The Roller Coaster continues!

Anyone looking for an easy, no anxiety, no stress work environment need to not get involved in the thoroughbred business. The up and downs for BGR continue to be in full force.

BGR started off 2011 on the right foot when Rochelle Rochelle broke her maiden at Parx Racing. It was a good win and she has been a much improved horse with the blinkers. While I think her preference is to run on the turf, being able to run on the dirt at a place like Parx Racing has been a saving grace for the BGR operation. She was entered today into a starter race that only got 3 other participants and will enter tomorrow for a 15nw2 race. After scouting the three available races for her, we felt it would be best to raise her in class instead of dropping her off the win. She has the potential to earn her way at Parx and the raise will help 'protect' her a little better then the drop.

As for the 'down', Gondorf had been training absolutely great down at the Classic Mile in Ocala, FL. He was entered at Tampa Bay Downs and got in, got into a race with zero speed and was the 2/1 ML favorite, and he is going to be scratched on Thursday because after training yesterday, he was 'off'. We had our vet take a look at him and while it is just a strain, it is disappointing because he was probably gonna win that race. Gondy has been the unluckiest horse we have had, from going up against a 90 Beyer'd maiden breaker at Arlington, to Arlington not using his race when it had 10 horses in it, to this. Luckily our trainer, Chuck Simon, says that Feb 3rd is an option so 16 days is alot better then 4 months.

The Magic Bus makes his 3 year old debut tomorrow at Parx Racing. The Philadelphia area has had some bad weather and had to cancel racing today, but we are hopeful they will run tomorrow, although it will probably be through sloppy going. Bus is bred to relish the off going and you should see a much improved effort in his 2nd start of his career. Drawing the rail did us no favors, but he breaks good and should be able to get off relatively soon, and hopefully he finishes strong.

Prospect Knight ran an interesting race the other day as he was rank for half the race and ended up 3rd at Parx Racing. The trip was eventful and with a cleaner trip, 2nd was definitely reasonable and winning was not out of the realm of possibility. We are hoping to bring him back in 13-14 days in the 25nw2 or the same starter condition.

Tampa Bay Down's racing office did Surfer Rosa no favors when they released their 3rd condition book. We were looking for a route race for her 2011 debut but have decided to run her in the 5f allowance race on Feb 6th. While she does have the opportunity to be competitive in this spot, ultimately she should be a better two turn horse, unfortunately those opportunities are sparse at Tampa.

Big Shake's leash has gotten shorter after his last run and we are going to drop him in class and change surface to see if that wakes him up. At every point throughout the year, you have to analyze your stock and sometimes you have to make hard decisions if the horse/asset is not performing up to expectations.

Mr Mojo Risin has been slowed by a troublesome shin, he has progressed and should be back on the work tab this week.

Albin has progressed and has gotten full clearance to move forward. He will work this week sometime and hopefully continue to train forwardly.

A Brand new year!

January 1st is not only the start of the new year but it is also every single thoroughbreds birthday. Looking back on 2010, we continued to learn about the racing industry and while we did have a difficult year, we did have some positives to look back on, learn from and hopefully grow upon. With us not adding any horseflesh through yearling sales, all of our horses (besides the two mares and foals) are racing or very close to racing. We have yet to ever be in that situation and it should help things run a little more smoothly.

Big Shake will start the 2011 year off for BGR as he has been entered in the 6th race at Tampa Bay Downs. We are hoping to change tactics with him as we would like to see him involved in the race alot earlier. If there was ever a 'Gallop out' award for horses, he would win the Eclipse.

Not too long after Big Shake runs, Rochelle Rochelle will make her 2011 debut at Parx Racing. She was touched with a bit of bad luck as her race was cancelled with the Philly area got trounced with snow. They redrew the race and we still drew the rail. The way the race shapes up she should have things her own way as there is speed and hopefully she will be able to get off the rail and make the wide and hopeful run that works so well at Parx Racing.

Prospect Knight has had some downtime because his race didn't fill and we are hoping to run him on January 12th at Parx Racing. He was one of the bright spots from 2010 and he should improve as a 3 year old and have a very good year.

The Magic Bus was excluded from an MSW at Parx Racing because there was over 20 horses entered in the race. We are hoping for an extra to be written to run him in or we will wait until January 19th for him to make his 3 year old debut. He has been training forwardly and we should see a different horse from his debut.

Gondorf was entered in an interesting spot today at Tampa Bay Downs but it ended up not filling. He is a horse that we are expecting to carry the load in 2011 and that will hopefully start by him breaking his maiden very soon.

Surfer Rosa made her return in the work tab and Chuck has said a January 23rd claiming race at Tampa is possible for her. She was our first ever 2 year old winner and we are looking forward to stretching her out around two turns. She seems to have tactical speed and a good closing kick, both which are extremely beneficial in turf racing.

Both mares (Top Royelle and Wundelia) have settled in at the winter homes in Waterloo, IL. They are set to foal in mid March and will return to Kentucky afterwards.

Good luck and safe trips for both Big Shake and Rochelle Rochelle tomorrow as we are hoping to start 2011 off on the right foot. Happy New Year!