The Challenge- Week 47
The Challenge series in approaching the wire as this is the last article for November and the calendar will soon be flipping to December.
This week Thechallenge2 stable had four horses entered, all of whom raced today. ALWAYS CONFLICTED is a horse that I have set at 65 for jockey instructions, trying to place the runner off the lead a bit. He’s typically run up front and tired at the end and this week was his second start for the stable and second time at this setting. His first time out he ran five lengths off the lead throughout the race, finishing fifth. This week he ran again in Starter Allowance, bumping up to a tag of $35,000, mainly due to limited selections, but able to stay at the OR track and avid shipping costs. I moved him to a 7.5f sprint, just a tad off the 8.25f in his last start and wanted to test him in the sprint category as he’s been pretty much a route goer. He ran second most of this weeks journey and ended up in third with a mild effort. I may reset the jockey setting and shoot for a shorter sprint and try to capitalize on his front speed next time out. 15 BP’s from this guy and two G-cards from the larger 8-horse field.
GLDREWARD is one of the horses I have enjoyed having and she has done nothing less than finish first or second in each of her appearances. She can go route or sprint and run both surfaces, however, I’ve kept her on the turf. After five nice runs for the stable she was placed in a sprint for the first time after three straight mile performances. She did not disappoint. She locked into a battle with another front runner and they would stay nose to nose until the stretch run when she surrendered and took second place, losing by a stride at 4/1. Good enough for 17 BP’s and a nice E-card for the second choice in the race at 8/5. She’s delivered 131 BP’s so far for the stable.
Another of my favorites is NIANG who was entered this week for the 9th time by the stable. His last two starts were in claiming races and after a win and a second it was time to test his confidence level and I brought him back into a 8.5f allowance race. He went off as the 2/1 favorite and got off to his normal slow start, falling back to the backside of the field. He kicked things in, a bit later than he should have, but managed to roar home and finish second. He’s now 3-3-0 for the stable in the 9 races and earned 10 BP’s this week (total of 121 since joining the stable) and a pair of sire cards which included and F and a G.
Finally, second time runner for the stable THIRSTY ARCHIE got some play by the betting public who put him in the gate as the 5/2 second choice. He was in a $2,000 starter allowance in a short 5.5f distance. He galloped to a nice 3 length advantage gong into the stretch but the favorite had a very good late kick and caught up and drew off to over a 2 stride victory leaving Thirsty Archie to settle for second. Two seconds out of this one is not bad at all and a reward of 17 BP’s will come in handy which also came with a G-card.
The stable gathered in three seconds and a third this week, a very nice performance. For the year, the stable has 157 races and a record of 30-39-18 with a winning percentage of 19.1% and ITM of 55.4%. 284 BP’s are now in the bank which was increased by the 59 that were earned this week.
Sire cards this week included 1-E, 1-F and 4-G. Added to the previous week holding amounts to 2-E, 1-F and 7-G. Too many cards so 5 G’s have been turned in for an F which changes the hand to 2-F, 2-E and 3-G.
Next week will be a busy one with four more horses that will be ready to run. The year is coming to an end quickly and I do have five in the farm that are resting and will be available to come out, several are two year olds, so it may be difficult to shuffle horses around. Right now I’m trying to grow the BP’s to get one last decent sire share and preference will most likely go to those that are delivering results.