1,000 BP Challenge: Restocking the Stable
Last week I lost a few horses in the claiming races so I battled this week to get some stock back in the farm and made multiple claims. Success eventually came my way in getting some fresh blood back in the farm.
RACERS
After winning last month on the dirt and breaking his maiden, I flipped High Candy back to the grass. He ran last in the 9f race, a good 10 or so back at the half. A very nice late run cut the deficit to four strides and finishing third and scoring a career best speed of 80. I may consider sending him a bit longer in the future but am pleased to pull in 12 BP’s.
At the end of January, Magoooooo put in a decent third on a good turf surface. This week I had him advance into allowance company, up from the starter allowance. He ran fine early on but was overtaken by better horses and finished fifth at what I thought were promising 4-1 odds. A pittance of 2 BP’s was the reward which is better than zilch. I may be dropping down in class and probably a dirt run next.
I threw Charge Again into a $4k claiming event targeting the grass. At 9-2 odds he was not overly exciting finishing third in a field of five. I’m happy with the 17 BP’s gained with the outcome and looks like dirt would be a better place.
Take Me won his third in a row as I shipped him to Indiana to compete in a $25k claiming event running 15 furlongs. Great late speed as he ran from a dozen back in last to win by three. The shipping cost a bit as I only collected 15 BP’s but loved the win!
CLAIMERS & AUCTIONS
I was one of two bidders making a claim on Go There Go Now who won a route in a pricy $17,500 claiming race. Would have cost me 35 BP’s to pick this Forestry bred horse up but I got the raw end of the raffle.
One Good Guy , a young Scat Daddy bred colt, surprised me with 23 claims filed. Mine was not the lucky drawn one for the horse that won his 8th career race this week.
I made it three straight losing claim attempts as Caw Blen put in a poor effort, which was his first run on an off-track, so a throw away race. Just like my claim attempt was thrown away.
The Cartooner won his fifth race in a row and came after a two month layoff going in a $3k claiming event. Three claims were made for this 7-year old front-running speedster. I FINALLY GOT ONE!!! I may target starter allowance races as he looks to be a BP earner in the lower ranks which will protect him from claims, offset by smaller payouts. Net cost was 6 BP’s
Another loss at the claiming box came when Supersimmon was awarded to someone else after winning a $3k claiming event, dropping from the $50k price tag.
I was a bit surprised when I placed two claims on a pair of horses racing in the same event and both were added to my farm. The $6,250 claimer brought Naval Officer and Rim Rocker to me and they finished first and second in the race, requiring a photo to determine the winner. The 96 speed was the best that Naval Officer has hit in over a year and the same speed for Rim Rocker was his career best. Right now they both sit in the farm but wouldn’t it be rather fun to put them in the same race against each other again to see what happens? 24 BP’s were spent to get the dynamic duo.
STABLE CHANGES
The Cartooner is filling my last vacancy in the stable and the others I claimed will await their turn at the farm.
SUMMARY
I picked up 46 BP’s from my runners this week, but the claiming window took 30 back so the total increased 16 this week up to 335. Not bad after just a little over 2 months of racing. The racing record now stands at 7-6-4 in 25 starts.