"Off-Season"

As fall continues to trundle along here in Minnesota heading toward our inevitable date with winter (side note: two reports have indicated the upcoming winter to be "possibly the worst on record" and "milder than normal" - take your pick!), I'm spending time trying to streamline the operation a bit.

Crowded and hectic are only two words that could describe how things are.  Between our groups, the Canterbury Club, the new gig for slotmaker Incredible Technologies (or for the non-gamers, the force behind Golden Tee golf), the breeding operation and serving on the Board of the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association, life has gotten a bit crazy. Heather has been a big help but you can only give attention to so many things before there is some deterioration.

MTA

Obviously work can't deteriorate, that has to be the first priority.  The rest of it needs to be streamlined.  To that end, as my term ends on the MTA board I decided not to run again.  I'll continue to be a member and help out where I can, but my time on the Board is over...for now anyway.  I loved my time on the Board and I'd encourage any of the over 200 members to run.  I heard a lot of constructive criticism of the MTA in my three years on the board and I would encourage any of those dozens of folks to go ahead and run.  Try and make a difference, don't just complain and then do nothing to affect change.  This is a wonderful time for Minnesota racing and a crucial time for Minnesota breeding so go ahead and run, get involved and make an impact.

BREEDING

Additionally, as I've mentioned, we're working on selling Tabby Lane.  That may be getting closer as activity and interest in that regard has picked up significantly on several fronts in the last week.  It really is bittersweet for me on a couple of fronts.  It's not secret that I love that mare and George (the future Tabby Dacat), her first foal, is just a joy.  Throw in the fact that the foal she is carrying is by multiple graded stakes winner Doneraile Court, they both exceled between 7 furlongs and a mile and 70 and are an A++ True Nick and I think that whoever gets her is going to have one helluva runner on their hands (preference will go to the buyer that allows us to be listed as co-breeder).

So why sell her?

I love racing.  I'd like to be proven right on the match but I love racing.  I don't have the patience for the development time it takes for breeding.  Georgie we will keep and race - watch for him to become part of a group late next year as he moves from yearling to a 2-year old in training.  Selling Tabby and the foal-to-be will help me finance the racing operation.  We're not independently wealthy and as such we can't do all things so for now we will streamline the operation to racing.  That's not to say we won't be back to breeding at some point in the future but right now the money in Minnesota is skewed toward racing and not breeding so we're going to focus on that aspect of the industry.

RACING

Heather is working with Ellie a bit now that she's had 30-days to come down from being at the track.  Not a lot of heavy work, but just some lunging to keep her active and get her mind active.  Ellie is an immature 3-year old and is almost ADD!  She's learning focus and concentration and hopefully getting a bit more independent.  She finally showed some promise going a route the end of last summer and I want her to come to the track next year as a completely different horse.

The Canterbury Club is starting to wind down as well.  We still have our two runners, Maryjean and Terice, but hopefully not for long.  Both are doing well and continue to hit the board but that elusive 2nd win for the Club has been tough to come by.  Hopefully we can pick up a couple before the end of the meet for the folks.

We'll also be looking to get ready for the 2015 season now that Bourbonology has retired and pull together another group to go after a runner to compete next season.  If there is some interest, please go ahead and email me and I'll give you the details.

The off-season really is a bit of a misnomer since there really is a lot going on, though hopefully in the next few months our focus can get sharpened up and we can head into 2015 ready to rock.