I'm back from my two-week voyage to the Breeders' Cup and the Land of Moonshine and Justified . The last few weeks have been memorable, frustrating, long, a hell of a lot of fun, and very educational. In an industry where you never stop learning (and hence the reason I love it), I learned several things while on my trips which I will gladly share with you:
(5) Will Brewer is poor, relatively - I'm not complaining. I don't have a bad life or struck with some terrible disease (except Narcissism). In fact, I have a great life. I am extremely good looking, also good looking and am really good looking. However, I have to admit I was a little frustrated and down at the first-part of the Keeneland November sale. Buying broodmares in my price range for Washington was next to impossible. Out here in Washington, we have a lower yearling average than other parts of the country. So, you can't, from a business perspective, justify spending a significant amount on a broodmare that you are going to have to foal in Washington. As a result, I have a cap on how much I will spend on a broodmare and I, unlike my wife, will not compromise my standards just for the purposes of getting a broodmare (getting married). I didn't compromise, but I paid for it (or actually didn't) by coming home empty handed.
I have been to several sales back in Kentucky, but this was Keeneland insanity at its finest. I saw many people were overpaying for mares just because they were in foal to a hot sire like Pioneerofthenile or Super Saver. I never care much for who the mare is in foal to. At the end of the day you are buying the mare, not the foal. That foal she is carrying could die, could come out crooked, etc. At the end of the day, you MUST be satisfied with the broodmare you purchased and not who she is in foal to. People were spending $80,000 for a relatively poor mare because they were in foal to a hot sire. If that foal doesn't make it, you have invested a large sum of money for nothing. I can't spend anywhere close to that amount. Common sense seems to go out the window at those sales. I will only own a handful of horses in my life, I have to get it right...most of the time. So I wait.....
(4) Never name your pony Dick - It leads to terrible dinner jokes. Or just don't go to dinner with people from the "Northwest". And don't bring up Beaver Pelt. Or Horsey. Or Mustangs. Or never-ending Pasta Bowls. Or the 3 year-old stakes races at Emerald last year. You see, you missed a lot by not being at Keeneland.
(3-Tie) Looks are Deceiving - I can't tell you how many times I looked at broodmares that won over $200,000 only to find horrible crookedness. You wonder how they ran thru all of that. But they did and the examples were numerous all over the Keeneland sales ground. As I learned a long time ago, heart and determination matter so much in this game. I went to several farms while in Kentucky to look at the new stallions that were being offered. I was surprised by some of the stallions I liked. I will recap the stallions I saw, with pictures, in a future blog posting.
(3-Tie) I am Horrible at Photography - I mean awful. Here is just a sampling from BC and Keeneland:
Just a bit outside!
Ansel Adams would be proud.
And now for the Will Brewer Post-Modern collection:
Because I know your foal will come out of their mom with a blanket on, here is what they will look like if sired by Will Take Charge:
A great picture if I could put my iPad cover on correctly:
(2) Always Have a Los Alamitos VIP with You and Always Be Prepared to Survive a Rave- Went with a really fun group of troubled teens to the Breeders' Cup this year. These lovable scamps were a rowdy bunch at times. Lots of stories to tell but none greater than exercise rider Clark "Clint" Jones and his pull at Los Alamitos. You have never experienced the full Clint Jones VIP treatment until you go to Los Al and get into the Vessels Club for no charge (because it's free). Free Past Performances courtesy of taking it off someone else's table (Thanks Ash). Free parking courtesy of it being free. Free entry courtesy of it being free. Dinner cost me like $80 though. Los Al style:
Yes, I went from Breeders Cup to Los Alamitos in one day. True fan.
(This looks like a country band album cover with Chris Stenslie playing the mysterious drummer)
In addition to Los Al, this smaller group (above) had to survive a rave in the Ontario, California La Quinta hotel lobby in order to make it out to Santa Anita to see workouts at 5:30 am. You would think the La Quinta would be empty at 4:45 a.m. However, I walk down stairs to meet everyone and there are seven people on some sort of synthetic drug drinking themselves silly in the lobby of the La Quinta. Repeat, the lobby of the La Quinta at 4:45am. You see, one of the world's biggest raves was being held in Los Angeles (although it seemed like it was being held at the La Quinta Pool) on BC weekend and we bore the brunt of it. There were dudes walking around in just towels at 4:45 a.m. in the lobby of the La Quinta tripping and drinking. Great to wake up to. Regardless, we made it out to see the BC horses gallop around the track. Well worth dealing with the Daft Punk fan club in the lobby.
(1) There is no such thing as a "Vacation Day" in Horse Racing - The day? Thursday, November 13th. The Event? My final day in Kentucky. The Situation? I was done trying to find a broodmare. No horses on my list. I planned a nice quiet day of looking at stallions and going to visit some retired horses. The Change? And then the news was announced of the sale of Emerald Downs.
Let me tell you my reaction to this news: Optimism. Next thought: Please, let's open our arms to our new owners. Let's listen to them and assist them in anyway possible. Please, let's allow the new owners of the track some time to figure things out. Let's not make demands. They are taking on a tremendous task of owning a racetrack and trying to make it profitable. It's hard to do. They are smart business people who are successful in the gaming industry. If we help them in anyway we can and they are successful, the (my) dream of having a sustainable thoroughbred industry in Washington for the next several generations will be closer to becoming a reality. This is our chance to make things better. It may be our only chance. Let's listen and open our arms to the new owner. Let's wait 60 to 90 days and see the details of the contract before we start demanding, complaining or spreading rumor. Let's help them in any capacity that we can. Let's use this energy and make this nothing but a positive.
Always Love Your Animals and Your New Owner of Emerald Downs,
Will
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