Thursday, April 17, 2014

Broodmare of the Week - Pleas Write

“Broodmare of the Week” is sponsored by Brewer Thoroughbreds, LLC and Sea Galley:


Ok, so I don’t have sponsors yet.

This was a close decision on Broodmare of the Week but the winner is Pleas Write because of Once Upon a Song’s win on Sunday and Camp Granada’s placing in the feature on Saturday (He owes me for my Pick 5 loss by the way).

I was close to giving the award to Risa Walter who foaled a beautiful Caucasian filly with no blaze with the registered name Ava Wright. Just like with Sadler’s Wells, we all waited a long time for Richard Wright to become a sire of sires. Risa is much more than a mom so I didn’t want to insult her as “just” being Broodmare of the Week. Plus I want her to keep feeding Marva Jean and my Midnight Lute Ferrari. I met Ava in the paddock last weekend and she is adorable!

Ok, back to horses. A foal of 1992, Pleas Write is by Staff Writer out the dam Plea (Valid Appeal). Staff Writer, by Northern Dancer, deserves his own blog entry, which I will write someday. Plea won five races and over $63,000 in her career. Bred by Diane Kem, Please Write was purchased by Ron Crockett at the Washington sale in 1993 for $39,000.

Before being retired in 1997, Pleas Write won 6 races and bankrolled $164,870.  She won four stakes races with one of her biggest wins being in the Boeing Stakes:


(Please (or “Pleas”) note that Carrie Can finished sixth in the Boeing Stakes as she will be a future “Broodmare of the Week”.)

Pleas Write also won Emerald Breeders’ Cup Distaff in 1996 at Emerald Downs:

http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbPDFChartPlus.cfm?BORP=P&STYLE=EQB&DAY=D&tid=EMD&dt=08/18/1996&ctry=USA&race=10

Clearly, routes were her forte.

After the Emerald Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Pleas Write placed in six more stakes races before being retired. 

Pleas Write was a very good broodmare producing 9 foals, 7 of which were winners.  Her first foal American Writer, by Quiet American, won over $137,000.  Her 2001 foal was Courageous King, by Elusive Quality, who sold to Wesley Ward and Roger King for $700,000 (Bling! Bling!) at Keeneland’s 2003 two-year-old in-training sale. I bought an Officer filly named She Dream’s in Red (It’s a Pearl Jam thing) for $7,000 in 2009. She couldn’t be broken so she never ran. What I am saying is I would take Courageous King instead of 100 She Dream’s in Reds (plus my day rate would be $5,500 and we wouldn’t fill the entry box at all). Courageous King won a stakes race at Del Mar and, if memory serves me correctly, was a sire for a short period of time.

Pleas Write’s 2002 foal was Don’twritemeoff (a phrase I often tell my wife), by Silver Ghost. He was a stakes winner and multiple stakes placed.

In 2008 and 2009, Pleas Write had Camp Granada, by Forest Camp, and Once Upon a Song, by Songandaprayer, respectively.  Both of these horses possess tons of speed.  Camp Granada ran the co-fastest first quarter on Saturday (22.04) and Once Upon a Song ran the fastest first quarter on Sunday (21.81). Hard to believe from a mare that preferred to route, but Forest Camp and Songandaprayer are contributing to the speed in these two. 

Once Upon a Song won the 8th race on Sunday running 5.5 Furlongs in 103.25. Once Upon a Song has now won 3 races and over $26,000.   

Diatribe and Syndrome Alert: No, I didn’t miss Rewritten. I am just having serious regrets. Will explain shortly. Rewritten, by El Corredor, won over $111,000, was a stakes winner and was multiple stakes placed. Her stakes win came in the Washington Lottery Handicap:


After her racing career was over, Rewritten was sent to the 2012 Keeneland November sale. I valued her at roughly $15,000 to $20,000 based on looks, talent and page (although people are not that high on El Corredor):

Rewritten Pedigree Page

She ended up a $9000 RNA. My jaw dropped that nobody bid on her. For days I pondered making an offer on her, even looking for partners. Not kidding. I even had a friend in Kentucky go take a picture of her at Margaux Farms for me:



See, I am not lying. She was a talented horse and I am not the only one who thought that:


Well, I did not buy her. Robin Mason ended up getting her.  I saw her first foal on Monday, a Forestry colt. What a great looking foal! So now we have Rewritten Syndrome, which is defined as not buying a well-priced mare, that you know was talented, you always liked, you know you should buy and the wife doesn’t object to you buying (I married smartly). Regardless, I am glad Robin has the horse, the foal is a Washington-bred and Rewritten has a great home in Carnation. Cheers!

Add this to my list of Syndromes (see previous posts). I am collecting Syndromes, which may actually be another Syndrome. I am pretty sure I am no longer following the actual definition of Syndrome but I don’t care. It’s my blog.

Hopefully, Pleas Write will continue to have an impact on Washington racing for years to come. 

The dog is snoring and the ice in the whiskey is melting so I am signing off.



Remember, kids and foals eat free at the Sea Galley:


Let’s increase our handle and always love your animals,

Will

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