kids' pool

Had a great time looking at baby horsies yesterday. Look at that cute belly on this one. It was fun to hang out in the paddock and have the lot of them come up nuzzling at you. Hard to believe that they'll grow so much in just the additional year. Still have some homework left to do, but we might pursue one or two if things break a certain way.

places, everybody

Veiled Reference had her final work in preparation for her second start over the weekend. She worked 5/8ths over the Tapeta surface in 1.02, a solid enough time. Looks like she's coming into the race in good shape; just have to keep fingers crossed for a nice, outside draw. Race is in the book for Friday.

Mass Romantic might have a go herself on Thursday at Penn National. We'll know more later today. It would be helpful for the race to go as she's overdue to run.

Nautical Agent is training away down in Colts Neck. We've decided to wait for the spot on the 25th at Philadelphia Park. It's a slightly longer break for her than we had planned, but it's the right race for her and so we'll just cool our jets. She shipped down well and is doing fine.

Interesting piece in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred on PA-breds scoring across the Atlantic. Some of these old-school outfits in the Keystone state breed really awesome horses. Mostly turf, but they do throw in the occasional horse like Hard Spun (though he's really turf, too). I'll just need the few decades to play catch-up.

should we start a fund?

Have to love a story like this, posted today at the Daily Racing Form. Paul Saylor bought Fleet Indian for $290,000 a few years back at one of the KY mixed sales as a racing prospect, raced her to win a $1m+ with Todd Pletcher and is now crying in his beer that he could only sell her for somewhere in the neighborhood of $4m as a broodmare prospect. Only in America, baby. She's in foal to Storm Cat, who's not as commercially hot as he has been for the past, oh, decade, and he's annoyed that the big buyers (i.e. Coolmore and the UAE crowd) stayed away from her. Can we start something up on paypal for the guy? His Ashado money might be running low, I guess. Don't know him from a hole in the wall, but his handlers (doesn't everyone have them these days?) need to tweak his talking points. Fleet Indian was a nice mare, sure, but more the product of great placement (Pletcher's strength) and light competition, which just seems the overall direction of the distaff division these days.

Also, check out a piece on the Barnes and Noble head honcho, who is building up a broodmare operation. Now all that insider selling starts to make sense, huh?

Trip south to look at weanlings postponed until early next week. One of the babies was interviewing for admittance to a high end pre-school, so we were left to sit tight. I know, I know, you'd think these people would know with whom they're dealing...Apparently, word has been slow to get down to such parts. No hard feelings (this time). We'll do our thang soon enough.

expensive date

Young mares are all the rage in Kentucky this fall, selling for off-the-wall prices to sheiks, oil tycoons and the Irish (and Frank Stronach, too. He's spent nearly $3M over the past three days on broodmare prospects. Frank is our friend.) Other groups, mostly from Europe, are also swooping in to take advantage of the discounted dollar. Reports on the sales are here and here. Mares that I recall as nice enough, but without big pedigrees nor brilliance on the track, are selling at figures well north of $1m. Appears that all it takes is the bit of black type from a decent race, a cover from the right stud and everything pointing the proper way physically and you're on your way.

Irish Smoke, winner of the Grade One Spinaway at the Spa this summer (and nowhere in the BC Juv. Fillies at MP) sold for only $750,000, a light number considering overall results. Have to imagine that something is up with the filly given the fact that she's just two years old and already the G1 winner. She was bought by a racing operation, IEAH, so we should see her back on the track. Maybe she's really crooked, I don't know.

Money seems to be flowing in the art world, too, so the high-end spenders look to be doing quite well, thank you very much. Wonder if Wal-Mart can woo them to do holiday shopping at their stores this quarter.

Hitting the road tomorrow to check out a few weanling prospects down at Bright View Farms in Burlington County. A few just shipped in from KY that are worth the trip, so Woolley will meet me there and we'll have a look. I'll bring the camera and try to have the few baby pictures to post afterwards.

real slim shady

Now where was this cool, crisp fall weather last weekend when they really needed it for the Breeders' Cup? Karma can be wicked, I guess. As for all the pontificating on holding the Cup at MP or the need to limit it to FLA or CA, I'll only add that there are two tracks that should ever host: Belmont and Churchill Downs. If the day is to truly represent a World Championship event for racing, it's not about sunshine for the corporate sponsors and track-goers, it's about offering up the fairest, most level playing field for the horses. That means real turf courses, cool weather and main tracks that run mostly fair when managed properly (CD is the concern there, of course). When you add these other tracks to the mix and their host of fairness issues it only serves to diminish the betting product, as well as the legitimacy of the championships on the line.

As for our our own stable of future champions (of the backyard), all is running well enough. Nautical Agent shipped down to Colts Neck over the weekend. We're shopping around for a spot, probably at one of the tracks in PA. Mass Romantic and Veiled Reference are training toward races in the next few weeks. Veiled Reference worked a good half in 50 1/5 on Friday and will come back at 5/8ths next week in preparation for a second start mid-month.

Finally, it was only a matter of time before senior management canned me from my job as stable photographer. Wendy, from the Great Lake state, didn't help my cause with these additional photos from her day out a week or so back. Let that serve as a reminder of why you never turn your back on a Wolverine, people. Photos are quite good, so this is probably for the best in the long-term, I know.

oh, snap

That's what I get for drawing my own conclusions from the VLT study...NJ Senate President Dick Codey ain't none too happy with the findings. Just goes to show that one can twist numbers to mean anything under the sun. There's a long history here between the camps, obviously dating back to the gubernatorial throwdown, but also seeded in Corzine's overhaul of the deal Codey cut with the Giants and Jets for the new football stadium. Codey kicked in $30M for infrastructure from the state as part of the deal and Corzine nixed it, rightly so in that particular case. Will they sit in the same luxury box when that new stadium opens in a few years? I'm guessing no.

you don't say?

Have a look at the study commissioned by NJ on the impact/viability of VLTs at one or more of the state's racetracks. I took a quick look and two things that did jump out were 1) the projected .1% impact of VLTs at the Meadowlands on gross revenue on AC casinos (fatal, baby!) and 2) the NJSEA indicating 80 days of thoroughbred racing in the state in the future (at MP). Think that's enough of a season? Just read some of my more brilliant work.

In a shocking conclusion, the final word is that VLTs at the Big M are really not a huge deal because AC interests are already taking on added competition from PA, NY, DE and elsewhere. So, if VLTs up north meaning saving and growing an industry that's supposedly of some interest to the state, well, go ahead and knock yourselves out. Sure, we could have reached this conclusion back in 1998 and saved ourselves the bit of trouble, but what fun would that have been?