Vanilla

There is nothing wrong with a good scoop of vanilla ice cream. There are certainly more exciting flavors to choose, but sometimes basic is good.

A good scoop of vanilla is what popped into my mind when I looked at the 2 horse partnership offered by Bourbon Lane Stable. Both horses are very solid, and the prices paid were very reasonable. I think they were looking to add a third horse, but let’s give them credit for not overpaying.

The main horse is $100,000 son of Practical Joke. PJ is, of course, by the ubiquitous Into Mischief. PJ only costs $22,500, or exactly 10% of his father’s $225,000. The dam and 2nd dam were solid allowance sprinters, and both also produced decent horses, and the 3rd dam produced several stakes winners including $1,000,000 winner Chorwon. The price paid was 75% of the median paid for PJ colts this fall. The nick is rated A.

If you go by traditional tastes, not my crazed insistence on stamina, this is a very nice horse at a great price. He also takes a very good photograph.

Practical Joke – Elusive One by Elusive Quality – $100,000

For their second horse Bourbon Lane took a 25% interest in a $165,000 colt by Bernardini. The dam produced the nice horse Pacific Gale. PG was raced by Toby Morton, who is one of the partners in buying this horse. The 2nd dam was a solid horse, and the 3rd dam produced the $1,000,000 winner Top Secret. Bernardini is one of those boring sires of 11 crops that I have probably overlooked. The nick is rated A++, there is nothing more basic than a son of AP Indy mated with a Storm Cat mare.

Bernardini – Pacific Whisper by Forestry – $165,000 (BL share 25%)

These are two very nice horses, at reasonable prices, using conventional breeding ideas. They will be trained by Ian Wilkes. Bourbon Lane moves into my top 10 partnerships.