1. Have an organic latte while you wait for a table at Claire’s on Cedros in Solana Beach. 
2. Grab a great burger and beer at Chief’s Burgers and Brew in Solana Beach. This place is right near the train station.
3. Stroll/shop/eat on Cedros Avenue in Solana Beach.
4. Looking to watch the game, then head over to Crush Solana Beach –
5. Enjoy summer activities in Solana Beach.
6. Hike Annie’s Canyon Trail.
7. Play a round at Pelly’s Mini Golf across the street from the track.
8. Craving organic and healthy, try Flower Child across from Milton’s. 
9. Head to Milton’s Deli for breakfast or an early lunch. This is a favorite spot amongst jockeys and trainers.
10. Take a sandwich from Board and Brew and walk or drive to the beach, Seagrove Park, or Powerhouse Park to enjoy the sunset.
11. Enjoy concerts in Powerhouse Park all summer long.
12. Take in the scenery on a beautiful coastal drive and visit the beaches of La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana, Cardiff, Encinitas, and Carlsbad.
13. Spend an afternoon at Birch Aquarium in La Jolla at UC San Diego.
14. Stroll downtown La Jolla and La Jolla Cove. Enjoy Happy Hour at George’s at the Cove Oceanview Restaurant. Visit the seals at the children’s pool at La Jolla Cove.
15. Ride the downtown ferry across the bay to Coronado.
16.  Check out Legoland theme park in Carlsbad.
17. Spend the night in a tent right by the elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido. This is a great place to walk around; if you plan ahead, you can stay overnight.
18. Rent 4-seater car bikes on Coronado and ride all day around the island. You can also book fishing, kayak trips, and other outdoor activities at Hotel Del Coronado.
19. Visit Sea World San Diego.
20. Stop by Old Town San Diego if you’re feeling like Mexican food. Visit the Old Town Tequila Factory.
21. Grab a slice at Del Mar Pizza.

Things to do with Adults

1. After the races, enjoy a drink at Brigantine Seafood Restaurant. Don’t forget Fish Taco at the bar area while you sit on the balcony and watch the tractors prepare the racetrack for morning training.
2. Have a drink at Viewpoint Brewing — within walking distance from the track. They have great Flights of beer and smoked mac n cheese and Adobada Fries.
3. Enjoy dinner at Alce 101 Kitchen and Tequileria. Then walk over to enjoy music/dancing at the Belly Up in Solana Beach.
4. Craving Italian overlooking the ocean, head to Il Fornaio in the Del Mar Plaza, where you can also shop before dinner.
5. Have dinner and/or drinks and enjoy the sunset at Jake’s Del Mar.
6. Enjoy happy hour at Altitude Sky Lounge at the Marriott right across the street from Petco Park in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. Altitude is a nightclub as well.
7. Have a sunset cocktail at the Hotel Del Coronado. Stroll the beaches and sidewalks.
8. Have some time and go wine tasting in a Temecula Cable Car or take a hot air balloon ride over Temecula.
9. Check out Monarch Ocean Pub, it’s the best sports bar in town.

The post Things to Do In Del Mar During Racing Season appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.

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The Thoroughbred Daily News had a love-letter kind of piece on Aqueduct today and spurred me to think through a short list of favorite winter racetracks.

Years ago I fell in love with opening day at Santa Anita, I think as much as an escape from the house as anything, headed to simulcast land the day after Christmas and throughout that week into New Year’s Day. It was like an extended all-star game, previewing the entire meet with a huge crowd on hand. What a concept, and you can see to this day that while the racing scene has changed out West, opening day at Santa Anita is a great institution.

Fields are shorter these days in California but you can still expect to see something special just about every Saturday, whether it’s a debut winner announcing his or her presence for the Kentucky Derby or Oaks trail, a showdown in the Graded stakes prep races, or the coronation of a star in the Malibu Stakes with a City of Light, a Rock Hard Ten, or even (if it could possibly happen again) a Flightline.

One January I was there at Santa Anita (actually on assignment for the Eclipse Awards) doing a double-take looking over the program in the paddock when Tiago was still a maiden, coming off a third-place finish in his debut. What caught my attention was that he was a half brother to Giacomo, the Kentucky Derby winner two years earlier for the same connections, and secondly that Tiago had run a sneaky strong race first-time out. And so it was fun to see Tiago come running that day and break his maiden, before going on to score a big upset in the Santa Anita Derby.

Those kind of horses are still lurking around all kinds of corners at Santa Anita, with so many capable, Hall of Fame-level trainers on the roster there.

And the Great Race Place has a great turf course, which is the one knock on Oaklawn Park, another winter track that I would love to spend any winter day at, probably just nudging Gulfstream for the second spot on my list of winter track favorites.

What about you?

The post Favorite Winter Racetrack? appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.

Why is there a markup on West Point Thoroughbreds’ horses? What’s the value proposition? These are questions I’m sometimes asked by people who are thinking about getting into racehorse ownership.

There’s value in sitting back and enjoying the experience of watching your horse compete without worrying about extensive operational details – you benefit from expert institutional knowledge and know that top industry professionals take care of your horses.

Sure, you could buy a racehorse on your own and not pay additional markup on horses. But, who would you talk to? How would you go about selecting horses at a sale? How would you transport your horse after purchase? Do you have access to the sport’s best trainers and jockeys? These are just a few of the myriad issues you’ll face as a new owner going out on your own.

There are partnerships out there whose principals claim they don’t charge a management fee or a markup for horses, but then they take 20% of the ownership as an “organization fee.”

To that I say, “huh?”.

Also, it’s not hard for an individual with minimal experience in this game to hang a shingle, go to the sales, and start a partnership. By investing with WPT you’re investing in years of experience from a team of knowledgeable people passionate about our clients and horses.

What are you paying for with a markup on West Point horses? Well, here it is in a nutshell…

Access to the best people and venues in the business. We’ve built relationships with industry professionals that take years for someone to develop on their own. You could be dreaming of owning a racehorse one day, then become a Partner on a runner under the care of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey the next. We give our Partners opportunities to be part of industry events and participate on racing’s biggest stages on the biggest days.

Consistent Communication with Partners on every member of their stable. I guarantee you’ll have one-on-one contact with a member of my team on a regular basis, and our top-of-the-line website is the best of any partnership group in the industry. We provide race day information, news, and a variety of new content every day. You can also watch replays of every WPT race and enjoy features on key subjects.

Performance: on the racetrack. Since 1991 our runners have won at a 18% clip, hit the board 47% of the time, and earned over $85 million in purses. Our horses and Partners have competed in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, Breeders’ Cup, Travers, and Hong Kong Mile. Our runners have earned some of the most prestigious graded stakes trophies from coast to coast. We’ve won races in Canada and Dubai. Grade One winners include 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline, Carson’s Run, Vahva, Decorated Invader, Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, Hard Not to Love, Twilight Eclipse, Awesome Gem, Dream Rush, Flashy Bull, Irish Smoke, Lear’s Princess, and Macho Again.

Customer Service is a priority. We do everything we can to make sure our Partners enjoy their experience. Whether it’s seating at the track, a private barn tour, or a chat with a Hall of Fame trainer, we’ll work to make it happen.

Creation: of each partnership. This includes filing fees for each and every state our Partners reside in.

Management: of each partnership. My team (including our trainers) discuss each and every horse every week. Regular topics include overall progression, race selection, circuit changes, competition levels, race data (Beyers, Ragozin numbers, etc), gelding, surface chances, time off, equipment changes, etc.  To better align our interests with those of our Partners, we eliminated the monthly management fee for our partnerships, beginning in January 2012.  We do, however charge a monthly administrative fee for the ongoing cost of doing business.

Assumption of risk: when syndicating a horse. You own 5% of a horse, and you’re not at all responsible for the remaining 95%, even if some of your Partners don’t pay training bills (that does happen once in awhile!!). WPT does not acquire capital upfront before buying horses- our clients have a choice as to which horses they invest in. If something happens to the horse before it is syndicated, WPT absorbs the loss.

Acquisition costs: to acquire athletes. It’s expensive to perform the work and diligence required to evaluate and analyze prospective racehorses. X-ray diagnostics, veterinarian assessments, throat analyses, heart scans, stride analyses, and physical observations are just some of the costs associated with finding the best young racing prospects at public auction. Don’t forget actual sale price of the  horse when the hammer drops in the sales ring!

Institutional knowledge: from years in the business. I’ve been doing this over 30 years – and made most of the mistakes that can be made by an owner.  No doubt I’ve learned from these mistakes. My team is comprised of people knowledgeable and passionate about racing as well.

Education: for Partners. We actively blog on our website about industry topics and want our Partners to know the ins and outs of the game. Helping our clients learn more about this wonderful industry is important to us.

Accounting/Administration duties are taken care of for you. For somebody who just wants to enjoy horse racing, accounting can be a hassle. Let us take care of paying the bills, providing quarterly statements, and arranging tax information. We pride ourselves in financial transparency. Our CFO Lindsey Heumann is a Certified Public Accountant.

You know the old adage, you get what you pay for.  I believe this especially holds true in racing partnerships. West Point is not for everyone wanting to enter into a racing partnership, but we can deliver a premium level of service and experience that can create a lifetime of memories, friendships, and camaraderie surrounding one of nature’s most inspiring creatures, the Thoroughbred.

So, that’s our take on “markups” for West Point horses.

Terry Finley

VIEW MORE RACEHORSE OWNERSHIP RESOURCES

The post No Markup Fees? You Get What You Pay For With Horse Racing Partnerships appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.

The Keeneland September yearling is upon us (check out the catalog) and it’s a good time to answer the age-old question, should I buy a yearling or wait for 2-year-olds?

At West Point, we buy both yearlings and 2-year-olds, and we offer both at various times of the year to our Partners. But there has to be a difference, right? And there have to be pros and cons to owning a yearling versus a 2-year-old in a racing partnership. There are. And I’m going to spell them out and let the jury – you and other potential racehorse owners – deliberate.

THE OBVIOUS QUESTION: WHAT’S A YEARLING, WHAT’S A 2-YEAR-OLD?
Before I start to list the differences between owning the two, how about some basics? Here goes…

1). A yearling is a one-year-old horse. They dropped to the earth, cute as all get out, sometime in the winter and spring on a farm somewhere (generally, but not exclusively, in Kentucky). They are separated from their mommas, referred to as weanlings, and when January 1st of the following year rolls around, they all become 1-year-olds or “yearlings.” They look like a racehorse but more of a mini-version – an immature one.

2). A 2-year-old is a more polished product. They’ve had a saddle and rider on their back, and they’ve been taught to gallop on a farm. There are several factors that determine when they start breezing, or going fast. Those factors include whether or not they’re being prepped for a sale, pedigree, owner preferences, maturity, etc.

NEXT OBVIOUS QUESTION: WHERE DO YOU BUY YEARLINGS VS. 2-YEAR-OLD RACEHORSES? IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

You can buy yearlings and 2-year-olds privately from the folks who raise them at the farm, from trainers who are readying them for the races, and from connections after they win their first race (although you’ll typically pay a huge premium in this last case – hey, they just won, didn’t they?) In each of these examples, you’re hunting and pecking all over the country or all over the world to find these horses to buy.

Want simpler? Many do. That’s why there are bigger-volume, larger-variety, one-stop shopping places to buy yearlings and 2-year-olds. These are called horse auctions or sales. That’s where we buy, and there are some big differences between yearling and 2-year-old sales. The main sales companies in the United States are Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland.

Yearling sales – remember when I said that yearlings are immature racehorses? We certainly aren’t looking at the finished product at a yearling sale, meaning we can’t watch them run while evaluating them. Several inputs go into determining which horses are added to the stable — from pedigree to knowledge that the current owner is a billionaire.

Here are the factors that go into buying yearlings:

Family Matters What we do is look at their family history in what is known as a sales catalog. Who’s the father (called a stallion or sire)? What kind of racehorse was he? What kind of offspring has he fathered? What about the mom (called a dam or broodmare) and her progeny? Have they been successful? And on and on down the family tree. If a horse has a “weak” female family or is by an obscure sire, yet we love them physically, we may still bid on them but will know that we shouldn’t get too aggressive in the bidding process.

Physical Inspection With yearlings, we have the ability to have a groom pull them out of their stalls so we can eyeball their physique from head to hoof, watch how they move when they walk and check their attitude during all this poking and prodding. The goal is to find well-balanced, smooth walking individuals who use their bodies efficiently and have no conformation flaws that could predispose them to injuries. We then start to separate what we like and don’t like and do our very best to envision them one year plus down the road, chiseled and fit, ready to tackle their first race.

We also like to see horses who are inquisitive and easy to work with. Many top-flight horses have good minds and are focused on the task at hand. But it’s also important to keep in mind many of the yearlings have never left the farm they were born at until this point — unfamiliar surroundings could make anyone out of sorts.

Veterinary Exam After narrowing down horses that meet our physical and pedigree analysis, we call in a veterinarian to examine the horses, looking for potential flaws in throat anatomy, joints, tendons, and ligaments. There’s no such thing as a perfect horse, so it’s important to work with a team with decades of experience in evaluating horses. A radiographic finding that makes a horse a poor prospect to resell as a 2-year-old may have no bearing on the long-term racing soundness. Some horses may need surgeries before having a rider on their back. Grade 1 winner Awesome Gem had bone chips removed from both front ankles. That didn’t stop him from earning over $2.8 million and racing until he was nine years old.

Once the veterinary exam is complete, it’s time to decide on our budget once we have a list of horses who “jump through all the hoops”.

Filly or colt Many owners dream of buying a horse who could compete in and hopefully win the Kentucky Derby or Breeders’ Cup Classic. The reality is very few colts end up as viable stallion prospects, but the ones who do — they often earn millions of dollars on the racetrack and in the breeding shed. Buying a nice filly gives you a better chance at residual value following the racing career as there’s a far greater number of broodmares compared to stallions (some stallions breed to 140+ mares a year!) and even a listed stakes win can up a filly’s value.

Turf or dirt? Long or short? With more and more high-dollar turf races being written in the United States, turf horses aren’t nearly as overlooked. We try to buy a blend of horses — colts and fillies, horses bred for dirt and turf, sprinters, milers, and classic-distance types. If your goal is to have a horse on the Kentucky Derby trail, you may focus your attention on colts with significant dirt influence in their pedigrees.

Being the final bidder The reality is when the hammer drops and a person buys a horse, they are the only person in the world who values the horse that high — the market has spoken! It’s important to remember that all it takes is two people to drive a price up, and it takes one person backing out at the last minute to keep the board from lighting up. Some owners set ridiculously high reserves on their horses, hoping they get lucky. And sometimes they do.

We’ve been fortunate to partner with some of the top owners in the business to purchase horses at the sales — the power of the partnership! Those owners include: Hronis Racing, Woodford Racing, Lane’s End Racing, Talla Racing, Siena Farm, WinStar Farm, Spendthrift Farm, St. Elias Stable, Repole Stable, Bobby Flay, Albaugh Family Stable, amongst many others.

Keeneland: 10 Things to Know About Buying Yearlings

2-year-old sales – Remember how a more polished product comes with an extra year of experience? Remember that a 2-year-old has learned how to gallop under saddle and how to have a rider on their back? A 2-year-old is closer to being a ready-for-the-races thoroughbred.

So, at a 2-year-old sale, we can watch the racehorses run. Big difference from a yearling sale. It happens in a day or two long event called a breeze show, also known as an under tack show – fancy titles for a pretty simple exercise. One after another, these 2-year-olds sprint down the stretch in front of all the potential buyers sitting in the grandstand. The 2-year-olds are timed and videotaped for an eighth, quarter, or sometimes three-eighths of a mile.

This gives a buyer the chance to compare the times and the mechanics of each 2-year-old that flashes by. The breezes are recorded, so potential buyers cab back and look at the videotape and the stride analysis data to refresh their memory on each individual horse before deciding whether or not to start bidding. There’s more data used in the buying process.

Keep in mind that buyers at a 2-year-old sale also do all the evaluating stuff they do at the yearling sales. They look over the catalog pages for the family tree, they pull the horse out of the stall and eyeball the physique, they call in their vet for further testing. But the breeze show is the added element.

TOP REASONS TO BUY A YEARLING
1) More variety. We buy at the best-known yearling sales throughout the world, and there are simply more horses available at those sales versus at the 2-year-old sales. If you totaled up all the North American 2-year-old sales horses available in one year, that number would still be fewer than those available at the single largest yearling sale in Kentucky every fall.

2) Pedigree power — While the pedigrees at the 2-year-old in training sales have gotten better and better in recent years, you have a greater selection of well-bred horses at the yearling sales. We often tell Partners that with yearlings, in many instances, you get “more pedigree bang for your buck.”

3) A lump of clay to mold. If you have kids, think about this – and if you don’t, play along. What if you didn’t have a chance to raise those kids from the moment they arrived at the hospital? Think about the habits you’d like them to develop versus what someone else would develop. And then think of a yearling as a horse closer to a newborn than a 2-year-old. A yearling is a lump of clay that your experts can develop at its own pace with your goals for that racehorse in mind.

4) Time – it’s your friend. When you buy a yearling, you’re a while away from racing, so there’s plenty of time to progress through to develop a great racehorse. There’s no pressure to run – racehorses can’t start racing until they’re two, so that’s a non-issue when you buy. If your horse has a setback and you’re dreaming of the Kentucky Derby or the Kentucky Oaks, relax. It’s a long way off. You bought a yearling, so you have TIME.

TOP REASONS TO BUY A 2-YEAR OLD
1) Knowledge is power. You remember how with a 2-year-old, you can watch a horse run at a breeze show? You can compare times to others running at the same sale, slow down the videotape, and really look at a horse’s mechanics as they run hard. That’s a lot more than you can know at a yearling sale.

2) 2-year-olds are sometimes close to race-ready. Are you so ready to race that you can hardly stand it? Are you dreaming of box seats, post parades, blood-pumping stretch drives, and pictures in the winner’s circle? Buy a 2-year old, and you could be racing within weeks. Most horses who come through a sale need a little time to decompress, but since 2-year-olds are allowed to race in North America, you could buy a horse that you take from the auction ring to the winners circle rather quickly.

3) These horses have been in the pressure cooker. If a 2-year-old made it to the sales grounds, went through the pressure of the breeze show, and passed all of the other physical tests, they’ve shown you a lot more than any yearling and possess a level of durability.

4) Money, money, money. When you get to the races quicker, you can start earning purse money quicker and paying for your horse’s upkeep. It doesn’t always work out that way, especially if your 2-year-old takes additional time to prepare to race than you anticipated. But without any setbacks, a 2-year-old is closer to earning its keep.

TOP REASON NOT TO BUY A YEARLING
You know less, so more can go wrong. When you buy a younger horse, there’s a whole lot that will need to develop before they can race. The horse can go through growth cycles that change the athlete from the superstar you bought to an awkward klutz. And let’s not forget that you’ve never actually seen them run when you buy a yearling. They can look fast as fast can be, but when it comes time to smash the accelerator at the racetrack, there’s no giddyup there.

TOP REASON NOT TO BUY A 2-YEAR-OLD
You know more, but you’ve stressed the horse to get there. Ask any human athlete how stressful it can be physically and emotionally to train for the big game or the big event. When sellers put pressure on a young 2-year-old to make it to the sales and the breeze show and be successful, it’s pretty darn stressful. There’s wear and tear – physical and mental. That fast-looking 2-year-old might have had its best day possible on the day it went an eighth of a mile down the lane and is heading south from here on out. You’ve got to be a sharp observer to gauge which of the 2-year-olds that pass all the tests have even better days ahead.

So there you have ‘em – the pros and cons, the benefits and drawbacks to buying yearlings versus 2-year-olds. Is there a definitive better choice? There is not. When it comes to racing partnerships and making this decision, at West Point Thoroughbreds, we purchase both. And we’ve have success with both.

Want to be alerted when we buy yearlings at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale? Contact Ali Finley to get on our email list.

For more info on ownership explore our “Learn About Racing Partnerships” section of our website.

The post Should I Buy A Yearling or a 2-Year-Old With A Thoroughbred Partnership? appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.

Well, sort of.  A horse breaking a step slow isn’t always a bad thing. I’ll explain…

Earlier this week at Palm Beach Downs, I had a great chat with Bob Duncan, a legend in the racing industry who’s been around a starting gate for the better part of 45 years and was head NYRA starter for 10 years. A longtime friend and the most respected starter in the business, Bob now spends time in Saratoga and South Florida working as a private consultant.

We talked about schooling young horses in the gate — why some horses consistently break better and generally handle the gate experience better than others.

The reality is some horses:

• Have quicker reaction times than others
• Are more deliberate with their first strides out of the gate
• Are sluggish no matter how many times they school in the morning
• May be hesitant to “push off” because something is bugging them physically – usually in their hind ends

One of the biggest challenges of the starting gate is having a horse on their toes and ready to break sharply but also relaxed and confident during the process.

The entire gate training process requires repetition (but not too much repetition), patience, and an understanding of how horses think. The trainer and starter must strike a balance between schooling a horse enough that they know what’s going on and schooling them too much that they become mentally fried. Bad habits or fear of the gate in early training can take months or years to overcome.

If breaking better simply required more time in and around the gate in the mornings, things would be easy, and trainers would have their horses at the gate three times a day every day. 

Bob stressed, “It’s not about breaking great and folding like a cheap suit after a quarter of a mile. It’s about breaking with ease and balance and getting into a rhythm so the horse can finish strongly in the race.”

 Duncan spends quite a bit of his time working with horses for Todd Pletcher. In a 2014 interview with Karen Johnson for Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, Pletcher said the following: 

“Every single race starts at the gate. If you are not prepared there, then you are not prepared to win. I think maybe one misconception people have is that if you want to have one go over there and break well, you want to have them all charged up. Whereas, our experience is that a calm, relaxed horse will break more alertly than a nervous, fired-up personality. It’s an interesting process because when you are getting young horses to run you teach them the need to really run away from the gate. And when you do that, mentally they become more wound-up. So it’s kind of a step forward, half-step back process. You want to get them to where they break alertly, but you also want them to be calm while they are doing that, and I think Bob is really good at that.”

When a horse breaks slowly a few times, many people jump to the conclusion that they need more gate schooling. With young horses, frequent, laid-back visits to the gate are often beneficial and confidence-building, but it would be foolish to break a horse out of the gate at full speed day in and day out. Doing so would result in a dull, sour, and likely injured horse.

I’d much rather have a horse break a bit slowly but then settle into a really nice rhythm for the jock versus a horse who breaks like a bat out of hell because they are scared and simply just want to get out of dodge. Some horses freeze up when they are anxious and scared, which doesn’t bode well for a smooth break or good effort in a race.

You’ll often see first-time starters calm, cool, and collected behind and in the gate in their first starts before getting nervous and washy behind the gate second time out — they know what’s going on. 

In between races many young horses are brought to the gate to stand, but they don’t break. They may go in and out a few times to take the edge off and reduce anxiety.

Another factor that comes into play is having a horse relaxed and focused but also balanced with all four feet on the ground. As former jockey Richard Migliore said, “It’s not always the horse who is on their toes the most that gets away the quickest; it’s the horse who has all four feet squarely on the ground.” 

With thousand-pound animals in such a tight, claustrophobic space, it can be difficult for every assistant starter to have his horse standing absolutely square with their head straight and in the correct balance when the latch is sprung. All it takes is a sudden shift of their weight, and a horse may break a step slowly or swerve to either side the first jump out of the gate. Some horses lose their balance when they have to push off with their hind ends and go from zero to full speed quickly, and others lose their footing and stumble. 

If a horse is required to stand in the gate for a long time due to a big field or an issue with another horse, they may become bored and/or unfocused and not ready to pop out of there in a literal split second.

One big key is having horses trust the assistant starters who load and handle them in the gate. The best assistant starters instill confidence in horses. Duncan uses natural horsemanship methods when teaching horses — the gate training process has definitely evolved over the years. There is little strong-arming, and he knows horses have different needs and learn at different rates. 

In a sport where two wins from 10 starts is a healthy win percentage, you certainly don’t want a bad break compromising your horse’s chances. On the flip side, there’s definitely a balance between keeping your horse relaxed and enjoying his job at the expense of them not breaking on top.

The post Our Horse Didn’t Break Well — Just Give Him More Gate Schooling! appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.

What’s going on here, and what happens next?

Stakes races are a planner’s dream in racing. Unless weather or something unusual comes into play, the date is firm. We can count on the Travers Stakes (G1) being run on the last Saturday of August at Saratoga, year in and year out.

As Tom Bellhouse says with a chuckle, “I knew every year at Christmas time which races Twilight Eclipse (West Point’s retired grade one winner) would run in. Just circle the Mac Diarmida and McKnight at Gulfstream, the Man o’War at Belmont, the Sword Dancer at Saratoga, and the Breeders’ Cup! A horse owner’s dream!”

Dates for the bread and butter races like an allowance, maiden special weight or anything with a claiming designation are subject to change. Everything revolves around how many horses are entered for a particular race.

The process begins with the condition book, which is essentially a menu of races that the track’s racing secretary puts together, usually for a period of two or three weeks. A racing secretary worth his or her salt will have a good grasp of the horse population at that racetrack and the extended area in what race conditions are popular, both in the short term over a period of weeks and months and the long-term, especially at a place like Saratoga where there is a year-to-year steadiness to the racing schedule.

Even before the condition book for Saratoga comes out, we can often look back at the previous year (we have a program that allows us to run reports and splice and dice data on races nationwide) and see when a particular race condition was offered and know that there is a pretty good chance that we’ll see the same race again and in just about the same spot on the calendar. And Saratoga being Saratoga, once that condition book does come out, there also is a pretty good chance that the race will fill and be used on the listed date.

But, of course, not every place is Saratoga. Other venues, for instance Aqueduct in the very same circuit in New York, may have a harder time filling races since there isn’t the same horse population in the winter as there is in the summertime. And that is where the race dates can become tentative.

And when a race doesn’t fill, what happens next? Hopefully it was a close call—the race drew 5, 6, maybe even 7 horses, but the track had other races to choose from with more horses and more appeal for bettors.

Our race that didn’t fill will be pushed back and, in a near-miss like this, listed as an “extra” on the overnight. The overnight is a one or two-page sheet with the entries for each card, listing each horse alongside his or her weight assignment, jockey and trainer. At the bottom of the overnight are the “extra” races for the next card to be drawn.

Podcast on 2-Year-Old Racing Part 1

Podcast on 2-Year-Old Racing Part 2

Sometimes an “extra” will fill on the second attempt. Sometimes it will take longer, and the race will appear on the overnight several times before the track cobbles together enough horses for the race to “go.”

Just recently, First Captain had an assignment for a third-level allowance race at Gulfstream that Shug McGaughey figured would be an ideal starting point for his season. It was in the condition book for a Friday, but Gulfstream only got five horses in the first attempt and brought the race back twice before carding it for that Sunday with a field of seven that scratched down to six. First Captain got up in the final jump for a dramatic victory. Other than the temporary uncertainty, waiting to see if the race would fill, it was a plan that came together perfectly.

But sometimes a race plan will go sideways. Say on that first attempt, our horse was one of only a few horses entered, or even the only entry. In all likelihood, that race will be dropped right away and not even brought back as an extra. Our trainer will have to go back to the drawing board, whether that is waiting for several weeks or looking in a different direction, be that a different condition, distance or another locale.

And another topic related to this…sometimes your trainer may be pointing to a race and then not enter at the last minute. Horses are living, breathing creatures who can change day by day. Maybe the horse didn’t lick their feed tub clean like they usually do on the morning of entries, maybe another condition book came out and there is a better spot, or maybe the trainer just didn’t have a good gut feeling. Training horses is just as much of an art as it is a science.

We encourage all of our Partners to be excited when their horse has a race date, but always always remain flexible. When you have a horse sitting on go, no one wants to be waiting. We all love action, but sometimes you have no choice but to wait for it.

The post What Happens When Your Horse’s Race Doesn’t Fill? appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.

By Sharon Balfe

Over the past 25 years, my husband and I have been to hundreds of Thoroughbred horse races across the United States and Canada. We’ve been fortunate to experience Churchill Downs, Belmont Park, Santa Anita, Keeneland, Monmouth, Gulfstream Park, Woodbine, and many others. Needless to say, the racing was spectacular and exciting. And then the bug bit us. Several years ago, we made the decision to invest in horse ownership with a horse racing partnership. Since that time, we’ve bought numerous horses with other partnerships as well. As one would expect, we learned how the different partnerships operate, enjoyed the benefits of visiting the barns and the backstretch, we stood in awe in the paddocks, and best of all, bathed in the glory of the winners circle. As my husband has always said “there’s nothing more intoxicating than being in the winners circle.” How true!

Along with all the obvious benefits of horse partnerships, there is another aspect that is often overlooked. It’s the friendships that are made and nurtured over the years. I can’t begin to count the friends we’ve made thanks to the involvement in partnerships. But there are a precious few of us that established a unique and special bond…a bond that grows stronger every year. We have shared the births of children and grandchildren, have taken trips together, experienced the Derby in Las Vegas and the Breeder’s Cup at Santa Anita, enjoyed cookouts, celebrated pet adoptions, birthdays, anniversaries, and retirements, and provided a shoulder to lean on during the bad times, through surgeries and recoveries, and sadly, passings…all of which have strengthened our friendships. It’s knowing that we really care for each other and want to be a part of each other’s lives.

Although we’ve enjoyed good times with one another at the other tracks, it’s always Saratoga where we all come together every year. While we’re fortunate to live in Saratoga Springs, the others journey from across town, down state New York, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and many other areas to join us on Balfe Corner to socialize, bet, and enjoy the beautiful days at the track. It’s here where we watched our ‘track grandchildren’, the Clancy boys, grow up….where they sat on the cooler, ate snacks, laughed, and shared stories with us. It’s here where cigars are shared, tips are given and received, and where conversations are held with trainers and valets. It’s on the Corner where we watch the men build their exotic tickets, witness the disappointment of losing the pick five in the second leg, and the smiles of success when the big horse comes in. It’s here where we catch up on our lives.

In Saratoga, it’s where we gather on the backstretch morning after morning to watch the horses work, drink the best worst coffee, listen to the coulda, woulda, shoulda stories, and enjoy the sheer beauty of the sunrises and the horses exercise in the fog.

It’s in Saratoga where we relax on the lake…where we eat sandwiches from the Spring Street deli while anchored at the sandbar, where we absorb the beautiful sunsets, where we enjoy the chatter among best friends. It’s here in Saratoga where we experience the wonderful restaurants, bars, shopping, and the walks on Broadway.

And finally, it’s here in this enchanted place where we reluctantly say goodbye to one another when it’s time to return home. But it is always with the anticipation of the next event that will bring us all together again.

Yes, horse partnerships offer the opportunity to enjoy horse ownership, visit the barns, experience the backstretch, paddock, and the races. It’s the hope that your horse just may be the ‘one’. But it’s the friendships that make it all worthwhile. It’s the friends that become best friends. It’s the friends that we’ll always remember and cherish.

To all my friends, thank you for the fun and memories.

LEARN MORE OWNERSHIP BENEFITS

The post An Often Overlooked Benefit of Racing Partnerships: Lasting Friendships appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.

Let’s start with the simple truth here, before this headline raises your blood pressure to the point of “Call the ambulance and bring my bathrobe and slippers to the emergency room.” At West Point, we buy both yearlings and 2-year-olds, and we’re comfortable offering both at various times of the year to our customers.

But there has to be a difference, right? And there have to be pros and cons to owning a piece of a yearling versus a 2-year-old in a racing partnership. There are. And I’m going to spell them out and let the jury – you and other potential racehorse owners – deliberate.

THE OBVIOUS QUESTION: WHAT’S A YEARLING, WHAT’S A 2-YEAR-OLD?

Before I start to list the differences between owning the two, how about some basics? Here goes:

1). A yearling is a horse that is one-year-old. They dropped to the earth, cute as all get out, sometime in the winter and spring on a farm somewhere (generally, but not exclusively, in Kentucky). They are separated from their mommas, referred to as weanlings, and when January 1st of the next year rolls around, they all become 1-year-olds or “yearlings.” They look like a racehorse, but more of a mini-version – an immature one.

2). A 2-year-old is a more polished product. During that extra year, they’ve typically had a saddle and rider on their back and they’ve been taught to gallop on a farm. There are several factors that determine when they start breezing, or going fast. Those factors include whether or not they’re being prepped for a sale, pedigree, owner preferences, maturity, etc.

NEXT OBVIOUS QUESTION: WHERE DO YOU BUY YEARLINGS VS. 2-YEAR-OLD RACEHORSES? IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

You don’t go to the local box store with your shopping list in your back pocket and horse trailer parked out back with the motor running. You can buy yearlings and 2-year-olds from the folks who raise them at the farm, from trainers who are readying them for the races, and even after they win their first race (although you’ll typically pay a huge premium in this last case – hey, they just won, didn’t they?) In each of these examples, you’re hunting and pecking all over the country or all over the world to find these horses to buy.

Learn the “All-in” costs of owning a racehorse with this one page resource. 

Want simpler? Many do. That’s why there are bigger-volume, larger-variety, one-stop shopping places to buy yearlings and 2-year-olds. These are called horse auctions or sales. That’s where we buy, and there are some big differences between yearling and 2-year-old sales.

1). Yearling sales – remember when I said that yearlings are immature racehorses? We certainly aren’t looking at the finished product at a yearling sale, meaning we can’t watch them run when we’re evaluating them.

What we do is look at their family history, in what is known as a sales catalog. Who’s the father (called a stallion or sire)? What kind of racehorse was he? What kind of offspring has he fathered? What about the mom (called a dam or broodmare) and her kids? Have they been successful? And on and on down the family tree.

With yearlings, we have the ability to have a groom pull them out of their stalls so we can eyeball their physique from head to hoof, watch how they move when they walk, and check their attitude during all this poking and prodding. We then start to separate what you like and don’t like.

We also use technology to help us narrow down our list of horses. With yearlings we perform cardio analysis (how big is their heart?) and biomechanical analysis (do all the parts fit together? does the horse use its body efficiently?)

After narrowing down horses that meet our physical, cardo, and biomechanical tests, we call in a veterinarian to examine the horses, looking for potential flaws in breathing, joints, tendons, and ligaments. Then it’s time to decide on our budget once we have a list of horses who “jump through all the hoops”. Then the real fun begins, we head to the sales ring.

2). 2-year-old sales – Remember how a more polished product comes with an extra year of experience? Remember that a 2-year-old has learned how to gallop under saddle and how to have a rider on their back? A 2-year-old is closer to being a ready-for-the-races thoroughbred.

So, at a 2-year-old sale, we have the ability to watch the racehorses run. Big difference from a yearling sale. It happens in a day or two long event called a breeze show, also known as an under tack show – fancy titles for a pretty simple exercise. One after another, these 2-year-olds sprint down the stretch in front of all the potential buyers sitting in the grandstand. The 2-year-olds are timed and videotaped for an eighth, quarter, or sometimes three-eighths of a mile.

This gives a buyer the chance to compare the times and the mechanics of each 2-year-old that flashes by, and it gives that buyer a chance to go back and look at the videotape to refresh their memory on each individual horse before deciding whether or not to start bidding.

Keep in mind that buyers at a 2-year-old sale also do all the evaluating stuff they do at the yearling sales. They look over the catalog pages for the family tree, they pull the horse out of the stall and eyeball the physique, they call in their vet for further testing. But the breeze show is the added element.

Like we do with yearlings, we also perform cardio and biomechanical analysis. We also work with a company who shows us breezes in slow motion, it helps us identify the most fluid, efficient movers. A horse may look good coming down the lane, but the reality could be that the left front twists into the ground, putting the horse at increased risk of injury.

TOP FIVE REASONS TO BUY A YEARLING

1). The less you know, the cheaper the price and the better the breeding. Let’s face it, when you don’t have the ability to watch the horse run, in theory you’re paying for the strength of the family tree and how the horse looks standing in front of you. With that much mystery remaining, you can typically buy more of a potential superstar (on paper, at least) with less money.

2). More variety. We buy at the best-known yearling sales throughout the world, and there are simply more horses available at those sales versus at the 2-year-old sales. If you totaled up all the North American 2-year-old sales horses available in one year, that number would still be fewer than those available at the single largest yearling sale that takes place in Kentucky every fall.

3). Younger horse, fewer issues. It stands to reason that a horse that hasn’t had a rider on its back and hasn’t been asked to gallop and begin to become an athlete will typically have less physical problems that crop up at the point of sale. It’s the new car with low mileage analogy.

4). A lump of clay to mold. If you have kids, think about this – and if you don’t, play along. What if you didn’t have a chance to raise those kids from the moment they arrived at the hospital? Think about the habits you’d like them to develop versus what someone else would develop. And then think of a yearling as a horse that is closer to a newborn than a 2-year-old. A yearling is a lump of clay that your experts can develop at its own pace with your goals for that racehorse in mind.

5). Time – it’s your friend. When you buy a yearling, you’re a while away from racing, so there’s plenty of time to progress through all the steps that go into developing a great racehorse. There’s no pressure to run – racehorses can’t start racing until they’re two, so that’s a non-issue when you buy. If your horse has a setback (it gets sick or it gets hurt or it gets ornery) and you’re dreaming of the Kentucky Derby or the Kentucky Oaks, relax. It’s a long way off. You bought a yearling, so you have TIME.

TOP FIVE REASONS TO BUY A 2-YEAR OLD

1). Knowledge is power. You remember how with a 2-year-old, you can watch a horse run at a breeze show? You can compare times to others running at the same sale, and you can slow down the videotape and really look at a horse’s mechanics as they run hard. That’s a lot more than you can know at a yearling sale.

2). 2-year-olds are sometimes race-ready. Are you so ready to race that you can hardly stand it? Are you dreaming of box seats, post parades, blood-pumping stretch drives and pictures in the winner’s circle? Buy a 2-year old and you could be racing the next week. Most horses that come through a sale need a little time to decompress, but since 2-year-olds are allowed to race in North America, you could buy a horse that you take from the auction ring to winners circle in a matter of days, weeks, or a few short months.

3). These horses have been in the pressure cooker. If a 2-year-old made it to the sales grounds, went through the pressure of the breeze show, and passed all of the other physical tests, then they’ve shown you a lot more than any yearling. A 2-year-old that makes it this far has a stronger likelihood of standing up to the bigger tests of the racetrack.

4). Money, money, money. When you get to the races quicker, you can start earning purse money quicker and start paying for the upkeep of your horse. It doesn’t always work out that way, especially if your 2-year-old takes additional time to prepare to race than you anticipated. But without any setbacks, a 2-year-old is closer to earning its own keep.

5). Money, money, money, part 2. It’s a fact: there are some pretty nice races and purses available to horses that have gone through a specific 2-year-old sale, scheduled throughout the year and across the country. If you’ve got a fast runner, it’s a nice bonus to have in front of you.

TOP REASON NOT TO BUY A YEARLING

You know less, so more can go wrong. When you buy a younger horse, there’s a whole lot that will need to develop before it can race. The horse can go through growth cycles that change the athlete from the superstar you bought to an awkward klutz. And let’s not forget that you’ve never actually seen them run, when you buy a yearling. They can look fast as fast can be, but when it comes time to smash the accelerator at the racetrack, there’s no giddyup there.

TOP REASON NOT TO BUY A 2-YEAR-OLD

You know more, but you’ve stressed the horse to get there. Ask any human athlete how stressful it can be physically and emotionally to train for the big game or the big event. When sellers put pressure on a young 2-year-old to make it to the sales and the breeze show and be successful, it’s pretty darn stressful. There’s wear and tear – physical and mental. That fast-looking 2-year-old might have had its best day possible on the day it went an eighth of a mile down the lane…and is heading south from here on out. You’ve got to be a sharp observer to gauge which of the 2-yearolds that pass all the tests have even better days ahead.

So there you have ‘em – the pros and cons, the benefits and drawbacks, to buying yearlings versus 2-year-olds. Is there a definitive better choice? There is not. When it comes to racing partnerships and making this decision, at West Point we purchase both. The mistake I believe anyone makes is to avoid one type of sale versus the other. You can miss out on a life-changing racehorse that way.

For more info on ownership explore our “Learn About Racing Partnerships” section of our website.

The post Should I Buy A Yearling or a 2 Year Old With A Thoroughbred Partnership? appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.

Tom Petty was right, the waiting is the hardest part. When a racehorse owner has a horse who needs a break from training, anticipation builds, and an owner understandably is eager for progress … and a timeline—how long til my horse will be back to the races?

Well we know by now that shortcuts never work, and so a general rule of thumb is three months of preparation once the horse is back under tack. Some horses take a little longer, maybe if they are on the larger side and need more work to achieve race fitness. Horses who have raced already usually take less time to get “race fit” again after a break and lighter-framed horses, naturally, don’t have as many pounds to shed as they crank bank up.

Another consideration is whether or not a horse is returning after rehabbing from an injury or if they are just getting back into the swing of things from a freshening, not due to a physical issue. Every horse is an individual and a good trainer will use his years of experience to custom tailor a fitness program to his or her horse. If a horse is coming back from a serious physical issue, trainers will often be quite conservative and space works out on purpose and use long gallops promote fitness. Whereas you see others who require a steady series of weekly speedwork drills before they are ready to face the starter.

Once the fitness building is done, sometimes the timing of a comeback race is at the mercy of the racetrack: say, if your horse gets revved up and is sitting on go but the condition book comes out and there is no suitable race for several more weeks.

With a turf horse, you are especially vulnerable to a moving target if your race comes off the turf, or since grass races tend to draw bigger fields, if you wind up on the also-eligible list.

With a stakes horse, a trainer can be more precise, knowing for months in advance what the stakes schedule will be. He or she can circle a race, knowing it will be run on that date, and work backwards on a preparation schedule. With non stakes horse, it’s not that easy. You could have a maiden whose sweet spot you think is a flat mile on the dirt. He or she is ready to go, you open the condition book, and nothin’. That’s when pivoting and being flexible is important. You might enter them in a six-furlong sprint off the bench just to “get a race into them” (often a race is equivalent to 2-3 works fitness wise) or you may decide to be patient and check out other venues. Again, every horse is individual and we try to avoid “running just to run” if we can help it.

But three months of training, in general, is about right.

So what do those three months look like?

The first step with the tack on is walking (or in some instances low-impact exercise on the underwater treadmill), but horses with previous experience move up pretty quickly, within a week or two, to jogging. They usually jog for a few weeks and on to galloping for several weeks to achieve a foundation leading up to speed work.

Almost every horse will breeze three furlongs a couple times as they start to get serious. From there, things will vary, depending on the trainer and especially based on the horse’s distance preference. Half-mile works are usually central to the regimen for a sprinter, but we have certainly witnessed exceptions. Instinctive Rhythm logged five half-mile breezes this summer leading up to his second-place finish going six furlongs at Saratoga off the layoff for George Weaver. On the other hand, Graham Motion focused on stamina with Kanthaka, who worked five furlongs twice and even went seven furlongs (longer than the race distance) as he got ready for a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes run at six furlongs on the turf. One of the reasons Graham focused on longer works with Kanthaka is that the gelding is known for getting very aggressive in company. Sometimes a stiff half-mile work in company is similar to fitness gained as a longer solo work.

Galilean can go either way, he won stakes sprinting and around two turns this year, and John Sadler prepared him last winter with seven workouts (same number as Kanthaka), including two going five furlongs and one at six furlongs. Watch Galilean win the California Dreamin’ Stakes this summer. Trainers in California are better known for putting six-furlong workouts into their horses than trainers on the East Coast.

We all love action, but for one reason or another most horses need a break during their careers. On the comeback trail, a well-laid plan is a beautiful thing.

The post How Long Is a Racehorse’s Comeback Trail? appeared first on West Point Thoroughbreds.