Find Me A Winner!

Today the holidays officially end and the work of picking a racehorse begins. The group is almost fully rounded out with only a couple of stragglers remaining. I'll give it another week, maybe 10-days, for folks to get their paperwork in and then we're launching. In a perfect world we could have a runner by the end of the month, but realistically mid-February is a more reasonable target. In the interim there is video to watch, offers to field and a trainer to consult with.

Saturday will consist of me catching up with all the replays from Tampa in the last few weeks since racing returned to Oldsmar. It's not the best way to gauge horseflesh, but it's a start. I can see if there are some runners who may get dropped into a class below to catch a break out of a troubled race. It's not unusual to see a $16,000 horse run into a couple of bad trips and get dropped to $12,500 pick up a win and move back up again. The key is finding the horse that is dropping trying to steal a race rather than a horse dropping in ability!

I've got a pile of paper to go through, past performances and race charts mostly, that will perhaps give me a clue to what I'm looking for. Once I touch base with Bernell and let him know that we're ready, I'll get even more (and WAY better) insight into who is looking good. There may even be a bead or two on a private purchase. Ideally an owner that is having some trouble paying the bills, not one who is trying to get rid of his problems. Let me rephrase...I don't want ANY owner to experience financial problems, but I'd rather know that they are selling good stock at reasonable prices then only selling a select few 'failures' and keeping their best.

I'm going to start the coffee pot, organize myself and my thoughts and get going!