And All That Jazz!

Dear Partners and Friends,

Today is a general update that focuses on our 3 year old Derby/Oaks aspirants. 

First and foremost: Keen Ice and Danny Boy did not escape the flood that hit Gulfstream Park Sunday. These two horses had to stand in water overnight until the water receded yesterday.  By now, the barn is dry and has been completely reworked by Dale's team with new shavings in their stalls. Standing water is a health hazard to the horses (imagine all the bacteria in that standing water), but we should know soon if there are any issues. We don't expect any, but will need a few days to be sure. Obviously a couple days of training have been missed.

Now, let's assume that everything is okay. In that event we have tentatively decided to send Keen Ice to the Louisiana Derby on March 28. We are telling you this now so you can let us know immediately how many tickets you might need. Based on our last trip there, we will request Grandstand Box Seating at $20/ticket rather than Clubhouse at $100/ticket. The box seats are a great view and very comfortable. While there is no food service in the seats, there is good food nearby and some of us had an amazing brunch at nearby Katie's before going to the track. KEY POINT: TELL US ASAP HOW MANY TICKETS YOU WILL NEED, AS THEY WILL SELL OUT FAST.

Continuing on, we speculated that Puca, Danny Boy and Irish You Well all may have suffered from needing a race in their first outs in many months.On Sunday Irish You Well breezed back after the race and you can see from the report below that he has really moved forward off his last race. The goal with Irish will be to find an easier spot, an allowance race, going a mile and an eighth. We may have to go to Oaklawn to find such a race.

Turning to Dunbrody: I went to Oaklawn to see him make his debut last Friday, only to have the races canceled because of a frozen racetrack. Dunbrody will race back this week on Thursday. I was able to capture a couple shaky images, which definitely do not do him justice. Imagine that in the middle of the worst Winter in memory and a recent snowstorm, a colt with this shiny a coat and fully dappled. Amazing job by Wayne Catalano's crew.

And concluding with this past weekend's Oaks/Derby pool. Puca was the fourth choice out of 20 closing at odds of 11-1. Two weeks ago Keen Ice was 100-1 in Las Vegas to win the Derby. In the Derby pool this weekend, he closed at 27-1. In Vegas now he is 15-1 at many spots. It seems the public liked that closing kick going short at the Fairgrounds :).

For those of you in the handicapping contest, this week we have three races to bet on come Saturday: The Tampa Bay Derby, The Gotham (Aqueduct) and the San Felipe (Santa Anita).  

And finally, we will further explore the Turfway Park Spiral Stakes on March 21 for Danny Boy and the March 22 Sunland Park Oaks for Rock Shandy following their next breezes.

Jerry