Saturday Morning-10:00am-June 30th-2007
REDSTONE RUCKUS GOES TONIGHT AT BIGM WITH CAMPBELL!!
CARLSPUR DRAWS POST #3 FOR TUESDAY AT MONTICELLO!!
ORAGAMI ARTIST DROPS IN TONIGHT FOR THURSDAY AT BIGM!!
DELRAY LOOKING FOR A FAST TRAINING MILE TODAY!!
PARTNERSHIP #37 KEEPS LOOKING!!
SALERNO-TREZZA PARTNERS BBQ TONIGHT AT 6PM AT BIGM!!
Our hope was to have 2-3 horses racing tonight for the ST Partners BBQ in Paddock Park (6pm-10:30pm)-but Redstone Ruckus will be our only representative. For the people that are registered and coming-come into the side Paddock Park entrance and give your ticket for admission and a program. Then you'll need to find the person near our tent area who will give us our admission to our tent-there will be 3. Food and gates open at 6pm-and served till 10pm. Beer till 10:30pm.
The Salerno-Trezza Partners race that we sponsored is Race #9-while RR is in race #4. If interested-we'll have some fun with a betting mutual fund-managed by Perry Lin and me-with some guidance from handicapper Rusty Nash. Perry's been red hot and has been quite lucky later picking winners-and I'll add the daily doubles and pick 3's to the mix. We'll make it reasonable with shares at $20-and we'll end after the 9th race-which is ST Partners's race. See me before or just after race #1. BTW-we'll be watching the world's best Trotter-in Mr. MuscleMan and the world's best older pacer in Lis Mara tonight. With the great weather-we might get to witness a world record.
Redstone Ruckus has his work cut out for him-full field of 10-tough field filled with speed. We're on the inside with post #3 with John Campbell-so we'll either get shuffled out of it if everyone moves early-or we could wind up with a decent trip if the movement is fast and furious early-and then settles down. I think this 2nd scenario is more likely-which could be interesting. He's 15/1 in the program and I think he'll go off that or more. This will be Perry's selection no matter what.
Oragami Artist drops in tonight for NW$6,500-and we're naming Sears. I'm praying that they use this race and we get in-otherwise we missed a full week and be in the same boat as last week. With all the 2 yr. old races-it's 50-50% that we'll get in. He fits this condition-so let's hope we get in and draw well for a change.
Carlspur drew well-post #3 for Monticello's WO on Tuesday. We named Matt Romano again-not knowing that Mark Beckwith was going to be at the track. I really do think that he fits this race extremely well-so hopefully he's be up to a good race on Tuesday.
Delray is training as we speak-hopefully going a controlled and good fast mile around 2.08-2.10. Would love to hear he was clean gaited-under control and under wraps-wouldn't that be nice. Then a decision would be do we qualify or train again-let's see what happens.
Partnership #37 might be sitting on the sidelines again-Dreamy Eyes still has my top figure-but he's in RR's race and I don't know if we'll have an options here with 2 horses in the same class. I say we're 25% to claim here. Boo Bugg went into a NW3 race. And I didn't see anything else that I really-really liked. Austin's Best dropped into our race for $50k-which is quite interesting-he was super good his last 2 starts and I know he'll be good on a 1/2 mile-which is a month away. I just don't want to see Non Commital A-who moved up to a high condition and has post #10-win-because he's in race #9-which is our race. He is the favorite-please-please NO.
See you all tonight-let's have some fun and a little luck. My cell is 201-757-7405 with any questions
Wednesday Morning-9:00am-June 27th-2007
CARLSPUR CLOSES LATE IN 2ND START BACK!!
ORAGAMI ARTIST GUTS OUT A DECENT 3RD WITH SEARS!!
REDSTONE RUCKUS DRAWS POST #3 FOR SATURDAY!!
BEAUTIFUL WEATHER PREDICTED FOR ST PARTNERS BBQ ON SATURDAY!!
Waiting to get updated from Tony-so we'll update our report within another day. I thought we closed out the week last Saturday on a good note-getting a nice training mile from Delray and then a decent effort from Oragami Artist at the Meadowlands. The disappointment that I had was the fact that we stayed pat with Partnership #37-not claiming either Dreamy Eyes-Boo Bugg or Dream Proof. Everyone has to agree with who we have as our 1st selection-and while all agreed on all 3 colts-we just couldn't agree on that #1 choice. So-we'll try again-keep looking and try and make the right short term decision.
Carlspur started this week off-with a real tough assignment in his 2nd start off a long-long layoff. With outside post #8-we gave strick instructions to Matt Romano to NOT leave-take back and close with good energy-money wasn't an issue in this start. Even though there was a late scratch-our plans didn't change. So-Matt took Carlspur back-it didn't look like any flow was developing-it was hard to see Carl because he was too far back-and then he was way outside closing. I did see the chart-which had Carlspur 10 lengths out in the stretch-and had him closing in 28+-to finish 3 lengths out-making up 7 lengths. Without speaking with the driver-Bernie or Tony-I'm thinking that this was a nice tightner-even though it didn't look like we were competitive. I'll have more to report when I hear back.
Oragami Artist put in a decent performance-not flashy-after Sears left hard for the lead-which he got pretty easy-the BIGM shuffled started and there was no way to stop it. It did look like Sears wanted to cut the mile-looking over his shoulder-but he saw the 4 horses coming and decided that this wasn't the time to park anyone out-a real good decision. Last year's good 3 yr. old-Bono Best got the lead-opened up 8 lengths and drew away. OA tried to get back into the race-grinding it out-and nailing 3rd-which was nice for us. I still haven't seen the flashy closing kick yet since our return-which is a question we still need answered.
Delray trained a good mile in 2.15-going relaxed and finishing strong. I know when he gets with another horse-he'll be on the iron-but for now-he's a different horse-which I think is a good thing. Our plans are for a quick mile on Saturday-going around 2.10 or maybe even 2.08. Then we'll see what to do next-but that's our goal this week.
Redstone Ruckus used last week to get turned out-prepping for Saturday night. He'll have a training mile today. We drew post #3-with John Campbell-dropping in for $50,000. It's a full and tough field-and it's race #4-so it should be an exciting night.
Plans for this week seem like this-Oragami Artist did not get into the NW$7,500 condition for Saturday night-disappointing-we wanted to have a 2nd horse to root for at our BBQ-looks like Thursday night has a NW$6,500 race which he is eligible for. Carlspur is eligible for NW$8,000 at Yonkers-maybe even for Monday night. Could be an option for us-versus the Monticello trip. RR is in to go-Delray will have his training mile and Partnership #37 will look at some of the same horses-Boo Bugg went into a condition race-and Non Commital A-who won his race easy-went into a higher condition race as well.
As for our BBQ on Saturday evening-the Meadowlands will open up our area at 6pm-so you can show up any time you want. You enter in the Paddock Park area entrance-which is to the far left of the grandstand-or halfway down the stretch. There should be a sign-turn left and look for our tent. Believe the food starts at around 6:15pm-but I'll find out more today. Bring your tickets-you'll need it to get in. The weather is predicted to be perfect. And the racing looks awesome-with some great stakes races on the card-with horses like Mr. MuscleMan-Lis Mara-Boulder Creek-Maltese Artist and more. There actually is a non betting-NJ Stakes race with only 4 horse in that will be raced at 6:45pm as a non betting race.
Saturday Morning-9:00am-June 23rd-2007
ORAGAMI ARTIST TRIES TO GET BACK TO WINNING WAYS!!
CARLSPUR GETS OUTSIDE POST #8!!
PARTNERSHIP #37 LOOKING AT DREAMY EYES TONIGHT!!
When our partnership was buying and developing yearlings-this was the time that brought excitement to the stable-especially if our 2 year olds were able to make it to the track for their baby races in late May or early June. Unfortunately-you find out very quickly whether you can move on to the next level or not-within 2 weeks-because the races go from 2.00 to 1.54 during this time. The Meadowlands are starting to feature these races now-and over the next 4-6 weeks-it's all about the 2 & 3 year olds-including the Meadowlands Pace on July 13th.
For us now-the meet is coming to an end. Normally-owners and trainers would be trying to steal some races by dropping their horses a class or two-without much fear of losing their horses. And if they did-well-the Meadowlands didn't open for another 3 1/2 months-which gave them time to turn over their stable-and look for new stock in the Harrisburg mix sale. I was always on the lookout for horses dropping like this-but was never in the position we're in right now. But-with the improved purse structure at Yonkers-Pocono-and now the newly opened Chester Downs by Phil. Pa.-no one wants to sell-or lose their horses-because there is a lot of money on the line. The Meadowlands has their mix sale the day after the Meadowlands Pace on Sunday-and it will be interesting to see what enters-my gut tells me that there won't be a lot or the prices will be high.
My focus will be on trying to protect the horses we want-look for quality horses for both the short and longer term-and plan for a transition to move to the 5/8's mile tracks (Pocono-Chester) and the 1/2 mile tracks (Yonkers-Monticello). We'll miss the mile racing for a while-but we'll still have our eye on the return of the BIGM meet in mid November. Now that Carlspur has made it back to the races-our next goal is to get Oragami Artist on track again to be one of our main horses in the stable-and to get Delray back on the track.
Oragami Artist is in a tough race tonight-plus he has the outside-post #8-but I'm so excited that we have Brian Sears in the bike. We should be able to make a good evaluation after this start of where we are and what we need to do next with OA. My perfect scenario is that Brian eases on out-gets a seat around 5th or 6th-swings into the flow 2nd over-for the stretch run-and then hopefully fires with his usual late kick. Not asking for much are we. The colt is still acting and feeling good-so hopefully we're sitting on a good race here.
Delray is scheduled to train this morning-going his fast mile around 2.15-after going a trip in 2.25 on Wednesday. He's acting great-and everyone is expecting a good mile today-let's keep our fingers crossed.
Last week-Carlspur had the rail-in many ways-I expected to see us draw the far outside this week-which we did-post #8. We kept Matt Romano in the bike. Carlspur was a little tired on Wednesday after his race-but then rebounded nicely on Thursday and was a handful on Friday-which is a great sign. We'll ask Matt to come off the pace and don't try anything crazy.
Redstone Ruckus is enjoying the week off-getting turned out every day. He'll have another week like this-with a tune up trip before next weekend-and then make his return in front of our BBQ crowd.
Partnership #37 looked over the card tonight-and I don't see the value in the 4 yr. old claimers right now-not many options. I'm ok with a short term horse-because I don't want to give back any money-rather see if we can build our reserve up to get us back into that $75k range. We started with $50k-and now have over $68k+. I would like to try and find a horse-make some money-and keep that in the reserves and not give back any dividends so that we can be in a position to move up if possible. That's why I like Dreamy Eyes. I liked him better for $50k-but we had no opening 2 weeks ago-the track wouldn't allow us to use the money from the claim of Non Commital A a few races back-to claim him out of RR's race. He's in for $54.5k-with some taxes-the total will be around $55.5k. There are only 7 horses in the race tonight-so he drew post #6. He'll have to draw the outside again if we go right back in here-but he's a closer like RR-and I think this race might be a little lite for a few weeks. Right now-I'm waiting to hear from Tony- I'm ok to pull the trigger here-but only if everyone is on board. If not-we will sit tight another week.
This weekend will have incredible weather here in NJ-just hope it lasts for next weekend's Salerno-Trezza Partners BBQ in Paddock Park at the BIGM. Got some great news last night-our main vets-Dr. Rick Doran and his wife and Dr. Meghan Campbell and her husband-from Mid Atlantic Equine will be attending the BBQ-so looks like we'll have a full house of 50 coming.
Good Luck tonight.
Thursday Morning-7:00am-June 21st-2007
CARLSPUR JUST MISSES IN AN IMPRESSIVE RETURN TO RACES!!
ORAGAMI ARTIST FINALLY GETS REUNITED WITH SEARS ON SATURDAY!!
REDSTONE RUCKUS GETS WEEK OFF-RETURNS FOR ST-PARTNERS BBQ!!
DELRAY TRAINING WELL-GOES FAST MILE ON SATURDAY!!
PARTNERSHIP #37 LOOKING TO REPLACE NON COMMITAL A!!
Well-it was a great start to a new week-from an old friend-Carlspur. Returning from a life threatening surgery almost 9 months ago-Carl came back to the races off 1 qualifier-going against a nice field of winner's over at Monticello-raced well and made us real proud. It's now up to Oragami Artist to step forward and follow in his big brother's footsteps on Saturday night-and oh yes-with Brian Sears back in the bike.
Returning to the scene where he was named Horse of The Year in 2006-Carlspur made the 3 hour ship to Monticello Raceway-and it helped that he had the rail in his 1st start. Our instructions to Matt Romano was to get position from the rail-but try and sit the pocket and don't get abused first start back. Well-Carlspur did his part-sprinting out of there-causing everyone but Ray Schnittker to challenge for the lead-which was perfect. Carl and Matt sat the pocket and his head was on Ray's helmet almost the rest of the mile. His gait looked smooth and it looked like this was the Carl of old-waiting for his favorite spot-the passing lane in the stretch. Down the stretch-Carlspur angled inside-but lack the spark to scoot on thru for the victory-instead going a super mile-losing by 3/4's of a length in a fast 1.54.3-almost a 4 second drop from his qualifier almost 2 weeks ago. Wow-that was impressive and almost a Cinderella type story. The local paper wrote a huge article on Sunday and it seemed everyone knew Carl and his story. USTA also had him on their home page all day with this comeback-and just like great athletes-he rose to the occasion. But-he's 11 year's old-let's not tell him though. The most important thing is he came out of the race in excellent shape-something we worry about with hot-humid weather. And then later that evening-after shipping another 3 hours home-Tony told us that he was doing fine-looking for more to eat and screaming like he knew he did well.
Finally-we get a bit of a break with Oragami Artist-Tony was able to talk the race secretary to open up the NW$7,500 condition and card it as a NW$8,500. They listened-and OA got in that race on Saturday night. We really drop next race-if we don't pick up a big check-but let's hope that we have that problem-and not need to drop any further. We did name Sears-and low and behold-no one else did-so we'll be able to get a real read on where we are with OA. We drew outside-post #8-but I'll take that every day with Sears.
Redstone Ruckus has needed a rest-even if it's only for 1 week-so Tony and I decided that this should be the week. I'm sure RR would want to compete on the evening of our ST Partners BBQ at the BIGM next Saturday night.
Delray continues to act good-a little more relaxed while jogging and training. His fast training mile is this weekend-probably around 2.12. If he does that well-he'll need 1 more week of intense training before trying to qualify.
Partnership #37 watched Non Commital A get parked last weekend-and I knew he was eligible for the NW$15k condition-which he dropped into. I see the $75k-$125k is a full field and that Natural Talent has moved up to the Open. I think we're not going to press the issue-instead look into the $50-$60k class-the horse that I've liked for a while-Dreamy Eyes dropped back in. A few weeks ago-I liked him-but our stable was full and he was in for $50k. He won that race-and is now in for $54.5k. I'm not crazy about paying the extra monies-but it's not a deal breaker. There are only 8 horses this week in that class-and he drew post #7. I like Dream Proof and Boo Bugg-both in the 4 yr old $50k-with their allowances-they go for $62.5-plus taxes (not BB)-but I think I like Dreamy Eyes more.
We drew this morning for next Thursday at Monticello-so let's hope we're back in the WO with Carlspur and that we get anywhere from 1-4 in the post draw.
I've included a picture from the post parade that John Manzi took of Carlspur before his race.
Monday Morning-8:00am-June 18th-2007
TOUGH WEEKEND OF RACING FOR REDSTONE RUCKUS AND ORAGAMI ARTIST!!
CARLSPUR GOES TOMORROW AT MONTICELLO!!
DELRAY TRAINS WELL AGAIN!!
PARTNERSHIP #37 STILL LOOKING FOR REPLACEMENT FOR NON COMMITAL A!!
Now that the North American Million+Dollar race is now over in Canada-I know a lot of people including our stable will be happy to see the top NJ drivers back on their home turf. These last 2 weeks have been brutal to watch and be a part of-and I never saw so many horses break on a Saturday night like these 2-3 weeks.
For the 2nd straight week-we didn't bring any money home which isn't fun-but this game is an extremely tough one-especially when there are full fields and you draw the outside posts. That's been our problem the last few weeks-but we're hoping that Carlspur will jump start our week on Tuesday afternoon at Monticello.
Redstone Ruckus raced first-but from post #9 and Joe Pavia-well at least we came home alive and healthy. Taking RR back to last-Pavia tried to get into the flow-but there were 2 stalled horses sitting 6th and 7th and going backwards. It was brutal to watch RR go around horses-losing tons of ground and again having no shot. I take part of the blame here-because I wanted to protect the colt from getting claimed these 2 weeks off his impressive 2nd place finish-but getting post #9 & #10 were the kiss of death. He closed in 27.2 but wasn't even close to getting a check. Next week-we'll draw for the inside-since I'm sure no one will be interested off these 2 races-and hopefully-we'll have John Campbell back in the bike.
Oragami Artist drew post #7 and Jonathan Roberts for his race and with speed just inside and outside-we gave JR instructions that if the pace wasn't ridiculous to give him a shot out of there. Well-the #6-OA and #8 left like rockets-the #8-Austin's Best-got a quick seat in 3rd-but Roberts kept pushing hard to clear-getting parked early and finally figuring out-he wasn't getting it-probably because the quarter was going in 25.3!! We finally pulled back-got a seat in the pocket-but I think the damage was done to both colts as they both tired and finished 7th and 8th. I'm happy that he showed speed-but this was again brutal. Problem for another week-is that we didn't drop money-he has $8,200 on his card and they don't have a NW$10k and they haven't filled the NW$7500 either. I'm hoping that somehow-we can get Sears on this colt and get a read in his next race.
Carlspur is feeling good-but looking over this race tomorrow-it's a very tough field. Instructions to Matt Romano-his driver-will be to get position and hopefully sit 2nd or 3rd and sit. We don't want to cut the mile and we don't want to go first over in his first start. Let's see what happens-I'm sure he'll need a few starts-this is uncharted waters here off a 8+ month layoff. Nice article appearing in the local newspaper-see link:
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070616/SPORTS/706160354
The USTA newsletter should have an article on him today as well-so log on later today.
Delray trained another trip on Saturday-going in 2.18 and going well-finishing under control and in good form. Plans are for 2 training miles this week-fastest one on Saturday around 2.12 or 2.10. The following week will have his fastest mile going around 2.08 which is the fastest we want to go on the 1/2 mile. If that goes well-maybe qualify in 3 weeks.
Austin's Best won his race this week-coming off the pace and looked good. Non Commital A got parked for his life and still finished decent. A few horses looked good in their NW3 races-but don't think they will drop into the 4 yr. old claimer. Tomorrow's draw will show who else drops in for a price-and I've been calling agents and trainers-so we're working to find a replacement for Partnership #37.
We'll regroup this week-hopefully Delray will continue to show improvement and get closer to racing. We need to get OA more competitive and into the right class-might be 1 more week away-and we need to get RR inside and with JC back in the bike. Let's root Carlspur on to get this week off on the right foot-I'll be there to support the old warrior-Good Luck to all.
Tom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wednesday Morning-8:00am-June 13th-2007
REDSTONE RUCKUS DRAWS POST #9 FOR SATURDAY NIGHT!!
ORAGAMI ARTIST DRAWS POST #7 FOR SATURDAY NIGHT!!
DELRAY GETS CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH!!
CARLSPUR TO ENTER TOMORROW'S DRAW FOR NEXT TUESDAY START AT MONTICELLO!!
Heading out of town until late Friday afternoon-might not be able to update until then. Looks like we'll need to work on some drivers for Saturday night again-but we should be set with OA & RR-they will need to step up this weekend. Tomorrow will be Carlspur's draw for hist first start-wouldn't mind drawing the rail. And-it's searching time again for Partnership #37.
Partnership #37
As I reflect on the past week-I'm kicking myself for not reacting 1 week earlier to the plans I had for Non Commital A. We had a good claim-and even though I didn't think anyone would reach down and grab him for $15k more than we paid-I had the option to add some money to his price which might have only gotten us 1 extra spot out from where we were drawing. I much rather have a horse than looking for a horse. I think I had changed my mind this week-and was ready to go back and reclaim NCA if they dropped in for the same price-but they didn't-putting an extra $15k on his price and he still drew post #3. The only good that has come from this is the hunger of returning to this outstanding and extremely tough class-which I know-right now is not as tough as it can be. Whether we do this immediately or not-I want to get back to this level. I've looked quickly and really didn't see anything I liked-which makes me want to kick myself even more-oh well-we'll keep looking-need a few more days to get over this.
Carlspur
Ready to return to the races-tomorrow's draw in the Winners Over condition is important-don't want to draw too far outside in first start. Yesterday-this race went faster than the previous 3 months-even faster than their open. Carl is feeling real good-let's hope it stays that way. Looks like USTA will be calling Tony and I-they want to do a story on him again before he starts-talk about pressure
Oragami Artist
Entered again in NW$15k-which they made NW$17k-we drew into the last race on Saturday-maybe that's a good omen. Another good omen could be that he trained extremely well yesterday-2.04 at the farm. Don't know if we have LaChance or not-looks like we may get a break-I see that Dave Palone might be at the Meadowlands-so we're naming him as a backup.
Redstone Ruckus
Goes back in the $50k-$60k-lowered his price to under $54k-but we still drew post #9. We also may need a driver-and again named Dave Palone. Next week-we might have an option in the NW$15k class.
Delray
His blood report came back great-so we have the green light to start training back-which we've been doing-but only going a few slow miles-we know can pick that up. Problem here-if and when we're ready is the condition that he fits-they stopped writing the class we were in-but we'll face that when we get there.
Let's have a few more good days-and I'll keep looking to find us a nice replacement-or we might have to just sit this weekend out-which stinks.
Tom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Monday Afternoon-3:00pm-June 11th-2007
NON COMMITAL A GETS CLAIMED FOR $75,000-MAKES A BREAK ENTERING THE STRETCH!!
REDSTONE RUCKUS IN NO SHOT MILE!!
Just a quick stable update-this weekend was a disappointment to a good week. Our bubble was burst early when we found that Non Commital A was being claimed out of his race for $75,000-which really surprised me-and with Redstone Ruckus stranded with post #10-I knew that this wasn't our night.
The disappointment was with the outcome of the race with Non Commital A-with sub driver Ross Wolfenden in the bike-we were set up for a nice trip-2nd over-perfect-heading into the stretch-but for no reason at all-NCA went on a nasty and untimely break-losing all chance. At this point-I'm thinking he's 1st-2nd or 3rd-no worse-but in the meantime-no check and we lose the colt.
After it's all said and done-we claimed for $60k plus tax a few weeks ago-and now get claimed for $15k more-not bad-we're sitting on around $68,500 now-and I guess that I'll need to get looking again-starting in the $50k class. I'm going to keep all the monies in the reserves no matter what we do. I'm not going to stretch for stretching shake but rather look for the best value right now-and maybe upgrade later.
Redstone Ruckus with Jonathan Roberts had no chance-never in the race-tried to close-which he did-but was too far back. First weekend in a long time that we didn't bring home some money-which is why I never take things for granted.
I can't wait till the real drivers get back in another week-I never saw so many horses make breaks on a Saturday night like this week.
Oragami Artist should be back this weekend-he trained a slow mile on Saturday-will train another mile on Tuesday. Either in the NW$15k or $50k claimers-haven't made up our minds yet here.
Carlspur goes next Tuesday at Monticello in the W/O race-we enter Thursday. He'll train a real good mile on the farm instead of a 2nd qualifier. He came out of his race in excellent shape-let's keep our fingers crossed.
Redstone Ruckus will probably drop some money from his price to try and get us inside a little. He also fits the NW$20k race-but that might be a little tough-don't know yet
Delray trained a slow mile-we'll do the same thing twice more this week-then draw his blood and see if we can then train right down.
If Non Commital A drops back in for $75k-probably won't claim-mostly because of value and that nasty break.
Will update tomorrow night-before I head down to DC for 3 days.
Saturday Morning-10:00am-June 9th-2007
CARLSPUR WINS QUALIFIER UNDER WRAPS-DRAWS OFF BY 14 IN 1.58 FLAT!!!
It's been about 8 months of rehab-hard work and tender loving care-but it looks like Team Salerno has brought back the old warrior-Carlspur to the races. I know it's just phase 4 in the long comeback-but our plans were executed to perfection by everyone-especially the colt himself.
I made the trip down to Freehold to witness our return-and it was a sight to see-it looked like the old Carlspur-not missing a beat-going around the track as smooth as silk with that perfect gait of his. From post #5-Steve Smith-who was told to cut the mile-easy-let Carl did it on his own-but don't go faster than 1.58-left for the front and got it easy. I realize that it's just a qualifier with competition that we won't face-but Carlspur still secured the lead-was eased into a 28.4 1st quarter-then cruised to the half in 58.3 (29.4). What was impressive here-passing right in front of us-was that Steve's hands never left his side-almost like he had a stranglehold of him. He cruised to the 3/4's in 1.28.3 (30) and then cruised home in 29.2 for a mile in 1.58 flat-which was our plan. There was an owner who was watching his horse-and before the qualifier asked how fast are you going today-2.00 minutes. I said-no-we're looking at a mile in 1.58 flat. Well-after the qualifier-he looked at me and David Rosenblum/partner-and said how did you know that??
The great news is that Steve Smith never asked him-never let his hands leave his side-never popped the plugs-said that he had plenty left in the tank. He cooled out great and then last night-around 10pm-Tony called to say that Carl was hollering for carrots and talking to everyone in the barn-acting up-so it looks good that he passed this first test.
Question for us now-do we qualify a 2nd time-maybe at Monticello or Pocono-or aim for the following Tuesday in the W/O at Monticello-which is where we are definitely headed-thanks to John Manzi and everyone at that track.
Great article on Carlspur after the race-see link:
http://www.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=21820&z=1
Good Luck tonight-we'll need it. Hopefully-we race well-bring home checks-come back sound-and get ready to have Oragami Artist-Carlspur and Delray ready to join the party.
Tom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wednesday Evening-10:30pm-June 6th-2007
CARLSPUR DRAWS POST #6 FOR FRIDAY'S QUALIFIER!!
REDSTONE RUCKUS DRAWS OUTSIDE POST #10 ON SATURDAY!!
NON COMMITAL A DRAWS POST #3 ON SATURDAY!!
ORAGAMI ARTIST & DELRAY JOG REAL WELL!!
For the next 2 weekends-Mohawk Racetrack in Toronto, Canada will be the showcase track for the best 3 years old-and for the older colts-older fillies and for the best trotters as well. What that means is that almost all of the top drivers from the local tracks here in New Jersey and New York-are out of the country. The eliminations for the $1M+ North American Stakes are Saturday night-followed by the final the following weekend. So-for Redstone Ruckus and Non Commital A we decided to try and get Greg Merton as our driver-but it looks like we weren't even successful in securing him-so these next 2 weeks are a challenge-not only for us but for the other owners as well.
Carlspur Update (Partnership #25)
We're in to go-in the 1st race-Friday morning-drawing post #6 with Steve Smith in the bike. Freehold's qualifiers start at 9:30am-I plan on heading down there and will witness how we do firsthand. Both Tony and his groom Jamie are a little nervous but excited because Carl is feeling extremely good right now-acting like he knows there is a race coming. Let's keep our fingers crossed that things go well the rest of the week-and that our plans of trying to go around 1.57-1.58-is executed.
Financially-we have no money in the account-haven't had anything there since we paid for his surgery late last year and earlier this year. We've paid $900 of his $1,600 accountant fee-so we still owe $700.
Non Commital A Update (Partnership #37)
We're first to go Saturday night-race #2-post #3-back in the tough $75,000-$125,000 claiming race. We tried for Greg Merton-but he was named on Natural Talent and he took he as expected. I believe we're ok with Ross Woldenden. NC is feeling good-we'll hope that we'll have the same type of trip as last week against Natural Talent and Art Maker.
Financially-after claiming NCA-we started with over $10.4k in the red-we got back a little over $1,900 last week and when the check comes this week-that will be slightly higher-so we'll start this weekend around $6.4k in the red. A few more good checks-or one BIG one-we'll be in the black-that's our immediate goal-while maintaining our higher value.
Redstone Ruckus Update (Partnership #35)
Goes last-in race #7-and we drew outside post #10 in the $50,000-$60,000 claiming class. We did put some additional monies on his price tag-to $55,900-figuring that a few horses would also do the same and for more-plus there might be 2 small divisions again-and having post #7 or #8 wouldn't be so bad after his last race. We also named Greg Merton-but he's also on Dreamy Eyes and has driven him before-so it doesn't look too good for us driver wise-will probably end up with Jonathan Roberts.
Financially-paid our dividend before we received our check-so we currently have around $2,800-but will have around $6,000+. I've increased our reserves this week-from $5,000-to-$6,000. Longer term goal will be to get this up to $10k. We've paid $1,100 so far to the accountant of his $1,600-so his balance is $500. I usually pay a few hundred every month-but I might pay off his balance by end of June.
Oragami Artist Update (Partnership #34)
Jogging real good and sound this week. Today was his last day of antibiotics-he'll get flushed out tomorrow. If things goes well-he trains a slow mile on Saturday-then again next Tuesday-for his return the following Saturday.
Financially-down to $175 in reserves. We've paid $1,000 of his total of $275-so we'll also pay this off by end of June. Our hope is that we'll start making money soon-so he'll be able to get in the action of also paying dividends. If we're successful in earning good money-I'll start building a reserve balance for him too.
Delray Update (Partnership #36)
Also jogging great this week. Plans are to keep building his miles-although Tony is tempted to train him a slow-2.40 mile on Saturday-all depends on how Delray feels later this week. After his training mile-we'll pull the blood and then make our final plans.
Financially-have paid $900 of his total of $1,275-so his balance is $375 to the accountant. I'll also pay off his balance before the end of June. Currently we have around $3,500. Was hoping to build this up to $5k-while paying dividends at the same time.
Our plans are looking good for The Salerno-Trezza Partners BBQ at the BIGM-June 30th. Have confirmed Tony Salerno and his family, Tom & Carol Salerno and Betty and Pat Salerno. Waiting to hear from our vets and blacksmith. Will have a final count within 2 weeks
Good Luck Carl
Tom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Monday Morning-9:00am-June 4th-2007
REDSTONE RUCKUS LOSES HEARTBREAKER AT THE WIRE-2ND IN 1.50.2!!
NON COMMITAL A TRAPPED IN-LOSES TOUGH RACE-3RD IN 1.49.3!!
ORAGAMI ARTIST FLAT IN STRETCH-BUT BLEED-WILL MISS 1 WEEK!!
CARLSPUR READY TO QUALIFY ON FRIDAY!!
DELRAY JOGS GREAT ON SATURDAY!!
Saturday night was another exciting night of racing for our stable-but it also brought back some memories for Salerno-Trezza Partners. We're now in the early part of the major stakes season-the big 3 yr. old races are coming-the 2 yr. olds are just about ready to step on the track-but for the yearling/2 yr old partnerships racing in NJ-Saturday night was there night-The $500,000 New Jersey Classic.
This was the race that we pointed towards-knowing that it was almost impossible to make it this far-and then have the power to climb all the way to the top of this mountain. But-we did get there three times. Beach ST Partners made the finals (1996)-and had a real shot-except that we lost our driver-Jackie Mo-and then kept drawing outside posts. I remember that he was far back-was closing late-lost by less than 3 lengths and we didn't get a dime. Shark ST Partners made the finals (1999) and also had a shot-closing hard to finish 4th and bring home a real nice check. Then one of the most exciting moments for our group was the year that both Card ST Partners and Jazzz ST Partners made the finals (2001)-from the yearling group that only purchased 2 colts-just an amazing accomplishment. Again we lost our driver-Mike LaChance to Bettors Delite-and then drew post #10-only to get parked for his life-and Jazzz ST Partners was trapped on the rail the whole race and couldn't get out-again-not collecting a dime. Excitement followed by disappointment. Saturday night brought back those memories-and memories of trying to reach these incredible levels of stakes racing with horses like Shark ST Partners-Beach ST Partners-Card ST Partners-Jazzz ST Partners-CC Laag-Cam ST Partners-Direct Five O-and Flaming Scooter. Fond memories of the past.
We're now a older racehorse partnership-so during this time of year-we'll be taking a back seat to the classy stakes colts and fillies-which is ok-we're trying to build a business-make some money in the process-and have some excitement and fun along the way. Well-exciting it was-but usually with excitement comes some disappointment.
Oragami Artist was racing back for the 2nd time-we were hoping for an improved race-it look like he might be showing that-getting into the flow 3rd over-but then he was flat in the stretch despite closing in 27.4-finishing 7th. OA was coughing after the race-so we had him scoped and discovered that he bleed thru his lasix. He gets 5 cc's of lasix-so we'll probably need to increase that along with using Amicar-which is now allowed by NJ for the time being-which helps horses that bleed. The vet wanted to start OA on some anti-biotics to clean up his lungs-which means that we'll miss a week of racing. The good news is that he didn't scope sick. When we return-we'll try and find a different driver-although Mike did nothing wrong following his instructions of taking back both starts to race easy. The problem for the next 2 weeks are that all the good drivers will be in Canada for the big stakes races there.
Non Commital A raced huge again-leaving hard-looking good gaited-sitting the pocket to the favorite-Natural Talent-and you could see Sears had a ton of horse. I thought that we would get out because the #2 was getting parked out-but he hung in there-causing Sears to try and find his way thru the inside-but that never came. We ended up 3rd-when Art Maker came flying home to win in 1.49.3-losing by 3/4's of a length-bring home another great check-but I think we had a legit shot if he could have gotten out. I'm thrilled with this race again this week.
Redstone Ruckus brought us the most excitement and heartbreak at the same time-but it's all good. Campbell worked out a decent trip-after getting interfered with-angling 4 wide to avoid a breaker and then tipping 3 wide in the stretch to close strongly against Extender N who had opened up 3 lengths in the stretch. Redstone came flying but lost by the smallest nose-getting past him after the wire-but the classy Extender N wouldn't give in 1.50.2. It took a moment to come back down-but then we realized that we just took home another great check and dividend while racing our heart out.
All the top drivers leave town on Saturday night-heading to Toronto for the stakes races up there-including the Classic Series and the elims for the North American Stakes for 3 year olds-it's their Meadowlands Pace. I'll be working with Tony to see who might be around-it might be a decision of Greg Merton or Ross Woffenden-just amazing.
More than likely-our plans will be as follows:
Non Commital A-goes back in for $75k this weekend (I wouldn't be surprised to see a 6 horse field)-need to find a driver that can rate a little off the pace
Redstone Ruckus-will probably add $5k to his price-bumping him to $55k-but that means the outside-also need to find a patient driver
Oragami Artist-will stay active and jog all week and get cleared up
Carlspur-will jog all week-and then qualify at Freehold on Friday-Steve Smith or Jeff Gregory will drive
Delray-will jog all week-and might get a slow training mile on Saturday-we'll see
After we get post positions tomorrow-I'll update our financial status. I sent out Q2 statements on Saturday for RR-Non Commital and Delray-no need right now for OA or Carlspur.
Tom
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