers decided that they wanted to be involved in the sport and that resulted in my forming my first partnership and Grevelis Racing Stable. It was around that time that I also started my blog, www.grevelisracing.blogspot.com, to chronicle the experiences of being a small time owner.

We worked with Canterbury Hall of Fame trainer Bernell Rhone and claimed our first horse, Fizzy Pop for $10,000. He won his second time over the Canterbury strip and gave the stable its first outright win. If I wasn’t hooked before, I was then! The trip to the winner’s circle was like it was in slow motion and the joy was indescribable.

Since then we’ve privately purchased or claimed several horses including multiple Canterbury winner Tabby Lane (3 for 4 over the strip in 2011) and a 2-year old filly named E Sveikata who was purchased for $16,000 and claimed from us after her maiden win at Calder for $32,000. Not all the horses have worked out but we’ve been able to maintain a 20% winning percentage and 51% in the money in nearly 90 starts with earnings over $205,000. We’ve raced in Minnesota, Florida, Oklahoma, Iowa and California.

This year, in addition to the Canterbury Racing Club we will hopefully be racing a 2-year-old Minnesota bred filly named Elusive Edition, we have a group looking to claim a mid-level horse at Tampa Bay Downs and are in the process of sending Tabby Lane to the breeding shed for a mating with the Storm Cat sire, Eastwood Dacat. I’m also heading into my third year in covering Canterbury for the Daily Racing Form and serve on the board of directors of the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association. All of this is sandwiched around my day job as Business Development Manager for FutureLogic Inc, the market leader in printers for the gaming industry.

I’m looking forward to working with you all and hope to have a successful and fun 2013!

Ted will do an excellent job with this club and it is everyone’s goal to grow the club this year and have even more horses, possibly even a quarter horse. We will be looking in both Florida and Illinois for prospects and Ted will work closely with the trainer or trainers (depending on the size and makeup of the stable).

While Andrew and I won’t be involved in running the club on a daily basis, I will still be very involved in providing information and updates which Ted will pass along through the blog. I now have on staff a videographer that will be able to provide more visuals and educational pieces. I am always available to answer questions and take suggestions.

Members will again have free admission for the season and when possible we will reserve an area for the group on race days. Finally, Curtis Sampson has agreed to be the licensed owner of record for the club this year, much like John Morgan did in 2012.

If you were a member in 2012 and would like to be a member in 2013, please download and return this form along with payment: Rollover from 2012 to 2013 Racing Club

If you are new to the club and would like to participate in 2013, please download and return this form along with payment: 2013 Racing Club Membership Form

Sincerely,

Jeff Maday
Canterbury Park

Tour Information & Another Claim Attempt Gone Bad

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First of all, we attempted to claim King of Rhythm out of today’s first race today. However, King of Rhythm acted up in the starting gate, and because he was scratched, claims were revoked. We continue to try to find a horse but you are getting a first hand experience of just how tough it can be.

It sounds like there were 3 claims in on the horse, so it may not have worked out. However, it is still disappointing.

Tour Date Picked

On a brighter note, we are happy let you know that we will have a backside tour on Wednesday night (6/27) at 5:30PM. We will meet up and take a tour of the barn, see your horses and talk a little bit about what goes on in the barn area on a daily basis.

If that doesn’t work with your schedule, we will be planning a Saturday tour date in the near future.

Please e-mail Jeff (jmaday@canterburypark.com) or Andrew (aofferman@canterburypark.com) and let us know if you will be attending.

Racing Club Update with May Bills & Info on a New Horse

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As a few of you have mentioned, Clay did claim a horse for the Club tonight out of the Claiming Series Race (Lovely Tak). Lovely Tak ran sixth and doesn’t really appear to have an affinity for mud as she has never performed well in it during her career.

The hope is to run her back as the Claiming Series continues. For those that have not read up on the Claiming Series, it gives you a chance to run your $3,500 horse for a $25,000 purse. More information is available on the Claiming Series here.

Jeff and I will go back to the barn in the coming days and find out a little more about Lovely Tak and about how she came out of the race.

Racing Has its Ups and Downs

As we’ve tried to explain to you all throughout this journey, racing is a roller coaster ride. Unfortunately, earlier today, Clay called to tell us that Great Bam’s quarter crack was worse than anticipated and that it will require special treatment, stall rest and protective bandaging.

Obviously, this is not the news that we wanted to hear. Clay and the farrier believe that this issue will require 3-4 weeks to fully heal before he can resume training. Therefore, we’re likely looking at August before Bam may be able to race.

We’ll continue talking to Clay to find out the plans and the progress that Bam is making. He was very disappointed when he gave us this news as he was expecting this horse to run big here this summer.

Canterbury Racing Club Financial Update

Next, here’s an update on the Club’s finances through May (less vet expenses):

Cash Balance at the end of April is $34,856.45

Less the following expenses:

Thyroid Treatment & Phenylbutazone (Great Bam) – $60

Shipping (Great Bam from Chicago to MN) – $350

Farrier (Great Bam) – $120

May Training (Great Bam) – $1,860 (31 days at $60 per day)

Claim of Downerbythemeadow – $3,500

May Training (Downerbythemeadow) – $360

May Dental Work (Downerbythemeadow) – $85

Cash Balance on May 31 – $28,466.45

Remember, this doesn’t really reflect the current state of the account it only deals with where were at on May 31. We have collected $3,500 for the claim of Downerbythemeadow plus more than $2,400  in revenue for the second place finish on June 8. Plus, there are vet bills to pay for May.

The revenue will be realized when we walk you through this information for June.

Obviously, there is a lot of information to digest in here. Please post questions and comments if you have them.

June 12 Racing Club Update

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As a few of you have mentioned, Great Bam did work out this morning. He went five furlongs in 1:03 and 1/5 which was ranked 8/8 at the distance.

Clay reported that he noticed a small quarter crack on one of Great Bam’s hooves after the conclusion of the workout. A quarter crack is a crack in the side wall of the hoof. When detected early is can usually be fixed relatively easily through the application of an acrylic patch.

For those that were in the group last year, Crown the Cat dealt with something similar and didn’t have any problems continuing to run throughout the summer. Clay plans on having the farrier come over in the morning to determine the best way to patch it up and, at this time, doesn’t believe it will impact his plans for Bam to race within the next week or so.

As of now, the plan is to get the new Condition Book when it comes out later this week and point Bam toward the next race he fits in. Hopefully, that means he’ll have a race within the next 7-10 days.

Where to Find Another Horse?

There have been a lot of inquires as to where to find the next horse. At this point, we are looking at claiming a horse out of the Claiming Series races. The claiming series is an opportunity for $3,500 claiming horses to run for a $25,000 purse in early August. The first one of these races takes place on Thursday night (Race 6).

Click here to learn more about the Claiming Series.

If you really want to get into the details of the Claiming Series, full rules can be found here.

Per usual, please send in a comment if you have questions.

Downerbythemeadow Entered for Friday

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Downerbythemeadow has been entered in a 6 furlong, non-winners of two races in the year (races for $3,000 or less excluded) on Friday, June 8. We’re in the fifth race which will go off a little after 9:00PM. It’s a field of seven where she should hopefully be competitive.

You can see the entries for the race by clicking here.

Jeff and I will get back to the group later in the week with details about paddock procedures, group seating possibilities, etc.

Great Bam Works Out

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Great Bam worked Saturday morning, covering four furlongs in 47 seconds.
Clay reported this morning that the workout went according to plan and Great Bam came back well from that work.
Following a workout, a horse is usually walked in the shed row for a couple of days. Clay watched Great Bam walk this morning and everything looks good. He likely will work Bam one more time before we have the opportunity to race.
Ownership involves a great amount of hope and patience.Bam went through one set-back but seems to be back on course. That is where the hope and patience come into play. Clay thinks Bam will win here. The Brinson record thus far gives us know reason to doubt that.