Thursday, February 3, 2011

Donn, Shmonn, Tabby's Back on Saturday

On Saturday, on of the strongest fields of older handicap horses are going ton take the track at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, FL.  In post position order, some of the 'names' that have turned out for this one are:

I Want Revenge
Morning Line
Giant Oak
Eldaafer
Fly Down
Square Eddie
Rule

This is one star-studded field that will help set the tone for 2011 in the older ranks.

Up the road a piece, though, at Tampa Bay Downs, another star - though maybe only to her partners - is taking the track to make her 2011 debut.  Our very own Tabby Lane (Even the Score-Keeley Chay-Rodeo) is set to face off against a large field of 11 in an $8,000 claiming race.

While the stakes aren't nearly as high from a dollar and cents stand point, the stakes are very high for those of us connected to her.  Tabs started out after the claim like a house on fire: winning at $16,000 then a good second in a very quick $32,000 claiming race.  As she moved north, her form moved south and we went from having breeders calling to see how much they could buy her for, to turning her out for the winter and see if she could get her head back into place.  The large cushion in the bank account dwindled and the hopes and dreams for a Claiming Crown berth came crashing down when she couldn't beat a field of $7500 claimers at Canterbury Park.

So we take to the track again to see if we can reverse our fortunes and set the tone for a better 2011 and give the folks on the fence about joining us for our 2011 Claiming Group a reason to take the plunge.

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