1,000 BP Challenge Weekly Update

This week I had two horses entered and the week wasn’t overly profitable. I did get a little something but quite a bit of shuffling with the horses also occurred.

RACERS

The oldest horse in the barn Tomcat Crime ran this weekend and was entered into a claiming race with a take away price of $5,000. For the second time I raced him, he went off as the favorite, this time at 9/5. I stretched him out from the 7 furlongs last week to 9 furlongs this week and he has shown he could go sprints or routes in the past. In this race he latched into a battle on the front with two other horses. After the pacesetter was put away, it was a battle all the way to the finish. Tomcat just could not get by his rival, finishing second by about 1/4-stride. A valid run worth 17 BP’s this week, but the speed of 84 was his slowest since 2008. Speeds are not looking rosy in the two starts and I fear his racing days may be behind him. I’m entering him into the auction.

After kicking 2014 off with a win, Mr Matinee was nudged up in the claiming ranks from $4,000 to $7,500 and went off as the third selection at 7-1. Not getting off to a quick start, he fell to the middle of the field which turned out to me a warning sign. Having no run in him, he fell further behind as the field traveled through the stretch and finished 11th, some 10 lengths back and an 84 speed, a disappointing drop from the 94 last month. Mr Matinee was claimed from me and I received the $7,500 claiming price, giving me another vacancy in the stable to fill.

CLAIMERS & AUCTIONS
With two horses moving out of the stable, I’ll be looking to add something to the farm. Always good to have something ready to fill gaps at the stable when horses move on.

STABLE CHANGES
With Tomcat Crime heading into the auction, Charge Ahead will be activated from the farm. He’s been resting for two months now and will be trained to start racing at the beginning of March.

Divine State is also moved from the farm to the stable and will be training to run in a few weeks as a replacement to the claimed Mr Matinee. He has done well with claimers in the past and I’ll be looking to benefit with placement at this level.

SUMMARY
Only 17 BP’s this week which nudged the yearly total to 313. The bank roll now stands over $161,000 with a racing record of 6-5-2 with 18 starts.