Neigh Savers Foundation on Blog Talk Radio

I hope you'll join me tonight at 9 PM Central Time on Blog Talk Radio when my guest will be Karin Wagner, founder and Executive Director of the Neigh Savers Foundation, a California based horse welfare organization. We'll discuss the latest rescue efforts, how the economy is affecting the placement of off the track race horses and California racing. Catch us live or download from iTunes after the broadcast!

Here We Go...Welcome 2010

You could say that I'm a little late in wishing everyone a Happy New Year. You would, in fact, be correct! Still, to all of you out there, I hope that the coming year brings you much success, joy, health and happiness.

It has been a long time since the last entry here - at least for me it has been. For two weeks to go by with nary a word is simply not like me at all. However, it was a very eventful couple of weeks around here which kept me from my appointed racing rounds. You could say that I took a couple of weeks off and connected with family. The younger two boys were up from their mom's and my parents came in from Boston for a few days between the holidays so I took the opportunity to wind down and focus on them. We had a three day snow storm (much like those of you in the Northeast experienced the past few days) and some sub zero temperatures to usher in Christmas and the New Year. But now it's time to gear up and get focused again on the 2010 racing season.

Right now we are at about 75% of our goal for the 2010 claiming partnership. The interest level is very high this winter compared to last winter, which is nice to see, but we're not quite there yet. However in the next few weeks we're going to get serious about looking and either work with what we have or try and get a few more folks together. The next few weeks is also about getting K-1s out to everyone, or at least the financial information to the accountants so they can be completed in a timely manner. There is nothing worse than waiting until the last minute to get the K-1 from your partnership so I'm going to try and get all the information out by the end of this week and get it off of my plate on onto the accountant's plate.

Blog Talk Radio

Wednesday night's show is going to feature a conversation with Alysse Jacobs. Alysse works in horseman relations for NYRA and also helps out the track photographer from time to time. It should be an entertaining half hour and will bring some East Coast balance to the show which has been slanting Westward recently. I hope that you'll join us at 9 PM Central Time!

A Weak Week

Wow...it's hard to believe that it's been a week since I last posted. Eight days to be exact. Between a funeral in Chicago and business in St. Louis, it's been a very hectic week. I have to say, the funeral took an awful lot out of me - more than I imagined. Anyway, during all the travel, I have resorted to taping my thoughts for future blogs and radio shows through an iPhone app (yes, there IS an app for that!) so I can play back and access them at a later date. Unfortunately I only started to resort to that yesterday, so that doesn't really help me today.

New Group

The latest in the horse biz for me right now is translating interest into check writing. Technically we are about 75% full for the next group which has led to some shopping. We are looking at some targets so we can be ready to pull the trigger when the opportunity arises. Those commitments, however, haven't necessarily translated into signed checks and contracts. In actuality, I would have to say that we are only about 50% full so it's going to probably come down to getting a check in and deposited to save your spot. In any event, I'm not going to form the group until January 1. It really didn't seem to make much sense to form a group the last 10 days of December and the pay an accountant to file a K-1 for absolutely no activity. It really didn't seem like a good use of people's money. Lawyers and accountants are necessary, but certainly not at this stage of the game. The close of 2010 will be a different story. Right now it's all about finding the right horse.

Holiday Gifts

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa, there is some gift giving involved. What would YOU like to offer our friends in horse racing for the coming year? A couple already received:

- That the DeFrancis family brings glory back to Maryland Racing;

- That Bobby Frankel only saddles winners in heaven.

I'm looking for these to be a part of the radio show next Wednesday evening. Rather than a year end wrap up, I'd like to go with a look ahead and what our hopes and dreams are for the coming year. They can be National or parochial; well known names or your favorite local horseman/woman. Send them in to me at ted@grevelisracing.com. Feel free to explain them to you hearts content and we'll get them on the air with as much backstory as you'd like to provide!

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Sharpening Focus

My last post was about where we want to run and the need for focus in making a decision in order to move forward. I've sharpened that up even more. When I spoke to Bernell this weekend, he was willing to go in on a horse with us. To me, that sealed the deal - we're going claiming and we're shopping at Tampa. There you have it, the first group of 2010 is going to be a claiming group. That doesn't mean if there is more interest we won't do another or private purchase a horse (maybe even a Minn bred) for Canterbury, but right now we're focusing on one and then we'll move to the next.

Blog Talk Radio

I hope you'll be able to join me live tomorrow night at 9 PM Central Time for "Owning Racehorses" on Blog Talk Radio. My guest will be St. Paul native Jolene Danner. Jolene spent some time last month working for ESPN at Breeder's Cup as a spotter and we'll get some insight from her on the Breeder's Cup and what it's like to work, rather than just be a spectator, at racing's biggest day. If you can't join us live, you can use the player, above, left, to listen in

Wagering

This time of year is always a bit of the doldrums when it comes to betting races. There's not a lot of truly compelling racing going on anywhere. My own online betting has taken a hit since the Breeder's Cup. I don't know if my confidence was shaken after my poor Cup performance or if I've just been too focused on getting the next partnership up and running. I kept my betting to only mine or my friend's horses - which has worked out well, though I did totally miss a $76 winner at Golden Gate the other day! However, I'm looking to delve back in this month. The winter months have always been kind to me, especially back east in Maryland and New York so I'm going to get back cautiously and start to build up the bankroll for the road to the Triple Crown this spring!

Ass-Whoopin'

It's either a case of the Saints being for real or the Pats not - most likely a combination of both. Congrads to the Saints for kicking the snot out of my Patriots last night. Granted, this wasn't the Super Bowl caliber teams of years past, but they were still 7-3 and could have been 9-1 with a little luck. With that secondary, it's hard to look back on Belicheck's 4th down call at Indianapolis now and not think it was the right thing to do. The C's and B's are still in action and Sox spring training is only a few months away!

Time for Thanks

As Thanksgiving approaches we all take a bit of time to recount what we are thankful for. I am, of course, thankful for my family - my smart, lovely, talented and patient wife and my three wonderful boys. While the kids can be a handful at times, I can't imagine life without them.

I'm thankful for my first family. Growing up with my parents and sister should be what everyone's childhood is like. Sadly I know that is not the case, but I am thankful each and every day for the childhood they gave me and the experience of growing up with a very close, very extended big, fat, Greek family.

You see how this goes. I could go on and on, as we all can. Tomorrow evening on Blog Talk Radio I'm going to extend this to my racing life - both personally and nationally - and talk about what I am thankful for in racing. I hope that you all join me. You can call in or just leave a message in the chatroom that I'll open up when the show starts. You can even drop me a line at ted@grevelisracing.com, leave a comment here or touch base via Facebook and I'll make sure that I get to as many of your comments as I can.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone!

The Next Month

As I sit and write from the Motor City Hotel and Casino before starting the day, I realized that the next two weeks are jam packed with horse and non-horse activities. Some will keep me from my keyboard and others will have me rushing towards it.

Obviously I am touring Detroit today for IGT. This will necessitate another postponement of my Blog Talk Radio Show this evening, which I'm bummed about because I missed last week's show with a nasty stomach ailment. Next week I'll also be touring for IGT (back in Detroit for a bit of it in fact) so next week's show is out as well. Sadly, that was the show prior to the Breeder's Cup, so I need to find some way to carve out an hour in the early hours of Friday morning to make the show available for download. I could easily get a show for Saturday morning, but that would mean I would miss "Ladies" Day - which could be the more compelling of the two days! So just as listenership has reached an all-time high (if you can consider a month and a half being all-time), I'm hamstrung for three consecutive weeks!

As mentioned previously, the Fizzy Pop group is buttoned up. Checks will go out on Friday. It's a sad, but exciting day as one door closes, but a new door will be opening as we start to earnestly look for our next charge.

On the home front, Forrest, my 9 year old, is making the trip to Minnesota for his track break on Sunday. He'll be with me the next two weeks and then we both head to Las Vegas in mid-November. He's going to spend the last half of his track break with his mom and I will be attending the Global Gaming Expo. My hope is that I will have some time before show hours to talk a walk and check out some racing related booths. My schedule is already filling up quickly for that week, but I'm hoping I can slip away for a bit before the floodgates open one of the days.

So November promises to be a very full month. How often I get to here is open to debate, but I'm going to try, especially as horse events warrant! Stay tuned and please stay in touch - especially if you're looking for a piece of the action!

Consolidating

I'll be spending the evening finishing up the financials and getting checks ready for the Fizzy Pop group. While we didn't win money, we didn't lose too much AND we got three photos for the wall for the last 18 months. That's not too bad. I've been able to determine that we'll keep a little less than half our small group together for another run and there are folks stepping in to take the place of folks who left. We're still a bit short as far as capital goes, but then I'm in no hurry either so we have time to get more folks involved. What's important is making sure that when we pull the trigger that it's on the right horse that can give us a solid run for our money.


It looks like I'll be ending my dabble in harness racing in the next month or so. I Am Woman, who was drilled again the other night, will get some class relief (finally) in her next start and may even be sold in November. I'm OK with that. I really thought she was going to be a good one, but she's been mediocre at best. She can probably do well at lesser venues and fairs, but simply cannot compete in Pennsylvania and New York where the purses are the best. While it's nice to get a horse in a race every week or so, losing consistently is never any fun. It's also much harder when you can't pick her spots and as a decidedly minor partner, I am not able to do that. I don't meant to imply that VIP hasn't done a nice job of keeping folks informed - they have. I think that I just have become used to having more control and the ability to communicate directly with the trainer to chart the course for my horses. I'm not throwing out the book on Standardbreds, but if I do so again, it'll be regional (IA, MN, IL) as the point man rather than remote as a minority owner.


So with Fizzy having moved on and I Am Woman possibly on her way as well, I'll be consolidating it all into the next group or two with the goal of getting a runner for Tampa/Canterbury this winter/next summer. I'm not ruling out a minority run at a horse in California just yet, either. The last time I did that it went pretty well and I was more involved in the process. It looks to be quiet for a bit, but Tampa will be here before you know it!

Tomorrow Night's Show


Tomorrow night's show on Blog Talk Radio looks to be a shorter one. I'm going to spend a bit of time talking about putting together your own group and what's involved and what some of the pitfalls could be. I don't see us going the full half hour, but I hope that it will be informative!

Up and Down, Up and Down

Our lead wasn't as strong as I would have liked it to be. Bernell checked out the young filly he called me about this past weekend and she was nothing special. I didn't expect her to be, really, for the price we were quoted for her but here is how I was hoping the conversation would go:

"Teddy, she looks pretty good. Not as developed as she should be, but that's something I can work on. I think she has a good future with a little luck and work."

"Fantastic!" I would say. "We're all in this together, let's go!"

Not so much.

She was a decent looking individual, but nothing special. The asking price appears to have been the top end of what she was worth and these days there is no sense in that. So we get back on the roller coaster and see where it takes us.

I Am Woman Back at Saratoga Raceway

Filly I Am Woman is back at Saratoga tonight. She's staying at the same level and that worries me a bit. Two races back was nice, but last out was not so great. I was hoping for a step up in improvement from one race to the next, but that didn't happen. I was hopping for a drop in class, but that didn't happen. The possible upside is that there seems to be softer competition in Saratoga than at Monticello. Another upside is that she is moving inside a few notches from the eight hole, so that works out as well. I hesitate to break down the race as I end up getting my hopes up, so we'll just watch the 4th at Saratoga tomorrow and see what happens!

ReRun Thoroughbred Adoption on Blog Talk Radio

Please click the Blog Talk Radio stream to the left to hear my conversation with Felice Busto, Vice President of ReRun Thoroughbred Adoption on my Blog Talk Radio show Wednesday night. She had great insight into thoroughbred adoption and the issues that face our retired racers. Thanks to Felice for being my guest and doing fabulous and necessary work.

Time to Wind It Up - Then Reload

September's bills are coming in and as they do it leads to the official wind down of the Fizzy Pop claiming group. Some of us will roll over our money into the next group and some are cashing out. When we first started this venture two years ago we were in a very different economic world. As the years have gone by the economy has gone south, layoffs have become commonplace, horse sales - by any measure - have tanked, purses or racing dates have been cut and the list goes on an on. I can't fault anyone for bailing out and cashing out a few thousand dollars if they can.

It makes me sad, not just the folks that leave my group but anyone that, though circumstances, can't get involved or stay involved in a pastime that they love. As I mentioned on the radio show the other night, ours is one sporting event you can go to and become an active participant if you choose. You may love baseball, but you can't sit in the stands and at the end of the game say, "Gee it was fun to be here, I think I'll buy my own team!" However after a day at the races you can say that very thing. And you don't need to buy your own team solo. Folks like myself and many others offer up the opportunity to band together with several people to bring down the cost of owning your own franchise. It is one of the things that racing can offer to it's fan base that no other sport can.

Just because we're winding down the Fizzy Pop group does not mean that we are going away, though. Those of us that are staying in are looking for others to join up with and start this ride all over again. You really can't help it. It ends up getting into your blood and becomes part of who you are. There really is no greater thrill in sports than to see one of your very own cross the finish line ahead of the field. The blur of activity as you make your way to the winner's circle is a moment that you just want to keep on reliving!

My trainer, Bernell Rhone, woke me yesterday morning (he had no idea I was on the West Coast for the weekend) with a mid-level Kentucky bred 2-year old filly that was being shopped. She had just broken her maiden at Turfway and shipped to Remington when her owners fell into some financial difficulty and need to sell her. She'd be a nice one to cultivate for a winter/summer run at Tampa and Canterbury. She's tops on the list right now, but I am being approached by folks all the time that have nice prospects or current racers for sale and I'm listening. You never know when the right one is staring you in the face.

Capital Anyone?

Everybody has a horse to sell these days. I don't mean that in a disparaging or negative way at all. I have been literally inundated with e-mails and phone calls from folks asking me if I want to get a group together to buy into his horse or that horse. Some very nicely bred horses and some less regal. Literally from Coast to Coast, though not from north to south - though I'm waiting on a call from someone in Texas just to round out the Nation!

The problem is capital. Or, more specifically, the lack thereof. These are uncertain times and today's release of jobs data (nearly 4% higher new unemployment claims then most estimates) did absolutely nothing to quell any one's fears. Having a couple of grand to throw into a horse is not the first thing that people think to do with any excess capital they may have.

One of the very things that makes our sport unique - you can own a piece of your very own franchise - is slipping from the grasp of the ordinary Jane or Joe. $2000, while not chump change, was affordable for many folks a while back especially if it could get you a piece of a decent racehorse, maybe give you a few wins, some backstretch visits, some "inside" scoop and live out your dream of owning a racehorse. Now...not so much. These days, even $200 has become a stretch for many and all of us are feeling it.

So what options does that leave the Managing Partner of a racing partnership? Amazingly, there still are some options:

1 - Think Smaller: Go after a cheap horse with fewer partners and knock around trying to pay the nut. Obvious shortcoming? Cheap claimers are cheap for a reason.

2 - Think Smaller Part Deux: Take a smaller share of a larger horse. Pull together a few folks and grab 10 - 20% of a $50,000 high level claimer/allowance horse. Upside - you'll can get a nice run for your money. Downside - with such a small percentage, you're at the mercy of the larger owner.

3 - Think Smaller Part Trois: Micro-fractional ownership. Get more partners in at a couple of hundred dollars each. You may be able to pull enough to buy your own horse or a larger share with a minority owner. Upside - you're calling the shots. Downside - higher administrative and accounting costs.

4 - My Partners Meet Your Partners: GRS doesn't have enough partners and partnership 'x' doesn't have enough partners. One solution is to pack up, get together and make a go of it. Upside - both partnerships can get a horse...probably a relatively nice one. Downside - decision making is a bit complicated as are fees.

With the exception of number one - this holds absolutely zero allure for me - the other three are all in play these days. One thing does remain certain, I would like to be ready to go come Tampa Bay opening to start scoping out a horse or horses to bring back to Canterbury. That was a successful model for Fizzy Pop's group and we're looking to replicate that success in 2010. From now until then, we're looking at all kinds of opportunities. I'm ready to kick into growth mode and that means more groups than the one.

As I'm writing, more and more ideas are coming into my head. There are so many more things to talk about, I think that we'll tackle this topic on Wednesday night's radio show. I hope you'll tune in, call in and let me know your opinion on this topic. I'm moving to 9 PM Central Time on Blog Talk Radio starting October 7. I'll have a few more ideas then - I hope that you'll share yours as well.

Now What?

An interesting situation is what I have going on right now. Our group's horse, Fizzy Pop, was claimed Friday night. I still own 12.5% of pacer I Am Woman, but I don't manage her so that leaves me - a guy with a blog and a radio show dedicated to his emerging racing empire - without a horse to manage! In an ideal world we would have had Miss Belle Express to race us through the fall as well, but that was not meant to be. I also made an offer on a California horse to no avail as we were very far apart on the price.

Due to personal reasons, some of the Fizzy Pop partners need to take the money and run while the others and myself plan to soldier on with some new partners mixed in. But where do we go? Hopefully this weekend I will get a line on another California horse, so there is a start. I also definitely want to be ready with another claiming group for Tampa this winter and try to replicate the success we had with Fizzy. Still hanging out there is the possibility of teaming with a few other owners and try and hit a home run with a private purchase of a higher class horse, but that's a bit higher end and those kind of partners are hard to find in this economy.

So now what? Well, we keep pushing on. If we can get a nice percentage of a good horse racing in California, that would be nice. I would go ahead and offer some type of low cost entry point for that one for small shares and get the left coast in action. I'll also keep working for partners here in Minnesota and down in Florida that would like to see their horse run between Tampa Bay and Canterbury. $20,000 will get that group off the ground with a nice mid-range horse and money left over to pay the bills for a while. I'll also keep on talking on Blog Talk Radio (you can listen to the latest episode on claiming on the top left) because that is such a fun release I can't imagine giving that up. And, of course, I'll chronicle it all here!

Speaking of the radio show, thanks to your support, the show has become eligible to move into prime time. The question is what time? I was thinking 8:30 Central Time. That makes it only 9:30 on the East Coast and 6:30 on the West so most everyone should be home from work by then and it not be too late in the East. I'd be happy to entertain thoughts from the audience on this one. Again, thank you all for getting the show over that threshold so quickly. I really appreciate it.

Tonight's Show: The Claiming Game

Tonight on the show on Blog Talk Radio I'll be talking about the claiming game in racing. Claiming races make up the majority of races in North America and many of us small time owners are involved in the claiming game in some way shape or form. I'm looking to hear from you on the show about your experiences claiming horses, what you look for and what you try to avoid. If you can't call in, please drop me a line at ted@grevelisracing.com so I can get your comments on the air.

Talk to you tonight at 10 PM Central Time!

Life Interferes With Art

I know most folks think life imitates art, but right now, life is getting in the way of art! While Fizzy breezed and easy four furlongs at Remington prepping for his next start, I am completely and utterly neglecting the writing part of the program! As many of you know from tracking all my syntax and grammatical errors over the years, this is far from a professional endeavor, but it is a lot of fun and I do attempt to keep it as professional as possible. That includes the ability to post relatively frequently on a variety of topics related to being a small time owner.

Here is one of them.

Most of us small timers have another vocation to pay the bills until we get that one big horse or the groups start pulling together with frequency and consistency. That world has really crimped my racing style lately. Nothing completely out of the norm, just an awful lot of it between game trend analysis, personnel issues, new casino openings and a wide array of other obligations that all appear to be rearing their ugly heads at the same time. Normally that doesn't creep into my after hours life, but as any of you that work for The Man know, at times that just happens. It just so happens that this is my time.

If I combine the hours after 5 PM that my 'real' job takes up these days along with the unanticipated hours it takes to fill a half hour of Blog Talk Radio, my writing time has diminished completely. I think of an idea, jot a few notes and then realize that I am much too tired to try and form a sentence, never mind string together some thoughts. The Blog also takes a back seat to the obligations of the partnerships: financial statements to keep up with, trainers to stay in touch with, new groups to flesh out and try and fill, etc.

So really, what this ends up being is a long winded apology of sorts. I know that both the quantity and, sadly, the quality, of this blog has slipped in the last few weeks. I apologize for that and I do promise that it will get better as there does appear to be light on the horizon. Let's just hope it's not an oncoming train!

Thanks for reading and bearing with me!

SIGH...

That's kind of what it feels like these days: a big old SIGH. Fizzy Pop is out at Remington Park, WAY too far away to go feed peppermints in the morning. I Am Woman is sidelined with an illness, though she'll be back training Saturday and hopefully will qualify back sometime late next week. These days if I get up at 5 AM on a Saturday morning I can't climb into the car and enjoy the sunset over the Canterbury backstretch, watch horses work out and grab a cup of coffee in the track kitchen.

When Fiz gears up to race again (possibly next week), I'll have to watch on my Twin Spires TV on the PC. In fact, there is a very real possibility that he may race again on Friday when I'll be winding my way on the road again and I will miss it entirely. It seems like this season just flew by. Just yesterday we were counting down through interminably cold days to opening day and then the season was done in the blink of eye. To make matters a bit more difficult, we are now enjoying unseasonably warm weather, finally having our Upper Midwest summer. We should be done with that tomorrow, however, and dive right into Fall!

So in the interim I've been getting the radio show off the ground, working on the financials, closing Canterbury accounts and opening Remington accounts as well as trying to get new groups consolidated and new horses under the umbrella. All the while selling slot machines, of course!

Busy? Yes. But it does not beat the backstretch in the morning...

Postscript: As I board my flight to Nevada later this morning to spend the weekend with my boys, I will say a silent prayer for all those aboard The Flights and in The Offices eight years ago.

When the Race is Over

Tonight on my Blog Talk Radio show we will be partially addressing what we can do to assist our equine athletes when their racing careers are over. My guests will be Darla Jeffrey and Leslie Morley of Standing in the Gap, a Minnesota based non-profit that assists in the rehabilitation and retraining of injured racehorses.

While the industry is getting closer to addressing this issue, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Much of what is getting done is being accomplished by overworked and underfunded groups like Standing in the Gap, Neigh Savers, Southern Cal Thoroughbred Rescue, the Illinois Equine Humane Center and other non-profits around the country. Though we'll spotlight only one of the groups tonight, we'll talk about the issue at large as well.

A big topic that deserves more than half an hour, but half an hour is what we have! I hope that you'll join us this evening at 10 PM CT and also join in the discussion by clicking to talk if you have a microphone or dialing in at (347) 994-3374.

All the Respect in the World

That is what I give the sports radio - and all talk radio show hosts. It's not as easy as it appears and that the good ones make it look so easy is a testament to their hard work. The amount of hours that it takes me to get ready to fill a half hour on Blog Talk Radio has been staggering. Once I get better at it, it may take me less, but as of right now to produce a half hour show once a week takes about nine hours of research and writing time. This includes re-writes as well as possible tangents in case callers take me a certain way, but those are hard to predict. Besides, with only a single caller each week, the tangent is not that far!! I realize that the 'big time' have production assistants and others to help gather the information I do it as a one-man band, but they still need to pull it together and make it coherent. The days of thinking that "These guys only work four hours a day" is over! It's job - plain and simple.

What it also has been is a lot of fun. The hours spent researching have given me much more insight into topics than I could have ever hoped to have had otherwise. I had pages of information that I didn't even get to last night - which is a good thing - that may end up being a separate show or a blog post in the next few days. But I feel the need to be over prepared rather than stumbling around trying to fill air.

I also told myself that if we didn't make it the full half hour, that I wasn't going to sweat it. If I only went 20 minutes, then 20 minutes it was going to be. That didn't happen, but it was a very liberating thought. Of course I don't have to worry about advertisers and other things that the 'mainstream' folks need to - which is ALSO very liberating!

I do worry about the audio quality, however. I've heard from several people over the past 12 hours that the audio has ranged from "just fine" to "God awful". For next week I'm going to go off the wireless feed and hard wire my PC into the router to see if that makes any difference. It certainly is supposed to according to the BTR support team. There is no sense turning folks off because of audio issues. Hell, I can do that all by myself, I don't need technical assistance! Besides, next week I have my first guests on the show and I want to make sure that their message comes through loud and clear.

Next Wednesday night at 10 PM Central Time, Darla Jeffery, Founder, and Leslie Morley, Vice President, of Standing in the Gap will be joining me. These ladies are fighting the good fight here locally in Minnesota to help rehabilitate injured racehorses for future careers helping returning veterans through their newly created non-profit group. It should be an interesting half hour and I hope you'll join us.

Until then, please feel free to listen to the show above left and send me your comments and questions - especially ideas for future shows.

Tonight's Show; I Am Woman

Just a short blurb update this morning as I get ready to climb aboard a no o'clock in the morning flight back to Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Tonight I'll be looking to get your views on whether or not there is too much racing right in now in N. America. Does the industry need to cut off a limb in order to make the patient healthy again? Or are there just too many barriers to making this happen? Please think about it and weigh in with your thoughts as we go On the Air With Owning Racehorses again this evening at 10 PM Central Time on Blog Talk Radio.

I AM WOMAN

She simply cannot pace a solid mile these days. She followed up a relatively tough trip 4th with just a terrible seventh Monday night at Monticello. She'll be given the once over by the vet again and see if there is any reason she keeps stopping on her miles. She appears sound with no heat and no visible signs of injury. Even blood work in the past has been clean. We'll just have to wait and see what the vet says and then see how VIP follows up.

It Was Fun...But Needs Work

So the first installment of this Blog on live radio is in the archives on Blog Talk Radio. It was a fun experience, but after reviewing the game films, there is much I need to work on. Here is a brief recap of what I learned last night:

• I was still plagued by the "ums". Not as badly as in the rehearsals, but still there.
• I need to slow down a bit. Anything I had that was prepared sounds like I rushed through it.
• I need to have more prepared material. Until things get rolling and there are enough callers to support the format, I have to be prepared to go the distance solo.
• The audio needs work. I need to touch base with the BTR folks and find out why the feed is so choppy. It's distracting and off-putting - the last two things I need while trying to get this rolling.

I did manage A caller (bless you, Lloyd) and 18 live listeners. Certainly not stellar, but then again, neither was I! Since last night the broadcast has been downloaded about a dozen times, which is nice as well. So the potential is there but to reach it I need to do better. The game plan is to learn off of this experience, keep practicing and keep going.

Topics that I hope to cover in future segments include drugs in racing, the surface debate, retiring racehorses and year round racing. You can listen to an archived recording of the show by clicking the link above or the Blog Talk Radio button on the top left of the page. If you have any other ideas and/or thoughts, please fire them my way. I would appreciate it.

How Did YOU Get Hooked?

Tonight is the premier episode of "On the Air With Owning Resources", my attempt via Blog Talk Radio to take this blog more interactive. In tonight's half hour space I plan on sharing how I got hooked on racing and getting into ownership. My question out to you all out there that (hopefully) will be listening:

How did you get hooked on racing?

My feverent hope is that they'll be some interactivity and we can create a community of sorts where we can tackle topics as they arise that face owners and fans alike.

I hope to hear you tonight, 10 PM Central Time just click the hyperlink in this post or the button above to the left.

On the Air With "Owning Racehorses"

Perhaps no mention in an earlier post generated more e-mails to me than the mention about the possibility of a taking this Blog to Blog Talk Radio. Some were all for it and others challenged me as to what I could bring to the table that others don't already. Fair enough. I'll tackle here what I plan on doing and what I don't plan on doing. You can choose to click and listen or not. I'm OK with either one you choose.

The game plan is to get rolling on Wednesday, August 26 at 10 PM Central Time. This is the day before the final weekend of racing here at Canterbury Park and that Sunday is the Minnesota Festival of Racing. That first show will have some discussion of what's happening at Canterbury over the weekend. Yeah, it's parochial, but just because it's on the Internet doesn't mean that it has to be all things to all people.

As a race horse owner, I'm hoping that folks who either own race horses or those that would like to own race horses will tune in and, especially, call in. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but maybe some other folks tuning in will have some answers and we can knock things around a bit until there are some answers.

I've been in several racing partnerships and now run my own. I've learned from the very best and learned from the very worst. I hope that my experiences can help some people that are thinking about joining a partnership somewhere. We'll tackle the highs and lows of ownership sharing not only my own experiences, but more importantly those of callers as well.

I hope we bring together a community of race horse owners and racing enthusiasts discussing what we love and what we'd like to change about our sport/game/business. At some point I can envision we'll touch upon race day medication, the use of steroids in developing young horses, cranking up two-year olds for super fast pre-sale works, girls running against the boys, retiring racehorses, the Breeder's Cup, synthetic surfaces and any number of other topics.

I don't plan on being controversial. I have no desire to be loud and blustery for the sake of being blustery. I'm not looking at calling anyone out, putting anyone on the spot or becoming the Rush Limbaugh of racing radio. I will, however, call it like I see it and I hope that all the folks listening will as well.

A couple of house keeping points: You can reach the show details by clicking on the button on the upper left of this Blog page. You do have to register as a listener. I know, I know - another thing to register for, but there are a ton of shows out there and you may find other stuff you like - besides mine, of course. You can mark my show as a favorite and also schedule a reminder (not like you won't hear it from me enough!). The call in number for the show is (347) 994-3374. This is a New York number so toll charges will apply - I'm sorry about that, but not much I can do about that yet, but there is a "Click to Talk" button on the show page that'll get you on just like a caller without having to make a call. Just make sure that your mic function works on your computer.

I hope this'll fly. Not to just succeed, but because it should be fun. I hope it's fun for the listeners as well and I hope that you'll all join me.