All nestled up for Winter racing

As the calender hits December 1st, our horses have reached their winter destinations and have all settled in.

First things first, Surfer Rosa has been retired from racing as she just wasn't showing us she wanted to be a racehorse. She was retired to the Illinois Equine Humane Center where she will get a month off before being retrained.

That leaves us with four horses with Richie Scherer who is now down at the Fairgrounds. We are pretty excited about experiencing a full season in New Orleans and we feel we have the horses who can compete there.

Prospect Knight came out of his entry level allowance victory in fine order and will enter on Saturday for a 2 other than allowance race on December 8th. We are hoping the Fairgrounds racing secretary will put up a 9 furlong race sometime in the meet as we really feel he would love the additional furlong.

Albin's race was rained off on opening day at the Fairgrounds (Thanksgiving Day) and is now running this coming Sunday in what was a surprise race for us. It wasn't on the overnight but they must have had issues fulling the card and put out some additional extras. This is great considering we thought we were gonna have to wait until mid to late December to get a start into him.

Rochelle Rochelle had a very rough trip in her race last week and she will come back in the same spot towards the middle of December.

Mr Mojo Risin is going to be turned out for 30-45 days as he hasn't been putting out full effort in his last two starts. The turnout should help him get over the stuff that is bugging him and might help him from a maturity level also. We are hoping to get him back to the races mid to late March.

Gondorf arrived in Florida the first week of November and started his winter campaign out with a bang. He ran a very good race on Saturday losing by only 3 3/4 lengths. If there wasn't a pesky 99/1 shot bothering us on the front end we think it would have even been closer at the end. We are hoping he provides a late Xmas gift when he comes back in an one other then allowance race at Gulfstream Park going 11 furlongs on turf.

We had a change in plans in regards to our broodmares this year after Governor Quinn of Illinois decided to veto the slots at the track bill in Illinois. Our focus has always been on Illinois racing since we started this operation but it has become economically impossible to survive here.

Wundelia has been sent to Ontario to Dan Mooney's farm, Huntington Stud, where she will foal her Yes Its true progeny. He was recommended by our Canadian trainer Brian Lynch and we are looking forward to seeing what she will foal this year.

Top Royelle will be pensioned after she foals her Desert Party progeny. She has been sent to Dr McCrosky's farm in Waterloo, Il and both mom and foal will stay there to be raised. Top Royelle's first foal, the Dehere filly, has been at Rea's Quarter horses for almost two months now as she goes through the breaking process. While short in stature, she has progressed well and according to Barbara Rea, has been quick to please, a good sign. Hope she is quick in general!

Bob's Bean's only foal, the Johar Filly, is also at the Rea's and she is a completely different filly. Long in the back and tall she is still growing and hasn't come around as quick as the Dehere filly. There is no set timetable when it comes to breaking horses and she will tell us when she is ready.

Hope everyone has a great holiday season,

BGR Racing Team