Derby Bound -- an occasional & semi-interactive Racing Breed Dynasty

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My first dynasty so bear with me.

One of my very favorite memories as a kid was picking the horse races at Longacres in Seattle. My brothers and dad and I would go through the lineup in the newspaper and make our picks, then my dad would go through the results the next day as if we had bet $2 across the board on our selection and we'd see who won the most. The one or two times a year when we would actually go to the track were some of the best days of the year. I have loved the sport for as long as I can remember.

The Racing Breed is the best horse racing sim I've come across. The graphics are, well, poor; and the interface leaves quite a bit to be desired, but the engine underneath has been compelling enough for me to totally overshadow everything else.

So, FOFC Stables has been created. We are based in Florida and have a starting stake of $100,000 to work with. This will be used to both purchase our horses and also to maintain them monthly.

There are four tracks in Racing Breed. Florida is the lowest of the four. California and New York are best, then Kentucky and then us. For game purposes this means the purses we will race for and the general competition level is somewhat below the others. For us to race a horse at one of the other tracks we'll have to be convinced it can compete at the higher level (since it costs $1,500 to ship a horse out for a race).

There are a couple of house rules we will be using. First of all, any horse we acquire will be kept until a) it is claimed; b) it does not earn it's own upkeep after an entire year (this does not apply to two year olds) and c) it has finished its 6-year old campaign, we'll take those on a case by case basis to see if we want to go further with them -- as horses age their performance drops.

For claiming horses from a race, I will limit it. It is possible to get really good horses from claiming and it can be exploited a bit too much. What I usually do is to specify a particular week and say I can take one horse during that time. With our small budget we'll be somewhat self-limited until we earn some more money.

Thirdly, we will stay at our home track and only ship horses out for stakes races. And last, nothing is written in stone.

The semi-interactive part has two parts: you can name horses that are purchased as yearlings. If you want a horse named after you just holler and presto! Also, as we go along feel free to make any suggestions about horses. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to copy graphics over very well or how I'm actually going to describe all this, but we'll see as we go along.

We have picked our silks -- olive green with a navy cap and chest stripe. Next we'll start looking for horses at the Horses of Racing Age auction!

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1/2/2006 -- Horses of Racing Age Auction

These are horses that have generally raced in the past. They come from stables that have folded or are just horses that other stables have put up for sale.

We have a total of $100,000. In Florida it costs $18,000 per year to feed and train a horse. If we pick up six horses in this auction it will cost us $9,000 per month. I'd like to have at least four months training supply on hand, so we have $64,000 to spend on six horses.

Generally the horses in the Racing Age auction are 4 and older, which is fine for our purposes -- we need grinders that can make some money for FOFC right off the bat. As we get some purse money from races we can start to look at promising 3 year olds in claiming races.

Hopefully we'll find a good mix of male/females, sprinters (up to one mile)/routers (mile and above) and maybe a grass specialist or two, but we won't be able to be too picky with our budget -- these first couple of years we'll be in the lower claiming ranks for the most part.

So we'll follow the auction and see if there's a price/horse that fits our need.

One thing we find quickly is that we will not be able to buy six decent horses with $64,000. Most that even seem possible are going in the $20K range. On the fly we decide we'd love to get three or four for $80K and hope for the best on the track!

Horse #29 Flying Gift is a 5 year old mare. Despite traffic trouble in her past three races she has a second at a $20K claimer and in the money in two $25K starter allowances. Starter allowances are a great way to make money if you've got the right horse -- it can't be claimed from the race but has to have started at the level within the past six months. The bidding is starting at $25,000. We bid, are raised to $30,000, go to $35K and are raised to $40K. Too rich for FOFC at this point......have to drop out.

#37 Rusty Moon is an unraced 3 year old colt with unimpressive workouts. However, the price is right -- $14,000. We bid and are driven up to $22K. I don't want to go that high for a horse I'm not excited about. Pass. Starting to wonder if we'll find much here at all or if we're going to have to poach from claiming races.

We don't have to wait long. #38 Gold Suit is a 5 yo horse. He's been running midpack in NW1X allowance races, mostly sprints where he closes strongly. I think that he could be quite effective at a mid-high level claiming route and the bidding is only $18K -- we cross our fingers, make the bid and we've got our first horse!

When it rains it pours. Horse #40 Devil Key is a 4 year old filly who is still a maiden (has never won a race) after 13 starts. However, she does have 7 third place finishes and all her races I can see are the highest level of maiden races. I hope we can drop her into a maiden claiming race and get a win and see what happens from there. A bid of $24,000 and we get to find out.

#58 Ain't Armor is a 3yo filly out of Way West. She hasn't shown much so far, but for $8K we're willing to take the chance. She becomes our third horse.

#64 Nasty Sis is a 6yo mare. She's been racing at around a $40K claiming level and been putting up some decent speed ratings. The good thing about an older horse is that it is much less likely to be claimed, so worst case I think we can race her in the $25K range where she should be very competitive without worrying too much about losing her. At $16,000 she's a bargain in my eyes.

We're down to $34,000. I'll go $10K but no higher for another horse.

Nothing else comes up. We start the racing season with four horses.

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FOFC STABLES BEGINNING 2006:

Gold Suit -- 5yo h, lifetime record 17 starts, 2 wins, 4 place, 1 show, $47,650

Devil Key -- 4yo f, lifetime record 13 starts, 0 wins, 1 place, 7 show, $37,920

Ain't Armor -- 3yo f, lifetime record 1 start, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $510

Nasty Sis -- 6yo f, lifetime record 17 starts, 2 wins, 2 place, 5 show $55,120

Our four horse stable will cost $6,000 per month for food/training. Our current cash on hand is $34,000.

Our trainer is Billy Vanderhorst. One of the quirks of Racing Breed is that we will have to determine his effectiveness by how he does over the year. His favorite jockey to use is Brian Fishman, who is averaging B's for his ratings.

Changing a trainer costs money, so we'll hold off until we know more there.

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1/10/2006 The first condition book is out and it's time to enter our horses. For our first look at them on the track we'll focus on trying to find races that I think will play to their strengths -- how they perform will determine where we go after this.

We find a 8.0 furlong (one mile) dirt race for Gold Suit at a $50,000 claiming price. This is a lower level than he's been running at and I believe he should be pretty competitive here.

Devil Key hasn't been able to break through at a straight 35K maiden level. We find her a maiden claiming race for $32,500 at 6.5 furlongs to try and get a read on her.

Ain't Armor is a bit of a mystery with only one race under her belt. We'll start her at a 6 furlong $16,000 maiden claimer to see what she's got.

Nasty Sis has been 3rd her past three races on the turf at $32.5K claiming. We find a 8.5 furlong turf race at $25,000 for her.

This upcoming week will have races for just Devil Key in the third on Sunday Jan 15th.

[Izulde]

This is going to be interesting to watch.

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WEEK 1:

Devil Key is the 8-5 favorite in her $32.5K maiden claiming race and draws the 1 hole. All the other horses in the race have been running in maiden claiming so she has been running against better.

She hangs around in fourth about five lengths back, makes a nice move but can't quite catch the winner -- second by 3/4 length. She looks to be around the right level though and hopefully will break through soon.

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WEEK 2:

Devil Key comes out of her race healthy at a 95% fitness level. I usually wait until a horse is at least 98% before finding another race. This does suggest that she may be pretty durable.

Races this week:
Nasty Sis -- 6th race Thursday 1/19
Gold Suit -- 6th race Sunday 1/22

Nasty Sis is the 5-2 second choice in a $25K claimer at 1 1/16 miles on the grass. She starts from the 5 hole in a field of 8.

No traffic issues but she hangs around midpack with a decent charge at the end and finishes third about 3/4 length behind the winner. An 87 speed rating at this level is pretty good but I was somewhat disappointed in the performance and can't quite put a finger on why....

Gold Suit is on the far outside in a field of 8 in a one mile $50K claimer. He is dropping in class but gets no respect at 25-1. At those odds I'll drop a $20 across the board bet on him -- that seems an overlay to me.

He outruns his odds but is an even fourth well behind the winner (9 lengths) and never really threatened. $50K might be too high, I think we'll look for a $40K claimer for him next.

We end week 2 with around $43K in the bank, so we've made some money even though that first win is still to come.

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WEEK 3:

Both Gold Suit and Nasty Sis come out of their races OK, but nobody is ready yet for me to reschedule them.

Race this week:
Ain't Armor -- 2nd race, Friday 1/27

Ain't Armor is the 2-1 favorite in her 6 furlong $20K maiden claimer. She drew post 7 in a field of 8.

She is clearly second best in the field but no match for the winner, a horse named Cheer Fox who runs away by 11 lengths. Clearly the right level for her though -- her time will come.

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WEEK 4:

Scheduling: Gold Suit and Devil Key are both ready to race again at 98% fitness levels. I drop Gold Suit from $50K to a $40K claimer at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt and find a race this week for Devil Key at the same $32.5K maiden claiming level she was at before, but stretching her out to a mile -- her running style suggests that will suit her.

Race this week:
Devil Key -- 3rd race Wed 2/1.

Devil Key is again the favorite at 9-5 and drew post 8 in a field of 10. Her speed ratings suggest she is the class of the field with an 8 point edge over her nearest rival.

Unfortunately, past performances are just that as she runs a dull fourth with a speed rating 8 points under her last. The added distance didn't necessarily help her but at the same time she didn't fade so it may be that race might be a benefit down the road.

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WEEK 5:

Scheduling: Ain't Armor (99%) and Nasty Sis (98%) are ready to run. I think that Ain't Armor might appreciate some more distance so find a mile dirt race at the same level she raced last time, $20K maiden claimer. Nasty Sis has been running on grass lately with just thirds to show for it, so I spot a mile race on the dirt at $20K claiming (5K under last race). Still not too worried about her being claimed from under me and even if she is I'm still coming out ahead.

Race this week:
Nasty Sis -- 3rd race Thurs 2/9

As you might expect, Nasty Sis is the 6-5 favorite coming out of the 2 hole in a 7 horse field. She has a clear advantage over the rest of the field with only one other real contender and I would be worried about a claim if it wasn't for her age. I expect a good performance.

And racing luck does not favor FOFC Stables. Nasty Sis gets boxed in on the turn as she tries to make her move while the one other contender draws off. Another place finish.

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WEEK 6:

Neither Devil Key nor Nasty Sis is ready to reschedule.

Race this week:
Gold Suit -- 5th race, Thurs 2/17

Gold Suit draws post 3 in a field of 10. He is 5-1 in a 1 1/16 mile $40K claiming race on the dirt.

And again traffic derails our race. Gold Suit is blocked from the backstretch through the end of the race and finishes 8th. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway as the favorite was allowed to get clear and wired the race......but this one was a throwaway.

[RPI-Fan]

I got really into this game for a few weeks last year. The only thing that really killed my interest was the fact that you can't play it in windowed mode. Alas.

[Coffee Warlord]

This dynasty is nothing without a horse named Diseased Yak. :)

[hoopsguy]

Reading along, and requesting a horse named "Lynch Barkeep49". Or if you find a really, really poor horse that you can pick up dirt cheap go ahead and throw some kind of Eagles-based name on it :) Something like "Glue Factory Eagles", perhaps?

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This dynasty is nothing without a horse named Diseased Yak. :)

Reading along, and requesting a horse named "Lynch Barkeep49". Or if you find a really, really poor horse that you can pick up dirt cheap go ahead and throw some kind of Eagles-based name on it :) Something like "Glue Factory Eagles", perhaps?

Heh. Both suggestions noted. With luck by December (game time) I'll be able to add a couple yearlings.....that's when the auctions are.

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WEEK 7:

Scheduling: Devil Key is ready. She hung a bit at the longer distance and I see there is a race back at the 6.5 furlong distance she ran well at her first start.

Races this week:
Ain't Armor -- 9th race Thurs 2/23
Devil Key -- 2nd race Fri 2/24

Ain't Armor is the 7/2 second choice starting from post 1. I'm a little concerned about that because she does not seem to have much early speed and could get trapped on the rail.

Traffic isn't a problem. Faster horses are -- she is a well beaten third. I'm starting to wonder about my trainer, who has a win percentage so far of just 9%. Horses that are positioned to compete well and have decent odds should be doing better than they are. It is still quite early though.

Despite starting from the outside 8 post, Devil Key is a heavy 3-2 favorite and appears to have a clear edge on this field.

And she does, clearing traffic and sitting just off the leader Pretty Zone until the top of the stretch where she makes a nice move and draws off by 2 1/2 lengths, earning a decent 73 speed rating.

That is FOFC Stables first win! Our cash balance is now $58,650. Another win and I think we can start looking for a claiming bargain.

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WEEK 8:

Scheduling: Only Gold Suit is ready. His last race looks horrible because of the traffic he encountered, so I believe that I can drop him from $40K to $32.5 and possibly steal a purse. We find just that kind of race in the 7th this Thursday March 2nd.....it's also a bit shorter at 7 furlongs.

Gold Suit is 5-1 and starting from post 7 in a field of 9. His main threat is the 5 horse Wakin Laughin, who has won four in a row by 7 lengths or more at $16K, $20K, twice at $25K and is now stepping up to $32,500.

The problem with being a closer is that you need everything to go right to put yourself in position to win. In this race the second and third choices were allowed to get 6 lengths on the rest of the field and though Gold Suit made a nice run to get up to third he just had too much ground to make up. He did beat Wakin Laughin who finished fourth and was claimed.

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WEEK 9:

Gold Suit suffered a quarter crack last race. His condition is at 92, I'd guess his next start will be delayed a couple of weeks as a result. My rule of thumb with horses coming off injury is to make sure they're at least 99% before scheduling again as long as their workouts haven't fallen way off.

Scheduling: Both Ain't Armor and Nasty Sis are ready to go again. Ain't Armor is gathering some earnings but shows no sign of being close enough to win at MCL $20,000, which is the bottom level at this time of year for a 3 year old filly. We'll keep racing her and see if more experience will help her develop. There is a 6 furlong race Wednesday and she'll be in it. Nasty Sis appears to be better on grass than dirt, but grass races are fewer to find and as a 6 year old she's not much of a threat to be claimed, so we'll continue to run her at a lower tag on the dirt (my goal right now is to win one more race which should allow us to pick up a claim). We find a 1 1/16 mile race at $20K for her Sunday.

Ain't Armor is the 7-2 third choice. She starts from post 8 in a 9 horse field. The 8-5 favorite is outside of her. Again, she finishes third but only 5+ lengths behind the winner rather than the 10+ of the past few races, plus she runs her lifetime best speed rating so far, 56. Maybe she will race into shape.

Nasty Sis is the 3-1 second choice and has post 5 in a field of 9. The track is slightly off (rated 'good') and seeing how she likes the softer grass I hope that this will help her.

It sort of did. She hung back the first half of the race then made a big move through the turn and drew off in the stretch......but a distant second behind the favorite who was never headed.

Purse money is purse money though, and we're now up to $62,000. We're in the market to make a claim.

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WEEK 10:

Nobody is ready to race this week, so we're going to look for claim targets.

With our limited budget we'll be scouring maiden races, looking for horses who:
--are unraced but show strong workouts
--are dropping from straight maiden races
--have had traffic issues that have affected their prior races
--or are stepping up but show signs of being able to go higher
--have strong sires but little to show for it yet, they may be slow to develop or been used on the wrong surface/distance.

The seventh race on Thursday has some interesting options, it's a $25,000 claimer for 3 year old colts. Admirable Hero won a straight maiden at the end of his 2yo season. His first race this year he was jumped to a grade 3 stakes and was drubbed, as he was again in his second race of the year at an allowance level (though he was five wide the first turn). Tempting but I'm passing. Palace Debate is out of Bertrando, an expensive sire and one who is generally better on grass. Palace Debate has run on dirt only, but I decide once again to pass. As it turned out, Admirable Hero was stomped and finished last, while Palace Debate was a respectable third.

Only one other intriguing horse comes up, a 3 year old filly who far outclasses a $16,000 Maiden Claimer. We try for her (she wins easily) but lose out on the claim. So the week ends with a fizzle.

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WEEK 11:

Scheduling: Devil Key is ready off her $32.5K maiden win. She needs to drop from that level against other winners, so we find a $20K claimer at a mile. Ain't Armor is also ready again -- we spy a $16,000 maiden claimer and hope the drop will get her over the hump. Both races are two weeks out though, so once again we've got nobody running this week.

Continue to look for claims to no avail this week.

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WEEK 12:

Scheduling: Nobody else ready to schedule.

Ain't Armor is a heavy 3-5 favorite in a 6.5 furlong sprint at $16K maiden claiming. She breaks from the 5 hole in a field of nine. She should win this handily based on the past performances.

She breaks her maiden, not by a lot of lengths but rather with a strong move at the top of the stretch that runs by the pacesetters and draws off by 2. Yay!

The claim search continues. We find a 3yo named Seattle Back, who has raced three times with each race in the 90's. He broke his maiden at $25K by 9 lengths, came back to win by 3 over $20,000 winners and was a close third last out at $40,000 -- which is where he is at today, stretching out to a mile from the 6f races he has been running. $40K is a lot, but worth the risk -- even though horses will run better ratings against weaker opponents, 93, 90 and 92 is tough to pass up. I cross my fingers and place the claim. His speed rating drops to an 87, but he prevails in a tough stretch drive -- and our claim goes through, Seattle Back is the fifth member of FOFC Stables! I hope he is able to compete at an allowance level.

Devil Key makes her first start against winners, a mile race at $20K. She is at 5-1 and is one of four horses in a 9-2 thru 6-1 group that are behind the 3-2 favorite. She breaks alertly and sits behind the leader until the far turn when she begins to tire and fades to fourth. The good news is that she looks to be competitive at this level. Maybe shorten her up a bit for next time.

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WEEK 13:

Scheduling: Gold Suit has recovered nicely from his cracked hoof. He was moving down the stretch at 7f last time out, I find a 8.5F race around 10 days from now at the same $32.5 claiming price.

Nobody is scheduled to race this week.

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WEEK 14:

Scheduling: Ain't Armor and Nasty Sis are both ready to go again.

We have a bit of a dilemma with Ain't Armor which is common to cheaper 3 year olds. She broke her maiden last out at MCL $16,000. I suspect that her level against other winners is somewhere in the $10,000 claiming range. But there are no races on the calendar for 3 year old fillies at that low of a claiming price -- those won't come along until later in the year when 3 & 4 year olds run together. So we'll run her more sparingly against the lowest claimers we can find -- if she performs well it's a nice surprise, and if not we'll at least keep her in racing shape until there are more races available. It is now the beginning of April, I find a $16,000 claimer at 8.5F around one month from now and hopefully she'll continue to develop in the meantime.

Nasty Sis has not quite been able to get there at $20,000. This could be because of age, but it may be more likely that she is a horse that is content to be near but not necessarily IN front (lifetime record 2 wins, 4 places and 6 shows in 20 starts). We find a race at $16,000 for her next week.

Gold Suit breaks from the 6 hole and is 9-2 in a wide open field of 8 (six of the horses are between 7-2 and 5-1) at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt for a $32,500 claiming price.

He runs right about to his odds, an even race where he sits in fourth throughout. A mild bid down the stretch but never threatened.

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WEEK 15:

I've decided that it is time to make a trainer change. The trainer you're assigned at the beginning of the game is randomly chosen, and since there aren't any visible trainer ratings it's hard to get a feel as to what you've got. There are two main reasons I've decided to spend the $2,500 for a new one:

1) There have been more than one occasion where I thought our horse was far more competitive than it proved to be (also borne out by very low odds).
2) Billy Vanderhorst's record so far this year: 46 starts, 4 wins, 10 places, 11 shows. That is a win percentage of 8%, not so hot. Worse in my mind is that high proportion of places/shows compared to wins. That's a sign of a trainer who has horses in shape that he's not getting optimal performance from.

So I find a trainer who has a much better proportion of wins to place/shows.
Ubaldo Diaz is currently fourth in the trainer standings despite substantially fewer starts than the others around him. His record so far this year is 104 starts, 26 wins, 12 places and 13 shows. That's a very high win percentage of 25%, which I don't expect by any means but signifies a trainer who gets the job done when his horses are ready. Plus his favorite jockey has good ratings across the board. Diaz is our new trainer.

Scheduling: Devil Key is ready. Her last race was at a mile and her first against winners ($20K clmg). Hung towards the top at 5-1, faded a little at the end. I'm OK with a race either at the same claiming level or maybe one down but would like to try a bit shorter distance. I find a 6.5F race at $16,000 claiming on April 30 and enter her there.

Nasty Sis is the 4-1 second choice in a $16K claimer at one mile. She starts from post 7 in a field of 10. Last time she was not impressive at all despite finishing second. Could have been the track but I'm worried that she may be aging quickly. Very interested to see how this race goes.

And we get one of those frustrating races. Nasty Sis hangs back around 7th but still within striking distance of the leader. Stays out of traffic around the turn but just as she starts to accelerate at the top of the stretch she gets boxed by two tiring horses. She is obviously trying to charge but has nowhere to go and ends up 8th. The question then becomes -- would she have had enough to be a factor at the finish? One of the things I love about The Racing Breed is that you have to figure that out yourself.

Personally I think she would have been toward the lead but have doubts she'd have won. But we'll keep her where she is for now unless we find a nice race one rung down next time she's ready to go.

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4/24/2006: easier to keep track this way, (this date is always Monday). I'm trying to find a uniform way to post each weeks activity...

NOTES: Seattle Back hasn't raced since 3/31, yet is still only at 97% three weeks later. His first four races were in a two month span, so it could be that he's just a bit tired from that effort. Or his average workouts suggest he could be on the verge of a minor illness (this is something you don't find out about until AFTER a race, usually a dull one). Or he could just be a horse that needs more time between starts. He is young enough that I don't plan to push it and will likely wait until he is 100% again before scheduling instead of the usual 98%+....or at least until he's showing some sharpness in his works.

SCHEDULING: Gold Suit is ready. Fourth and third last two outs at $32.5 claiming. Minor traffic issues in both. I'd like to shorten him up slightly to a 7F-mile range, and would be fine with moving him to $25K. Tough to find exactly what I want but settle on a mile at $32.5K on May 4th.

RACES: Devil Key, 4yo+(F) 6.5F on the dirt, $16,000 claiming. She is the 2-1 second choice and breaks from post 4 in a field of 10.

A puzzling race. She was midpack, then dropped back two-three more lengths until the turn. Big charge halfway through the turn and stretch but ended up sixth, but only 3 1/2 lengths behind the winner. She broke her maiden at this distance and looked to compete with this group but acted like a horse who was running above her class level or one that needed a route.

Part of the problem is solved after the race. Devil Key grabbed a quarter and will need some time off. That makes this a race that shouldn't be studied too closely.

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FOFC STABLE STATUS -- MAY 2006

Record: 17 starts, 2 wins, 2 place, 4 show (ranked 111th)
Purse money won: $50,980 (ranked 142nd)
Current bankroll: $15,420
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Gold Suit -- 5yo chestnut horse. Bought for $18K. Energy is 99.
2006 record: 4 starts, 0 wins, 0 place, 1 show. $7,560 in earnings.
Last: 1 1/16 miles on dirt at $32,500 claiming, finished 4th.

Devil Key -- 4yo chestnut filly. Bought for $24K. Energy is 90, has a grabbed quarter.
2006 record: 5 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show. $17,660 in earnings.
Last: 6.5F on dirt at $16,000 claiming, finished 6th. (injured)

Ain't Armor -- 3yo bay filly. Bought for $8K. Energy is 100.
2006 record: 4 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 2 show. $14,100 in earnings.
Last: 6.5F on dirt Maiden Claiming $16,000, finished 1st.

Nasty Sis -- 6yo bay mare. Bought for $16K. Energy is 96.
2006 record: 4 starts, 0 win, 2 place, 1 show. $11,660 in earnings.
Last: Mile on dirt $16,000 claiming, finished 8th.

Seattle Back -- 3yo gray colt. Claimed for $40K. Energy is 98.
2006 record: 4 starts, 3 win, 1 place, 0 show. $51,400 in earnings.
Last: Mile on dirt $40,000 claiming, finished 1st. (claimed).

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5/1/2006:

NOTES: Seattle Back is finally up to 98 in energy, but his work this week was still just average (5f, 100.2) so I'm still going to hold off on entering him.

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES: Gold Suit -- one mile on the dirt, 4yo+, $32,000 claiming. He is the 3-1 second choice and breaks from post 2 in a 9 horse field. He is not a speedster so he'll have to watch out for traffic on the rail......and he's had a nose for finding traffic. There doesn't look to be a lot of early pace in the race. Without some improvement here we'll have to rethink his best level.

Was able to stay in good position around midpack, moved three wide briefly on the turn but nothing big and was a solid second behind the favorite (who was claimed) with an 83 speed rating (consistent - his last three ratings are 82, 84 and 83). He doesn't have much push the last half furlong or so but I'm not sure he's suited for the pace of a sprint. Finding a horses best distance is such a matter of trial and error.

[Coffee Warlord]

Ya know, I'd give this game a go, but $34.99 seems a bit on the steep side.

[QuikSand]

Since you are doing a nice job "talking the talk" here's a minor tip. Use "out of" when you are referring to the dam, use "by" when referring to the sire.

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5/8/2006:

NOTES: None

SCHEDULING: I realize that this the last week of racing for the early meeting. There will be four weeks with no races at Florida. We don't have any stakes horses as of yet so we won't be looking for races at another track and will give the FOFC Stables horses a month to rest up. That means I want to get as many horses in this week as possible though, even if the race is not optimal.

Seattle Back jumped from 98 to 100 and had a better workout (4f, 47.4) so we'll look for a race for him. I want to test him against allowance company so I'll be looking for a NW1X (non-winners of a race other than maiden or claiming -- this is the lowest allowance category). Last race he won at a mile but I'm willing to try him at most any distance. Don't have to look far -- there is a race Saturday that fits and he's entered.

Nasty Sis had nowhere to go in the stretch last time out at $16K. I'm OK with keeping her at that level but would consider 12.5K as well. Can't find exactly what we want but find a mile race at $20K and she's in.

RACES: We have a decision to make off the bat. Thursday both Nasty Sis and Ain't Armor are scheduled to run but the track will be muddy. Ain't Armor has never run on an off track so we'll keep her in and see how she does. Nasty Sis has a poor off track record so since the race was a stretch anyway I'm going to scratch her. A six year old horse only has so many races left -- I want to maximize her chances in all of them.

Ain't Armor -- 3yo(F) going 8.5F on a sloppy track, $16,000 claiming. At 15-1 and breaking from the outside of a 9 horse field she is not seen as a threat.

And she decidedly is not. Falling behind quickly she is last and 20 lengths behind the leader at the half. The margin doesn't get any worse from there at least, and she manages to pass three tiring horses in the stretch, but a tepid 36 speed rating tells me that even if she hated the slop she's still got a ways to go just to compete at this low level.

Not that I'm bothered in any way about that. A solid $8,000 claimer that isn't good enough to be stolen away but can rack up in-the-money finishes will more than earn its feed. We've just got to wait to be eligible for those $8K claimers.

Seattle Back 3yo, 6.5F on dirt, NW1X Alw. He is the third choice at 5-1 behind co-favorites at 9-2 in a wide open race. I'm very annoyed at the jockey choice, a bum who has won 4 races in 101.

This is one of my pet peeves about the game -- if I'm entering the damn horse I'm going to want at least a jockey who has proven themselves to be competent. Jockeys are rated on things like getting out of the starting gate well, handling the horse, sprints/routes, etc. They can be a very important factor at times.

Anyway, Seattle Back takes the lead from the break, pressed by the favorite. He is in front by a head at the quarter and by a half length at the second call. The favorite takes a short length lead at the top of the stretch while Seattle Back battles gamely for second throughout the drive, ending up third, one length back of the winner. The top three horses were four lengths up on the rest of the field.

Very pleased with the performance. He most certainly competes at least at this level and that makes me feel optimistic about the claim.

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CW, I know what you mean. Can say that I've put at least a hundred hours into this game though, which makes it seem not as bad for me. :)

Quik, d'oh! Thanks for the reminder. Hope you're enjoying it.

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No races for four weeks now.

FOFC STABLE STATUS -- JUNE 2006

Record: 20 starts, 2 wins, 5 place, 5 show (ranked 121st) (last 111th)
Purse money won: $61,270 (ranked 131st) (last 142nd)
Current bankroll: $18,210 (last $15,420)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Gold Suit -- 5yo chestnut horse. Bought for $18K. Energy is 100.
2006 record: 5 starts, 0 wins, 1 place, 1 show. $13,560 in earnings.
Last: One mile on dirt at $32,500 claiming, finished 2nd.

Devil Key -- 4yo chestnut filly. Bought for $24K. Energy is 97, has a grabbed quarter.
2006 record: 5 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show. $17,660 in earnings.
Last: 6.5F on dirt at $16,000 claiming, finished 6th. (injured)

Ain't Armor -- 3yo bay filly. Bought for $8K. Energy is 100.
2006 record: 5 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 2 show. $14,100 in earnings.
Last: 8.5F on dirt (wet), claiming $16,000, finished 6th.

Nasty Sis -- 6yo bay mare. Bought for $16K. Energy is 100.
2006 record: 4 starts, 0 win, 2 place, 1 show. $11,660 in earnings.
Last: Mile on dirt $16,000 claiming, finished 8th.

Seattle Back -- 3yo gray colt. Claimed for $40K. Energy is 99.
2006 record: 5 starts, 3 win, 1 place, 1 show. $55,690 in earnings.
Last: 6.5F on dirt (wet), NW1X Allowance, finished 3rd.

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6/12/2006:

NOTES: None.

SCHEDULING: Everyone is ready to go except Devil Key who should be fully recovered from her injury in another week.

Gold Suit. I'm torn between risking him at $25,000 or trying him in a sprint at the $32,500 he's been running at. I go for the sprint which will be in two weeks.

Ain't Armor. Still no claiming races below $16,000 for 3yo's. I find a 6 furlong race in around 10 days. It will be a nice comparison to the 1 1/16 miles she ran last time against the same class.

Nasty Sis. Not much around in the $16-20K range on dirt she's been at, but there is a $25K claimer on turf the first day back. She ran much better speed figures on grass late last year so despite the jump it's worth a shot.

Seattle Back. Slim pickings for 3yo NW1X races. There is one this week but it's 5.5F on turf and I want to see what he can do on dirt for now. Other than that it's either minor stakes or a NW1 on 7/8 at 8.5F. He's got to prove to me he can win NW1 before I'm putting up any money for a stakes race so we go with the race three weeks out. Again, no harm in going slowly with a 3 yo -- he is likely still developing.

RACES: Nasty Sis, 4yo+(F), 8.5F on the turf (wet), claiming $25,000.
Yikes, rain again. She has a pretty dismal record on off tracks but maybe that will be minimized on the grass. She is an outsider at 8-1 and breaks from the 3 hole in an 8 horse field.

She broke a length slow, hung back in a tightly packed group until the turn where she made a strong move to catch the leader and then drew off in the final sixteenth to win by 2 lengths. How about that! Paid $19.30 for a $2 win ticket and ran a nice 89 rating. The race set up for her perfectly, there were multiple times she could have gotten stuck but each time it just opened up for her when she got there.

Nice surprise. I love when things like that happen. Needless to say, I have not been using her properly.

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6/19/2006:

NOTES: Just to follow up on Nasty Sis. Her last two races in 2005 and her first in 2006 were on turf. Each of those speed ratings was in the 80's. On the three dirt races I ran her on, the ratings were 74, 56 (wet) and 66 (blocked). Since she had only 3 shows in her 6 turf life starts, I explained the drop off as just getting old. Last race showed a clear preference for the turf. As in real life, you discount speed ratings at your own peril.

SCHEDULING: Devil Key is ready to go. We find a nice 6F sprint at $16K for her next week.

RACES: Gold Suit, 4yo+, 6F on dirt, claiming $32,500. He is the 5-1 fourth choice starting on the rail in a 10 horse field. He has been routing lately so it will be interesting to see how he does in a sprint.

He saves ground at the back of the pack, 7 lengths back of the leaders, then makes a BIG move around the turn, is fourth and gaining at the top of the stretch, smoothly moves to the lead and wins by daylight. That's two nice wins in a row for FOFC Stables!

Ain't Armor, 3yo(F), 6F on dirt (wet), $16,000 claiming. She is a 25-1 longshot starting from the rail in a field of 7. She did really poorly last time out in the slop as well. Maybe the shorter distance will help.

Or then again, maybe not. Like the last race, she breaks last, lags behind the field and passes a few tired horses in the stretch. I'd like to have a dry track at this level just to see if there's any difference and maybe also just try her on grass just in case. Her speed rating did improve to a 57 from 36 last time, suggesting she preferred the shorter distance.

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6/26/2006:

NOTES: None.

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES: Devil Key, 4yo+(F), 6F, $16,000 claiming. She is the 7-2 second choice in her return from injury, starting from post 6 in a field of 9. If all goes well I think she'll be quite competitive here.

We've been getting some nice trips lately. She sits fourth a few lengths back of the leaders and once again makes a big move at the quarter pole and runs the field down, winning by 3 with a rating of 82.

The best news is that we should have enough banked after these past couple weeks to start looking to add another horse!

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FOFC STABLE STATUS -- JULY 2006

Record: 24 starts, 5 win, 5 place, 5 show (ranked 60th) (last 121st)
Purse money won: $106,210 (ranked 91st) (last 131st)
Current bankroll: $55,650 (last $18,210)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Gold Suit -- 5yo chestnut horse. Bought for $18K. Energy is 98.
2006 record: 6 starts, 6 win, 1 place, 1 show. $31,560 in earnings.
Last: 6F on dirt at $32,500 claiming, finished 1st.

Devil Key -- 4yo chestnut filly. Bought for $24K. Energy is 96.
2006 record: 6 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 0 show. $28,460 in earnings.
Last: 6F on dirt at $16,000 claiming, finished 1st.

Ain't Armor -- 3yo bay filly. Bought for $8K. Energy is 99.
2006 record: 6 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 2 show. $14,640 in earnings.
Last: 6F on dirt (wet), claiming $16,000, finished 5th.

Nasty Sis -- 6yo bay mare. Bought for $16K. Energy is 98.
2006 record: 5 starts, 1 win, 2 place, 1 show. $27,260 in earnings.
Last: 8.5F on grass (wet) $25,000 claiming, finished 1st.

Seattle Back -- 3yo gray colt. Claimed for $40K. Energy is 100.
2006 record: 5 starts, 3 win, 1 place, 1 show. $55,690 in earnings.
Last: 6.5F on dirt (wet), NW1X Allowance, finished 3rd.

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7/3/2006:

SCHEDULING: Three horses are ready to be scheduled.
Gold Suit comes off his 6F win at $32,500 claiming. I don't want to risk losing him so will move him a rung higher but don't see any sprints at that tag in the near future. I find a $40,000 race at a mile for him this week.

Ain't Armor is still waiting for the lower 3yo filly claiming races to open up. She hasn't proved capable so far so I see no point in running her higher than she has been. It's a month out until the next 3yoF $16K claimer but I stick her in there.

Nasty Sis woke up big time last out on the turf, winning at 1 1/16 miles. There is a $32,500 claiming race at 1 1/8 miles this week. That's a pretty high level for a 6yo mare, but she seems to fit based on that last race.

RACES:
Nasty Sis, 4yo+(F), 9F on grass, claiming $32,500. She is 11-1 and starting from post 9 in a field of 10. A tough spot for sure.

She had no excuse. Broke fine, no traffic problems but was in the back of the pack the entire race and finishes last. That's just too high a level it appears.

Gold Suit 4yo+, 8F on dirt, claiming $40,000. He is the 7-2 second choice, starting from post 3 in a field of 9. The 8-5 favorite looks like the only speed in the race which will make it tough for a closer like our horse.

Surprisingly the favorite got pressure from two other horses on the front end and Gold Suit was able to sit by himself on the rail about 5 lengths back. But there was no late run and he faded to a dull 6th.

Seattle Back, 3yo, 8.5F on dirt, NW1X Allowance. He is the 5-2 favorite in a contentious field of seven (three 4-1 horses and a 9-2 behind him). We've drawn post 2.

He vies for the lead with a quick pace of 1:10.1 after six furlongs. Seattle Back sticks a nose out in front and then is blown away by the 9-2 Ed's Name who runs off and hides while we fade to fourth. Looking over the past performances it seems the winners form was hidden some -- he was trounced in his past couple races......the Preakness and Belmont. Back with this kind of company he was a 20/20 hindsight standout.

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7/10/2006:

NOTES: I notice our trainers favorite jockey Nadine Cromer is injured and out for 85 days.

SCHEDULING: Nobody is ready.

None of the FOFC horses are racing this week so we'll look for claim possibilities.

Find a tempting horse on Wednesday's card. Storm Sue is a 4yo filly entered for a $32,500 claiming sprint. She has raced five times this year with two wins, two place and one show and has already earned close to $50,000 this year. She is stepping up from a very solid win at $25K and has not run a race lower than an 82 speed rating all year. She has sprinted consistently but I can't help but wonder if she could stretch out -- all of her racing lines show her to stalk the pace in fourth position or so and then steadily move up. With our cash reserves of $55,000 it's a risk since we'll only have around two months operating cash on hand if we make this move.

My thought is that she'll be eligible for $25,000 starter allowances as well. That can be a nice way to rack up cash without the pesky worry about being claimed. Let's go for it. The claim is placed.

It's a very short race at 5.5F and the track is slightly wet. Storm Sue sits midpack but manages to avoid too much trouble and makes a strong move down the stretch to finish a hard-charging third. I really think this filly just needs some more distance.

Our claim goes through, and Storm Sue becomes FOFC Stables' sixth horse.

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7/17/2006:

SCHEDULING: Devil Key is ready to go again off of her 6F win at $16,000 last out. I really think this is her best level but will go up one notch if necessary, so I'm looking for a $16-20K sprint. I find a race Sunday for $16K at 6.5F. It's a risk to run a winner right back at the same level, but I really don't think she's a $20K horse at this point and would rather try for the purse.

RACE: Devil Key, 4yo+(F), 6.5F on dirt, $16,000 claiming. She is the heavy 4-5 favorite and breaks from post 4 in a field of 9.

She sits in the catbird seat at the quarter, 3/4 of a length back of horses dueling on either side of her for the lead. Steadily moving up around the turn, she draws off by three at the top of the stretch and maintains that lead for her second win in a row, this time at a more realistic 71 speed rating. And no claim!

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7/23/2006:

SCHEDULING: It seems pretty clear that the ceiling for Gold Suit is somewhere between $32,500 where he is very competitive and $40,000 where he has not been. On a whim I take a look at the history of his sire, Marked Tree, to see if I can find any hints on what to do with him.

The sire history has one huge flaw which effectively breaks it -- it is only for the current year. Which means that every January 1 the stats start from scratch. So the tendencies of a sire can be greatly effected by one prodigy. But we're halfway through the year so at least I can see if Marked Tree's offspring show any glimmer of grass ability.

Turns out that although Marked Tree sits in the 149th spot overall for sires, he is 74th in the grass sire list. So let's see if any of that carried forward and find a grass claimer for Gold Suit. There is a $32,500 claimer for a mile on turf Wednesday and we enter him.

Seattle Back is ready to run again. Though he was just fourth in his last race, I still feel good about him. I believe that his main problem now is not having enough races -- his last race was his first route ever and after a six week layoff, which followed a similar six week absence. The condition book is not kind to us however and we settle on another NW1X in three weeks.

RACE: Gold Suit, 4yo+, 8F on grass, $32,500 claiming. He is the 6-1 fifth choice of a field of 8 and will be coming from the 4 hole. With no prior grass history the bettors are taking a wait and see attitude. I think it's worth $100 across the board at that price. (By the way, Longshot Larry tabs him for second, though Professor Ed and Lucky Steve both ignore him).

Gold Suit was unhurried early and saved ground midpack through the first turn and down the backstretch. At the quarter pole he swings out and starts a bid through the turn but cannot do much more and finishes a steady but beaten sixth. That's why they call it gambling.

I am surprised and kind of disappointed though to see that we've lost our first horse. Gold Suit was claimed for $32,500 by Stapleton Stables. We bought him at the Horses of Racing Age auction for $18,000. This year he earned $31,560 for us in 8 starts, with one win, one place and one show.

So let's see how we did with Gold Suit.
Purchased - $18,000
Training (6 mos) - $12,000
Total Cost - $30,000
Earned $31,560
Claimed for $32,500
Total Earned - $64,060

So we made $34,060 from our time with Gold Suit. Well, minus that $300 I bet.

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FOFC STABLE STATUS -- AUGUST 2006

Record: 29 starts, 6 win, 5 place, 5 show (ranked 54th) (last 60th)
Purse money won: $119,350 (ranked 97th) (last 91st)
Current bankroll: $68,490 (last $55,650)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Devil Key -- 4yo chestnut filly. Bought for $24K. Energy is 96.
2006 record: 7 starts, 3 win, 1 place, 0 show. $39,260 in earnings.
Last: 6.5F on dirt $16,000 claiming, finished 1st.

Ain't Armor -- 3yo bay filly. Bought for $8K. Energy is 100.
2006 record: 6 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 2 show. $14,640 in earnings.
Last: 6F on dirt (wet), claiming $16,000, finished 5th.

Nasty Sis -- 6yo bay mare. Bought for $16K. Energy is 98.
2006 record: 6 starts, 1 win, 2 place, 1 show. $27,260 in earnings.
Last: 9.0F on grass $25,000 claiming, finished 10th.

Seattle Back -- 3yo gray colt. Claimed for $40K. Energy is 99.
2006 record: 6 starts, 3 win, 1 place, 1 show. $58,030 in earnings.
Last: 8.5F on dirt, NW1X Allowance, finished 4th.

Storm Sue -- 4yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. Energy is 97.
2006 record: 6 starts, 2 win, 2 place, 2 show. $48,560 in earnings. ($0 with FOFC)
Last: 5.5F on dirt, $32,500 claiming, finished 3rd and claimed.

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7/31/2006:

NOTES: We gotta find another horse.

SCHEDULING: As you see above, Nasty Sis is ready. That last race is a puzzler, but I believe I've made a mistake. With a 6yo mare my thinking shouldn't be to maximize her racing level than maximizing her chances per start. Bottom line grass claiming of $25,000 will work, but I'll drop her to a $20,000 or even $16K dirt race if those are easier to find. She's earned the easier company and I would be surprised if she was taken at her age. There is no bottom level grass claimers in the near future so we find a 9.0F $16K claimer for her next week. I think she could fit well there.

RACES: Ain't Armor, 3yo(F), 6F on dirt, $16,000 claiming. She's 31-1 and starting from the outside in a field of 7.

I feel sort of sad just seeing poor Ain't Armor's name come up for this week. The sort of sad you get when going to see your basement dwelling team play the arch-rivals that have been kicking your ass for about a hundred years. I know she's overmatched. I don't know why I'm running her and not just letting her sit for another month or so until I can get her to the $8-10K range. Anyway.

As will likely be no surprise, she drops back steadily from the gate to about 10-12 back. And gradually loses some more to the leader, but made a decent run down the stretch, gaining three spots from considerably tiring horses but nonetheless ran pretty well considering she is running pretty far over her head.

Forgot to look for another horse. Next week.

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8/7/2006:

NOTES: We will be looking for a claim this week. We've currently got four females and one 3yo colt. I'd like to get a 4yo+ male for balance.

SCHEDULING: Devil Key has won her last two starts at $16K. No way to avoid moving her up. There is a $20K claiming sprint this week, we'll try her there.

Storm Sue is ready for her first start for FOFC. As I've mentioned, she looks to need some more room and was the favorite at $32.5K last out. Luckily there is a $25,000 starter allowance at one mile this week. She's in. For those who may not know, a starter allowance is basically a non-claiming race for claiming-class horses. Since Storm Sue has run for a $25,000 claiming tab within the past six months, she is eligible for this race. The horses in such a race tend to be better than the price level. I'd guess for a $25,000 starter race you should be able to be competitive in the $32.5-$40K range.

RACES: Nasty Sis, 4yo+(F), 9.0F on dirt, $16,000 claiming. She is the even money favorite coming from post 7 in a field of 8. Quite a drop from where she's been running, though she's clearly been better on grass than dirt.

She runs horribly. Seventh the whole way around, 15 lengths behind the leader. Makes a bit of a run but is so far back it doesn't even matter. A 40 speed rating, 16 points off her next worst showing. A check of the stable screen after the race has even worse news for her and FOFC. Nasty Sis has torn her suspensory and is out until at least December. For a 6 year old mare, that very well may have been her last race.

Storm Sue, 4yo+(F), 8F on dirt, $25,000 starter alw. She is the 7-2 third choice in a contentious field of 7, breaking from the 2 hole. Very interested to see how she handles the added distance as well as this class of race.

She breaks second and stays about a length or two off the leader while saving ground. Swinging out on the turn she slowly closes the gap and makes a sharp move at the top of the stretch to put her nose in front...but that's about it as she slowly drops back to finish fourth, 4 back of the winner. All in all not a bad first effort at a route -- we'll try her back at the same distance next time and see if she'll be able to stay a bit longer.

Devil Key, 4yo+(F), 6F on a muddy dirt track, $20,000 claiming. She is the 4-1 second choice starting from post 3 in a field of 10. She's had one previous off-track start, finishing third.

She settles mid-pack along the rail in some tight quarters though she isn't affected by it. Swinging out along the turn she moves up, is slightly blocked at the top of the stretch but then along with the 8-5 favorite breaks clear and after a prolonged battle to the wire nabs her third straight win by a neck. The 6 to 6 1/2 furlong distance really seems to suit her.

CLAIMS: After looking very hard at but then passing on some promising 3yo colts earlier in the week there wasn't much to choose from until Sunday brought an interesting prospect to the table.

Vegas Fun is a 5yo horse by Devil His Due out of a Miswaki mare, not stellar but you could do a lot worse. The interesting thing about this horse is that he is running his fifth consecutive grass race. Here is his record on dirt and on turf:
Dirt: 7 starts, 5 win, 1 place, 0 show
Turf: 5 starts, 1 win, 0 place, 0 show
I can only see a couple of those dirt races on his record but they were $25 and $32.5 claimers that he ran 90+ ratings in, winning one. His turf races have all been NW1X and he's showed little at that level. Today he is back to $25,000. I put in a claim, and if it goes through we'll likely move him back to dirt. No sense overthinking a record like that.

We get the claim. He is 9-1 and goes six wide around the first turn, losing 4 lengths and finishes 7th, 6 behind the winner. He's definitely moving back to the dirt.

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8/14/2006:

NOTES: It's the end of the line for Nasty Sis. She'll be 7 and coming off major injury if she is even able to recover to racing form. At best she would be a bottom level claimer, but keeping her training costs in the meantime does not seem to be a cost-benefit situation. I wish Racing Breed allowed you to breed your mares after they retire but that is something for (hopefully) an updated version. We're offered $1,000 by a breeding farm and take the offer.

Final tally for Nasty Sis:
Purchased - $16,000
Training (7 mos) - $14,000
Total Cost - $30,000
Earned $27,260
Sold for $1,000
Total Earned - $28,260

We lost $1,740 with Nasty Sis.

Also, we're back down to five horses. We'll look for another claim.

SCHEDULING: Ain't Armor is ready. We're finally able to get her in a lower price race now that September is around the corner. There is a 8.5F race at $10,000 three weeks from now. I'm not sure that's her right distance, but I'm more interested to see how she competes at that level and enter her there.

RACES: None.

CLAIMS: None.

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8/21/2006:

NOTES: None.

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES: Seattle Back, 3yo, 6.5F on dirt, NW1X allowance. He is co-third choice at 6-1 behind two very strong favorites, one who lost a G3 handicap by a head and another who has been running consistently in the 90's. Breaking from post 9 in a field of 10.

It was a crowded field towards the front and Seattle Back was in the thick of it sitting just off the leaders. Moved into second on the turn despite being wide but the two favorites ran off in the stretch and he finishes third, solidly the best of the rest.

CLAIMS: We find another 3yo colt, Musical Trail running for $16,000. He won his debut at $25,000 maiden claiming despite a ton of trouble and has some quick workouts to his credit. For $16,000 he could be a bargain and we make the claim. He runs OK and ends up fourth. The claim goes through, but that race wasn't what I'd hoped to see. But still, at worst we have another mid-level claimer and he is still liable to improve if we can find his spot.

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8/28/2006:

NOTES: At this point in the year I think we'll hold off on adding to our stable unless we rack up some decent purse money in the next month or so. The 2yo auctions will be coming up as well as the Horses of Racing Age and I'd like FOFC to be able to bring in at least one and hopefully 2 yearlings.

SCHEDULING: Vegas Fun is set to debut for us. We are getting him off the grass and back onto dirt, finding a $25,000 starter allowance at 8.5F on the dirt. He's ran well at $32.5 earlier in the year, hopefully he'll be able to handle this class level.

RACES: None.

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FOFC STABLE STATUS -- SEPTEMBER 2006

Record: 34 starts, 7 win, 5 place, 6 show (ranked 57th) (last 54th)
Purse money won: $139,960 (ranked 101st) (last 97th)
Current bankroll: $68,490 (last $41,600)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Devil Key -- 4yo chestnut filly. Bought for $24K. Energy is 97.
2006 record: 8 starts, 4 win, 1 place, 0 show. $52,460 in earnings.
Last: 6.0F on dirt (wet) $20,000 claiming, finished 1st.

Ain't Armor -- 3yo bay filly. Bought for $8K. Energy is 100.
2006 record: 7 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 2 show. $15,720 in earnings.
Last: 6F on dirt, claiming $16,000, finished 4th.

Seattle Back -- 3yo gray colt. Claimed for $40K. Energy is 95.
2006 record: 7 starts, 3 win, 1 place, 2 show. $62,320 in earnings.
Last: 6.5F on dirt, NW1X Allowance, finished 3rd.

Storm Sue -- 4yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. Energy is 97.
2006 record: 7 starts, 2 win, 2 place, 2 show. $50,600 in earnings. ($2,040 with FOFC)
Last: 8.0F on dirt, $25,000 StAlw, finished 4th.

Vegas Fun -- 5yo chestnut horse. Claimed for $25,000. Energy is 99.
2006 record: 4 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show. $0 earnings.
Last: 8.5F on grass, $25,000 claiming, finished 7th and claimed.

Musical Trail -- 3yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. Energy is 97.
2006 record: 2 starts, 1 win, 0 place, 0 show. $11,280 earnings ($0 with FOFC).
Last: 8.0F on dirt, $16,000 claiming, finished 4th and claimed.

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9/4/2006:

SCHEDULING: Three are ready. Devil Key is coming off her third straight win at $20,000. Because the race was on mud and she had a bit of trouble I'm playing it safe and moving her up to $25,000. We find a 5.5F sprint next week, might be a bit short but we'll at least get an idea of how she competes at the level.

Storm Sue we want to put in another mile race to build off her first route try last out. Unfortunately, the first one at her level isn't for three weeks and I don't want her to have that big a layoff. So I find a $40K claimer at 6F this week.

Musical Trail was 4th with trouble in his first start against winners at $16K. His speed rating was decent though and with natural improvement I think that he should be competitive at $20K His debut was at 6F, his last at a mile, so we split the difference with a 7F race this week.

RACES: Musical Trail, 3yo, 7.0F on dirt, $20,000 claiming. He is the 8-5 favorite on the rail in a field of 10.

Breaks third along the rail about 2 back of the leader, passing the half mile pole moves to the lead and then runs off down the stretch, winning by 8 and running a 88 figure. That was a beautiful race, and he looked a completely different horse from the race we claimed him from.

Vegas Fun, 3yo+, 8.5F on dirt, $25,000 StAlw. He is a 23-1 outsider starting from post 9 of 10. His form is pretty hidden due to his wretched grass performances but if he is a better horse on dirt (as I suspect) he could surprise, though it's always tough coming from the outside.

Aaaaaaaaaand he runs very much like a 23-1 shot, five and six wide on the first turn and three wide on the far turn -- though I don't think that really mattered, because I never got a whiff of a move from the horse. We'll have to relook at this one.

Storm Sue, 3yo+(F), 6.0F on dirt, $40,000 claiming. Despite the class jump she is the 2-1 favorite coming from the 2 hole in a field of 8.

She breaks fifth and gets into a bit of traffic on the backstretch, but bulls her way through on the rail, takes the lead going into the turn and wins comfortably, running a 92. She looked much the best, maybe we should look at a lower level allowance....

Ain't Armor, 3yo+(F), 8.5F on dirt, $10,000 claiming. She is the 3-1 second choice on the outside in a field of 9. Now is when we finally get to see where she fits in the claiming ranks.

Better than $10,000! Despite being a step slow out of the gate and heading into the first turn 7 wide, costing around 4 lengths altogether and putting her dead last, she steadily closed ground down the backstretch and although being 3 wide through the far turn took the lead and won in a driving finish.

Four races, three wins. A great week.

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9/11/2006:

SCHEDULING: Seattle Back is ready. He has been competitive at the NW1X level so I see no sense in dropping him back down to the claiming ranks yet. There is a NW1X at 6F this week.

RACES: Devil Key, 3yo+(F), 5.5F on dirt (sloppy), $25,000 claiming. She is one of three 5-1 second choices behind 9-5 Crowning War who is racing for just the third time but put up a monster 96 figure last out at $20K. It's tempting to claim her but we won't.

She breaks from post 7 of 10 on a sloppy track, falls well back early, starts to run at about the quarter pole and rallies to just get up for fourth. The race served it's purpose by showing that right now she's just a little bit short of this level. The favorite wins, running a 95. I suspect that horse will be in an allowance next time out.

Seattle Back, 3yo+, 6.0F on dirt (muddy), NW1X allowance. He is 9-1 and on the outside of a field of 9.

He races evenly throughout, near the lead but four wide through the turn and unable to stay with the top two who run off and hide. He's not had great luck, I think he's better than his results would indicate but I'm going to need to see improvement soon.

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9/18/2006:

SCHEDULING: Ain't Armor shook off a troubled trip to win at $10,000 last out. We've ample evidence that she doesn't fit at $16,000 though I will note she did improve in each of her three races at that level. Anyway, it means I want to find a $12,500 race for her and they appear to be few and far between. I finally locate one about three weeks out and enter her.

Vegas Fun ran very wide yet disappointed at $25K starter level last time. I find a $32,000 claimer which should be somewhat softer and a level he won at earlier in the year, and also shortening him a bit to 7F as he doesn't seem to have a late move.

RACES: None.

[PilotMan]

I can never get the damn demo to work. Never loads the demogame. I have been interested in this game, so I am following along here to see how it plays.

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I can never get the damn demo to work. Never loads the demogame. I have been interested in this game, so I am following along here to see how it plays.

I think there was something on their message board about a vista compatibility patch/workaround/fix/something or other (don't have Vista so never looked) if that's what you're running.

Glad to have you follow along, feel free to ask if you have any questions!

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9/25/2006:

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES: Vegas Fun, 4yo+, 7.0F on dirt (good), $32,500 claiming. He is the 5-1 third choice breaking from the rail in a field of 8. Shortening up and dropping a rung or so, despite the slightly off track I hope to get a better read of him on dirt at this level.

Yeesh. Hangs back along the rail and gave just a hint of making a move in the backstretch but it was more of a fakeout. Fades back to last showing very little. I think I might have made a mistake with this claim.

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FOFC STABLE STATUS -- OCTOBER 2006

Record: 41 starts, 10 win, 5 place, 6 show (ranked 39th) (last 57th)
Purse money won: $185,260 (ranked 92nd) (last 101st)
Current bankroll: $77,785 (last $68,490)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Devil Key -- 4yo chestnut filly. Bought for $24K. Energy is 98.
2006 record: 9 starts, 4 win, 1 place, 0 show. $54,020 in earnings.
Last: 5.5F on dirt (wet) $25,000 claiming, finished 4th.

Ain't Armor -- 3yo bay filly. Bought for $8K. Energy is 100.
2006 record: 8 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show. $22,920 in earnings.
Last: 8.5F on dirt, claiming $10,000, finished 1st.

Seattle Back -- 3yo gray colt. Claimed for $40K. Energy is 96.
2006 record: 8 starts, 3 win, 1 place, 2 show. $64,660 in earnings.
Last: 6.0F on dirt (wet), NW1X Allowance, finished 4th.

Storm Sue -- 4yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. Energy is 97.
2006 record: 8 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show. $71,600 in earnings. ($23,040 with FOFC)
Last: 6.0F on dirt, $40,000 claiming, finished 1st.

Vegas Fun -- 5yo chestnut horse. Claimed for $25,000. Energy is 96.
2006 record: 6 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show. $0 earnings.
Last: 7.0F on dirt (wet), $32,500 claiming, finished 8th.

Musical Trail -- 3yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. Energy is 98.
2006 record: 3 starts, 2 win, 0 place, 0 show. $24,480 earnings ($13,200 with FOFC).
Last: 7.0F on dirt, $20,000 claiming, finished 1st.

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10/2/2006:

SCHEDULING: Devil Key is ready. I don't recall her in a ton of trouble last out but the form says she was checked in the backstretch and blocked on the turn. I've got two choices for her in the near future, a $20K claimer at 6.5F which she would figure to be a favorite in, or a $16K starter allowance at a mile. I'm not sure about the distance but at least I wouldn't have to worry about a claim, plus it would give me another look at her running at a $25K'ish level. Let's give it a shot.

Storm Sue comes off of a strong win at 6F for $40,000. I think she should be able to handle allowance company. Of course the condition book doesn't want to cooperate, with the only NW1X on dirt being almost four weeks off. I do see a race this week at 8.5F with NW2X conditions. Still wondering about her ability at a route I enter her here with fingers crossed.

Musical Trail destroyed the rest at $20,000 last out. It's a big jump to go to allowance company, but I do find a $16,000 starter allowance next week and slot him there.

RACES: Devil Key, 3yo+(F), 8.0F on dirt, $16,000 StAlw. She is the 3-1 second choice coming from post 3 in a field of 9.

Twice Jones, the 9-5 favorite runs off from the field from the break and is never headed. Devil Key sits midpack along the rail but doesn't seem to have much of a push and slowly fades, finishing a dull 6th. So as is always the key with this game, did I learn anything here? I guess I could say she definitely seems to prefer sprints, and $20,000 claiming might be her ceiling. She came out of the race healthy and had no trouble. Puzzling.

Storm Sue, 3yo+(F), 8.5F on dirt, NW2X allowance. She is the 5-1 second choice and breaks from post 8 in a field of 9. The favorite, 4-5 Daring Starlet won a grade 2 handicap two back at an incredible 115 speed rating. That was on turf, I can only hope that she's not as good on dirt. This is a tough race and I'm surprised to be so low.

Daring Starlet is beat by a neck in an exciting four horse drive down the stretch. Storm Sue didn't even have a good vantage point to watch, after seeing her move be matched by the four horses around her in midpack and fading to last in the final furlong. I didn't expect her to win the race. I did think she'd like the distance better than she seemed to. 6.5 to 7 furlongs is probably her very best distance, maybe a mile.

Ain't Armor, 3yo+(F), 8.0F on dirt, $12,500 claiming. She is the 7-1 fourth pick and breaks from post 7 in the 8 horse field. Not much respect for her win last out, but the two favorites both handled their maiden claming fields with ease.

Along with most of the field she hangs back as three horses get 12 lengths in front. Blocked as she is nearing the turn, she swings three wide and makes a decent run to get up to third but is nosed out at the wire and finishes fourth.

All in all, a disappointing week. We've only got about six-seven weeks to go in the year and I'd like to be at six figures going into the auctions.

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10/9/2006:

NOTES: Our jockey Nadine Cromer is back from her injury.

SCHEDULING:
Before we start to give up on Seattle Back at the allowance level let's give him a shot on the grass, since his sire has some success on the turf (56th overall, but 32nd on turf). There's an NW1X at 1 1/16 on grass Sunday, he's there.

Vegas Fun. This really looks like a losing bet, and as the song goes I'm wondering whether to hold' em or fold 'em. I claimed him at $25K but I don't think he's in danger of being taken at that level, or at $20K for that matter. Unfortunately I can't find a race quickly at $20K. There are races at $16,000 though. A purse and a claim would minimize the loss. There is a $16K race on Wednesday and he's in.

RACES:
Vegas Fun, 3yo+, 6.5F on dirt, $16,000 claiming. He is the 4-1 second choice and breaks from post 3 in a field of 10. Hopefully this will wake him up. What will suck is a bad finish combined with no claim.

And suck it is. Finishes 9th with no highlights. How the hell did this horse win at $32,500 four months ago and now gets trounced at 16? A check at the stable after the race gives the explanation -- a bowed tendon will have Vegas Fun out until next April.

Musical Trail, 3yo+, 8.0F on dirt, $16,000 StAlw. He is the 9-5 favorite of the 8 horse field breaking from post 2. The public sees this as a two horse race between Musical Trail and Just Won Dave, the 2-1 second choice.

He hugs the rail in a three way battle for the lead early but draws off by 3 1/2 lengths at the half pole. Just Won Dave moves into second but cannot get any closer as Musical Trail wins by 4, running a very nice 102 figure.

Seattle Back, 3yo+, 8.5F on grass (good), NW1X allowance. He is the 6-1 fourth choice in a field of 8 coming from the 3 hole. Interested to see how he'll do on the grass but I wish it was a firm course since with the rain you're never sure if it's the weather or the surface when you try something new.

He stalks the pacesetter through the first turn, sticks a neck out front as they head down the backstretch, wears down the rival as they enter the stretch but is charged down by the 3-2 favorite and after a good stretch drive ends up second by a length, running a 92. Not bad. Worth another grass try next out.

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10/16/2006:

NOTES: Any ideas what to do about Vegas Fun? We're currently out $25,000 on him with no earnings, plus a couple months training -- let's say $30K in the hole. I can sell him right now for $8,000. Our option is to give him six months recovery for his injury which will put him a third of the way into his 6yo season and hope for the best, which will cost us roughly another $12,000. Suggestions welcome, though I lean towards just taking the bath now.

SCHEDULING: Ain't Armor is ready. Had traffic but still didn't show anything at $12,500 so I feel fine dropping her back down to $10K and find a race at 1 1/16 miles next week.

RACES: None.

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10/23/2006:

SCHEDULING: Devil Key has been out of the money at $25K and at $16K StAlw. I think that $20,000 appears to be her level for now and find a 6F race this Saturday.

Musical Trail made a quick recovery from his big 102 rating at $16K StAlw 10 days ago. I'd like to bump him up to NW1X but there's nothing that's not on turf for a few weeks. There is another starter allowance this week though so might as well try and score another purse there.

RACES:
Musical Trail, 3yo+, 8.0F on dirt, $16,000 StAlw. He is the co-second choice at 3-1, breaking from post 7 in a 10 horse field. There are two other strong 3yo's in this race -- 8-5 favorite Hong Kong Setter just won by 8 lengths at $32,500, and 3-1 Zone Bert destroyed a group of $20,000 claimers by 20, running a 101. This will be a good test.

Musical Trail sits behind the front pack to the turn, swings wide to make a bid around the turn but hangs and ends up fourth. Could be the race was too soon after the last one, he didn't have a push down the stretch. The two horses mentioned above finish 1-2.

Ain't Armor, 3yo+(F), 8.5F on dirt, $10,000 claiming. She is the 5-2 favorite of the 10 horse field coming from post 4.

As is her habit, she sits back and saves ground early. And around the turn. And down the stretch. Huh? Finishes a badly beaten eighth. I cross my fingers and check the stable......damn. Bowed tendon. Out until May.

Devil Key, 3yo+(F), 6.0F on dirt, $20,000 claiming. She is the 7-2 third choice coming from post 9 of 10. After these last couple injuries I just want her to finish healthy.

She is five wide going into the turn but soon heads inside, makes a run through traffic but ends up fifth.

This has not been a good week.

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FOFC STABLE STATUS -- NOVEMBER 2006

Record: 50 starts, 11 win, 6 place, 6 show (ranked 38th) (last 39th)
Purse money won: $211,780 (ranked 89th) (last 92nd)
Current bankroll: $95,305 (last $77,785)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Devil Key -- 4yo chestnut filly. Bought for $24K. Energy is 94.
2006 record: 11 starts, 4 win, 1 place, 0 show. $54,680 in earnings.
Last: 6.0F on dirt, $20,000 claiming, finished 5th.

Ain't Armor -- 3yo bay filly. Bought for $8K. INJURED, OUT UNTIL MAY.
2006 record: 10 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show. $23,820 in earnings.
Last: 8.5F on dirt, claiming $10,000, finished 8th.

Seattle Back -- 3yo gray colt. Claimed for $40K. Energy is 97.
2006 record: 9 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show. $72,460 in earnings.
Last: 8.0F on grass (wet), NW1X Allowance, finished 2nd.

Storm Sue -- 4yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. Energy is 98.
2006 record: 9 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show. $71,600 in earnings. ($23,040 with FOFC)
Last: 8.5F on grass, NW2X Allowance, finished 9th.

Vegas Fun -- 5yo chestnut horse. Claimed for $25,000. INJURED, OUT UNTIL APRIL.
2006 record: 7 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show. $0 earnings.
Last: 6.5F on dirt, $16,000 claiming, finished 9th.

Musical Trail -- 3yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. Energy is 94.
2006 record: 5 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show. $41,640 earnings ($30,360 with FOFC).
Last: 8.0F on dirt, $16,000 StAlw, finished 4th.

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10/31/2006:

NOTES: Four racing weeks left in the year.

I have no problems keeping Ain't Armor through her injury. She is still young and could have a good career as a low-level claimer.

SCHEDULING: Storm Sue is ready. She was way over her head last out running at NW2X. I'd also like to dial her back to no more than a mile in distance. There is a NW1X at 7 furlongs this Sunday, and she's in.

RACES: Storm Sue, 3yo+(F), 7.0F on dirt, NW1X Alw. She is the 8-5 favorite breaking from post 3 in a field of 7. This will probably be her final race this year.

The 6 horse is able to get a lead by herself, and despite a strong run that makes up ground Storm Sue settles for a solid place. I think she has positioned herself as a high claiming/low allowance sprinter. That's a nice asset for our stable going into next year.

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11/6/2006:

SCHEDULING: Seattle Back is looking for a NW1X on grass. There aren't any left unfortunately, so we find one at a mile on dirt the last week of racing.

RACES: None. Having a third of your stable hurt cuts down on the starts, no?

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11/13/2006:

Nothing to do.

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11/20/2006:

NOTES: Last racing week of the year and our last chance to get purse money going into the yearling sales.

SCHEDULING: With just one week, we don't have the luxury of being picky about races. Devil Key comes off a 5th at $20K, there is a 8.5F race at $16K that I think she'll be safe in. Musical Trail lost that $16K starter race last out. I would like to at least test him at a NW1X level, and there's one on Thursday.

RACES: Musical Trail, 3yo+, 8.5F on dirt, NW1X Alw. He is an 8-1 outsider breaking from post 3 in a closely bunched field of 10. I just want to see him be competitive here more than anything else. I'd be thrilled with a show.

Didn't get the show, but I was happy with the race. He broke midpack but was blocked on the rail while trying to run down the entire backstretch, angled out wide through the far turn while still running and ended up a decent fifth. I think he deserves another shot at this level next year.

Seattle Back, 3yo+, 8.0F on dirt, NW1X Alw. He is the 6-1 third choice behind co-favorites at 2-1, coming from post 4 in a nine horse field with the co-favorites directly inside of him. Again, I think grass is his better surface so I'd be happy with being in the money here.

Breaking alertly he settles along the rail behind co-favorite Waki Leader. Then the problems start as that one runs out of steam as rivals advance on the outside, completely hemming Seattle Back in as he tries to make a move down the backstretch. Things open up briefly around the turn but he seems to have spent his energy, though a late burst comes down the stretch to no avail as he is boxed in again and ends up fifth, but only 4 lengths behind the winner. I think he would have won that with a clean trip.

Finally, Devil Key, 3yo+(F), 8.5F on dirt, $16,000 claiming. She is the 4-1 second choice from post 4 of 10.

The heavy favorite makes like Secretariat at the Belmont and leaves the field in her dust. Despite being forced wide around the far turn Devil Key makes a run and gains four on the place horse but can't quite get there and settles for the show.

And that wraps up the 2006 racing season for FOFC Stables. Next event on the calendar is the Mixed Yearling Sale on December 10th. We'll be looking for a miracle Derby horse there.

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11/27/2006:

NOTES: I've decided to sell Vegas Fun for $6,000. A bad choice all around:
Bought: $25,000
Earnings: $0
Training cost: $4,500
Sold: $6,000
Net loss: $23,500.

End season bankroll: $104,425
End season record: 54 starts, 11 win, 7 place, 7 show (45th place)
End season earnings: $223,900 (91st place)

END SEASON RECAP:
Devil Key, 12 starts, 4 win, 1 place, 1 show -- $56,660 earnings.
Training cost: $18,000
Net earnings: $38,660.
Solid mid-level claimer, best on dirt in the 6.0-8.0F range.

Ain't Armor, 10 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show -- $23,820 earnings.
Training cost: $18,000
Net earnings: $5,820.
Injured until May, should be useful bottom level claimer.

Seattle Back, 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show -- $73,630 earnings.
Claiming price: $40,000
Training cost: $15,000
Net earnings: $18,630
Low allowance/high claimer coming into prime. Might prefer grass.

Storm Sue, 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show -- $79,400 earnings ($30,840 with FOFC)
Claiming price: $32,500
Training cost: $9,000
Net earnings: -$10,660
Low allowance/high claiming filly should easily be in the black by this time next year.

Musical Trail, 6 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show -- $42,810 earnings ($31,530 with FOFC)
Claiming price: $16,000
Training cost: $9,000
Net earnings: $6,530
Looking like a mid level claimer, which is just fine.

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12/9/2006:

There are two yearling sales annually in the world of The Racing Breed, about three weeks apart in December: The Mixed Yearling sale is tomorrow followed by the Select Yearling sale.

The one thing to always keep in mind with yearlings is that they are likely to not race much during their 2yo campaign, so the training costs will probably outweigh the earnings for that first year. If you're a big stable that's not a big thing, but a small one like ours needs to remember that.

After the training bill at the beginning of the month, FOFC Stables has a bankroll of $96,925.

I would like to add two yearlings, one colt and one filly, plus one other runner from the Horses of Racing Age auction which comes back around at the beginning of January. This would give us 8 horses in our stable, and at $1,500/horse our monthly training cost will be $12,000. Leaving $30,000 in our bankroll should give us enough stability to overcome even a slow start, so we've got roughly $67,000 to spend on three horses.

$67,000 is a low total for the Select Yearlings, so we're pretty much avoiding that sale -- we will be focusing on the Mixed Yearling sale, where the breeding might not measure up to the stock at the other sale (meaning some lower prices); but breeding doesn't always make the champion, so it is quite possible to find a future star.

The problem from a dynasty aspect is that there's like 400 horses in this thing. What I'm going to try is just to list some candidates I like as I go through the catalog, and then see how the auction goes.

The catalog will show you three generations of the sire/dam of a yearling, plus the stud fee for the sire. It will also list some information about the dam's race history, plus up to three of that dams most successful progeny.

With cheaper sires such as you see in the Mixed sale, I focus a lot on the female sides. I will be focusing on dams that have three successful foals already. I'll be looking at both how much those foals raced to get an idea of the health of the line, and the success levels. Yearlings who are half brothers or sisters to grade winning horses are likely to sell for out of our range, but you never know.

Next post I'll list candidates.

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YEARLING CANDIDATES:

Hip 19, chestnut colt by Dayjur (fee $5,000) out of a Groovy mare. Dam was an allowance level sprinter and multiple 2yo winner. Her three foals listed all have won over $100K in purse money in claiming races.

Hip 74, chestnut colt by Gold Fever (fee $5,000) out of a Farma Way mare. Dam was a G3 stakes winner, primarily a sprinter, won on turf but not as a 2yo. One of her foals has won two graded sprints, while another has won three of four starts through its 3yo season.

Hip 113, black filly by Vying Victor (fee $4,000) out of a Dynaformer mare. Dam was a stakes winning router, with multiple wins on turf and as a 2yo. Two of her foals (both fillies) have won well over $100K in claimers while the third is one for one as a 3yo.

Hip 138, chestnut filly by Explosive Red (fee $1,000) out of a Devil's Bag mare. Dam was a claiming router with no wins on turf or as a 2yo. She has two foals over $100K in claiming earnings with the third being 5 of 6 in the money as a 3yo. (bought for $4,000)

Hip 160, brown colt by Rythym (fee $3,500) out of a Seeking the Gold mare. Dam was an allowance winning sprinter with multiple 2yo wins. She has one foal that was G1 placed, and another who placed in a minor stakes, both at 8.5F, along with a 2yo who won 3 of her 7 starts.

Hip 163, bay colt by Explosive Red (fee $1,000) out of a Gate Dancer mare. Dam was a claiming level sprinter with no 2yo wins. Two foals seem hard-knocking sorts that have made it over $100K, while the third has 5 of 7 starts in the money at 3. (bought for $3,000)

Hip 213, chestnut colt by Zarbyev (fee $2,500) out of a Gone West mare. Dam was a claiming level sprinter with a win on turf and multiple 2yo wins. She has one foal that has won a stake sprint and placed in two others (two on turf, one on dirt). The other two listed appear to be serviceable claimers.

Hip 248, bay filly by Signal Tap (fee $2,500) out of a Stutz Blackhawk mare. Dam was a claiming level sprinter with wins on the turf and as a 2yo. Two of her foals have earned over $200K with no stakes placings, which suggest allowance level to me.

Hip 267, chestnut filly by Gold Case (fee $7,500) out of an Eastern Echo mare. Dam was a stakes winning sprinter with wins both on turf and at two. All siblings have won upwards of $100K, with one being G3 placed at 7F.

Hip 297, chestnut filly by Ide (fee $2,500) out of a State Dinner mare. Dam was a claiming level router with multiple turf wins but none at two. Foals look to be durable claiming types with one winning over $200K. (bought for $8,000)

Hip 322, chestnut colt (what's with all the chestnuts?) by Olympio (fee $8,500) out of a Phone Trick mare. Dam was an allowance winning sprinter on the dirt with a 2yo win. She only has two foals listed, but both are over $100K.

Hip 329, bay filly by Cartwright (fee $2,500) out of a Kris S. mare. Dam was a claiming router with multiple grass wins and one as a 2yo. Another with just two foals shown, both seem fairly solid. I'm more intrigued by the sire who seems (just as I go through the catalog) to have some success at claiming levels.

Hip 342, black colt by Rare Brick (fee $2,000) out of a Irish Tower mare. Dam is yet another claiming sprinter with wins on turf and at two. One foal over $200K and another just hit $100K. (bought for $13,000)

Hip 382, black filly by War Deputy (fee $2,500) out of a Private Terms mare. Dam was a claiming miler with multiple wins on turf. One two foals listed, one of which is 1 of 2 as a two year old. The other has two stakes placings in turf sprints, one at G3 level.

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I'll refer to the horses listed above in the auction plus add any interesting situations that arise.

MIXED YEARLING AUCTION:

Bid for hip 19 goes to $25K and I drop.
Hip 74 starts at $130,000.
We drop out of the hip 113 bidding at $30,000.
Hip 138 starts at just $4,000. One bid and she's our first yearling.

Just as an aside to show the level FOFC Stables are aspiring to (and where we're at now!): Hip 140 is a filly by Cee's Tizzy ($15K fee) out of a G2 winning Seattle Slew mare. Her one sibling has won two G1 races and placed in another in the 7f to 1 1/8 mile range and this filly sells for $350,000.

More auction later.

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AUCTION, CTD:

I soured somewhat on hip 160 because the sire was at the bottom of the juvenile earnings list. I want the chance of being ready at 2. Passed at $20,000.

Hip 163 opens up at $3,000 and I'm the only bidder. Yearling two.

Being that we've got two horses for a grand total of $7,000 (both out of the same cheap sire, I just noticed), I'm willing to bring another one (or even two at that rate) in. As long as they can win a race or two they should be able to earn their training costs (eventually).

Hip 185 by A.P. Indy ($300K fee) goes for $475,000.

Despite the fact that hip 213 starts at just $5,000, I'm going to pass. The horse I'm most interested in is hip 267, and I want to save my money in case she's affordable.

Ditto with hip 248 who goes for just $2,000.

Damn. Hip 267 starts at $35,000. We bid but are kicked up to $55,000. Too rich.

Hip 297 starts at $2,000. I decide to bid to $8,000, which gets us another filly.

Hip 322 goes to $40,000 and we're out.

Hip 329 sells at $6,000. Not interested in another filly.

Hip 342 is ours for $13,000.

Hip 387 goes for $8,000.

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FOFC STABLE YEARLINGS: (Names are needed!)

Filly: Explosive Red -- Pat's L. by Devil's Bag. $4,000. -- Lynch Barkeep

Colt: Explosive Red -- Cry T. by Gate Dancer. $3,000. -- Diseased Yak

Filly: Ide -- Forty Reply by State Dinner. $8,000. -- Nobody Likes Bing

Colt: Rare Brick -- Pass Again by Irish Tower. $13,000. -- Irish Bricks Again

We spent just $28,000 on four yearlings. Not bad at all. So, we need names. I know that already suggested toward the beginning of the thread were Diseased Yak and Lynch Barkeep49.

Any other suggestions? We have to name before the end of the year. It's one of the few bits of personalization we have in this game and dammit, we're making use of it!

[duckman]

Glue Factory
You Can't Put Your Finger There
Nobody Likes Bing Crosby

[ntndeacon]

Eplosive Loose Bag for $4000 filly
Crying Trout Dancer for the $3000 colt
Ide reply by Trout for the $8000 filly
Irish Bricks Again for the $13000 colt

[Coffee Warlord]

Colts: Lynch Barkeep, and Diseased Yak
Fillys: Trout Option, and Rust Bucket

[path12]

Sweet! I took a name from each of you. Nobody Likes Bing Crosby was too long, but Nobody Likes Bing is wonderful as well. I wanted to call one Elmer for the glue factory reference, but I had ran out of colts and thought that it is one thing to name the horse after its suspected destiny, but to do that to a GIRL horse is taking it one step too far. Elmer will have his day.

So here are our new babies!

Filly: Explosive Red -- Pat's L. by Devil's Bag. $4,000. -- Lynch Barkeep

Colt: Explosive Red -- Cry T. by Gate Dancer. $3,000. -- Diseased Yak

Filly: Ide -- Forty Reply by State Dinner. $8,000. -- Nobody Likes Bing

Colt: Rare Brick -- Pass Again by Irish Tower. $13,000. -- Irish Bricks Again

We'll skip the Select Yearling sale and head towards the Horses of Racing Age auction at the beginning of the year.

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1/2/2007:

HORSES OF RACING AGE AUCTION: We've got around $35K to spend, so it's likely to be just one horse unless we get lucky. What I'm looking for is a decent claimer who appears durable enough to race regularly and tends to want to compete, whether at a lower or mid level. I don't think we've got any chance at a high claimer.

We're also looking strictly at colts. Once Ain't Armor comes back we'll have three females and two males, so I want to even that up here.

We're restricted enough that I'm not going to go through the catalog much in advance, and will just look at colts that are starting in our range. I'll call out ones we bid on.

Sweep House is a 5yo horse that has been finishing just out of the money at $20,000. I figure a bid of $10,000 is more than reasonable and he's ours.

No other eligible horses come along. Let's see what our stable looks like for 2007.

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1/9/2007:

FOFC STABLE RECAP - JANUARY 2007

Bankroll: $51,425
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Energy for all non-injured horses is 100.
Devil Key -- 5yo chestnut mare. Bought for $24,000. 2006 net: $38,660.
Lifetime record: 25 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 8 show, $94,580.

Ain't Armor (INJURED UNTIL MAY) -- 4 yo bay filly. Bought for $8,000. 2006 net: $5,820.
Lifetime record: 11 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show, $24,330

Seattle Back -- 4yo gray colt. Claimed for $40,000. 2006 net: $18,630.
Lifetime record: 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show, $73,630

Storm Sue -- 5yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. 2006 net: ($10,660)
Lifetime record: 16 starts, 6 win, 5 place, 3 show, $126,420

Musical Trail -- 4yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. 2006 net: $6,530
Lifetime record: 6 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show, $42,810

Irish Bricks Again -- 2yo black colt. Bought for $13,000. Unraced.

Nobody Likes Bing -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $8,000. Unraced.

Lynch Barkeep -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $4,000. Unraced.

Diseased Yak -- 2yo bay colt. Bought for $3,000. Unraced.

Sweep House -- 5yo bay horse. Bought for $10,000. 2006 net: N/A
Lifetime record: 18 starts, 1 win, 2 place, 1 show, $28,110

[path12]

1/9/2007 continued:

SCHEDULING: Since all the horses in training are at 100% (except for Ain't Armor), we'll just enter them at a level that makes sense from last year, but I won't bother detailing my thinking until we see where their form is after the first race.

The two year olds won't start training until March.

RACES:
We start 2007 with Devil Key, 4yo+(F), 6.0F on dirt (sloppy), $16,000 claiming. Starting her at a level where she had decent success last year, she is one of 3-1 co-favorites coming from post 6 in an 8 horse field.

She is unhurried and hangs near the back of a tight field. No traffic problems for her, and she makes a strong move at the top of the stretch to win with an 82 rating. 1 for 1. Nice.

Musical Trail, 4yo+, 8.0F on dirt (muddy), $40,000 claiming. He is a 13-1 outsider dropping down from a dull race against better at NW1X, though there was traffic. Breaks from post 8 of 9.

He runs above his odds, but despite moving up on the second group of horses is never a threat and finishes fifth. I'm still trying to find his spot, he won for fun at $20K last year. $32.5 ought to be pretty close to where he fits best.

Storm Sue, 4yo+(F), 6.5F on dirt, NWX2 Alw. The longest shot on the board at 27-1, she comes from post 2 in a 10 horse race. There wasn't a NWX1 available and I'm not ready to have her go back to claiming yet, so I thought I'd see if this distance suited her better (she tired badly last time at this level).

Despite being last for much of the race she stays close enough that she never falls off the screen and makes a dandy move late, though ends bunched up in a 7 horse tangle at the wire four lengths back of the winner, placing sixth. Not bad at all though, with a little room at the end she could have easily gotten fourth. She should be a danger at NWX1.

Sweep House, 4yo+, 6.5F on dirt, $12,500 claiming. He is the 2-1 second choice coming from post 4 of 10. Want to find out where we should run him.

He never threatens the favorite, but runs a solid second the entire race, tiring slightly at the end yet holding off two charging rivals. This looks just about right for him.

Four starts, 1 win, 1 place. I'll take it.

[chesapeake]

I just found this and am enjoying it so far. Hopefully one of these yearlings pans out.

Sergey Brin would like to know if he could buy Nobody Likes Bing.

[path12]

I just found this and am enjoying it so far. Hopefully one of these yearlings pans out.

Sergey Brin would like to know if he could buy Nobody Likes Bing.

Man, we could use the endorsement money.

[path12]

1/15/2007:

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES:
Seattle Back, 4yo+, 8.5F on grass, NWX1 Alw. In a competitive field he is the 4-1 fourth choice breaking from post 7 of 8. He showed some ability in his first grass start, hopefully that will carry over and he can graduate from this level. I believe we're still waiting on our first allowance winner.

He pressed the pace from the outside and was caught four wide on the first turn. Continued to press the pace but could find no racing room inside and was carried three wide on the far turn where he started to run out of gas and faded sharply through the stretch to end up 7th. I'm not sure whether he might have needed a race or if the pace was just too hot. The fractions were 48.0 and 111.3 with the final being 141.4. Hmm.

[path12]

1/22/2007:

NOTES: Seattle Back has a minor illness. That helps to explain his race. It'll likely be an additional couple weeks to his normal recovery time.

SCHEDULING:
Devil Key is ready off her win last out at $16K. She did get a win at $20K last summer, but since then this seems to be her niche. Unfortunately, there's not a race at $16K except for one scheduled for males. I think we'll try her against the boys there.

Musical Trail appeared outclassed at $40,000. He is still eligible for a $16,000 StAlw and there happens to be one next week. It's a better fit, I'm currently thinking that $25,000 might be his correct claim level but this way I don't have to risk the claim but we get another piece of data on this guy.

RACES:
None.

Crap. I THOUGHT none. Forwarded a week and find that Devil Key was scheduled for this week. Dear Racing Breed developers: Could you please find some sort of way that the game will FRIGGIN' LET ME KNOW WHEN MY HORSES ARE GONNA RACE?!!!???? Love, path.

Anyway, she went off at 8-5. The running line: 10 - 2 3/4 7 - 2 1/4 4 - 1 1/2 2 - ns. Trouble notes: Blocked in stretch - Blocked far turn. Against the boys. I'm pretty happy with that race. WISH I WOULD HAVE SEEN IT.

[chesapeake]

I forgot to mention that I also have great memories of Longacres as a kid. My Uncle Orville and a couple of his buddies used to buy cheap claimers and try to win enough money to pay for their feed. The only winner I remember him having was Barbaric George, who had some sort of trouble getting out of the gate but ran everybody down and won comfortably.

I always loved that name until the country elected him President.

[path12]

1/29/2007:

SCHEDULING: Storm Sue has not been competitive at NWX2 but has been at NWX1, luckily we find one of those to enter her into next week.

Sweep House placed in his stable debut at $12,500. The only race at that level in the near term is at a mile. He might find that a bit far, but we should at least try it.

RACES:
Musical Trail, 4yo+, 8.5F on dirt, $16,000 StAlw. He is a heavy 3-2 favorite breaking from post 7 in a field of 10.

He broke well and settled in fourth around the first turn, swung three wide going into the far turn and moved on the leader down the stretch, fading at the very end after a stiff drive to take the place, running a 92. Solid race, the winner was lightly raced but coming off two big wins. My hopes of him becoming an allowance runner have faded.

Sweep House, 4yo+, 8.0F on dirt (muddy), $12,500 claiming. He is the 5-1 second choice behind a favorite who has won his two races by a total of 41 lengths (last running a 94), and whom at this price I have to put a claim in for. Sweep House is breaking from the inside of an 8 horse field.

He beats the rest of the field by 7 lengths for the place, but is 16 behind the winner (whom we lost out on the claim for).

[path12]

2/5/2007:

NOTES: I'm going to just glance through the PP's the next couple of weeks for a possible claim.

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES:
Storm Sue, 4yo+(F), 7.0F on dirt, NWX1 Alw. She is an 11-1 outsider in the field of 10, breaking from post 4.

Three wide throughout, she vies for the lead down the backstretch and the turn, starts to fade but then makes a strong move at the quarter pole along with the favorite Chippewa Hills, who then shakes Storm Sue at the 1/16 pole. So another place (four in a row!), we're just missing right now.

At least place money pays for feed.

[path12]

2/12/2007:

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES: None.

[path12]

2/19/2007:

SCHEDULING:
Devil Key comes off her good race at $16K against the boys last out. I find a race for $20K that is back to fillies/mares on Friday and she's in.

Musical Trail is also coming off a good place effort last out in a $16K StAlw. No starters on the horizon so we'll try him at $25,000 and see how he fits. It's only 6F and he's been going at a mile so we'll also get a read on his sprinting ability.

Sweep House has two places in two starts at $12,500. He's not shown enough to move him up the ladder, but he's competitive enough here to not want to drop him either. There's a 1 1/4 mile race coming up and we'll see how long he wants to go.

RACES:
Musical Trail, 4yo+, 6.0F on dirt, $25,000 claiming. He is the 4-5 favorite breaking from post 4 in a field of 8.

He settles toward the rear of the field for the first quarter, then starts to move as they head into the turn -- he's blocked through part of the far turn but finds a gap and shoots through to take the race by four comfortable lengths, running a 93. I'd be fine moving him up to $32,500 based on that race, and the shorter distance didn't seem to faze him a bit other than early.

Devil Key, 4yo+(F), 6.0F on dirt, $20,000 claiming. She breaks from the 2 hole in this field of eight, and enters the gate co-second choice at 4-1 behind a 6-5 favorite.

She drops way back behind a speed duel in the front, way too far back to contend. She does rally for fourth but is well beaten and was never a threat. Back to $16K we go.

Sweep House, 4yo+, 10.0F on dirt, $12,500 claiming. Goes to the gate the co-favorite at 9-2 in a wide open field of 10. Could be an interesting race.

And it was. He was one of three vying for the early lead into the first turn where he drew off by four, holding the lead down the backstretch even as two rivals slowly closed the gap. He was passed at the quarter pole but fought back down the stretch to narrow the gap to a head in an exciting drive to the wire. It's nice to have a claimer who can get these longer distance races, the cheaper the level the more horses you find with distance limitations.

CLAIMS: We luck out. The horse I mentioned on 1/29 that we tried to claim but missed out on ran again at a bonehead AI level of $16,000. (actually, I think the AI does a damn good job overall, but there are misses like this -- but bear in mind there are misses like that in real life as well). This dynasty is a bit more challenging than I thought going in, so although house rules might apply in an easier setup, I happily snatch him up this time. We are going to clean up on the starter allowances with this guy, though we'll try higher as well. His last race? 101 speed rating.

Our newest addition to the FOFC Stables:
Proper Blues - 4yo brown colt. Top Account - Whata Answer by Buckaroo
Lifetime record: 4 starts, 4 wins, 0 place, 0 show -- $34,800 earned.
2007 record after claim: 2 starts, 2 wins, 0 place, 0 show -- $19,800
Claimed for $16,000 2/22/2007

[path12]

I forgot to mention that I also have great memories of Longacres as a kid. My Uncle Orville and a couple of his buddies used to buy cheap claimers and try to win enough money to pay for their feed. The only winner I remember him having was Barbaric George, who had some sort of trouble getting out of the gate but ran everybody down and won comfortably.


I was thinking about this. For some reason it seemed like Longacres had quite a few horses with Barbaric in the name; but then one of the big local sires back then was Son of Briartic, so I might be mixing those up.

[path12]

2/26/2009:

NOTES: The 2yo in Training sale is this week, and we'll see the first workouts come up next week. I'll scan this sale but since we've already got five yearlings I'd rather spend money on horses I know can earn us some cash right now.

SCHEDULING:
Storm Sue comes off a place at NWX1. There are none of those on the horizon that are suitable for either surface or distance. She's proven that NWX2 isn't for her, so we find a $40K claimer a couple of weeks out.

RACES:
None.

Made no bids on the 2yo sale.

[path12]

3/1/2007:

FOFC STABLE RECAP - MARCH 2007

Bankroll: $70,295 (last $51,425)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz -- 12% win pct. Purse ranking: 8th.

2007 Record: 12 starts, 2 win, 6 place, 0 show (47th)
2007 Earnings: $54,370 (71st)

Energy level in parentheses after name.

Devil Key (95) -- 5yo chestnut mare. Bought for $24,000. 2006 net: $38,660.
Lifetime record: 25 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 8 show, $94,580.
2007 record: 3 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $15,720

Ain't Armor (0 - INJURED UNTIL MAY) -- 4 yo bay filly. Bought for $8,000. 2006 net: $5,820.
Lifetime record: 11 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show, $24,330
2007 record: None.

Seattle Back (98 - slight illness) -- 4yo gray colt. Claimed for $40,000. 2006 net: $18,630.
Lifetime record: 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show, $73,630
2007 record: 1 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $0

Storm Sue (98) -- 5yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. 2006 net: ($10,660)
Lifetime record: 16 starts, 6 win, 5 place, 3 show, $126,420
2007 record: 2 starts, 0 win, 1 place, 0 show, $7,800

Musical Trail (96) -- 4yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. 2006 net: $6,530
Lifetime record: 6 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show, $42,810
2007 record: 3 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $21,850

Irish Bricks Again (100) -- 2yo black colt. Bought for $13,000. Unraced.

Nobody Likes Bing (100) -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $8,000. Unraced.

Lynch Barkeep (100) -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $4,000. Unraced.

Diseased Yak (100) -- 2yo bay colt. Bought for $3,000. Unraced.

Sweep House (95) -- 5yo bay horse. Bought for $10,000. 2006 net: N/A
Lifetime record: 18 starts, 1 win, 2 place, 1 show, $28,110
2007 record: 3 starts, 0 win, 3 place, 0 show, $9,000

Proper Blues (98) -- 4 yo brown colt. Claimed for $16,000.
Lifetime record (at claim): 4 starts, 4 win, 0 place, 0 show, $34,800
2007 record at claim: 2 starts, 2 win, 0 place, 0 show, $19,800
FOFC record: None.

[path12]

3/5/2007:

NOTES: Though Seattle Back is back up to 99 energy following his illness, he had a sluggish work last week, 6F in 113.4, so I'll give him one more week before scheduling him. That should allow him a couple more works to sharpen back up.

SCHEDULING: Proper Blues is ready for his first race under the FOFC silks. He's blown lesser competition away, so let's first try him under starter allowance company to begin to figure out how good he actually is. There is a $16,000 StAlw in a week and a half at 8.5F. That should be a good place to start.

RACES:
Storm Sue, 4yo+(F), 8.0F on dirt, $40,000 claiming. She breaks from the inside as the 7-2 third choice in a field of seven. When we first claimed her I thought she would love more distance. So far it's turned out that she did want more distance than she had been racing at (5 - 5.5F), but not necessarily a route. So that's a long way to say I'm nervous about the distance, but not the company.

She breaks smartly and settles fifth along the rail in traffic sitting closely off the leader. She slowly closes and is blocked mid-turn during the first part of her drive, but she finds a gap in the stretch and wins handily by 2 1/2 lengths. She didn't look to have any problem at the distance.

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3/12/2007:

NOTES: Forgot to mention Storm Sue ran a 93. I'm trying to add the speed rating more.

SCHEDULING:
Trying to discover Seattle Back's turf ability has proven a challenge, between lack of available races and his apparently fragile health. There are no good (read NWX1/high claiming turf route) races on the horizon. So we can run him on dirt or try and find a race elsewhere. In this case I'm sticking to my original rule of no shipping out except for stakes races, so we find an NWX1 on the dirt this Friday and will bring him back there.

My base assumption for Musical Trail is that since he just won by daylight in a $25,000 claimer at 4-5 odds, he is not safe to run at that level right now. The problem is to figure out where to put him: 8.5F at either NWX1 or $50K? That seems too high. $32.5K at a turf sprint doesn't thrill me either (I get no sense he would like grass). Finally a couple weeks out there is a mile on dirt at $32,500 and we enter him there.

(While I'm thinking of surfaces, I'd like to share the totally off-game fact that the synthetic surfaces in racing have messed up my handicapping something fierce.)

2 year old report. We have the first workouts! None of them appear to be future Derby contenders, which is not that surprising since none of them cost over $13,000. Irish Bricks Again looks most likely to race first, his two works were 102.1 at 5F in the mud and 37.3 at 3F. One of the compelling yet maddening things about Racing Breed is that you get no indications of whether/where/when to schedule anything, just the past performances, workouts and condition. I'm unsure on how I feel about that. On one hand, it's cool to try and figure out everything on your own; on the other it would be nice if your trainer could tell you something, anything about how your horses are, you know, training.

I digress.

RACES:
Proper Blues, 4yo+, 8.5F on dirt, $16,000 StAlw. As the 6-5 favorite breaking from the rail in a 10-horse field, and with speed ratings that only one other horse can even approach, he looks like an overlay even at those meager odds. All of which makes me nervous for the race.

He duels for the lead early against the 6 horse, puts that rival away at the end of the first turn and never looks back, opening up a 10 length lead at the half. The 2-1 second choice closed to within 2 at the end but nobody else was near them and Proper Blues runs a respectable 93 and stays unbeaten.

Seattle Back, 4yo+, 8.5F on dirt, NWX1 Alw. Despite having valid excuses for the past two races (horrible trip and illness), the results are what the bettors see and he goes off as a 12-1 outsider breaking from post 7 of 10. I think he has the potential to surprise, but he might also need this race.

He breaks well and settles fourth, moving up along the backstretch to challenge the second place horse and then making a big move to break free from him and move on the leader. The move stalls though and he cannot get closer than 3 lengths, eventually finishing third while running a 94. It's around what I expected.

[path12]

3/19/2007:

SCHEDULING: Has become fairly routine for both Devil Key and Sweep House, both of whom are ready. Find a $16,000 sprint for the former and a $12,500 race for the latter -- or as close as we can get. We find suitable races for both.

RACES:
Sweep House, 4yo+, 7.0F on dirt, $16.000 claiming. He is the co 9-2 third choice breaking from the outside of an 8 horse field. There were no $12.5K's for him, but three places at that level suggests competitiveness here.

He duels with the 7-2 second choice through a quick half in 46.2, but cannot sustain in the stretch and fades to fifth with a rating of 69.

Musical Trail, 4yo+, 8.0F on dirt, $32,500 claiming. He is the 2-1 favorite breaking from post 4 in the 10 horse field.

He settles midpack down the backstretch, swings three wide around the turn and accelerates in the stretch, engaging the pacesetter at the sixteenth pole and then drawing off for a comfortable 2 length win at a 95 rating. Plus no claim!

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3/26/2007:

SCHEDULING: Proper Blues is ready. We might as well find out if he can hang with the non-claimers and find a NW1X for next week at 8.5F.

Out of the 2 year olds, Irish Bricks Again is possibly ready for a maiden claiming try -- under 50 seconds at 4F twice, and one work at 5F suggest he is at least strong enough for a 4.5F race. We find a $25,000 claimer at that distance and enter him just to see what happens.

RACES:

Devil Key, 4yo+(F), 7.0F on dirt, $16,000 claiming. She breaks from post 6 in a field of 10 as the 2-1 favorite.

She breaks well and settles in third, three back behind a 46.3 pace, moves forward and splits the frontrunners in the early stretch and draws off by 1 1/2 lengths, putting up a figure of 72.

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4/2/2007:

SCHEDULING: Seattle Back did well enough in his first race back from injury on dirt (94 rating at 8.5F) to remind me not to overly focused on his grass potential -- when a race comes up we'll toss him in then. What does concern me is the fact that he's had six or seven NW1X races without a win to show for it, despite being generally quite competitive. If this happens again we'll drop him to high claiming -- he's four and we should maximize his earnings. But one more NW1X this Wednesday. (EDIT: Turns out I've already got Proper Blues entered here. I don't want to have them both in the same race and there's not another good NW1X soon, so in keeping with my thoughts above we're putting him in a $50,000 claimer. It's a sprint though so I'm not all that sure about this one either.

Storm Sue comes off a solid win at $40K. As a 5 year old she's a hard claim to make at that price (though certainly possible) so I'll run her back at the same level and distance this Sunday.

RACES:

Proper Blues, 4yo+, 8.5F on dirt, NWX1 Alw. He is an 8-1 outsider on the rail in the field of 8. It's a big jump, will be interesting to see.

He breaks sharply and duels with the seven horse through a half in 47.1, slowly giving ground through the turn but hanging a close fourth until the final furlong where he tires and ends up 11 lengths back in fifth, running a 78. Wasn't a bad race, worth another shot at this level I think.

Irish Bricks Again, 2yo, 4.5F on dirt, $25,000 claiming. He breaks from outside post 10 as the 3-1 second choice. Exciting to see your horse's debut, especially at a low level where you don't expect him to be a world beater. Can he show a flash of ability?

Yes! He jumps out by 3 at the start and holds that through the turn and a half at 46.4! He's challenged strongly in the stretch and is just nosed at the finish, running a 72 and just missing a debut maiden win.

And then the bad news. Irish Bricks Again was claimed for $25,000 by Pate Stables. AAAAAARRRGHHH!!!

The ledger for Irish Bricks Again:
Bought: $13,000
Earnings: $3,400
Training cost: $2,000
Sold: $25,000
Net profit: $6,600.

Seattle Back, 4yo+, 6.0F on dirt, $50,000 claiming. He is a 10-1 outsider coming from post 5 of 7. I'm so pissed about the last race I expect nothing but suckage here.

Which it isn't. He sits two back of the leader early, moves to within a neck of that one by the top of the stretch but the leader then draws off by five, though Seattle Back holds the rest of the field clear by 3 1/2 on his way to a rating of 95 and the place. Still not quite getting over the hump, but you don't sneeze at a payday.

Storm Sue, 4yo+(F), 8.0F on dirt, $40,000 claiming. She is the 6-5 favorite breaking from the 5 hole. Her main rival is 3-2 Ebony Dancer in post 9.

She settles midpack to the half, then moves to second around the turn, two back of the leader. Gamely digs in down the stretch but cannot make up ground and ends up third by two lengths. Ebony Dancer finished fourth.

[Tasan]

Just wanted to say I'm reading this. I love reading the horse racing dynasties, but I can never figure the games out themself.

[chesapeake]

I'm glad this is back on! Sucks about Irish getting claimed.

[path12]

4/9/2007:

NOTES: Still a bit hacked about losing Irish Bricks Again. That really surprised me. I'm not above scouring 2yo claiming races now to see if we find any steals.

SCHEDULING: Musical Trail is coming off of solid wins at $25 and $32,500 claiming. We'll keep climbing the ladder and find a $40,000 race for him this Wednesday.

Sweep House faded at $16K after racing up front. Since there is nothing in the near future at either $12 or $10K, we stick him in another race at the same $16,000 level going in a couple of weeks.

RACES:

Musical Trail, 4yo+, 8.0F on dirt, $40,000 claiming. He is the 2-1 favorite in the seven horse field coming from post 4.

Unhurried early, he is sitting fifth on the rail about 8 back after a quick half in 45.2. He moves up coming into the stretch but is caught in traffic and cannot find his way clear, finishing fifth, eight lengths behind the winner after a troubled stretch drive, running an 89 after three straight races in the 90's. He would not have won that race because the winner got too far a lead but certainly would have been in the hunt for the place without the traffic. It's a decent level for another try.

[QuikSand]

I have played through about 15 years in my only career in this game. Have never kept a really deep stable, I tend to buy a number of yearlings at the December auction, but dispose of them as soon as it's clear they aren't going to be serious stakes horses. Heh, now I sell half my crop before their first race, on the weaknesses of their works alone.

So far, I have had three colts make the Derby field, but only one in single digit odds and he was no threat. Got a third in the Secretariat (Belmont) just by passing tired rivals. Had one sprinter who made second in the Breeder's Cup Sprint, and have a turf-loving filly who has some shot in the F&M Turf this year, I think.

I basically plow into each December with $1-2m in cash, blow more than half of it on new colts, and see what we can do from there. Scared money don't make money, yo.

Good luck to you, too.

[path12]

4/16/2007:

SCHEDULING: Proper Blues ran a decent race to the stretch while making a huge class jump last out. I'd like to find something from 6F to a mile at around $40,000 -- a notch or two below the last NW1X. But the racing secretary isn't kind, and we settle for another 8.5F NW1X and hope for improvement his second time out against this company.

Devil Key has pretty conclusively proven herself to be a $16,000 claimer, she has two wins and a place in her last three starts at that level. However, in her last two starts at $20,000 she has run midpack. I think I'd rather run for the win and schedule her for another $16K, though stretching from 7F to a mile.

You can't protect your cheap 2 year olds, so I look to see if any are ready to try a race. Lynch Barkeep has two four furlong and one five furlong works which suggest a horse strong enough to race (I need to see at least one five furlong workout before trying a horse in a race. If they're staying at 3F it appears to be a sign that the horse isn't ready to go yet. Every 2yo I can remember who I've started with just a fast 3F work has faded horribly). Anyway, I find another $25,000 maiden claimer at 4.5F next week sometime and put her down for it.

RACES:

Devil Key, 4yo+(F), 8.0F on dirt, $16,000 claiming. She is the 9-2 second choice in a contentious group of 10 coming from post 4.

There has to be a problem with her. A very dull race, she breaks toward the rear and never really does anything, ending up well back in 8th while running just a 57. A check of the stables says she came out of the race just fine. Hmmmm.

[path12]

I have played through about 15 years in my only career in this game. Have never kept a really deep stable, I tend to buy a number of yearlings at the December auction, but dispose of them as soon as it's clear they aren't going to be serious stakes horses. Heh, now I sell half my crop before their first race, on the weaknesses of their works alone.

So far, I have had three colts make the Derby field, but only one in single digit odds and he was no threat. Got a third in the Secretariat (Belmont) just by passing tired rivals. Had one sprinter who made second in the Breeder's Cup Sprint, and have a turf-loving filly who has some shot in the F&M Turf this year, I think.

I basically plow into each December with $1-2m in cash, blow more than half of it on new colts, and see what we can do from there. Scared money don't make money, yo.

Good luck to you, too.

I've got two long-term (7-8 years each) careers, and both of them have full 40 horse stables with usually 7-10 spots opening up at the end of each year. I find I suck pretty bad with picking 2 year olds generally. I've only had one Derby horse who finished sixth, but my pride is a horse I picked up in a Horses of Racing Age sale and ended up Horse and Sprinter of the Year, winning the Breeders Cup Distaff.

It's way cool to get a good horse.

[RedHawk00]

Have not read dynasties in a while, but i will catch up with this one today because I too as a kid loved Longacres, spent many an afternoon watching the races, hanging out at the stables with my buddy & his dad. His dad owned some horses, good times as a kid. That place holds a special place in my heart.

[rjolley]

Enjoying the dynasty. You make it sound exciting enough for me to check this game out.

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4/23/2007:

NOTES: Glad to hear from those following along! Hope it stays enjoyable, I'm having fun with this.

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES:
Sweep House, 4yo+, 8.5F on dirt, $16,000 claimer. He is a 7-1 outsider coming from post six in a 10 horse field. Probably one notch too high for him, but if he runs big he can do this.

He breaks alertly and gets to the rail a length in front on the first turn, stretches to three down the backstretch but is chased down around the far turn and despite battling hard down the stretch loses the show by a head at the wire, finishing 4th with a 70 rating.

Proper Blues, 4yo+, 8.5F on dirt (good), NWX1 Alw. He is 9-1 from the rail in the field of 9. He has won big against lesser company on an off track so I don't expect that to be a factor. I just want to see him compete well at this level, hoping his first race was just getting used to the class jump from $16K starter alw.

After dueling briefly out of the gate with the 8 horse, he quickly moves out and opens up six lengths on the rest of the field in a quick half of 46.4, never really being threatened as he wins easily by 4 while posting a 101 rating. Woohoo! So much for wondering if he fit here.

Lynch Barkeep, 2yo(F), 4.5F on dirt, $25,000 maiden claiming. She is the co-third choice at 9-2 and breaks from the 4 hole in this 10 horse field.

And it was mostly a so-so debut. She got caught in traffic a couple of times around the turn, could not rally from that and finished a nose out of fifth in an even effort of 53. There was a brief flash of speed on the turn in between traffic jams, which gives me both hope that she might be competitive at low levels and that she is strong enough to race now rather than putting her on the sideline to develop as we are currently doing with our other 2yo's.

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4/30/2007:

FOFC STABLE RECAP - MAY 2007

Bankroll: $191,175 (last $70,295)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz -- 14% win pct. Purse ranking: 7th. (last 12%/8th)

2007 Record: 27 starts, 7 win, 8 place, 2 show, 17th place (last 47th)
2007 Earnings: $166,750, 39th place (last 71st)

Energy level in parentheses after name.

Devil Key (96) -- 5yo chestnut mare. Bought for $24,000. 2006 net: $38,660.
Lifetime record: 25 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 8 show, $94,580.
2007 record: 5 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 0 show, $26,520

Ain't Armor (0 - INJURED UNTIL MAY) -- 4 yo bay filly. Bought for $8,000. 2006 net: $5,820.
Lifetime record: 11 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show, $24,330
2007 record: None.

Seattle Back (98) -- 4yo gray colt. Claimed for $40,000. 2006 net: $18,630.
Lifetime record: 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show, $73,630
2007 record: 3 starts, 0 win, 1 place, 1 show, $12,490

Storm Sue (99) -- 5yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. 2006 net: ($10,660)
Lifetime record: 16 starts, 6 win, 5 place, 3 show, $126,420
2007 record: 4 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 1 show, $32,650

Musical Trail (98) -- 4yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. 2006 net: $6,530
Lifetime record: 6 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show, $42,810
2007 record: 5 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 0 show, $40,900

Irish Bricks Again (NA) -- 2yo black colt. Bought for $13,000.
Claimed for $25,000. Net profit $6,600.

Nobody Likes Bing (100) -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $8,000. Unraced.

Lynch Barkeep (94) -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $4,000.
2007 record: 1 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $0

Diseased Yak (100) -- 2yo bay colt. Bought for $3,000. Unraced.

Sweep House (96) -- 5yo bay horse. Bought for $10,000. 2006 net: N/A
Lifetime record: 18 starts, 1 win, 2 place, 1 show, $28,110
2007 record: 5 starts, 0 win, 3 place, 0 show, $10,620

Proper Blues (97) -- 4 yo brown colt. Claimed for $16,000.
Lifetime record (at claim): 4 starts, 4 win, 0 place, 0 show, $34,800
2007 record at claim: 2 starts, 2 win, 0 place, 0 show, $19,800
FOFC record: 3 starts, 2 win, 0 place, 0 show, $40,170.

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4/30/2007:

SCHEDULING: Three horses ready to go this week. There are only a couple weeks until the first schedule break of the year in mid-May.

Seattle Back was a strong second last out at $50K, his first claiming race in awhile. We'll try him once more at the same level except stretch him back out to his usual route distance.

Storm Sue has a win and show at $40,000 her last two outs. I don't want to really raise or lower her. The only $40K left is a long 10F route but she might be able to handle that and she's in.

Musical Trail struggled with traffic last out at $40K. There is no good race to put him in before the break and I'd like to run him before that, so break my usual rule and stick him in the $50K race along with Seattle Back.

RACES:

Storm Sue, 4yo+(F), 10.0F on dirt, $40,000 claiming. She is the 2-1 favorite of the 10 horse field starting from post 5.

She sits just behind the leader through a half in 48.3, then moves into a three way duel for the lead, getting her nose in front going into the far turn. That was as good as it got though as she started to run out of gas after the turn and had nothing left for the stretch run, fading to 4th by 10 and running a 67. Decent effort.

Musical Trail and Seattle Back, 4yo+, 8.5F on dirt, $50,000 claiming. There are 10 horses in this race. Musical Trail is 9-1 on the rail and Seattle Back comes from post 9 at 7-1, a bit higher than I'd expect off his last race. At those odds I think a $100 exacta box is in order.

Seattle Back takes a slight lead from the outside in a three-way battle through the first turn. He shakes off one challenge in the backstretch, but cannot hold off the second around the far turn and ends up slowly giving ground to finish 4th and running an 87. Musical Trail was unhurried early while saving ground, made a move to as high as fifth at the top of the stretch but never threatened the leaders and ended up seventh posting a 71. Good thing I forgot to make that bet.

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5/7/2007:

SCHEDULING: Last week before break. Sweep House is ready but there's nothing for him. Proper Blues on the other hand is also ready after racing just 9 days ago, and there is a $16,000 StAlw race on the card this week that he should be able to destroy. It'll be a quick 12 days since his last race, but he's got a month to rest after this.

RACES:

Proper Blues, 4yo+, 8.5F on dirt, $16,000 StAlw. As you would expect after a strong NWX1 win, he is a huge 1-5 favorite coming from post 6 of 8.

After being challenged through the first quarter, he proceeds to run off and hide, snapping off fractions of 46.3 for the half and 110.3 through 3/4. He finishes 7 lengths in front of the second place horse, and 17 lengths in front of the third place finisher, running his second 101 in a row. He's earned a few weeks rest.

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6/11/2007:

NOTES: Ain't Armor is finally back in training after her injury.

SCHEDULING: All of our horses are 100% after the break.
Devil Key threw a clunker last out at $16K but she's been successful at that level. We find a sprint for her.
Ain't Armor was racing around the $10-12K range at the time of her injury. Let's try her at $8,000 for her debut back, there is a race a couple weeks out that will work.
Seattle Back has faded twice at $50,000. He has shown signs of liking the turf, and there is a $40,000 claimer on grass coming up. Let's try him there.
Storm Sue, while competitive, is also on a two race downturn in ratings at $40,000. Let's give her a shot at $32,500, there is a mile race later this month.
Musical Trail is eligible for a $25K StAlw still. There is one next week and we stick him in there. Might be a hair too much distance, but he's got wins at $25K and $32.5K claiming so I hope he at least fits in well with the field.
Lynch Barkeep is ready for her second try. A sixth at $25,000 Mcl doesn't give me any reason to look for a higher level. There is a race early July that will work.
Sweep House has been competitive at $12.5 but not so much at $16K. So we find a $12.5 claimer for him.
Proper Blues finds a nice race for his next step up the Allowance ladder, a NWX2 at 7 furlongs.

RACES:
Devil Key, 4yo+(F), 6.0F on dirt, $16,000 claiming. She breaks from post 6 of 10 as the 7-1 fourth choice. I'm hoping that last bad race was an anomaly.

Not so much. She does run three-wide on the turn, but when you're in eighth it doesn't matter much. A rally at the end to finish 5th isn't impressive either when you are still 8 back of the winner. I'm not sure how form cycles are handled in Racing Breed (or if they even exist), but she's clearly not at the top of her game. I think we'll be looking for a softer spot next out.

Proper Blues, 4yo+, 7.0F on dirt, NWX2 Alw. He is the 7-5 favorite of the 7 horse field and breaks from post 5.

He didn't get his usual good jump from the gate and sat third on the rail two back of the leaders and then just really ran pretty evenly, not gaining or losing much ground and ending up 4th and running an 86, far below the past two 101's. Hopefully it was just a bounce from two big races.

Actually, when he gets back to the barn a quarter crack is discovered. Nothing serious but does explain the dullness of this out.

[path12]

Argh. I lost a whole damn writeup. Welp, that does it for tonight then. I'll recap it next time.

[Tasan]

Dang. I'm missing my racing!

[Tasan]

bump?

[path12]

bump?

I'll get back to it soon I expect. Little bit of a gaming funk and summer busy-ness going on now.

[path12]

As noted above, I lost a weeks results but bottom line for last weeks races:

Seattle Back -- 8th on the turf at $40,000 -- blocked backstretch and 3 wide on the turn.
Musical Trail -- 3rd in a $25K starter allowance -- trouble the whole way.
Sweep House -- 2nd at $12,500.
Storm Sue -- won by 2 lengths at $32,500 -- but was claimed. Unfortunately, I lost all the overall gain/loss data for her, but she was a good claim for us overall I'm pretty damn sure.

OK, my back went out, I'm on Vicodin and bored so let's try and get back on track here......

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6/25/2007:

NOTES: Another open spot to fill with a claim with the loss of Storm Sue. We get an opportunity right away. Demand Mandate is a 3yo filly out of Langfuhr ($25K stud fee). Her last five speed ratings: 69, 69, 77, 84, 92, 93. That sure looks like an improving filly to me, and for $40,000 it's a risk worth taking. She is the 3-2 favorite and despite running 3-wide the entire way makes a late move on the pacesetter that got loose on the lead, finishing a clear second though dropping a bit to an 84. We get the claim, and have 10 horses in our stable once again.

Our new horse:
Demand Mandate -- 3 yo chestnut filly. Claimed for $40,000.
Lifetime record (at claim): 9 starts, 2 win, 3 place, 1 show, $62,850
2007 record at claim: 5 starts, 1 win, 3 place, 0 show, $38,000
FOFC record: None.

SCHEDULING: Nope.

RACES:
Lynch Barkeep, 2yo (F), $25,000 maiden claiming, 5.5F on dirt. She is 8-1 and breaks from post 2 of 10. The only other non first time starter is 38-1 from the far outside. She sits fourth on the rail at the half, at the head of the main pack behind the leaders. She can't do any better than that and grudgingly gives way down the stretch to finish 6th, running a 51. Credible in the sense that she could end up a decent low-level claimer, these races may have to get a bit cheaper for her to win though.

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7/1/2007:

FOFC STABLE RECAP - JULY 2007

Bankroll: $186,635 (last $191,175)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz -- 15% win pct. Purse ranking: 11th. (last 14%/7th)

2007 Record: 38 starts, 9 win, 9 place, 3 show, 18th place (last 17th)
2007 Earnings: $214,710, 38th place (last 39th)

Energy level in parentheses after name.

Devil Key (98) -- 5yo chestnut mare. Bought for $24,000. 2006 net: $38,660.
Lifetime record: 25 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 8 show, $94,580.
2007 record: 6 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 0 show, $27,060

Ain't Armor (100) -- 4 yo bay filly. Bought for $8,000. 2006 net: $5,820.
Lifetime record: 11 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show, $24,330
2007 record: None.

Seattle Back (97) -- 4yo gray colt. Claimed for $40,000. 2006 net: $18,630.
Lifetime record: 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show, $73,630
2007 record: 5 starts, 0 win, 1 place, 1 show, $14,950

Storm Sue (NA) -- 5yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. 2006 net: ($10,660)
Lifetime record: 16 starts, 6 win, 5 place, 3 show, $126,420
2007 record: 4 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 1 show, $32,650
Claimed for $32,500. Overall profit (apx) $48,490.

Musical Trail (98) -- 4yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. 2006 net: $6,530
Lifetime record: 6 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show, $42,810
2007 record: 7 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 1 show, $44,640

Irish Bricks Again (NA) -- 2yo black colt. Bought for $13,000.
Claimed for $25,000. Net profit $6,600.

Nobody Likes Bing (100) -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $8,000. Unraced.

Lynch Barkeep (94) -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $4,000.
2007 record: 2 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $0

Diseased Yak (100) -- 2yo bay colt. Bought for $3,000. Unraced.

Sweep House (98) -- 5yo bay horse. Bought for $10,000. 2006 net: N/A
Lifetime record: 18 starts, 1 win, 2 place, 1 show, $28,110
2007 record: 6 starts, 0 win, 4 place, 0 show, $13,620

Proper Blues (95 -- quarter crack) -- 4 yo brown colt. Claimed for $16,000.
Lifetime record (at claim): 4 starts, 4 win, 0 place, 0 show, $34,800
2007 record at claim: 2 starts, 2 win, 0 place, 0 show, $19,800
FOFC record: 5 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show, $58,290.

Demand Mandate -- 3 yo chestnut filly. Claimed for $40,000.
Lifetime record (at claim): 9 starts, 2 win, 3 place, 1 show, $62,850
2007 record at claim: 5 starts, 1 win, 3 place, 0 show, $38,000
FOFC record: None.

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7/2/2007:

NOTES: As noted in the recap, Demand Mandate grabbed a quarter in her last race. Being young and promising I have no plan to rush her back so we'll wait for some good workouts and 100 in fitness.

SCHEDULING: Devil Key is ready. We're now in the last half of her 5yo season and she may be tiring with a couple of dull efforts at $16,000. We find a $12,500 sprint and see if we might be able to snag a win.
Musical Trail is also ready to go after a troubled trip in his starter allowance. We'll bump him back up to $40,000 at a mile on July 14th.
Four places at $12,500 suggest that is the level for Sweep House, and we find a long 10F test at that level. He was just shy a nose last time at that distance.

RACES:
Ain't Armor, 4yo+ (F), $8,000 claiming, 8.5F on dirt (wet). For her first race since October, she gets a sloppy track and the outside 8 post, but is still the 2-1 favorite in this bottom level claimer. I'd hope she could win this but she could need a race.
That proves to be the case as she is carried wide on the first turn and runs evenly about 5 lengths back of the leaders the rest of the way, finishing sixth. And is foolishly claimed, at least paying for her feed this year.

Her record for FOFC stables:
Ain't Armor -- Bought for $8,000. 2006 net: $5,820.
Lifetime record: 11 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show, $24,330
2007 record: 1 start, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $0. Claimed 7/4 for $8,000. 2007 net: $2,000.
Overall profit: $7,820.

Devil Key, 4yo+(F), $12,500 claiming, 6.0F on dirt (wet). She is the 4-1 second choice in the field of 10 and breaks from post 2. Saves ground about 2 back of the leaders through the turn, nicely just getting out of a possible jam in the backstretch. At the top of the stretch she makes a strong move and draws off by two, running a 73.

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7/9/2007:

SCHEDULING:
Seattle Back should be a good fit at $40,000 but traffic contributed to a dull race on the grass at that level last out. We find a dirt sprint at that same level in a couple of weeks and enter him there.

RACES:
Sweep House, 4yo+, $12,500 claiming, 10.0F on dirt. He is a 3-1 co-favorite in this mile and a quarter race breaking from post 2 of 9.

That was as dominant a race as you'll ever see a claimer run. Breaking smartly, Sweep House has 5 on the field while running a half in 48.2. He stretches it to 8 going to the far turn, and wins easily by 9, running a 76. Needless to say we'll be looking for those long cheap routes going forward.

Musical Trail, 4yo+, $40,000 claiming, 8.0F on dirt (wet). He is the 3-1 second choice on the rail in a field of 9. The track came up sloppy, he is 1 of 2 on off tracks but those races have dropped off the racing form. Barring his bad racing luck he should have a chance here.

I was worried about him being on the rail because he always gets caught in traffic, and sure enough he gets blocked by a fading frontrunner going into the far turn and loses around 3 lengths. Approaching the quarter he finds a way through and gets to 1 1/2 lengths of the leader at the pole, has evened it by the 1/16 pole and stretches out another 1 1/2 by the wire, running a nice 93. Those were a couple of nice races.

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7/16/2007:

Nobody was ready or racing. Pretty rare.

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7/23/2007:

SCHEDULING: We've got 9 horses in our stable. Of those, 2 are 2yo's that probably won't race this year. 2 are coming back from minor injuries. Another 2yo who is not ready to win yet. That leaves 4 horses to race at this time and they each need a couple weeks to bounce back after each race. Bottom line: that was a lot of words used to say "none".

RACES:
Seattle Back, 4yo+, $40,000 claiming, 6.0F on dirt (wet). Track listed as good for the 3-1 favorite breaking from post 2 in a 10 horse field. He is 3-0-1-1 on off tracks.

He runs a decent race, ends up third by just over a length at a 94, but is claimed away. Bummer.

Final record:
Seattle Back -- 4yo gray colt. Claimed for $40,000. 2006 net: $18,630.
Lifetime record: 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show, $73,630
2007 record: 6 starts, 0 win, 1 place, 2 show, $18,800. Claimed 7/25 for $40,000. 2007 net: $52,800.
Overall profit: $71,430.

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7/30/2007:

NOTES: The claim shouldn't have been a surprise, because that's the level on which he can win. I would rather run a horse where he belongs than not; except in those cases I would do exactly that, such as a promising younger horse rising through the ranks to allowance company, or early 3yo's. All of these claims with the possible exception of Storm Sue were pretty close to their top level. I'm hoping to save money for the auctions but may start looking for some lower level durable claimer, not unlike the mediocre innings-eater in baseball.

SCHEDULING:
Proper Blues quarter crack is 100% now. Despite that he was credible at NW2X last out so we'll put him back at that level in a race this Friday.
Devil Key is back at $16,000 after the win at $12.5. She gives every impression of liking more ground so let's try her at a mile and 1/16th.
Musical Trail is off that strong win in the slop at $40K. He is still eligible for $25,000 StAlw and there is one next week. He's in.
Sweep House is also back up to $16,000 after that romp last out. Next week.

RACES:
Proper Blues, 4yo+, $42,000 NW2 Allowance, 7.0F on dirt. It's a closely bunched field of 7, and Proper Blues is co-third choice at 7-2 breaking from post 3. Tough looking race.

He presses the pace from third on the rail to the first quarter, then moves through to take a nose lead at the half. Grabbing a small lead at the top of the stretch he holds off two late challengers to win by 1 running a 93. We're going to have to decide what to try with this horse, he doesn't have star written on him but he's pretty good.

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8/6/2007:

SCHEDULING: Lynch Barkeep is at 100. I'm not in a hurry to get her back in a race but find a bottom $25,000 maiden claimer in early September and enter her there. The other two year olds are just not ready to race yet.

RACES:
Musical Trail, 4yo+, $25,000 StAlw, 8.5F on dirt. He is the 9-5 favorite of the 10 horse field starting from post 8. There are a couple of 5-2 shots right behind him in the betting.

Pushed slightly wide on the first turn he quickly grabs a nice stalking position and moves to the lead in the backstretch. He is not headed from there and stretches out to a 5 length win while posting a 95 speed figure. I don't think he'll be eligible for any more of these so it is nice to finish with a win.

Devil Key, 4yo+(F), $16,000 claiming, 8.5F on dirt (wet). She is the 7-1 fourth choice and breaks from post 8 of 10 on the sloppy track. She does well on this surface with a record on off tracks of 5-3-0-1.

Not this time though as she is held wide on the first turn losing 3 lengths to the leaders. It didn't matter though as the three leaders put 10 lengths on the rest of the field while Devil Key quietly faded to 9th, running a very dull 41.

Sweep House, 4yo+, $16,000 claiming, 6.0F on dirt (wet). In a wide open field of 10, he is the co-second choice at 9-2 and breaks from post 4 on a track listed as good. A bit shorter distance than he usually runs. He has one win and two places in six starts on wet tracks.

He duels with the favored 6 horse from the gate and they go stride for stride the entire race on the lead, with Sweep House falling short by a nose at the wire, grabbing the place with a nice figure of 79.

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8/13/2007:

NOTES: I know our preference was for an older horse to claim, but we find a very nice looking 2yo colt out of Smoke Glacken ($25K stud fee). Despite lots of trouble he was second in his first out while running a 74, nice for a debut. Since then he's got a couple of sub :37 3f works, on the mud no less. That's worth the $32,500 claim and we go for it. He runs away by 8 while posting a 92 and we get the claim. Our new stud 2yo:

Johnny Delight -- black 2yo colt. Claimed 8/15 for $32,500.
Lifetime record (at claim): 2 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $15,200
2007 record at claim: 2 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $15,200
FOFC record: None.

SCHEDULING: Demand Mandate has recovered from her grabbed quarter. I'd like to try her in allowance company but the only NW1 is out a couple of weeks, and at 6F it is shorter than we'd prefer given that she looks to like more ground. But we'll get a read on her with the company and it gives her an extra couple weeks to make sure she's healthy.

Proper Blues is still eligible for a $16,000 StAlw, quite easy pickings for a horse that just won a NW2 allowance. But a check is a check, so we'll put him there.

RACES:
Proper Blues, 4yo+, $16,000 StAlw, 8.5F on dirt. He is a massive 1-9 favorite breaking from the rail in a field of 9. This should really be no contest.

And it isn't. The 4 horse goes with him out of the gate, but is shaken off at the quarter pole and he is gone after that, posting a 101 while winning by nearly 19 lengths. So long starter allowances, it's time to see if this colt can win some better money.

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8/20/2007:

SCHEDULING:
Musical Trail comes off two straight wins at $40K and a $25K StAlw. I think he gets claimed if we run him at $40K. So either $50K or an NW1 Allowance.....the Alw comes up and we enter him.

RACES:
Musical Trail, 4yo+, $39,000 NW1 Allowance, 8.5F on dirt (wet). Muddy track and Musical Trail is an even-money favorite from post 2 in the 9 horse field. He has 2 wins in 3 starts on wet tracks.

He puts himself in horrible traffic once again, ending up trapped on the rail by four other horses for nearly the entire race. Rallies a bit at the end but I don't think you can make any judgements about this race either good or bad. Throw it out.

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8/27/2007:

SCHEDULING: We'll drop Devil Key back to $12.5K after her dull race at $16K and find one at a mile next week.

RACES:
Demand Mandate, 3yo(F), $39,000 NW1 Allowance, 6.0F on dirt (wet). She is the 3-1 favorite but shouldn't be now the the track came up sloppy -- she has just one show in three starts on wet tracks. If I could I'd scratch her, but you can't scratch the day of the race.

Not too bad, she gained a couple of lengths on the leader in the stretch but put five lengths on the rest of the field while grabbing the place with an 84 rating. At least we know she is able at this level.

Lynch Barkeep, 2yo(F), $25,000 Maiden Claiming, 5.5F on dirt. She is the 5-1 third choice and breaks from post 4 in the field of 10.

She breaks smartly and tracks just off the leader through the backstretch and the turn, slowly giving way down the stretch but holding on to the place, running a 55. First finish in the money!

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9/2/2007:

FOFC STABLE RECAP - SEPTEMBER 2007

Bankroll: $295,485 (last $186,635)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz -- 16% win pct. Purse ranking: 8th. (last 15%/11th)

2007 Record: 51 starts, 15 win, 12 place, 4 show, 7th place (last 18th)
2007 Earnings: $333,560, 34th place (last 38th)

Energy level in parentheses after name. Horses in italics have been claimed.

Devil Key (100) -- 5yo chestnut mare. Bought for $24,000. 2006 net: $38,660.
Lifetime record: 25 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 8 show, $94,580.
2007 record: 8 starts, 3 win, 1 place, 0 show, $36,060

Ain't Armor (NA) -- 4 yo bay filly. Bought for $8,000. 2006 net: $5,820.
Lifetime record: 11 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show, $24,330
2007 record: 1 start, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $0. Claimed 7/4 for $8,000. 2007 net: $2,000.
Overall profit: $7,820.

Seattle Back (NA) -- 4yo gray colt. Claimed for $40,000. 2006 net: $18,630.
Lifetime record: 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show, $73,630
2007 record: 6 starts, 0 win, 1 place, 2 show, $18,800. Claimed 7/25 for $40,000. 2007 net: $52,800.
Overall profit: $71,430.

Storm Sue (NA) -- 5yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. 2006 net: ($10,660)
Lifetime record: 16 starts, 6 win, 5 place, 3 show, $126,420
2007 record: 4 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 1 show, $32,650
Claimed for $32,500. Overall profit (apx) $48,490.

Musical Trail (96) -- 4yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. 2006 net: $6,530
Lifetime record: 6 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show, $42,810
2007 record: 10 starts, 4 win, 1 place, 1 show, $86,040

Irish Bricks Again (NA) -- 2yo black colt. Bought for $13,000.
Claimed for $25,000. Net profit $6,600.

Nobody Likes Bing (100) -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $8,000. Unraced.

Lynch Barkeep (94) -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $4,000.
2007 record: 3 starts, 0 win, 1 place, 0 show, $3,400

Diseased Yak (100) -- 2yo bay colt. Bought for $3,000. Unraced.

Sweep House (100) -- 5yo bay horse. Bought for $10,000. 2006 net: N/A
Lifetime record: 18 starts, 1 win, 2 place, 1 show, $28,110
2007 record: 8 starts, 1 win, 5 place, 0 show, $26,220

Proper Blues (99) -- 4 yo brown colt. Claimed for $16,000.
Lifetime record (at claim): 4 starts, 4 win, 0 place, 0 show, $34,800
2007 record at claim: 2 starts, 2 win, 0 place, 0 show, $19,800
FOFC record: 7 starts, 5 win, 0 place, 0 show, $118,890.

Demand Mandate (94) -- 3 yo chestnut filly. Claimed for $40,000.
Lifetime record (at claim): 9 starts, 2 win, 3 place, 1 show, $62,850
2007 record at claim: 5 starts, 1 win, 3 place, 0 show, $38,000
FOFC record: 1 starts, 0 win, 1 place, 0 show, $7,800.

Johnny Delight (99) -- black 2yo colt. Claimed 8/15 for $32,500.
Lifetime record (at claim): 2 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $15,200
2007 record at claim: 2 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $15,200
FOFC record: None.

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9/3/2007:

SCHEDULING:
Sweep House battled for the lead the entire way at $16,000 last out. I can't see bumping him higher so we'll keep him at that level at a mile on Sunday. Hopefully he won't bounce after that tough last race.
I was looking for a minor stakes race to try Proper Blues in, but there were none in the near future on dirt. So we'll bump him to a NW3 optional claimer on 9/14. I think top end for him is minor stakes. We'll get another clue from this race.
Johnny Delight is set to make his first start for us after breaking his maiden with an impressive 92. There is a NW1 in a couple weeks and we'll try him there. If he does well we can look for some end season 2yo stakes.

RACES:
Devil Key, 3yo+(F), $12,500 claiming, 8.0F on dirt (wet). A good track listed. Devil Key is the 2-1 second choice and comes from post 7 of 8. She ran such a poor race last out, hopefully this will be a return to form.

She gets over to the rail and tracks the pacesetter by about 2 lengths the entire race before gradually weakening and just getting caught to lose the place and finish third, 3 1/2 back and a rating of 70. She looked like she wanted to make a move once or twice but just couldn't.

Sweep House, 3yo+, $16,000 claiming, 8.0F on dirt. 3-1 second choice breaking from post 8 of 9.

He is hustled to the rail early and leads by 3 down the backstretch, but at the quarter pole his energy gives out and fades to third at the wire with a rating of 69. I can't help but think that some kind of bounce given his last three races in the 70's.

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9/10/2007:

SCHEDULING: None.

RACES:
Proper Blues, 3yo+, $45,000 OC 50K/NW3 Allowance, 8.5F on dirt (wet). He is the co-second choice at 4-1. It's a 9 horse field and he is in the 2 hole. The track is muddy, he is 2 for 2 on wet tracks in his career. Third time is the charm....

He breaks alertly and maintains a couple length lead to the half, where he draws away to 7 at the top of the stretch. He fades in the last sixteenth but has plenty of cushion and wins by 3, running a second straight 101, but this time against much better horses.

Johnny Delight, 2yo, $39,000 NW1 Allowance, 6.0F on dirt (wet). At 5-1 he is an outsider in a contentious 7 horse field of promising 2yo's. I don't care if he wins, but I'd love to see a good performance. The track is now good and we'll see how he reacts to that as well.

Only a length and a half separated the first six horses at the quarter, unfortunately we were on the outside of that pack and ended up 4 wide throughout the turn and looking like he was about to fade. He did get a second burst and made a small move in the stretch before tiring again at the finish to end up 4th while running a 74. All in all I'm pleased because he had a chance to fade but then rallied. Seems a good sign.

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9/17/2007:

SCHEDULING: Devil Key is ready, we find a 6F $12,500 claimer first week of October for her. After taking a break from this stable, it seems clear looking her record over that she prefers sprints to routes.

Musical Trail had a horrific trip last out at NW1X. We'll try him back at that level.

RACES:

Musical Trail, 3yo+, $39K N1X Allowance, 8.5F on dirt (sloppy). He is one of three 4-1 co-second choices in the field of 10, breaking from post 7. Track came up sloppy, he's 2 for 4 on wet tracks, best in the race. It would be nice to see him stay out of trouble for a change.

Of course he can't as he is carried four wide around the first turn, but he was pretty clean after that. Favorite got four lengths on the rest of the field and couldn't be caught, but Musical Trail finishes a pretty solid third, though the rating of 81 isn't anything to shout about.

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9/24/2007:

SCHEDULING: Sweep House just missed last out at $16,000; so we find another for him at that level.

Proper Blues is now 10 for 12 lifetime and is coming off back to back 101 ratings. It's time to try him against stakes company. We find the 8.0F $75,000 Father Goose stakes and enter him there. I would have been willing to try a G3 if there had been one on the schedule, but still this is a jump from the NW3 allowance he just won.

Demand Mandate was a solid second while making the jump from $40K claiming to NW1. We find another NW1 but at what appears to be her favored distance of one mile.

RACES:

Proper Blues, 4yo+, $75,000 Father Goose stakes, 8.0F on dirt. At 4-1 he is the second choice of the seven horse field behind an even money favorite who doesn't look to be all that much better on paper.

On the track however, the favorite looked far better, running off by three and scoring a 98. Proper Blues stumbled at the start, raced up behind the leaders to the quarter pole before tiring badly to last while running a dull 76. He came out of the race fine. He sure didn't look like he matched up to stakes level horses that time.

Sweep House, 3yo+, $16,000 claiming, 8.5F on dirt. He is fourth choice at 6-1 in the 9 horse field.

He was solid at this level just a couple of months ago, but not now. Runs away by three early on and maintains that to the quarter pole where he runs out of gas and fades to 6th. Could be he's just aging quickly.

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10/1/2007:

NOTES: Our unraced 2 year olds are not showing much. Both Nobody Likes Bing or Diseased Yak are still over 40 seconds for a 3F work. These are going to be rock bottom claimers.

SCHEDULING: Johnny Delight was midpack in his allowance debut. There is only one NW1 allowance for two year old colts and it's on turf. His sire Smoke Glacken doesn't usually translate to turf very well, but since there is nothing else on the horizon we enter him here.

Lynch Barkeep was second last out in a $25K maiden claimer. There is a $20K race and we enter her there -- I don't think there is a big claim risk.

RACES:

Demand Mandate, 3yo+(F), $39,000 NW1 Allowance, 8.0F on dirt. She is 6-1 and breaks from post 7 in the 9 horse field. It's a rather tough group on paper, with the favorite coming off a stakes place last out.

She settles behind the leaders on the backstretch, moves three wide on the turn to take the lead and draws off by four lengths for the win with a 96 speed rating. That was an impressive race.

Devil Key, 3yo+(F), $12,500 claiming, 6.0F on dirt. She is a tepid 3-1 favorite breaking from post 6.

As is her habit she hangs towards the back and saves ground through the backstretch into the turn. There is absolutely no traffic on the rail as she makes a strong move from 6 back to win by 1 1/2 lengths while posting a 73.

Two races, two wins! Nice change from those dud races last week.

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10/8/2007:

SCHEDULING: No optimal races on the near schedule for Musical Trail. He's posted a third and a 6th with traffic problems and off tracks in his past two NW1 races. His form is disguised enough that I would put him in a top level claimer, but the only ones are short turf sprints, and he seems to definitely be a router. The NW1 races are either turf or 5F races or both, except for one a couple weeks out at 1 1/16 mile on the grass. Since he's had some success on off-tracks and there is nothing else around we'll try him there.

RACES: Johnny Delight, 2yo, $39,000 NW1 Allowance, 5.0F on grass. He is an 8-1 outsider from post 5 in the 7 horse race. I'll be happily surprised if he happens to show some turf ability here, but for the most part this is just a race to keep him in form.

He breaks alertly as the field splits into four horses up front and three far back. He is carried three wide through the turn and keeps pace with the top group, finishing an even fourth but just 1 3/4 lengths behind the winner while running a 91. Turf ratings tend to be somewhat higher than dirt, but that's still pretty good for a 2yo. I'll be open to trying him again on grass, but think he'll want more distance.

Lynch Barkeep, 2yo(F), $20,000 Maiden Claiming, 5.5F on dirt. There are nine entered, but the bettors see this as a two horse race, with Lynch Barkeep and Express Cat co even money favorites and the third choice at 12-1.

Four horses duel down the backstretch before Lynch Barkeep and Express Cat break away from the pack, staying within a length of each other through the turn and to the wire, with Express Cat taking it at the end by 1 1/2 while Lynch Barkeep has another place and a career best 62 rating. She'll get there soon.

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10/15/2007:

NOTES: Nobody Likes Bing popped a 38.4 workout at 3F to finally break 40 seconds. I think I'm just going to wait for next year with both her and Diseased Yak (who also got to 39.2).

SCHEDULING: Sweep House has had a couple tough outings at $16K, so we'll drop him back to $12,500 and see if that wakes him up some.

I'm very confused about Proper Blues' last race. A horse that can more than hold his own in a NW3/OC race should be able to handle minor stakes company, but he just bombed last time. So, since I can't figure it out I'll try him again -- there is a 8.5F stakes this week. It might be a touch longer than he might prefer, but he has won at this distance against lesser.

RACES: Proper Blues, 3yo+, $100,000 Big Time Spender stakes, 8.5F on dirt. He is 5-1 third choice in a contentious group of 10, so at least on paper he seems to fit.

He breaks smartly and tracks about 3 back in third until the far turn where again there is no push and he fades badly to finish last with a 73. I think that he is going to move back to a sprint next time -- and he's going to have to show me that he belongs before trying another stakes level race.

Musical Trail, 3yo+, $39,000 NW1 Allowance, 8.5F on grass. For his turf debut he is a 9-1 outsider starting on the rail -- a recipe for traffic problems given that he does not go to the front early. As with Johnny Delight last week, this is more an experiment than a race I expect a result from.

Sure enough he is pinned along the rail early, but is at the front and pushing the leader all the way to the sixteenth pole before he gets loose and ends up just a length back in third while running a 87. I think he would have won that race if he'd got free. A nice surprise.

Sweep House, 3yo+, $12,500 claiming, 6.5F on dirt (sloppy). He is 8-1 on the drop, which seems like an overlay. I'll wheel him on some exactas and see if we can hit something -- his wet track form is better than most anyone else in this race.

Eh. He tracked the lead along the rail before fading slightly down the stretch to finish a dull fourth with a 68. I think age is catching up with this horse as he winds up his 5yo season. He's dropping again next time until we find a level he can win at.

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10/22/2007:

SCHEDULING: Devil Key is coming off a win at $12,500. I see no reason to move her from that level and find a suitable race in around 3 weeks.

RACES: None.

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10/29/2007:

SCHEDULING: Demand Mandate comes off a strong NW1 win at a mile last out. I don't see a upcoming NW2 race for her but there is a minor stake on the grass this week. Her sire Langfuhr does pretty well on the turf. Let's try it and see what we've got -- generally I prefer to have only one unknown factor in a race in order to get a better read on it and this time we'll have two (turf and class), but the end of the year is coming so I can't be too picky.....plus I've got a good feeling about her.

RACES: Demand Mandate, 3yo+(F), $75,000 Columbia Stakes, 8.5F on turf (good). She is the 8-1 fourth choice in the 9 horse field.

She was unhurried early, then unhurried midrace and finally unhurried at the end, beating just one horse while running a 70. She was in touch with the field all race. Remember that quite often grass ratings are higher than dirt, so the fact she kept pace but had a much lower rating suggests that she doesn't love the grass and we'll move her back to the main track.

[Coffee Warlord]

Diseased Yak needs the glue factory.

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11/5/2007:

NOTES: Turns out Demand Mandate has a minor illness. That means we have to not put too much weight on that last race, and we'll wrap her up for the year.

SCHEDULING: Musical Trail showed some liking for the turf last out at NW1 but once again found himself in traffic trouble. He definitely likes a longer race, and the pickins are slim. There is a NW2 at 1 1/16 on grass -- even though he's eligible for lower this seems the best fit.

I'm unsure what to do with Proper Blues. He breezed through the conditioned allowances but has run into a wall at stakes level. The only other safe option is to try an open allowance -- but despite smaller purses those are some of the toughest races in the entire game and usually far harder to win than a small stakes. At the same time he is 10 of 14 lifetime and has been pretty durable this year with 12 starts and $146K in earnings so I don't really want to risk him for $50,000 yet.

Actually, I think we just answered our own question -- his earning potential outweighs the claim price. Until convinced otherwise we'll keep trying him at the minor stakes level under different conditions and see if we hit on his niche. He is 3 for 3 on wet tracks (which can be an indicator for grass ability) so even though his sire Top Account does not have a great grass record let's find something for him there. There is a short sprint turf stakes and we'll give it a shot.

Johnny Delight will take one more shot at finishing his 2yo season as an allowance winner.

RACES: Devil Key, 3yo+(F), $12,500 claiming, 6.0F on dirt. She is the 5-2 favorite in the group of 10.

Not much to say, she was blocked mutiple times down the backstretch and again in the stretch and ended up 3 lengths back in 6th, running a 64.

Proper Blues, 3yo+, $100,000 Mr. Explosive Stakes, 5.0F on turf. He starts on the far outside as the longest shot on the board at 17-1. Being caught wide on a turf sprint is death, and it's easy to get caught wide in turf races anyway. That is probably fair odds.

He is five wide through the turn and finishes last with a 81. Sigh.

Musical Trail, 3yo+, $42,000 NW2 Allowance, 8.5F on turf. He is a 13-1 longshot in the field of 10. I'd really love a clean trip for him.

For the most part he gets one, the only problem being 3 wide. He pushes a neck out in front at the top of the stretch and is just worn down in the final strides after a good duel, finishing second by a neck while posting a 96. This horse is pretty good when he gets a trip -- the problem is just how rarely that happens.

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11/12/2007:

SCHEDULING: Sweep House appears to have lost 10 points off his speed in the past four months and is dropping down the ranks, this time to $10,000 as we hope to get one more win out of him.

RACES: Johnny Delight, 2yo, $39,000 NW1 Allowance, 6.0F on dirt. He is a 9-2 co-second choice in a tightly bunched field of 8. I have no idea what to expect, I can make a case for him winning because he's got the only 90+ races on his record (twice), but there look to be horses on better form in here.

He breaks alertly but settles midpack down the backstretch, moves to challenge the leaders but then flattens out, finishing fourth by 3 lengths and running an 86. I want to try him routing.

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11/19/2007:

NOTES: Last week of the year. We'll recap the stable next.

SCHEDULING: Nope.

RACES: Sweep House, 3yo+, $10,000 Claiming, 8.5F on dirt (good). He is 4-1 second choice in the field of 8. Record on off tracks: 8 starts, 1 win, 3 place, 0 show.

He takes the lead on a slow quarter in 24.3, then moves out by four down the backstretch. He starts to tire in the turn but manages to hold the place, finishing second by a half length while running a 77.

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FOFC STABLE RECAP - FINAL 2007 SEASON

Bankroll: $354,630 (last $295,485)
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz -- 16% win pct. Purse ranking: 8th. (last 16%/8th)

2007 Record: 71 starts, 18 win, 15 place, 8 show, 10th place (last 7th)
2007 Earnings: $426,890, 37th place (last 34th)

2007 net profit: $223,330
Overall FOFC net profit: $277,970

Horses in italics were claimed.

Devil Key -- 5yo chestnut mare. Bought for $24,000. Overall FOFC net: $67,370.
Lifetime record: 25 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 8 show, $94,580.
2007 record: 11 starts, 4 win, 1 place, 1 show, $46,710. 2007 net: $28,710

Comment: Bottom level claiming should allow her to eke out another year.

Ain't Armor -- 4 yo bay filly. Bought for $8,000. 2006 net: $5,820.
Lifetime record: 11 starts, 2 win, 1 place, 2 show, $24,330
2007 record: 1 start, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $0. Claimed 7/4 for $8,000. 2007 net: $2,000.
Overall profit: $7,820.

Seattle Back -- 4yo gray colt. Claimed for $40,000. 2006 net: $18,630.
Lifetime record: 10 starts, 3 win, 2 place, 2 show, $73,630
2007 record: 6 starts, 0 win, 1 place, 2 show, $18,800. Claimed 7/25 for $40,000. 2007 net: $52,800.
Overall profit: $71,430.

Storm Sue -- 5yo black filly. Claimed for $32,500. 2006 net: ($10,660)
Lifetime record: 16 starts, 6 win, 5 place, 3 show, $126,420
2007 record: 4 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 1 show, $32,650
Claimed for $32,500. Overall profit (apx) $48,490.

Musical Trail -- 4yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. Overall FOFC net: $91,550
Lifetime record: 6 starts, 3 win, 0 place, 0 show, $42,810
2007 record: 13 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 3 show, $103,020. 2007 net: $85,020.

Comment: Solid allowance horse, talented but tends to find trouble. Versatile and durable.

Irish Bricks Again -- 2yo black colt. Bought for $13,000.
Claimed for $25,000. Net profit $6,600.

Nobody Likes Bing -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $8,000. Unraced. Overall FOFC net: ($26,000)

Comment: Best hope is bottom level.

Lynch Barkeep -- 2yo chestnut filly. Bought for $4,000. Overall FOFC net: ($15,600)
2007 record: 4 starts, 0 win, 2 place, 0 show, $6,400.

Comment: She could settle in the $10-12,500 range.

Diseased Yak -- 2yo bay colt. Bought for $3,000. Unraced. Overall FOFC net: ($21,000)

Diseased Yak needs the glue factory.

Comment: Boy, they're both bad (Bing and Yak). I'm just hoping to somehow steal enough purse money to break even.

Sweep House -- 5yo bay horse. Bought for $10,000. Overall FOFC net: $3,500
Lifetime record: 18 starts, 1 win, 2 place, 1 show, $28,110
2007 record: 12 starts, 1 win, 6 place, 1 show, $31,500. 2007 net: $3,500

Comment: Fading. Low level claimer that can sprint or route.

Proper Blues -- 4 yo brown colt. Claimed for $16,000. Overall FOFC net: $92,090
Lifetime record (at claim): 4 starts, 4 win, 0 place, 0 show, $34,800
2007 record at claim: 2 starts, 2 win, 0 place, 0 show, $19,800
FOFC record: 11 starts, 6 win, 0 place, 0 show, $126,090. 2007 net: $92,090

Comment: Puzzling horse. Probably end up in optional/high claiming if this trend holds.

Demand Mandate -- 3 yo chestnut filly. Claimed for $40,000. Overall FOFC net: ($17,800)
Lifetime record (at claim): 9 starts, 2 win, 3 place, 1 show, $62,850
2007 record at claim: 5 starts, 1 win, 3 place, 0 show, $38,000
FOFC record: 3 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $31,200. 2007 net: ($17,800)

Comment: Promising and likely to get better. Stakes potential.

Johnny Delight -- black 2yo colt. Claimed 8/15 for $32,500. Overall FOFC net: ($30,480)
Lifetime record (at claim): 2 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $15,200
2007 record at claim: 2 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $15,200
FOFC record: 3 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $7,020.

Comment: Competitive but unsuccessful so far at claiming level, but time to grow. Showed run on grass and dirt. May want more room.

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END SEASON NOTES:

Generally it was a pretty successful year thanks to a couple of claims that look as if they'll pan out.

Offhand it looks like we're well covered on the low end claimers, and we've got a few allowance/high claimers. We're completely bare at the mid level ($20-32,500 & starter allowance) and we need a couple of those to grind out purse money.

As for the auctions coming up, we should be able to pick up one or two of those mid claimers at a decent price (particularly 5yos) at the Horses of Racing Age sale. Let's budget $50,000 and hope for two from that auction.

As for the 2 year olds, let's budget $150,000 there and hope for 2-4 prospects. I think once again we'll have to have more focus on the regular rather than select sale.

I didn't like typing out all my potentials in the auction, so I'm going to skip documenting all that, but I'll be using the same process as I detailed earlier in the thread....post #65-67 (http://operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=2054207&postcount=65)

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12/10/2007:

MIXED YEARLING SALE

We bought 3 yearlings for a total of $100,000, leaving us with another $50K for the Select Yearling sale. Our three new additions are:

Hip #103 -- Chestnut colt. Bought for $70,000 (name: El Paso)
Jade Hunter ($15K stud fee) -- Video Card, by Capote. Sire can throw turf and juvenile ability.
Dam: G2 winner, best distance Route, No turf wins, Multiple 2yo wins. Three grade winning siblings (G2 & G3).

Hip #6 -- Brown filly. Bought for $7,000 (name: Roast Yak)
Senor Speedy ($1.5K stud fee) -- Queenly Empress, by Farma Way. Sire below average in turf and juv ability.
Dam: Claiming winner, best distance route, multiple turf wins, no 2yo wins. One stakes winning sibling and one graded stakes placed sib.

Hip #147 -- Bay filly. Bought for $23,000 (name: Springfield)
Tricky Creek ($3.5K stud fee) -- Alpine Sensation, by Fire Dancer. Sire has turf ability, below average in juv.
Dam: Claiming winner, best dist sprint, turf winner, 2yo winner. One G2 & G3 winning sib, one G3 placed sib.

[Coffee Warlord]

There must always be more yaks.

I submit to you Roast Yak.

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12/20/2007:

SELECT YEARLING SALE: As I suspected, our $50,000 budget didn't give us a chance to add another yearling. I'll look for another colt in the 2yo training sale in March.

Since we gave the Yak name to a colt last year, we'll even it up with one of the fillies -- Hip #6, now known as Roast Yak.

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I like naming horses after cities, my semi-random choice selector comes up with:

El Paso
and
Springfield

And then on to the Horses of Racing Age sale and hope for a couple good mid-level claimers to fall our way.

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1/2/2008:

HORSES OF RACING AGE AUCTION:

We manage to find exactly what we were looking for, good aging horses that should be solid mid level claimers:

Lonesome Desk -- 6yo h -- bought for $30,000
Sire: Fit to Fight Dam: Flight Galore by Wavering Monarch.
Life to date: 27 starts, 5 win, 6 place, 7 show, $168,300.

He was just getting squeezed out of the minor stakes level at the end of last year. Should be able to perform quite well in the $32,500-$40K range. Looks like he prefers sprints so we'll try him there first.

Exact Effort -- 5yo m -- bought for $45,000
Sire: Top Account Dam: Continental Inn by High Brite
Life to date: 18 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 3 show, $125,270

Hanging around 3rd and 4th at the NW2 level in dirt routes. Start her high and see where she levels out.

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FOFC STABLE RECAP - START 2008 SEASON

Bankroll: $152,630
Trainer: Ubaldo Diaz

Overall FOFC net profit: $277,970

All energy at 100.

Devil Key -- 6 yo chestnut mare. Bought for $24,000. FOFC net: $67,370.
Lifetime record: 36 starts, 8 win, 3 place, 9 show, $141,290.

Musical Trail -- 5 yo bay colt. Claimed for $16,000. FOFC net: $91,550
Lifetime record: 19 starts, 7 win, 2 place, 3 show, $145,830

Nobody Likes Bing -- 3 yo chestnut filly. Bought for $8,000. FOFC net: ($26,000)
Lifetime record: 0 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $0.

Lynch Barkeep -- 3 yo chestnut filly. Bought for $4,000. FOFC net: ($15,600)
Lifetime record: 4 starts, 0 win, 2 place, 0 show, $6,400.

Diseased Yak -- 3 yo bay colt. Bought for $3,000. FOFC net: ($21,000)
Lifetime record: 0 starts, 0 win, 0 place, 0 show, $0.

Sweep House -- 6 yo bay horse. Bought for $10,000. FOFC net: $3,500
Lifetime record: 30 starts, 2 win, 8 place, 2 show, $59,610

Proper Blues -- 5 yo brown horse. Claimed for $16,000. FOFC net: $92,090
Lifetime record: 15 starts, 10 win, 0 place, 0 show, $160,890

Demand Mandate -- 4 yo chestnut filly. Claimed for $40,000. FOFC net: ($17,800)
Lifetime record: 12 starts, 3 win, 4 place, 1 show, $94,050

Johnny Delight -- 3 yo black colt. Claimed 8/15 for $32,500. FOFC net: ($30,480)
Lifetime record: 5 starts, 1 win, 1 place, 0 show, $22,220

Roast Yak -- 2 yo brown filly. Bought for $7,000. Unraced.

Springfield -- 2 yo bay filly. Bought for $23,000. Unraced.

El Paso -- 2 yo chestnut colt. Bought for $70,000. Unraced.

Lonesome Desk -- 6 yo gray horse. Bought for $30,000.
Lifetime record: 27 starts, 5 win, 6 place, 7 show, $168,300

Exact Effort -- 5 yo brown mare. Bought for $45,000.
Lifetime record: 18 starts, 4 win, 2 place, 3 show, $125,270

And so it begins once more.

[path12]

1/8/2008:

SCHEDULING: I'm not going to detail where we enter every horse now that we're up to 14 in the stable. Suffice to say everyone but the two year olds are entered over the next few weeks.

RACES:
Proper Blues, 4yo+, $48,000 Open Allowance, 9.0F on grass. He is the longest shot on the board at 19-1 in the 7 horse field. Technically it's a notch below stakes though these races are as tough as any.....mainly I wanted to give him a chance at a longer race on the turf, that 5F last time was too short I believe.

He is four wide on the first turn but that is no excuse as he stops at the top of the stretch and ends up running to his odds, finishing last with an 80 rating. Turf does not appear to be his ally.

Lynch Barkeep, 3yo(F), $25,000 Maiden Claiming, 6.0F on dirt. In an open 10 horse field she is the co-favorite at 3-1, just ahead of two other fillies at 7-2.

She breaks smartly, clears the field and gets to the rail where she maintains a length or two lead through the turn. She is challenged briefly at the top of the stretch but responds and draws away by nearly 3 at the wire while running a 68. FOFC's first win of 2008!

Musical Trail, 4yo+, $39,000 NW1 Allowance, 9.0F on turf. He is a tepid second choice at 9-2 and on the rail with the favorite breaking from the far outside at 3-2. Neither post is conducive to those odds, especially considering Musical Trail's penchant for finding traffic.

As I watch him repeatedly run up on a tiring horse as six other horses pass him on the outside for what seems the millionth time I'm getting all deja vu'd. Sixth, 3 back and a 99 while getting blocked all backstretch and turn. Blah blah blah.

Diseased Yak, 3yo, $20,000 Maiden Claiming, 6.0F on dirt. For his debut, he is surprisingly only 10-1 and half the 10 horse field have bigger odds. Go get 'em, Yak!

He is in the top half of the field through the first half, gets caught 3 wide on the turn and fades to last with a 41. At least he didn't lose touch with the field.

Demand Mandate, 4yo+, $42,000 NW2 Allowance, 6.0F on dirt. She is running against the boys and coming off a dull last out due to illness, so her 13-1 odds are not that surprising, but worth a little across the board bet.

She was not alert early in the race and shuffled back to last down the backstretch but made a huge move coming down the stretch and ended up 4th and 4 back at the wire, running a 93.

Devil Key, 4yo+(F), $8,000 Claiming, 8.0F on dirt. Dropping in from $12,500, she is a huge 1-5 favorite. At six years old I don't think she'll be claimed but if she's going to this would be the spot.

Traffic hits again, and she ends up grabbing the show. And our last original horse is claimed.

Devil Key -- 6 yo chestnut mare. Bought for $24,000. FOFC net: $75,370.
Lifetime record: 36 starts, 8 win, 3 place, 9 show, $141,290.
2008 record: 1 start, 0 win, 0 place, 1 show, $1,100. Claimed for $8,000.

Nobody Likes Bing, 3yo(F), $16,000 Maiden Claiming, 6.5F on dirt. For Bing's cherry (forgive me) she is the 2-1 second choice coming off the rail in a field of 7.

She dueled for the lead in a slow 24.0, then just dropped back to sixth and held there the rest of the way, finishing with a 38 rating. Nobody is going to like Bing if she runs like that. They don't schedule 2F races.

That was a long week. I'm going to bed.

[Honolulu Blue]

Thank you for picking up this dynasty again. I'll be reading and rooting for you.

See you at the Breeders' Cup?

[path12]

By the by, thanks for the nomination. Now that the awarding is done I just wanted to offically close this dynasty.

A corrupt file ended the FOFC stables. I'm toying with the idea of another one (I still play the hell out of this game) but we'll see how that goes......