Barn Report - Sunday, Feb. 5

Partner Paddy O'Hara came along with Steve and myself on our barn visits this past Sunday and said how enjoyable it is to see the morning workouts and to have that chance to talk informally with our trainers.

Paddy commented that there is so much more to racing than what the average fan knows. All of you are invited to join us one morning for a tour of the Belmont backstretch and conversations with CVF trainers. Sundays are the preferred choice, but we are flexible enough to arrange this for any day of the week.

Strings and Arrows had a very good untimed breeze at one mile the other
day. We’d been looking forward to racing him this Thursday, but the racing office did not use the race we were pointing him to. Instead, they used an open-company maiden special that was carded especially for Darley (which is owned by the Sheik of Dubai) and a few of the other owners who have very, very expensive horses. Leah and Steve discussed entering Strings and Arrows in an upcoming six-furlong race for NY Breds, but have decided against it, because, since his last race, Strings and Arrows has been training to run a longer distance. We are looking for a NY Bred Maiden Special Weight race at one mile or longer. There should be one soon, because it is not an uncommon race. The overnights are where we are expecting to find the race for Strings and Arrows, so, more than likely, it will be short notice to everyone for his next race. We will do a posting as soon as we have any additional information.

Talking Blues continues to train well and is ready to race again. We’d hoped he’d be in a race on Sunday, but the racing office didn’t use that one. Right now, there is a race in the condition book for Monday, February 15th (Presidents' Day). Bruce Brown and Steve are thinking of entering him in that one. The race is for NY Bred Claiming $15K at a distance of one mile and seventy yards. We’ll keep you posted on that one, and we hope to see lots of you at the track if the race goes.

Iguazu had a nice half-mile breeze on Saturday. Pat Turner reports that Iguazu came out of the breeze in excellent shape. He walked the shed row on Sunday, was back on the training track Monday for a jog, and galloped on the training track on Tuesday. Bill and Pat are hoping to keep Iguazu on a regular weekly breeze schedule and get him to a race as soon as he has sufficient conditioning. No word yet on exactly when that will be, but there's a one-mile maiden special in the Gulfstream condition book on February 27th that could be a target.

Bagavond is snowed in. The part of northern Virginia where Bagavond is spending the winter was one of the hardest-hit areas in last weekend's snowfall. The area around Berryville got almost three feet of snow.

Diana McClure reports that all the horses are fine; she and Michael have managed to dig out their driveway, and clear the paths between the barns and their house so they can feed and water the horses, but it'll be a while before the jogging track is open. Meanwhile, the local roads are still in very dicey shape, and more snow is expected tomorrow and Wednesday, so Bagavond's outdoor excursions may be limited for a few days more.

Just as an idea of the conditions in that part of the world, Althea Richards, the breeder and co-owner of Iguazu, who has a farm not too far away from Diana's, reports that she spent most of Saturday afternoon trying to brush the snow away from her satellite dishes and that "it was like trying to repair the Hubble telescope."

Because of the weather, Jean and Steve aren't sure yet whether they'll be able to get down to visit Bagavond this weekend as they’d planned. It all depends on how effective the plows are, and how much more snow falls in that area tomorrow and Wednesday. They're still hopeful, though.

The Claiming Partnership continues to grow, and Steve and Bruce continue to evaluate horses. CVF entered into an agreement with another group of NY based owners, who wanted to be involved specifically with Castle Village Farm, so we may be able to claim at a higher level than we’d first thought. Shares in the claiming partnership are still available, and we will continue to upgrade our search for a horse as more partners get involved.

Anyone who wants more information on the Claiming Partnership or any of the CVF horses please let me know. I can be reached at 1-888-989-7223 or email cvfsales@gmail.com.