Barn Report - Sunday March 21

Beautiful day at Belmont this Sunday. Partner Vinny DiSpigno, Steve Zorn and I spent a couple of hours on the rail at the training track.

Bruce Brown stopped by and reported that Talking Blues came out of his breeze in good shape. Bruce said Talking Blues actually breezed four furlongs, but was only timed for three. Bruce wants a week of steady gallops before Talking Blues’ next breeze. After that Bruce should have a better idea when Talking Blues’ next race will be. Steve, Vinny and I also stopped by Talking Blues’ stall in Bruce’s barn to say hello.

Leah Gyarmati told us she’s very pleased with Strings and Arrows’ excellent effort the day before, when the colt finished 3^rd in a NY-bred maiden special weight. Leah said that Strings and Arrows definitely wants to go long, and probably on the turf, so she and Steve will be checking the condition book for possible turf races in April. According to NYRA, turf racing is supposed to start on April 1^st, providing the turf course is in good enough shape.

We had a report from Pat Turner down in Florida that Iguazu is doing well after his recent breeze, and that he’s been very well mannered breaking from the starting gate. No word yet on when Iguazu might be entered in a race, though it probably won’t be until Bill and Pat get back to New York in April.

We also heard from Diana McClure down on the farm in Virginia. The plan is for Diana and Mike to keep galloping Bagavond through the end of March, then send him up to Belmont in early April. The last three years, Bagavond’s first start of the season came in mid-May, so that’s what we’ll be aiming for again this year.

Steve and Bruce are in the middle of looking for a horse for the new claiming partnership. We tried to claim one last week, but lost out in a four-way “shake.”

We’re happy to report that we now have enough partners so we can look for a horse at the $25,000 level. There are still shares available in the claiming partnership, and we’d be happy to welcome additional partners..

All Castle Village Farm partners, and prospective partners, are more than welcome to join us any Sunday morning at Belmont. Just let us know and we’ll be happy to set things up for you.