just like that

Crew at Shadybrook Farm down in Ocala must be pretty pumped. Bo Yates, who runs the operation (and is pictured at right with Nautical Agent), consigned Stardom Bound to the March OBS 2y0 sale earlier this year and yesterday she won the Grade One Del Mar Debutante. He bought the Tapit filly last year at Keeneland for $50,000 and turned her around for $375,000, which isn't the worst return on your money if you can get it. Bo breaks and trains for T Street, too, and he's been a great guy to have on the team. Honest, straight-shooter that works hard and has a good head for the game. I remember talking to him about this filly right after the sale, and he didn't have more to say than that she seemed to have a nice enough frame that would fill out with time. He likes to buy later, usually less mature or smaller foals (she was born in April), out of young mares with a bit of black type and then pray like heck that the develop nicely in time for the spring sales. Obviously, to flip her for the $375,000 suggests that she came along just fine (If I recall correctly, I think she worked a big 3/8ths at the sale). Judging by Monday's race, she continues to keep on the improve. I'll do my best to keep his ego in check now that he's gone big time. That's assuming, of course, that he'll keep taking my calls.

Props, too, to Anak Nakal, who won the PA Derby on Monday. He's by Victory Gallop, sire of the one and only, Nautical Agent. Like Nautical, Anak Nakal isn't the most talented horse, but the sucker just keeps trying and grinding along. Yesterday, he got up to nip IEAH's Acai right at the wire. Those guys are still swimming in cash from the score pulled off selling breeding rights to Big Brown to Three Chimneys, so don't feel too bad for them.

Speaking of Big Brown, how great is it that he'll run back at Monmouth Park next week? I hope they get a big crowd out to watch him take on some real turf stock in that race they put up. Now, my contention is that they played it all wrong asking for the $500,000 pot that MP is offering, because you know that some decent runners will show up for that kind of money. If the goal is to maintain the smoke and mirrors act, you ask for $150,000 and then just deal with Hotstuffandthensome coming back on two weeks rest. Given the 4-5 weeks or so that the race has been on the calendar means that some quality turf runners will take him on, and likely take the lion's share of the purse, too. Should make for great TV. "Yeah, well, the Breeders' Cup has always been our primary goal for the year, so this was just a chance to get a race into him and have him set for a big day out at Santa Anita. He faced some tough, older turfers, so we're really okay with the fourth place finish. We got what we needed and we love the people here at Monmouth Park. Oh, btw, tell track management to ship the few crab cakes we didn't eat up in the parterres back to me in Long Island. Man, were those good." Meanwhile, Three Chimneys is holding a $50m bag and will be stuck mapping out how they'll get out on that nut. Poor Big Brown will be seeing 250 mares a year right off the bat, I'd bet.

all i want for christmas

Stopped up at Fair Hill this morning to check in on Veiled Reference. She's looking good, eating well, as you can see above, and didn't seem too bothered by the interruption. Tim said she's up to jogging two miles each morning, most of the time on the dirt track, which gets a good deal less traffic than the Tapeta. Apparently, she's been much more aggressive in her training, so it's better for everyone involved if she has less horses around to chase after. Hopefully, she'll get plenty of that kind of action down the road. Vet reports that she continues to heal up nicely. Plan is about another month of jogging before picking up the pace heading into the fall. Kate doesn't know that her Christmas bounty depends on VR's return schedule and I'm not sure I've got the heart to fill her in. Fast forward to Rudolph time in a few months when I'm opening my XBox 360 and she's ripping into a bag of new hair clips that I picked up for her, and she'll probably make the connection. Figure I'll get her back with a big Valentine's Day, or maybe just wait for her birthday in the spring.

Sorry about the sideways video. I have no idea how to rotate it, so your best bet is to lay your head down on the desk and watch. Be sure to have a creative answer at the ready when your boss comes by and gets on you again for sleeping on the job. Maybe something about still reworking your sleep schedule from the Olympics would work.

connecting the dots ain't easy

The Baltimore Sun published a front page piece this morning on a study by the Maryland Tax Education Foundation that raises concerns over purse dollars earned at Maryland tracks flowing to out-of-state horse owners. The group's contention is that the state will approve slots in-state and then have all of the new monies wind up out of state in places like New Jersey. (I think that's my parents' plan, anyway). It's shocking, shocking stuff. I especially enjoyed the fact that, in 2007, almost 6% of those purse dollars went to owners based out of Maine. No kidding? Have my in-laws gotten in on the business and kept it to themselves? (Yeah, I'd play it close to the vest, too, given this operation, so no hard feelings.)

Regrettably, the article fails to address the turnaround of those dollars back into Maryland's economy. All that money ain't getting parked into out-of-state ING accounts, I'm afraid. Most of it is coming right back to where the horses are to pay for training, feed, blacksmiths, vets, chiropractors, van operators and the occasional horse whisperer. If the owner has the few bucks left after paying the bills, god bless. Besides, those surplus dollars typically go toward buying new stock more often than not.

The real story isn't where the owners hang their hats, it's the overall decline of foals dropping in-state. I mean, this is Maryland, where you'd normally go for some of the nicest, toughest thoroughbred blood out there. It's all leaving the state, though. I mean, look at our little operation. Veiled Reference is from a family that traces back to Kentucky, but was brought along here in Maryland by the Benders (Sondra and Howard; trainer is Larry Murray) for years. They culled Bocamis from their broodmare crop and where does she wind up? West Virginia, baby! You think that even 10 years ago that would happen? She'd still be eating crab cakes and drinking Natty Boh, because a local operator would have picked her up and had a go. Now, save for the few operations hanging on, a lot of breeders have moved on to places like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.

Take, too, Nautical Agent, a Md-bred through and through. She's up in the Hudson River Valley doing her thing because I can either try to get a foal running for $75,000 NY-bred purses some day, or keep my fingers crossed down here that they don't turn Pimlico into condos. Which option strikes you as more appealing? I'd love to have her here, chilling on my back patio, but the economics of the game are such that I've got to go where there's a decent opportunity to earn out on our investment.

Finally, it's rather telling that Go For Gin is hailed as the star stallion in that Sun piece. I mean, Go For Gin is a nice enough stud, but threatening to take him to Pennsylvania is like me threatening Tiger Woods that I'm going to brush up on my swing. Ummm, don't think either scenario is causing anyone night sweats. So, other than Not For Love, who's, like, 28 years old, there isn't too much sire power in Maryland these days. The Stallion Station and Northview have a few solid ones, but none of the sort that had folks shipping in from all over to breed. In defense of the stallion operators, they can only keep what works for the local mare population, so it really all cycles back to getting more mares to foal in state and developing racing programs that help sustain increased breeding over time. More horses translates to larger fields, which translates to increased wagering, which translates to more money for track operators, purses, breeders, stallion owners, etc., which translates to more dollars pumped into the economy and state, increased open space and overall cheer. NY is a model to consider (save for their move to shorter racing, which they did to maintain numbers, but now are trying to get away from with increased purses going long - a step in right direction, anyway). PA is fine, too, but needs to work on its tracks. (Philadelphia Park in its current form as the epicenter of PA racing isn't going to cut it.)

Read the article. Stay in the loop. Vote in favor of the slots referendum if you live in Maryland. I'll work on the Maryland strategic plan, if only to get Nautical Agent down here to breed and ride to the Safeway for groceries.

I see your little belly.

Stopped at Dutchess Views Farm in upstate NY to pay a visit to Nautical Agent. We were on our way back from Saratoga and thought it only right to see how she's getting on. From the look of her, it seems she's doing quite well. Aside from the hazing she gets from older broodmares in the paddock while out at night, she's none the worse for wear. She was pretty frisky during our visit, as she thought it was time to go out and roll around in the field. I could see how sitting around with us would be the bit of a disappointment. Sometimes when I'm forced to spend time with myself, I feel the bit of a letdown, too. We brought carrots, but Donna (spotted above) told us that she loves these horse mints you see my mom offering up.

Farm was about 25 miles off of route 87, located in very pretty country. If we go up for the NY Breeders' Sale in October, we'll stick our heads back in to say hi. Staff there very friendly and they were good to have us for the visit. Nautical maybe a little bit taller and only just showing (w/ Gold Fever's love foal). With some of the purses for NY-breds we saw up at Spa, hope is that she keeps up good work.

we're walking, we're walking

Snuck up to Fair Hill this morning to meet up with my parents and pay a visit to Veiled Reference. She looked really good and has matured nicely as a three year old. Perhaps she's a bit too proud of her big belly these days, but that can be sorted out once she's started back in training (next week, I hope). You can check out her out, big bellzer and all, in the video above. Note how she longs for the extra camera time before heading back into the barn. "No, wait, we can take another take! I'm free all day! Call me!" Folks at Tim's barn were kind to have us, and were somehow getting through the morning despite the unbearable heat. I might have gone too far when I asked around for a glass of ice water with lemon; I took all the shaking heads to mean that they were fresh out. Garden hose did the trick, no problem.

mais non

Check out this video of the 1999 running of the Arc. Quite the cast of runners that came out for it, which is reason enough to watch, but I mainly raise it to help frame the debate surrounding Curlin's plans to ship out for this year's running. Frankly, I doubt he'll ever set hoof on French soil, but even if he does, I don't see him conquering French racing as he has here in America. It's the ground that will do him in. Sure, it might not be the bog that it was in '99 (remember how Daylami came back in Turf once on firmer footing?), but it sure as heck will be deeper than the US (and UAE) dirt tracks that he's dialed up to the tune of $9m. Big boy is a hard-pounding, dirt-loving, beast and I think he'll struggle to stay against top class going over conditions that aren't to his liking. While it looks like he'll get the really firm turf that he needs in NY tomorrow, which should help, I'd be surprised if he does enough to get his ticket punched for the trans-Atlantic flight. (Better Talk Now seems to be coming into this thing the right way; we'll see if there's a price to be had.)

So, no France for Curlin, which means Asmussen will have to back into the Classic. That means a race over the fake stuff as a prep (remember, they like to do things twice with him), so I guess Turfway or someplace like that followed by the Classic. There he has to deal with that Santa Anita track (both its surface and configuration), which really doesn't play to his strengths. Can't blame these guys for wanting to go to France instead, but it looks like they're stuck between a rock and a stale baguette! I'd take the California option over the turf, but Jackson stopped consulting me on spotting his horses a long time ago. I still drink his wine, though, because I'm not the kind of guy to hold a grudge.

she looks familiar

Was real thrilled to watch Ouchy Night run off in her debut last week at Belmont Park. Filly is daughter of Cactus Ridge that we went after last August at Saratoga when up there with Tim. Bidding stopped at $95,000 (we were out at $75,000, I think), so kudos to her breeder/owner for hanging on to the really nice prospect. I would have had a tough time going to a $100k for her, no matter how good she looked (and she was rock solid, man), so no hard feelings. Good to know that we were on to a nice one, anyway. Next time, I'm spending the money and rounding up dollars from readership via paypal. I figure that gets me about an extra 30 or 40 bucks, maybe, but I'll take what I can get. Can't touch the filly for less than $250k now, I'd imagine.

Barclay Tagg is happy with Princess Jess, winner of the Boiling Springs on Saturday at Monmouth, but feels that Joe Bravo moved too soon with her (scroll down in article). I'm no fan of Joey B., but I thought he actually rode her perfectly. She's a bigger filly with a more sustained run than an explosion and he did a good job to move with her on the turn and beat the quicker closers to the punch. She's more suited to the wide, sweeping turns of Belmont than she is to MP or the Spa (where she'll likely go in the Lake George), so I'm inclined to play against her next out, especially if Tagg is intent on having her, sit, sit, sit and make a run. She's a nice filly, but she'll get out-kicked to the wire playing that game against legit fillies. We'll see how it plays out later this month.