Trainer's Comments
Trainer's Comments are simply that... comments on our horses daily behavior, inluding race scheduleing and preformances.
Pre Race - Weeks 23-24
Led Astray, a two year old filly, was entered in the 10 furlong Starter Allowance race where rumors are that she will meet Case Closed the 2 year old world-record holder. We don't expect our little filly to upset Case Closed, but we are hoping for a placing from her. We are a little anxious with the outcome, because we never intended for her to be started so early or in a 10 furlong race this early in the season. If she fails to compete well we will place her back in training with hopes of racing her at shcrter distances.
Informative, a 3 year old filly, is racing in the G3 6 furlong Azalea Breeder's Cup Stakes. We wanted to race her at less than 7 furlongs to see how she would fare.
Lady Kay, a 4 year old filly, hasn't shown us much this year. We had high hopes for her, but she hasn't shown us much as of yet. She has done fairly well at the G3 level, but is very picky when it comes to racing other horses. She will probably be retired at the end of the year, and she will become our 2nd broodmare from our own racing band. It is likly that we will send her to our own stallion Handsome Man.
Future Plans:
Mystic Will, a 3 year old colt, has been drawing the attention of our trainers. He is a rising star on the G2 circuit. While he has race primarly at a mile and over, we are going to start this young colt in a sprint field, to see if he will excell as some people believe. However, if that fails, he will be back at races a mile and over.
Results - Weeks 23-24
Led Astray, a two year old filly showed 3rd in her first race to a huge 20 horse field. She ran well coming home with $5,000 for her 2:02.91 for 1 1/4 mile. We are happy with her run and she will get a well deserved break before racing again.
Informative, a three year old filly came home with her 2nd win and a track record. She ran a great race bringing home the biggest check of her carrer, $120,000. We are considering trying her at a mile and over, but we may restrict her to sprints where she seems to be doing well.
Training Update- Yearlings
Our Yearlings have entered a crucial period in their training. Many of the yearlings have been seperated into smaller groups. All of our yearlings have been broke to ride, or have begun the breaking process. Two in our group have advanced into long slow works to build up their stamina. Three others are still getting "legged-up" so they can begin the long works on the track. Our last four, including our lone filly, are coming along a little slower than the rest, but we are not concerned. Two of the four are still getting used to having a rider aboard, while the other two are working out the kinks and should working on getting them "legged-up" soon.
We are happy with the progess of our nine yearlings, starting training on so many young horses is no small feat, but we welcome it gladly. This foal crop is the first of our homebreds and we are looking forward to see them race.
Results Weeks 25 -26
Mystic Will, a three year old colt, came back with a 5th place finish in the G2 Triple Bend Handicap for 3 year olds +. It was his first time racing against older horses and he did very well. He was coming on strong at the end and proved that he needs a bit of distance in his races. While he ran well, with a time of 1:22 and change, he won't be started under a mile for in the near future. After some rest he will be started again over a mile.
Results Weeks 29-30
Informative, a three year old filly, came home with our first G1 win of the season! She came home 1st in the Test Stakes with a time of 1:22.16, what is more impressive is that she was never extended in the entire race and won wire to wire. She beat Miss Hattie a former-filly of our friends Farees Ameer Stables, she now resides in the halls of FDL Lodge.
White Gold, a three year old filly, came home with her 2nd career win! She won the UG Wiggle Quality Handicap against older fillies by 5 lengths.
Weeks 31-32
NO HORSES RUNNING - TRAILER BROKE-DOWN
Our trailer decided to break down, so we can't get any of our horses to the races this week. Another week of training for us, before they hit the tracks.
Future Plans:
Informative, our three year old filly, should be looking to more G1 sprints, our goal is to have her start in the BC Sprint in the fall and the Dubai Shaheen in the following spring (2008). She'll be entering more prep races, although one has not been scheduled yet.
Mystic Will, our three year old colt, will be raced next week in the Hong Kong City of LIfe Stakes a G2 7F race for three year olds. We hope that he'll find the winner's circle again at this shorter race.
Sheba Twice, our five year old colt, will be raced in the G3 Star Kingdom Stakes, at the same track as Mystic Will, Rosehill Gardens. Sheba Twice is for sale and if not sold before the end of the year he will be put up at the auction.
Weeks 33-34
Informative, our three year old filly, came back with a 2nd place finish in the G2 in the King Bishop Stakes. While we are a little disapointed in her loss, we also believe that had the jockey taken her to the front of the pack early on she would not have met slower traffic coming down the homestretch. If the race was 1/2 furlong longer we believe that she would have came home with a win... alas, we shall wait until her next race and have a talk with her jockey.
Mystic Will, our three year old colt, came back in his G2 race with a win on a yielding track. He came back blowing more than usual... perhaps the travel took a toll on him, either way, he will get a well earned rest.
Sheba Twice, our five year old colt, came back sore from his run. The vets have looked him over and don't believe it is anything serious. In a few days he will be back in training... however, we have decided to put Sheba Twice up for sale. We believe that he will be better suited at a up-and-coming stable, as we are trying to make room for our up-and-coming yearlings.
Fast Angel, our three year old filly, after some poor races for us, we are considering on retiring her at the end of the year with Lady Kay. However, we will wait until the end of the year to make our final decision.
2008 Predictions - Yearlings
With the 2008 Racing Season looming around the corner we have decided to give you a sneak peak into our young yearlings' training.
We predict that our top two-year-old will be our Revenge foal, Vengeful Knight. Vengeful Knight is a strong young colt who seems to tbe the most advanced yearling. He will be ready for some early racing, and we expect that he might win a few along the way. We have high hopes for this young colt, but we are keeping our hopes grounded as he has yet to prove himself on the track... but keep an eye out for him...
Another yearling worth mentioning is Handsomely Kept, our lone filly. And like her name suggests she is out of our stallion Handsome Man. She should be a speedy filly like her father, but like her father it may take time for her true speed to shine through. She will not be a star at 2... and she will only be raced lightly... but we hope that she'll show signs of brilliance at a young age.
A second colt to watch for is by Handsome Man as well.. Handsome Affair. Handsome Affair is a true homebred, he is by our stallion and out of our own mare Maxzene's Affair. However, like Handsomely Kept it may take a year until he is mature enough to really prove his worth.
The last colt we're mentioning today is a third Handsome Man foal, and another out of our own mares... Handsome Politics. And this horse is a true Hopeful Farm homebred. Handsome Man and Vice President were both given to us at our initiation. Handsome Politics should be another good colt to watch, and unlike his brother and sister he should show us a good sign of how good he is as a two year old. We hope he'll make his daddy proud.
More to come...
