what does the monkey say?

Nominations are out for the Glory in Motion Stakes at Aqueduct on Sunday. You can have a look at them here. Quite a number of the fillies nominated ran in the Busanda a few weeks ago; I'd be surprised to see too many of them come back. Servis will likely ship in. Terranova's filly will go. Contessa will run something and Motion might enter one of his, too. The plus side of Motion shipping one up is that we can split the cost of the van ride (yes!). (It's those small little victories that put a smile on your face.) Veiled Reference could use the few hours to just stare the competition down, maybe talk a little trash. Or, the girls can just guess back and forth as to where they're going until they arrive in New York. "Skiing. I bet we're going skiing. You think? I wish had packed sunscreen in the van. Darn."

Entries from West Virginia should be out later today. I'll post them once available and then put something up from survey monkey so everyone can weigh in on where to run. Kate's survey is spitting out all sorts of interesting data, so another go will be fun. It's already been suggested that we ship out Veiled Reference for high altitude training in Denver with plans for taking the NYC marathon with her next year. I can just see her making that final mad dash through Central Park...

north or south?

Under the category of "keeping your options open is always a good thing," (cough, cough, let's hope Kate fails to read this particular post), I'm likely to enter Veiled Reference in two spots next Sunday, the one overnight stakes race in NY that I've mentioned, as well as an allowance race down in West Virginia that's in the newest condition book for Charles Town. I'm hopeful that the spot in NY comes up as a good one for her, of course, but in the event that it's a touch salty for our liking, we'll just send her back south to run in what would be a much softer spot. Entries for both are later this week; we'll see what things look like and make a call. If she's got a better than fair chance of hitting the board at Aqueduct, it makes sense to be a little aggressive and take a shot for the money and black type. Plus, it's a haul down to West Virginia, no joke. She worked 3/4ths in 1.16 on her own yesterday morning at Fair Hill. From a quick look at the tab, I'd say that it was a solid move. She should be plenty fit for the added ground in NY if that's the way we play it. We'd know soon enough whether she's fast enough, too.

Platinum Couple is the horse in the stakes in New York today (race 8). The Equibase boys must have been setting up a play, I guess, when they wrote in the 1/16 chart that he raced inside and weakened last out. In actuality, PC was fanned seven-wide into the first turn, closed traveling wide and was checked in the lane late while finishing fourth, beaten two lengths and change for it all. He gets more ground today, pace should be honest and he's back in against state-breds. He's coming back a little quick, but is still a solid play provided the Equibase crew doesn't bet him down to 6-1. I'll use him underneath the logical ones, too, if the price is right.

sheeeeeiiiiiit

I know, I know, we never saw it coming, but don't let these few articles get you too worked up. Try this one and this second one for a nice little flavor of what's what these days. My favorite is the casino crowd stipulating that any supplement would require the continued moratorium on slots at the Meadowlands, or anywhere else outside of Atlantic City for that matter. Right, sure. That's funny. Casino companies probably don't want to get jammed up on the financing side just yet (tougher to get money these days, you know?), so they're looking to finance in-state projects 3-5 years from now, as opposed to next year. Racing will be deader than dead at that point, but who really, cares, right? I mean, sheeeeiiiiiit, once this deal goes through, why even pretend that slots aren't happening up north? Colony, you might recall, bailed out the Mills Corp on the Xanadu project and now has a Right of First Refusal on developing the hotel up by the Big M. Smart planning, heh? You think they inked that Xanadu deal to build a shopping mall around the arena? C'mon. I can see it now: The Meadowlands Pace, brought to you by Tropicana North.

Oh, and, btw, we're exploring leasing our major roads to ourselves to float bonds to restructure $35B+ in debt (it's safe to say that we're not a pay as you go operation here). You think maybe a few slot machines outside of AC might help on that score? Maybe just a tiny bit? At a minimum, you could dedicate some of the net revenues for administrative costs associated with implementation of the road plan, which you just know will be a decent number. This is New Jersey, after all, and every joint needs an assistant-deputy-deputy director of stonewalling open records requests, or something.

turnpike bound

Veiled Reference was back on the work tab this past weekend, breezing an easy half in 49 2/5 on her own. Tim said that she went well within herself and should be ready for more serious work next weekend. I think we've managed to settle on a tentative target for her in a few weeks: The Glory in Motion, a $65,000 overnight stakes at Aqueduct for 3yo fillies at 1m 70yds on Sunday, February 3rd. Depending on how it comes together, it should be a pretty decent spot for her. If we can get her stakes placed in NY, even in an overnight number like this one, it only helps her value as a broodmare prospect. We'll get her going longer, anyway, which is good and we'll see how she stacks up against some of the fillies racing out of New York. The best part will be the local yokels wondering how some mountain-dwellers out of West Virginia came up with the brilliant idea of shipping to the big city. We'll just say we done did got lost with our horse trailer and decided to stick around and run.

Details to be firmed up as the date draws closer. I think nominations are due next week. If she does anything on the day, we'll break out the good stuff at the Super Bowl Party. No dice and it's probably stale pretzels, Kool Aid made from the packet and Eli Manning faces all around. Let's think positive thoughts in the meantime...

long walks on the beach

Got a message from Doug Nunn the other morning. He passed along that the vet was in the barn to x-ray another horse and caught sight of everyone's favorite, Nautical Agent, just hanging out. Well, curiosity got the better of the good doctor and she said to hell with it and decided to x-ray our girl, too, (no charge!) just to see how she was getting on. Doug said that our vet described the radiograph as "fantastic," and found that the leg was healing just as you'd draw it up. Awesome news, definitely. With any luck, she could be good to breed in March. We've set up a profile for her on match.com just to keep our options open: "Petite, brown-haired girl who likes to clown around is looking for boy to bring out her serious side and help make beautiful babies." It might be a little forward, I know, but we're siding with candor above all else. We don't want any of these guys to feel like they've been misled, you know? Anyway, it's great to know that she's doing so well. Given how she's handled all this recent nonsense, I can't help but think she might have a little something extra going on that would likely help her as a mother. We'll keep on taking it as it comes.

Veiled Reference will work on Saturday down at Fair Hill. I'll get on to Tim coming out of that one to figure out her next spot. The Busanda in New York came up pretty weak this past weekend, as did the 3yo stakes out in California, so there should be some good opportunities out there for her over the next few months. She seems to be doing well.

You can watch the El Encino over at bloodhorse.com. Zenyatta wasn't facing much, but she was still fairly impressive. She's a big girl with a really monstrous stride and she just galloped past the leaders, even after blowing the turn into the stretch. I don't know how she would handle the dirt as opposed to the artificial surfaces out in California, but I'd love to see her at Belmont going around the long sweeping turns there. Probably doubtful that it happens, I know.

Oh, and check out the San Rafael, too, while you're looking. El Gato Malo had a perfect pace meltdown in front of him to set up the score, but the reason I bring it up is that my man might need to be gelded all over again - he was gawking all through the lane, which was kind of funny. Not the stuff of Derby winners, anyway. Nice job by Pletcher throwing Talk of a Cat to the wolves coming off the maiden win and Massive Drama might be all screwed up now after being ridiculously throttled down two back only to be gunned from the gate in this one. He's got to be thinking, "Which way is it going to be, chief?"

it's tuner time!

Here's a great (and slightly disconcerting) read if you're a big tuna fan. I sure won't get as excited by those $25 tuna main courses that I sometimes order up. Next time I'm in the mood, I'll bite the bullet on airfare to Japan and eat the stuff right off the boat. Until then, it's Ramen Noodles for three squares a day. Add plenty of salt to the bowl and you're all set....

Another good read, perhaps a bit more applicable to this operation (at least until we start leasing fishing vessels to go after our share of the tuna market). Quite the nice number for Moon Catcher, a pretty nice Malibu Moon filly that won the Delaware Oaks last year. All I've got to do is hunt down that Grade Two...

knock it out

Back at home base after road trip down to Baltimore and Chapel Hill. It was around 70 degrees in NC, so it was a very nice change of pace from the snow up in Maine. Add in the fact that, yes, Santa, school was, in fact, back in session at UNC (first day of classes!) and it made for a most compelling visit overall. We hit up a local joint, Crookscorner, for dinner on Tuesday night and I had my first sampling of cheese pork, which was actually pretty good. They have a nice market just off the campus grid, too, so it made for good eats while knocking around town for the few days. While Kate was busy doing her thing, I hit up a few classes and wound up joining a study group, believe it or not. I just hope the sisters at Alpha Delta Pi aren't too bummed when I don't make it to the first session next week for our Intro to International Relations class. Don't worry, girls, I'll get down there for the midterm study review next month! Remember, when in doubt just talk about zero sum relationships.

Made a pit spot at Fair Hill on the way back and managed to have a visit with Tim and snap the few photos of Veiled Reference. She's looking good and has certainly come out of that last in fine form. Tim and I will go back and forth in the coming weeks as far as plans for her go. She's quite nice and has a good amount of potential judging from those first few races, so we're fortunate to have options for the balance of the winter and into the spring. It's entirely possible that Tim might put her on a van for me to train out of my front garden if I fail to sufficiently adhere to the Woolley Principles of Training a Winner, but I'm hopeful that we can plot something out that makes sense for all parties involved. Veiled Reference voted to venture into competitive eating for her next act, but Tim and I shot that one down. Maybe in a few years.

who is that guy?

We were up in Maine for New Year's and the place just got pounded with snow over the few days, somewhere around 16-18 inches, I think. It was touch and go as to whether we'd make it back to NJ or just settle in for the season, but once Kate's dad busted out his beast of a tractor it became clear that I could stop hoarding almonds to sock away under my pillow. Jim was good enough to let me take a spin and I was smart enough to stick to more simple tasks, so once I managed to avoid driving the thing through the foyer (and it was close), it was smiles all around. Sure, I likely burned ten bucks of fuel for the 18-inch strip that I managed to plow, but the job got done and, besides, the Bushies have taught us that energy efficiency is for pansies.

Back on the road again tonight, off to Baltimore and then Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Kate is interviewing at a few internship sites and I've been charged with mingling with the coeds at the campus libraries, which shouldn't be a problem. I was peeved to be reminded that colleges are all out on winter break these days, so I'll have to settle for roaming the streets and taking in the scenery. If I'm really on my game, I'll try to get some of the work done that's been on the back burner since Christmas. Vegas reports that money is flooding in on 'not gonna happen.'

If all breaks well, I'll try to hit up Fair Hill on the way back. Woolley and I will sort out a schedule for Veiled Reference and otherwise catch up on the latest and greatest. Once back on the scene here I'll get down to Colts Neck to visit with Nautical Agent, now based at Ponderosa Farm. She's still doing her thing and remains on schedule for radiographs in about a month.

Finally, it's all overwhelming, I know, but our boy, Express Tour, fired off another winner to kick off '08. First time starter won and paid like a good thing.

somebody's coming!

Video of Veiled Reference's last at Charles Town in the Eleanor Casey Stakes in late December. Trouble was brewing after the quick half mile, which would have been serious pace for a good older horse on the front end, let alone a two year old filly in her third lifetime start. Each time I watch it I hope that she takes in behind the outside speed that wants to go on into that first turn, but no such luck. We learned a good deal about her that night and all reports are that she's come out of it well. If all in order, we'll map something out in the coming weeks.