1,000 BP Challenge: Target is Now Within Reach!!
A lot of changes over past two weeks as horses were claimed from my stables and I struggled to fill vacancies. The week ended with one being shipped to the hospital leaving yet another vacancy in the lineup. Good news is that I’m 10 BP’s away from hitting the target!
RACERS
Week Ending 7/6/14:
Take Me put in a very disappointing effort going 9.5f with the $15k racing class. After winning first four starts for me, he’s been in a downward tailspin. He finished 6th, a lousy 21 lengths back, basically hitting the stretch as others crossed the finish line. He only had 2 ½ weeks between races off, so I’ll use that for an excuse.
Xureyev was a different story. I went long with her and sent her an unprecedented 12 furlongs. In a small field of four and a maiden claimer worth $20k, she took off second and easily walked her way to the lead and crossed the wire on top. She won by 2 ½ lengths, and a not so impressive speed of 72. Nice win for the 3/5 favorite who earned 15 BP’s.
Callous Doe made his first start for me. After racing in allowance group in previous starts, out of his class, I placed him into a $4k claiming event and went all out challenging him to an 11 furlong race. The field was filled with CPU runners, a benefit to me as the horse ran gate to wire with no challenges from others. A very nice 40 BPS for the effort!
Week Ending 7/13/14
We Persever went off at 6/5 odds in a packed 12 horse field. This favorite did not fail. He went to the lead and had no problem with no one taking him on, easily winning the 12 furlong race by four strides. The downside was that he was claimed in the race for $4,000. He’s been with the stable since the start of the contest and sported a 3-3-1 record in 8 starts. He gave me 15 more BP’s as he transferred out and was a big earner with 117 BP’s while he was around.
Not So Divine was not so anything this week. I placed him back on the turf after a numbskull dirt marathon attempt for his first dirt outing last month. He was placed into a $25k claiming, 5 furlong race and finished dead last. First time he’s ever run in a sprint. Back to mile races or so. No more experiments.
Off to the hospital went High Candy who was injured in a 6.5 furlong claiming race with a tag of $7,500. He finished a lousy 7th with a 76 speed. The speed number is typical for this guy, so it was a bit surprising to see him come back to the barn with an injury.
STABLE CHANGES
Pass By Ten was immediately moved into the stable after being acquired (see below) to fill one of the holes I had. Lonely Avenue was moved last week into the stable to fill the other hole I had.
CLAIMERS & AUCTIONS
I made a few claim attempts to fill in gaps that were created by losing a pair of horses in similar claiming events. Most of my attempts failed, but I did get the 7-year old Pass By Ten, a reliable horse who won in a $5k claiming race at 10.5 furlongs, marking his 16th win in 46 starts. He loves to run on the lead and has been in the money just shy of 75% of his starts. Net cost to acquire was 10 BP’s, plus the claiming tag.
Yozz Dream has been a mystery of late, losing the last two races by a combined 63 strides in mile dirt races. He dropped a shade to 7.5 furlongs and picked up a win as he also dropped to $2k claimers from the $50k level. Looks to me as a low claimer runner and that is where I intend to place him and he is active in the barn. Net cost was 4 BP’s.
SUMMARY
A nice 70 BP’s picked up over past two weeks and claiming a pair or runners cost me 14 for a net pickup of 56. I’m now banging on the door with 990 BP’s!!!!! 80 starts on the season has yielded a record of 23-15-16 and the cash remains pretty level at $226,000.