so cold

The Breeders' Cup kicks off today at Monmouth Park (4pm ESPN2 for those that can get to a TV). The weather has been fairly miserable in the days leading up to the event, but the turf course at Monmouth drains well enough, so I don't think it will play like a bog in the day's big race on grass. I'm not crazy about the card, really, but I'll head down to check out the scene. Brad Thomas has his picks up at thebigm.com (link here). Maryfield in the sprint is live; I'd mess around with her at a big price.

As for our little slice of the racing world, T Street, the beat goes on. Veiled Reference is back on the track galloping after her debut last week. We're targeting a spot mid-month for her, again at the one-turn mile, which would set her up well to go two turns in a stakes race we're hopeful to run in down in WVA later in the year. The mile might be too short (she wants to go loooong), but she can still do fine if she catches the right kind of field. Woolley has her out in the round pen for a few hours each day to chill out, so it seems that she's falling into a routine that works for her (and her demons). He's happy with how she's bounced back from the first one.

Mass Romantic is soldiering along, as well. I have to get back down to see her train in the next week or so, just to observe her travel and firm up a plan. We'll see how she's getting on and pick out a spot early in November. Her buddy from back in the day, Nautical Agent, is to the good. She ran a non-threatening fifth in that race last week, but has come out of it okay. She was just beaten for third money and, in fact, watching it on the computer, at the head of the lane I thought for sure that she'd get up. Apparently, just as she was set to dive between the two fillies in front of her in the stretch, she was hit by a gust of wind that must have knocked her two feet sideways. The jock just held on and she was probably left wondering who had just sucker-punched her. Mildly annoying to miss the money, but she wasn't bothered and we should be good to fire again with her soon. I do think that we'll get her on the road; we've had a great run at Finger Lakes, but it strikes me as the time to move on.