WTBOA Sale Review - And a call out to Victor Bahna, Jr.

Be warned Victor Bahna, Jr., watch your back. You stole my girlfriend at the WTBOA Sale. Hip 48 went for $28,000, which was $6,000 more than I was willing to go for her. Look at this girl:

In all sincerity (if I am ever sincere it is now), I wish Victor the best of luck. He is a good guy and I know she will be treated well.

I would be mad at John Maryanski but he kicked my rear for Hip No. 56 so badly, I can't complain. Wish the Maryanskis all the luck with her too:

Ok, Ok, I took the picture from the wrong side.

Let's get to the basics first. Median ($10,500), gross ($1,297,000) and average were all up ($16,012). That is nice for the breeders and shows that maybe things are continuing to turn around. The sales topper was $57,000 which was $13,000 short of the sales topper last year, Legion of Boom. Here is a picture I took of Hip No. 102, the sales topper, at the farm:

Being a filly guy, most of the horses on my short list went for more (sometimes, much more) than I would have liked to pay. Life goes on and it's good for the WTBOA and breeders in the state.

I want to focus on our local sires but it is hard not to give a shout out to Tribal Rule who sold 5 horses for $57,000, $52,000, $51,000, $26,000 and $8,000. Nice for the recently deceased sire. Stormin' Fever sold two for $30,000 and $28,000. Also, Flatter got a $51,000 from Alaskan born, but Oregon breeder/owner/lover Jody Peetz. The Flatter:

He is pretty much saying to me: "I am a bad ass."

With respect to local stallions, Harbor the Gold, as expected, did exceptional with horses selling for $45,000, $40,000, $32,000, $30,000, $20,000 and $17,000. I made an early offer to buy Hip 98 for $1,000, but was rejected. Seems unfair. I mean really, what are they going to do with an extra $44,000? Hip 98:

El Dorado Farms stallion Abraaj did really well selling horses for $25,000, $18,000, $15,000, $6,000 and $4,500. Nationhood sold 7 for $30,000, $15,000 $8,500, $7,200, $2,000, $1,800 and $1,000. Raise the Bluff sold three including one for $13,500.

First year sires did solid. Coast Guard sold 5 for $15,000, $7,500, $6,000, $5,500 and $2,200. Rallying Cry had two sell for $5,000 and $3,200. Gold Aly had two sell for $4,000 and $2,700. The Gold Aly that sold for $4,000 had a very beautiful body and looked very athletic, so I thought that was a good buy.

As far as my sale went:

I made my short list before the sale even began. I am able to do this because (a) I am looking for fillies only and (b) I am looking for pedigree so they could be part of my broodmare band at some point and (c) I saw most of these horses at the farm before the sale. I also knew I couldn't afford a couple of the fillies (No. 98 and 102).

So my short list at the sale came down to 25, 48, 56, 64, and 94. By the end of my analysis, x-rays and thoughts on what horses would cost I got it down to 48 and 56, but the prices were simply too high. Bad for me, good for the breeders.

However, good for Keeneland November as I will now stick to the original business plan I drafted and try to bring back a couple good broodmares to improve the thoroughbreds in our state. Lexington, I will see you in November.

Always Love Your Animals,

Will

Northwest Stallion Spotlight: First Edition

New publication from the WTBOA: Northwest Stallion Spotlight. These articles are on stallions who have their first yearlings in this year's WTBOA Sale: Coast Guard, Gold Aly and Rallying Cry.

http://www.washingtonthoroughbred.com/magazine/NWStallionSpotlight/NW%20Stallion%20Spotlight_Aug'14.pdf

Please let me know if you have any thoughts on how to improve these articles. Thank you.

Always Love Your Animals,

Will

Longacres Mile Rankings #5 thru #1

****Youtube Video so go to the website.

First off, if you are out at the track on Saturday the second race is a very nice Maiden Special Weight. I am very interested in seeing Herculette run for the first time. Herculette is by Indian Charlie out of the Seattle Slew mare Seattle Shimmer. Herculette was a $230,000 Keeneland January short-yearling purchase.

So now let's begin the countdown of my top 5 picks for the Longacres Mile. Please hold your applause until the very end.

#5) Title Contender (9/2) - This four-year-old Pulpit gelding has a few things going for him. First, he got the #7 post, which I think will benefit his style of sitting right off the pace and making a move around the turn. Second, he is one for one at the distance and has already won at a mile and a sixteenth. Third, Title Contender is in good form as he has not been worse than second in five starts this year. But here is the question: Who has this horse beat this year? He was beaten by Taylor's Deal and Mr. Bowling (at Hastings for that matter). He was able to beat Twistgrips twice but Twistgrips was not able to come close to Stryker Phd or Mr. Bowling in the Budweiser Handicap. Twistgrips is also 20-1 on the morning line. By the way, Twistgrips is trained by John Snow and I find it amazing that his both able to do the Night's Watch and train horses. I would include on the bottom of Trifectas and Superfectas, but 9/2 is a little low for my taste.

#4) Dontmesswithkitten (20-1) - I can hear the cries of "Homer"** everywhere. But first let me say that (1) I did not write the Iliad and the Odyssey, (2) this blog is completely fair and objective, (3) I am never talking to you again if you think I am a homer.

In the last ten years, I have correctly picked three Mile winners (not bad, but not good either), one of which was No Giveaway (the other two were logical favorite-type picks in The Great Face and Wasserman). I liked No Giveaway because if you looked at his form he was an improving horse who seemed to be primed to put in the best run of his life. This is how I feel about Dontmesswithkitten. He is ascending the Beyer Number ladder and is beginning to take to the Emerald Downs surface even though he is by Kitten's Joy out of a Lemon Drop Kid mare. His last run in the Mount Rainier, albeit assisted by a speed bias that day, was impressive as he was pulling away from a good horse in Disruption at the end. Plus, he has the "Sizzla" Rocco Bowen on him and he gets to ride the rail all the way around because Jebrica will drop back at the start. At 20-1, it is worth an include.

His knocks are that he did not run as well in the other two handicaps at Emerald Downs and he suffers from a case of seconditis. Ok, fair enough, but I am putting him in my vertical investments. Go Rocco!

#3) Shooting Jacket (20-1) - Ok, now I am talking crazy right? Want to put me in a straight jacket? Remember my Commanding Curve warning in the Derby? He is hampered by the post position, but he is not going for the lead anyway. All of the speed will get away from him early and I expect he will be no worse than three wide in the first turn (yes, three). Then he, Jebrica and Stryker Phd will hang out and talk about oats and hay for 6 furlongs in the back before getting to work. Everyone talks about how great Stryker Phd closed in the Mt. Rainier on a speed biased day but so did this horse. He passed several horses in the stretch including Jebrica and Mr. Bowling. He is a closer in a race with a decent amount of speed. I like long shots because daddy needs to get paid.

#2) Stryker Phd (5/2) - Now we start tasting the chalk. How can you knock him? He is perfect this year. Larry and Sharon have done a wonderful job with him. He got a great post for his style. The pace looks to favor him. He is just a solid horse and I would like to see the mile won by a local horse, but I have to be objective in my handicapping so I am putting him at #2. Here are some pictures of the Stryker taken by Terra Lee:




And again Stryker C.A.T.



#1) Prohibition (3-1) - This was a real struggle for me not because he is not a local horse (although he actually is now considering he is trained at Pegasus and owned by Dr. Mark) but because it was my least favorite time in American history. How could you live through that? I will take the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl or the Hot Pants Era over Prohibition. I simply think Prohibition is the best horse in the field. First, he has put up high Beyer figures (98s) in two races this year. He also seems to possess the ability to come off the pace. In addition, he has an excellent post position. His one bad race this year came on the turf so you can throw that out.

His last race was the Commentator Handicap at Belmont Park where he finished fourth. He finished fourth to Zivo, Big Business and Weekend Hideaway. Zivo came back from the Commentator to win the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap beating horses such as Moreno, Prayer for Relief, Ever Rider, Romansh, Mylute and Last Gunfighter. Big Business came back to win an Allowance Optional Claimer and has finished second in two stakes at Saratoga. Weekend Hideaway has since won two in a row including an Allowance race and a stakes race at Saratoga.

Two big drawbacks: (1) He has not raced since May and (2) His last three wins were all wire-to-wire victories and I don't think he will get the lead in this race (Scat daddy baby). Plus, his wire-to-wire victories were on the inner dirt surface at Aqueduct which favors closers because of the tighter turns and his other one was at Parx. However, he has come off the pace to win this year.

Let's rock the handle number this weekend. Would love to hear others opinions. Put your comments below.

Should be a fun day and a great race. Good luck everyone and go Northwest!

Always Love Your Animals,

Will

**Definition of homer for you old people out there: Someone who shows blind loyalty to a team or organization, typically ignoring any shortcomings or faults they have.

Longacres Mile - Post Positions and Odds

Spent the morning at the draw for the Longacres Mile. First time for me, surprisingly. It was a good time and the venue was packed. My rankings will come out soon but first:

(1) Jebrica 15-1
(2) DontmesswithKitten 20-1
(3) Prohibition 3-1
(4) Twistgrips 20-1
(5) Disruption 12-1
(6) Boyett 12-1
(7) Title Contender 9/2
(8) Scat Daddybaby 15-1
(9) Stryker Phd 5-2
(10) Mysterious Soul 10-1
(11) Mr. Bowling 8-1
(12) Shooting Jacket 20-1

Ten Positive Things for the Washington Industry Week 17

The thoroughbred racing world is a funny thing. I find myself saying and doing things that the public would never find appropriate. Take for instance my farm tours for the last few weeks. I looked at probably 35 females and made comments out loud such as "nice hind end", "like that hip on her", "very nice long forearms", "pretty head", "she looks a little chunky", "pretty nice loins", "look for the point of her buttocks", and "nice rump".  Yet I still am married despite the fact I have described some of these females in great detail to my wife and told her I have fallen in love with a few. If someone was recording me I could never run for Senator....or is that a requirement for running for office?

Then there was that time in December 2009 where I stood in the freezing cold while a local bloodstock agent, who shall remain nameless, in her early 70s (but looks like in her 40s) explained the intricacies of a broodmare's vagina and how the birthing process works. Seemed pretty normal at the time but what would my friends thing. Plus, Freud would have a field day with me.

But then last weekend I was out doing the farm tours for the Emerald Racing Club and I walked by a white bucket with the word "placenta" on it and thought nothing of it. And then I stopped and I thought "I just walked by a white bucket with the word placenta on it and thought nothing of it. Am I out of touch with reality? Shouldn't I be concerned that there was a bucket of placenta laying around?"

                            Picture by William Brewer Selfie, LLC. Placenta provided by ?

Such is the life of the addicted horse industry man.

Well, let's get to racing and the positive things in our sport for this week:

(1) Harbor the Gold on the Attack - This stallion just simply gets better and better. He is, like me, aging extremely well. After a weekend in which one of his offspring shockingly did not win the Emerald Derby, he makes a comeback winning both Stakes Races last weekend with Trackattacker winning the Lads and Pippa Bou Peep winning the Shinpoch. Not only that, Harbor the Gold finished one-two in the the sub-feature with Trick or Retreat and Stikine Slough. Also, another Harbor the Gold filly, Val de Saire, got 3rd place in the Barbara Shinpoch Stakes.

(2) Washington-Bred Winners - 18 of the 23 thoroughbred races were won by Washington-breds this last weekend. That is an outstanding 78%. It was also accomplished by a variety of different sires (noted below). Go Washington.

(3) Mile Nominations - The nominations and weights are out for the Longacres Mile. I will be at the Longacres Mile draw tomorrow and tweeting the Post Positions as they are announced. You can follow me @WilliamPBrewer on Twitter if you would like live updates. It appears that Stryker Phd is the likely favorite for the race. I will have my rankings of the contenders posted here on Thursday. Come out on Sunday and let's raise the handle.

Commander-123
Stryker Phd-121
Title Contender-121
Handsome Mike-120
Rock me Baby-120
Blue Tone-119
Prohibition-118
Boyett-117
Dry Summer-117
Floating Feather-117
Mr. Bowling-117
Disruption-116
Dontmesswithkitten-116
Jebrica-116
Mysterious Soul-116
Scat Daddybaby-115
Shooting Jacket-115
Twistgrips-115
Downtown C.T.-114
Go for Guiness-114
I Keep Saying-114
Mike Man's Gold-114
Assessment-113
Dare Me Devil-113
Perfect Night-113
Home Run Kitten (3yo)-112

(4) Emerald Distaff Nominations - A smaller group of nominations with the presence of Stopshoppingdebbie. Will be interesting to see if Scarlet Strike and Wando Woman show up in the race. Still have a huge soft spot for Blueberry Smoothie.

Stopshoppingdebbie-124
Scarlet Strike-119
Goin to the Window-118
Wando Woman-118
Blueberry Smoothie-117
Madame Pele-116
Castinette Dancer-115
She's Stella Marie-112
Inquiry Miss-110
Cheeky Stone (3yo)-109

(5) WTBOA Yearling Sale  - The WTBOA Sale is on Tuesday August 26th at 2:00pm. Plenty of good updates provided by Sue Van Dyke for these horses which you can get here:

http://www.washingtonthoroughbred.com/Sales/2014%20Summer%20Sale%20Updates.pdf 

Obviously another strong update this weekend for Hip No. 16 who by Lucky Pulpit out of Eclatante making him a half brother to Trackattacker. You can read more about the Eclatante family here:

http://militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/06/broodmare-of-week-eclatante-sponsored.html

An update for Hip No. 22 as her half-sister Val de Saire (which is either an area in France near Normandy or is French for Will is dreamy. Look it up.) finished 3rd in the Barbara Shinpoch on Sunday.  Here is a picture of her from the Washington Thoroughbred website provided by Blue Ribbon Farm:

Very pretty.

Hip No. 31 got an update when Private Boss finished third in the Lads behind Trackattacker. Hip No. 31 is a filly half sister to Private Boss by Yes It's True out of Irene's Bonus Baby.

(6) Claudia's Cahill - This was a cool victory as both Candi Tollett and John Parker get a win with a horse that was named after bloodstock agent to the stars (but not George Steinbrenner) Claudia Atwell Canouse. By, obviously, Cahill Road, Claudia's Cahill is out of the Free at Last mare Mizzo.

(7) Leadership - Nice win by Leadership in the Friday night feature. It seemed that the only way this horse would win is if got away from Bud Fox Stables.

(8) Stallion Earnings of Washington-breds to Date:

Harbor the Gold $733,860
Matty G              $290,745
Cahill Road        $279,051
Private Gold       $276,016
Raise the Bluff   $226,808

(9) Broodmare Sire Earnings of Washington-breds to Date:

Basket Weave     $340,288
Slewdledo           $233,577
Demons Begone $214,081
Game Plan          $152,379
Free at Last         $126,379

(10) Stallions with Washington-bred winners - Harbor the Gold lead with 4 winners this last weekend. The only other stallion with more than one win was Cahill Road with 2 wins. The love was spread around with other rest of the winners coming from a variety of different stallions: Polish Miner, Devine Cozzene, Peachinatthebar, Jimalator Cat, Tribunal, Grindstone, Nacheezmo, Nationhood, Waiting Game, Matty G, Devil on Ice, and You and I. 

Happy Mile Week and Always Love Your Animals, 

Will 

WTBOA Allowance Race

Attention Owners and Trainers

Next Saturday there will be an $20,000 Allowance race for all horses who went through last year's WTBOA Sale. It was not put in the original Condition Book and will be listed as an extra only. However, this is an excellent race with a great purse.

Please consider entering your horse if they went through the WTBOA Sale last years. Lots of money and no Trackattacker!!!! :) Please consider entering this race.

Top Ten Positive Things that happened for the Washington Industry Weeks 15 and 16

Did you miss me? I didn't think so. However, I am still posting anyway. Spent the last few weeks sitting in a tree in Bonney Lake feasting on tea leaves hoping to change my whole perspective on life. However, I picked a tree with a view of a Dairy Queen so it just made me want a Butterfinger Blizzard for three weeks.

In reality (By Intentionally out of My Dear Girl), I have been working on some articles on our new stallions Coast Guard and Gold Aly (they will be posted soon and sent out by the WTBOA), starting a few new companies, hitting the farms and looking at the yearlings in the upcoming WTBOA Sale (about 70 of them), and I spent a few days on the Oregon coast celebrating Logan's 8th birthday: 

It has been duly noted that none of you bought him a birthday present.

Let's catch up on the positive things that have happened to Washington for Weeks 15 and 16.

(1) Dancing Yodeler - I have spent the last several weeks secretly acquiring stock in Reed Palmer Photography. I figure if Yodeler keeps winning, Reed Palmer's revenue could reach about $50 million by the end of the year. Again, Yodeler won in dramatic fashion. It was nice to be able to spend several hours with these new owners earlier in the day and then later watch them get their picture taken in the Winners' Circle (or the Winners' track). Kudos to Sophia, Larry and Sharon, and all the owners.

(2) Emerald Farm Tour - On Saturday August 9th, we took about 30 members of the Emerald Racing Club on a farm tour of Blue Ribbon Farm, Griffin Place, DiPietro Thoroughbreds and El Dorado Farms. The tour went really well and there were several enthusiastic new owners. The WTBOA footed the bill for this and thanks to all the farms who helped educate our new owners on how to prep yearlings for a sale. We invite all people to come to the WTBOA Sale on August 26th with no pressure to buy. Also, thanks to Darrin Paul and Will Brewer (especially Will Brewer) for being chaperones and taking the individuals around and Terra Lee for taking pictures.

Some of the pictures from the stop at DiPietro Thoroughbreds:

(3) Shandra Smiles - On August 4th, a filly by Gio Ponti out of Shandra Smiles (Cahill Road) sold for $500,000 to Sheik Mo at the Saratoga Yearling Sale. Shandra Smiles is the dam of Smiling Tiger and two-year-old filly champion She's a Tiger. Owner by Dr. Orr who is based in Oregon but races in Washington often. Congrats to him and Dana Halvorson on this score. Smiling Tiger, sold at the WTBOA Sale, made over $1.4 million on the track and now stands stud in California.

(4) Washington-bred Winners - 32 of the 51 races during Week 15 and 16 were won by Washington-breds. I would tell you what percentage this is but shouldn't you do some work for once? Plus, I am a lawyer and it is my understanding that only a protractor can help answer that question and I don't know how to use one.

(5) Emerald Downs Derby - What a race. The three top finishers; Mebossman, Del Rio Harbor and Noosito ran great races. With all due respect to the winner, Del Rio Harbor ran an unbelievable race. To do all the work, get headed by Noosito, and then drive back to pass him,showed what a fighter this horse is. More on Peaceful Wings in the future but a very nice win for Mebossman. Mebossman has a half brother by Liberty Gold at the WTBOA Sale that is Hip No. 61. Here is a picture of the yearling I took this week:

(6) Claiming activity - Some good claiming activity recently at Emerald Downs. Jebrica for $50,000 and Hetty for $25,000 were the big claims recently. I really liked the claim of Hetty and it will be interesting to see if Dr. Mark and Glenn Todd run Jebrica back in the Mile (he is nominated). Both Hetty and Jebrica won the races they were claimed in.

There were several other claims at lower levels in the last few weeks. I like to see some claiming because it shows that people are interested in owning horses again, things are getting healthier economically, and it also keeps owners and trainers honest with the placement of their horses. When we keep dropping horses further down the ladder we are left with low level claiming races. Hopefully the trend will continue.

(7) O B Harbor versus Legion of Boom - A great race between these two on August 2nd in a Maiden Special Weight race that I guesstimate will have Stakes implications down the road. Legion of Boom is bound to be an excellent horse based on that race first time out. Hopefully, these two come back in the WTBOA Allowance race next Saturday. O B Harbor is an Oregon-bred owned by Jody Peetz, who is the poster girl for Oregon breeding and racing. Legion of Boom is out of the excellent mare Bahati which has been a Broodmare of the Week:

http://militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/05/broodmare-of-week-bahati-sponsored-by.html

Bahati has a full sister that is Hip No. 98 in the WTBOA Sale. Both O B Harbor and Legion (not Legend) of Boom are by Harbor the Gold.

(8) Bee Dees Bid - Bee Dees Bid won a Maiden Optional Claiming Race on August 3rd. Bee Dees is by Tapit out of a Seeking the Gold mare. Exceptional breeding which we do not get a chance to see that often out here. Love to see these horses in our Emerald paddock.

(9) Preachinatthebar - New Handicapping Rule: You must include all Preachinatthebars when they start for the first time. They have been crushing it first time out. Nice to see this Washington stallion getting off to a good start. I was out at the races last night to watch my horse run and included the Preachinatthebar first time starter in my investment and it paid off. Excellent for the Pulses.

(10) Stallions of Washington-Bred Winners - Raise the Bluff had 5 wins the last two weekends. Harbor the Gold had 4 wins. 2 wins a piece for Nationhood and Parker's Storm Cat. Other stallions with Washington-bred winners: Matty G, Jazzing Around, Malt Magic, Liberty Gold, He's Tops, Outing, Stolen Gold, Klinsman, Devil on Ice, You and I, Preachinatthebar, Lucky J.H., Southern Africa, Aptitude, English Channell, Petionville, Vitesse, Cahill Road, and Kissin Kris. Nice variety.

More catch up to follow but I have to head to the Hall of Fame dinner.

Always Love Your Animals (but you forgot Logan's Birthday),

Will