picking up the pace

Veiled Reference, T Street's 2yo filly down in Ocala, is legging up nicely. She breezed an easy 3/8ths in 39 seconds while working in company with a Snuck In gelding 2yo the other morning. The filly kept pace in good order while traveling on the inside and didn't mind the company on her shoulder. This was her first work back off of a 30-day break in the spring; she had been galloping w/ the occasional two-minute lick thrown in since starting back in training.

Much of the work now is about getting a good foundation into her before sharpening up her speed once she heads north to Fair Hill. There's no real sense in doing any serious speed work now - either she's got some gas, or she doesn't. It's not the kind of thing you can teach. Her body suggests that she'll have some pace to throw down, but that will be a question for us to sort out a few months from now. There will be tears one way or the other, that's the only guarantee.

That's a picture of the Oakridge Training Center in Ocala where she's stabled with Michael "Bo" Yates. The turf course had only just been planted when I took this photo earlier in the year, so it would have to be in fairly good shape now. The barns are located in and around the trees you can see in the background. A nice place.

like mother, like daughter?

A feature piece from a few months back in the Mid Atlantic Journal on Chris Grove. He's a solid trainer on the northeast circuit, but I point it out mainly because he used to gallop G. O'Keefe, the dam of Mass Romantic, for trainer Don Barr. Apparently, the mother required a bit of extra attention, much like her daughter seems to appreciate now at Fair Hill. She gets to hack around in the fields every so often these days and enjoys a more varied training program than she would get day in and day out at the racetrack.

She's just started back from her recovery time down in Ocala and should get into the program in earnest in another few weeks. We'll see how she progresses through the summer. That's her from earlier in the year at Gulfstream Park. She's very nicely developed up front, though her back end is still on the light side. Her sire's (Not For Love) offspring typically balance out later in the 3yo season (the ones with her body type, anyway). We'll keep our fingers crossed that she comes along true to form.

missed opportunity

Clearly, I should have pulled the trigger and entered Fortuna in the UN at Monmouth on Saturday. The $750,000 race attracted 5 in the entries. Oh, by the way, the Breeders' Cup will be held on the same course in four months. I'm pretty sure I could have worked out a deal on the entrance fee just to get the track that sixth betting interest. We could have gunned Fortuna to the front and had a laugh watching a rank English Channel look to sit the trip. Ummm, how many do you think they could have gotten with a $250,000 purse? Yeah, somewhere around 5 sounds about right. Ouch.

just say no to family fun

Check out Andy Beyer's column in the Washington Post. Beyer does a nice job reminding what it is that attracts customers to the racing business. Hint: it's not free pony rides and face-painting.

These exotic wagers, whether pick 4s, 5s or 6s are becoming the logical way to approach wagering day in and day out. Usually, I'm more of a win bet and exacta type speculator, but opportunities are now so few and far between, that I find myself transitioning to the multi-race wagers. Looking at the pick 3s and 4s is a good place to start. The key is to identify at least the one race where you're willing to take a stand and then be open-minded and creative in your approach to the other legs. It's more about money management than handicapping per se (after all, you're typically conceding losing tickets each time you invest in a multi-race wager, unless, of course, you're punching in cold tickets). Calculated chaos in the right race or two can lead to some healthy scores.

"no, no, it's too scary"

Two-year olds are touchy enough as it is, particularly this early in the year, so it was a bit curious to see Garret Gomez try to gun Dubit through on the rail in the Astoria on Sunday. Clearly, he had a ton of horse throughout and the more sensical move would have been to angle outside of the speed and produce his filly for a run. Nah, he went with option b: taking dirt all the way around and trying to squeeze through a tiny, tiny opening that few grizzled veteran horses would gun through. My guess is that Dubit will need some quality time with a therapist after that one.

"can i help you?"

Nautical Agent was back at it today, returning to the track coming out of her last at Delaware Park. Her apparent indifference in these first few starts back has been cause of a fair bit of head-scratching, but she doesn't seem too bothered. Maybe if I send her the feed bill next month it will heighten her sense of urgency next out. She's a smaller filly that's always given 110% each time out, so for her to run one-paced as she has is unlike her. I've kicked it around with Tim and we have a few tricks to try yet, so once she's still to the good physically, we should be back in the hunt with her soon. She really is a doll of a filly - a sweet girl that really enjoys herself win, lose or draw. We had a nice year with her last year, so fingers are crossed that we can get her back in form. It's always tricky with horses limited to turf, as the season is all too short.

We'll probably get her down to Colonial Downs in Virginia for her next start if all is well. That's her galloping at Monmouth Park last summer. She gallops with the best of 'em these days. She'll drop her head so low sometimes you'd think she was looking for something in the dirt. She probably is, too, that one.

fun with babies

T Street's Veiled Reference, a 2yo filly by Louis Quatorze out of the mare Bocamis, is moving along steadily in her preparation for a racing career. She's put on a good deal of body mass over these past few months and seems to be taking her training nicely. While just a medium sized filly, she's developed well on both ends, carries good flesh and muscle tone and still shows the great balance and lines that attracted us to her as a yearling. She's a West Virgina-bred filly, so we'll hope to have reason to ship in for some Rocky Mountain fun down the road (they have a pretty nice WVA state-bred program, plus good golf, hiking and whitewater rafting from what I've heard). For now, though, the goal is that she keeps up her good work in Ocala before shipping up to Fair Hill for her final preparation. That's her pictured from earlier this year.

Another good move from Fortuna this past weekend. She went 5/8ths in company (1.03) and did it well. We'll likely shop around for a spot sometime in the next few weeks. She'll be happy to be back on the turf.