I would say the day was 80% fancy horses (let’s say $200,000 buys, or $100,000+ sires), and about 20% bargain stories. There was just enough to hold out hope for the little guy
Let’s make some observations on the races in reverse order:
Classic – Speed kills, or certainly wins races. I guess I should be happy that I will get to “play against” the children of Into Mischief’s and Authentic for the next 10+ years. Authentic is exactly the type of horse I routinely bet against every single day, yet on this day he got 1 1/4 miles again. I look forward to avoiding his overpriced offspring, and his future short priced 2 year olds.
Sorry to sound so bitter, but it is exactly what I plan to do.
I does not help that myracehorce.com continues to send me e-mails that imply their new horses for sale are approved by the Securities Exchange Commission. It has once again moved from being funny to being annoying.
The good news is that Maximum Security faded, and now will become another sire to bet against. To hear the TVG announcer say his old trainer was ‘”put in the penalty box”, was enough to double my blood pressure in 10 seconds. The faster every old Jason Servis horse leaves the game the better.
The Classic was 9 fancy $200,000+ horses, and a mid-priced Tiz the Law. I guess you have to give Starlight credit for buying Authentic at the Keeneland yearling sale as hip #2616 for $350,000. Let’s give Tacitus and Global Campaign a little love for outrunning their odds, and maybe their offspring will be better bargains.
BC Turf – Next year i will have to learn more about European racing and breeding.
A special cheer for perhaps the last race of the great Arklow. The Donegal guys got this son of Arch as a yearling for $160,000 at Keeneland. He proceeded to make over $2,500,000. He ran 4th in the Lecomte Stake as a maiden, and then won a grade 2 four months later Churchill. This was a model purchase that should be emulated by other partnerships. I wonder if Arklow will be a sire?
Special credit to Little Red Feather for claiming Red King for $35,000 and getting him to this race after winning a Grade 2. This was a model claim, and one that deserves further study
Distaff – This race was 7 pretty fancy horses, a midpriced Monomoy Girl, a McPeek bargain, and a daughter of Gemologist. Monomoy Girl was a $100,000 daughter of Tapizar at the Keeneland September sale. She was hip #1611. Liz Crow picked her out despite her sprint oriented female family.
Eclipse gets credit for having 2 in here, including 2nd place finisher Valience. Both Eclipse horses were very expensive, and might not get to breakeven for their careers.
Harvest Moon ran decent for a horse that did not start until June of her 3 year old season. She might be the favorite for next year. Swiss Skydiver ran poorly, but is still a great story for a $35,000 purchase.
Turf Mile – This race was a combination of bargain horses and regally bred Euros. Uni was only a $45,000 buy, and Factor This sold for less than $20,000, and Favorite Kameko sold for only $90,000.
The partnerships were not a player in this race.
Sprint – This was a strange collection of primarily $100,000 to $300,000 horses. The winner Whitmore reminds us that even horses bred to go long can end up as sprinters. He is a grandson of Pleasant Colony, out of a Scat Daddy mare. Whitmore has better distance breeding than the winner of the Classic.
The eventual favorite was a $40,000 claim.
Filly Turf – This was a collection of fancy horses, with the exception being claimer Starship Jubilee (she was a $6,500 buy at Ocala by our Star Trek fan Larry Leavy),
Dirt Mile – This was a bargain basement bonznza. Winner Knicks Go was a $40,000 weanling and a $97,000 yearling buy out of bargain sire Paynter. Second place finisher Jesus Team is a $30,000 son of Tapiture that was hip #2216 at Keeneland. Rushie was a $70,000 Ocala buy, and Mr Freeze was a $75,000 Keeneland purchase.
Turf Sprint – This was mainly expensive horses, with a few bargains.
Team Valor had a 6 year old expensive horse.
Filly Sprint – This race was a mix. Winner Gamine was a $1,000,000 purchase, but Serengeti Empress was a $70,000 buy.
Eclipse had Speech, the very nice $190,000 daughter of of the bargain sire Mr. Speaker.
I will look a the juveniles is a separate post.
Buying A Race Horse 