My Kingdom for a Race

We wait and wait.  Since the aborted attempt to purchase Tabby Lane we have waited for a race.  The end of a meet is always dicey as far as what races will fill and what race won’t as barns head to their next stop.  Right now at Tampa Bay Downs the races that won’t are $16,000 claiming races on the dirt.  We tried to get in on a turf affair but since we hadn’t run at the $16,000 level for a while we figured we wouldn’t qualify.  We took a stab with the rationale that if the race didn’t fill then we would perhaps get in to round out the field.  She had just won at $12,500, it was the next logical level up and it wasn’t like we were overreaching.

Nice try. We entered and didn’t even make it to the Also Eligible list!  There are a lot of mid-level turf horses still at Tampa apparently!

In theory we could ship her later in the month when the Canterbury backside opens, but there are no races in the first condition book for her until MAYBE June 2 and even then, if she makes a good showing at $16,000 we’re certainly not going to enter her back at $12,500.  After checking the extras for next Friday (entries drawn tomorrow), there is still nothing there at all for her.  So we sit and wait on a sharp, healthy horse with nowhere to run.