Year 'Round Excitement

Dear Partners and Friends,

It seems like the racing excitement never stops. We no sooner get through the Triple Crown (and the amazing success of Finnegans Wake in the first half of the year) then we head into the second half with just as much going on.

Consider what is ahead in the second half:

• The Summer Classics like the Arlington Million and Travers
• The sales where we find our new prospects. These include Fasig-Tipton July, Saratoga and the big daddy of them all, the Keeneland September  sale
• The Saratoga meet where Donegal hosts partners in a beautiful six bedroom home, one block from the historic Saratoga Race Course
• Our two year olds make their track debuts. All of our two year olds have either arrived at their new homes or will arrive before the week is over. Already a couple of works have been recorded at their new racetrack homes.
• The run up to and the Breeders' Cup
• The Eclipse Awards

For a partnership called Derby Dreams, I think you'd all have to agree we have turned this into a year 'round entertainment extravaganza!  

Many of you have asked me where we are going to race and as you have heard me say more than a few times, it is hard to know very far ahead. That said, I can tell you that we have penciled (as in erasable ;)) Keen Ice in for the Jim Dandy on August 1 and the Travers on August 29, both at Saratoga. When we have a horse in at Saratoga we can often help you find race tickets. I can tell you that the house is already full on Travers weekend. There are reasons we could decide to run in the Haskell at Monmouth on August 2 instead of the Jim Dandy on August 1. For example: if, because of American Pharoah, there is a five horse field and we think we are better than the other four, well then we might go there and run for the $250K second prize purse. But all things equal, we favor giving Ice a race over the Saratoga track prior to the Travers which is a big time stallion making race.

Speaking of excitement, I was very pleased with the effort Finnegan gave us Saturday on the dirt. Mike Smith said he handled the dirt just fine but hated getting the dirt in his face. Finn got beat by 28 feet and ran 31 feet longer than the winner. Reminiscent of the Belmont Stakes.

And this Sunday we finally saw a return to form by Irish You Well. As you watch the replay linked below, notice how well he stalked a quick enough pace and still closed like a freight train.

BREEDERS' CUP

It looks like we may get to our waiting list on tickets. If you have not purchasedBreeders' Cup tickets and you want to, shoot us a quick email so we can add you to the waiting list and keep you informed. This process will happen very quickly over the next two weeks so don't put it off.

And finally, on a sad note, Conor Foley's father suffered a heart attack yesterday. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Jerry