Donegal Update

Dear Partners and Friends,

Okay, we have a lot of work to do today and I'm not talking about filling out your brackets. Of course we know who Michela and Amanda will pick.  

Later today you will get the first of four installments from our visit to Elloree this past Saturday to see our two year olds in training. I think you are going to enjoy those updates as much as we enjoyed being there to get them.

In the meantime, I have been asked many questions designed to plan travel and I am going to do my best:

KEEN ICE will run at the Fair Grounds in the Louisiana Derby on Saturday, March 28. Here is the list of people who have said they are coming:

If your name doesn't appear here and you want to come, please let us know in the next 24 hours as the place is sold out and we need to have our ducks in a row.

ICE is training very well and is one of our soundest horses. We believe he will move forward in this race.

ROCK SHANDY coming off another strong breeze will work six furlongs next Saturday and then we will decide whether to point him at one of the final three 100 point races: The Wood at Aqueduct, The Blue Grass at Lexington (both of those on April 4) or the Arkansas Derby on April 11th at Oaklawn Park.  

PUCA breezed a bullet Saturday as the best of 17. I thought you would enjoy watching her in that breeze by clicking here:

PUCA will run next either in the Gazelle at Aqueduct or the Ashland at Keeneland, both to be run on April 4.  

DUNBRODY, coming off a 91 Brisnet rating/MSW win (the best first race figure in Donegal history), is being penciled in for a two turn allowance race at Keeneland on April 9. We will see how he handles winners in that race, as one of the toughest starts for any horse in racing is the first allowance following a Maiden win. Should he do well, we will raise our sights immediately. Some of you are already advocating a graded stakes next out. You all know that I am not conservative in selecting races, but I think this is the best course for this horse at this time. He has missed a lot of training because of the bad Arkansas weather and he deserves a little time. Kudos to the great job Wayne Catalano has done with this colt.

DANNY BOY came through his surgery just fine and will now recuperate for a few months.

FINNEGAN'S WAKE will run next Saturday in an effort to win his fourth straight Grade II going a mile and a half at Santa Anita. More or less, regardless of the outcome, we will run FINN back in the Woodford Stakes on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. FINN is already being talked about as an Eclipse Award candidate if he continues to perform at this level.  

We thought you would enjoy this TVG special on FINN that ran this weekend:

And finally, IRISH YOU WELL will run this Wednesday in an allowance race at Oaklawn Park. IRISH will go in the 8th race and is #7. Unfortunately, the race is only one mile long which essentially means that Irish cannot win. I am going to defer to the decision to run him here simply because he needs the work. Hopefully he will come running in a way that tells us he is moving forward.

Whew...there is a lot more going on but that is it for now. Know of any other partnerships with this many horses running in this many Graded Stakes races? I didn't think so ;).

Jerry