{"id":20610,"date":"2014-03-31T21:30:06","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T02:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=20610"},"modified":"2014-03-31T18:54:36","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T23:54:36","slug":"claiming-tales-the-final-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=20610","title":{"rendered":"Claiming tales – the final chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claiming tales – the final chapter<\/strong><\/p>\n

We left off with Thepromonroe\u2019s narrow loss in the 1999 Hollie Hughes Handicap.\u00a0 He finished his 1999 campaign in a NW3X allowance at Belmont Park in May.\u00a0 He blazed the half mile in 43:3\/5, but tired in the stretch and finished out of the money.\u00a0 We decided to put him on the farm for an extended rest, hoping for yet another Hollie Hughes attempt in 2000.<\/p>\n

Old Yorkville had a couple of claimers after that through the summer of 1999,\u00a0 but they were nothing of note and I can\u2019t even recall their names.\u00a0 In October we claimed My Golden Dream, a distance running filly,\u00a0 for $25k.\u00a0 She won first out for us at $35k at Aqueduct in a one-turn mile.\u00a0 Out of curiosity, our trainer consulted a bloodstock agent and was told that My Golden Dream may have some value as a broodmare if she won again for at least $35k or higher.\u00a0 We took a couple shots in higher claimers but My Golden Dream was not cooperating.\u00a0 She descended the claiming ladder until finally winning at $12k and being claimed in March, 2000.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Thepromonroe returned to the races on December 11, winning a $20k claimer at the Big A.\u00a0 Unfortunately, our trainer concluded that Thepro\u2019s best days were behind him, so we ran him back for $19k in a claimer.\u00a0 He finished 3rd at 6-5 and was claimed.\u00a0 We followed him and saw him working out in February for the Hollie Hughes (we guessed), but Thepro never raced again.<\/p>\n

We then claimed Tycoon Todd out of a sprint claimer, but he didn\u2019t do much for us on the dirt.\u00a0 He did show some prior ability on the turf(all 3 lifetime wins were on the weeds),\u00a0 so we pointed him for a state-bred stakes race on turf.\u00a0 Meanwhile, we claimed Thunder Breeze for $18k (a price that seemed to be lucky for us), another sprinter and white as a ghost.\u00a0 On May 14, both horses were racing.\u00a0 Thunder Breeze won first out for us at Belmont by a very short head in a $25k claimer.\u00a0 In the feature, the West Point Handicap for NY breds, Tycoon Todd ran a dismal, next to last place finish and was subsequently claimed for a price lower than we paid.\u00a0 Two weeks later,\u00a0 Thunder Breeze won again in another photo finish and was claimed.\u00a0 Edgar Prado was up that day and it was Prado\u2019s 4000th career win, highlighted on the winner\u2019s photo.<\/p>\n

Our next claim of note was for $50k, a distance running colt named Sky Approval.\u00a0 One prior he had run an excellent 3rd in a stakes race at the Big A.\u00a0 At that time, there was a series of stakes races through the winter over the inner dirt track, and we thought that we had a runner who might do some damage for us.\u00a0 One of the other owners in the same trainer\u2019s barn thought we had made an excellent claim, but we soon found out otherwise.<\/p>\n

First out, in the Grade 3 Queens County Handicap, on a bitterly cold day at Aqueduct, Sky Approval ran an uninspired next to last.\u00a0 Robbie Davis was supposed to ride,\u00a0 but he was either hurt or unwilling to freeze his ass off.\u00a0 The trainer had some time finding a jock, finally settling on Rudy Rodriguez.\u00a0 Our dreams of dominating the inner track stakes season crashed mightily.\u00a0 Down the claiming ladder went Sky Approval, until he finally won in a $35k claimer in January 2001 with Aaron Gryder up,\u00a0 and was thankfully claimed away.\u00a0 My partner Joe and I were at the track that day, and Joe had pretty much given up on Sky Approval.\u00a0 As we watched the stretch drive, he asked me \u201cwhere is he,\u00a0 last again ?\u201d as Gryder got through on the rail to get up for the win.
\nNext runner of note is Luther Rose.\u00a0 We claimed Luther for $20k, and on May 2, 2001 Luther Rose won what would be my and my mother\u2019s last winner as thoroughbred owners.\u00a0 He was also claimed for $25k, with Aaron Gryder up.\u00a0 In the winner\u2019s circle Gryder says to us \u201cthat\u2019s the way to do it, claim, win one or two and get claimed\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Luther Rose won 3 or 4 more races for his new trainer through the summer.<\/p>\n

Next move was one of our biggest mistakes.\u00a0 We jumped right away and claimed a Florida shipper by the name of Funinthesun for $40k.\u00a0 This horse did nothing for us, finally breaking down and being euthanized in his last race for us.\u00a0 We did collect the insurance money, but it was the last time that insurance agent would do business with us.<\/p>\n

The last horse I had ownership in was a nice 3 year old we claimed by the name of Answer Man.\u00a0 The trainer took him up to Saratoga, and we were optimistic we might finally get a winner\u2019s photo at the Spa.\u00a0 The trainer surprised us a bit by getting Don Meche (a Louisiana jock who none of us had ever heard of) to ride – he turned out to be a really nice guy to talk to in the paddock.\u00a0 But Answer Man had drawn a wide post, and losing ground contributed to a 4th place finish.<\/p>\n

Shortly after that, the Old Yorkville partners decided to take a loan of $65k to further the stable, and were hoping to bring in some new partners to spread the risk a bit.\u00a0 I and my mom balked at what would might be an $8,000 each liability, and we both ended our involvement in thoroughbred racing.\u00a0\u00a0 The new partnership was not successful, and I was satisfied that I had made the right decision, despite missing the game oh so much.<\/p>\n

Thoroughbred ownership provided some of the biggest thrills and some of the biggest disappointments I\u2019ve known.\u00a0 There\u2019s few things that compare to watching your horse cross the finish line in first.\u00a0 I was lucky enough to know that feeling twenty-four times; I wish all of them had been in person.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to thank the Blacktype Bugler for allowing me this stroll down memory lane, and hope that all who read these articles enjoyed them as much as I did writing them.\u00a0 And may all your entries, whether real or SIM,\u00a0 be winning ones.<\/p>\n

If you missed my prior articles, they can be found at the following links.<\/p>\n

Claiming tales ch.1\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=18140<\/p>\n

Claiming tales ch.2\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=18392<\/p>\n

Claiming tales ch.3 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=19225<\/p>\n

Claiming tales ch.4 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=19639<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claiming tales – the final chapter We left off with Thepromonroe\u2019s narrow loss in the 1999 Hollie Hughes Handicap.\u00a0 He<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20610"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20617,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20610\/revisions\/20617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}