Get to the Point

“Breed the best to the best and hope for the best.” Sage advice tempered with the reality that Mother Nature yields to the vagaries of Lady Luck. The best is also relative. So when your broodmare ban is comprised entirely of one pedigree challenged Iowa-bred and your wallet isn’t anywhere thick enough to afford a season to the six figure stallions, where to begin?

By the end of January 2006 we had worn the pages off the Stallion Register. We had also called what seemed to be every viable stud farm in Kentucky. Our Iowa-bred mare was just weeks away from delivering her first foal to the cover of Holy Bull. Yet that’s a different story, this is about the second mating. The selection process was proving arduous.

Having a young mare carrying her first foal, big dreams and a modest wallet led us to the decision to pursue a foal-share. Under this type of arrangement, the mare owner shares the resulting foal with the stallion owner in lieu of paying the stud fee. The offspring is then generally sold as a yearling at public auction with the proceeds split between the two parties on a predetermined basis. We had secured a few offers, debated the terms, reviewed pedigrees and considered conformation.

One of the stallions was an imposing physical specimen that had been an exceptionally gifted racehorse, garnering Horse of the Year honors. However, his luster as a stallion had begun to wane with the approach of the 2006 breeding season. While the general consensus was that his offspring, likely to be imparted with his massive size, would need time to mature, his first crop of two-year olds nonetheless failed to produce a single stakes winner. Yet as the dust gathered on the foal-share contract we had yet to sign, one stakes performer led to a stakes winner. The maturing now three-year olds were beginning to hit their best stride. The stallion, Point Given, still commanded a $50,000 fee and was possibly on the verge of a break-out year. It was now February and well into the fourteen day acceptance period of the contract dated January 27th. So we grabbed the nearest pen, signed the document and raced to the post office.

Now all we had to do was wait for the mare to deliver her first foal, haul her to Kentucky, get her in-foal to that stallion, wait another painstaking eleven months and few odd days to see the result, followed by another year and a half until the auctioneer’s hammer would fall on the then yearling walking through the sales ring. We would also be responsible for all of the board and vet bills before splitting the sales proceeds with the stallion owner.

The hoped for breakout year proved to be exciting, although not quite thrilling, as Point Given would be the sire of four Graded stakes winners, including a Grade 1 two-year old from his second crop, with nine stakes winners overall. By some statistical measures, the stallion had continued to impress, yet his foals were not commercially appealing. By the time the product of the foal-share, a well made solid chestnut filly, reached the sales ring, the stallion was being regarded as a breed to race stallion (ie limited market appeal). The display board at Keeneland echoed that sentiment, reading a modest $15,000 after the hammer fell. Far cry from a successful venture after splitting the proceeds and factoring in the costs for raising the filly.

Or was it? After a brief discussion with the buyer’s agent we said our goodbyes to the filly believing she was bound for South America. So we entertained ourselves with the notion that we had just sold what would become the Champion 2yo Filly in Argentina or Uruguay or Brazil, or wherever we found geographical cause to raise a consolatory glass of bourbon. Yet somewhere between then and now the travel plans changed. The filly would up in a completely different location and has proved to be something of racehorse.

By any measure our broodmare band of one had a successful 2009 with the exploits of Perfect Moment’s first two foals of racing age. The first, Perfect Bull, was crowned Champion 3yo Colt in Minnesota. The other, having won both a Listed and Group II stakes, is the Highest Rated 2yo Filly in Russia; they named her Perfect Point.

Postcards from Paradise

Perfect Bull concluded his sophomore year with an appearance at Churchill Downs on November 15th in the Commonwealth Turf Stakes. He looked absolutely fantastic in the paddock, an opinion shared by fans from as far away as Australia. A nation that is no stranger to horse racing, the good folks Down Under bring their island continent to a virtual standstill during the annual running of the Melbourne Cup. The race has been contested on the first Tuesday of November since 1861 and has been observed as a public holiday since 1877. (In America we can't have a manger on public display yet in Australia exists a public holiday declared for the racing of horses. Who's upside down?)

While a cloudy sky persisted, nothing would diminish our breathtaking view beneath the storied Twin Spires. Connections, no matter how loose the association, often afford privileges. As it was, the colt was stabled in the barn of an old friend of our trainers while at Churchill Downs. That trainer's wife happened to be one of the track's liaisons. Connecting the dots eventually placed our seats where the Queen of England rested hers during her last visit. So from the comfort of our private balcony normally reserved for persons with titles other than Mr., we watched our color-bearer break beautifully out of the gate. Then the colt proceeded to run as what could best be described as uncomfortably. While he broke from an outside post and was widest of all going to into the turn, he obviously put himself in that predicament. One may reasonably believe that in making his 20th start, the colt would handle the raced day conditions and pace situations. Then again, perhaps by reacting to whatever what was bothering him the way he has shown to do is what has allowed him to stay iron-built sound through those 20 starts.

The colt crossed the finish line 9th of 10. The eventual winner had broke from the rail, sailed around the course and set a new stakes record. Tough company, yet its arguable that Perfect Bull actually beat more accomplished runners when finishing 5th during his previous effort in the Oklahoma Derby. Of course, every race is a challenge endured through grit and determination born of flesh and blood; these work horses aren't machines. So whether the colt needed, or wanted, a break either physically or mentally from the rigors of training and competition, we certainly did. Perfect Bull is presently enjoying a planned sixty day reprieve on a farm in Florida with his own private acre to gallop, buck and graze upon. Reports are that he's loving it, yet we're not expecting a postcard.

Logical

From the learned Thoroughbred racing aficionados at the Daily Racing Form...

"Other logical contenders in this sixth running of the Commonwealth include the uncoupled Kiaran McLaughlin duo of Florentino, winner of the Jefferson Cup here in June, and Street Move, entered off back-to-back wins in New Jersey; Major Marvel, fourth as the pacesetter in the Bryan Station; and Perfect Bull, a standout Minnesota-bred."

No bull about it, that makes perfect sense.

Back to the Bluegrass

Perfect Bull has been entered in the $100,000 Commonwealth Turf Stakes (Grade 3) to be run this Sunday at Churchill Downs in Louisville KY. Post time for the feature event, carded as race nine, is 4:37pm. The colt will be breaking from post eight in a field of ten for the 8.5 furlong contest.

In preparation for the race, Perfect Bull worked five furlongs last Sunday, recording a bullet move in 1:00.10 (fastest of 49 at the distance) and signaling his eagerness. The colt vanned to Louisville from his Oklahoma City barn on Wednesday and has settled in nicely. Arriving a couple days early will allow him to work over the track and become familiar with his new surroundings.

The connections will enjoy the privilege of experiencing race day from the Aristides Room with its private balcony overlooking the finish line and the famed Twin Spires as well as complimentary food and open bar. Its quite the change from our first visits to Kentucky, when dining at a Waffle House and a misunderstanding at a distillery benchmarked the days. Chasing our Bluegrass dream has provided a strange, wonderful journey. We highly encourage you to make such a trip. Your life will thank you.

Never Forget

Remington Park proved to be a very gracious host as they treated the connections of the Derby horses to a terrific day of racing from the comfort of a spacious suite filled with fine food and drink. As post time grew near, you could feel the anticipation grow in the room.

Perfect Bull looked great in the parade to the post. To be sure, so did most of the other fine colts in the race; you could tell this was going to be a very difficult contest. Bull broke well out of the gate as usual, but wasn't as keen or eager to get to the front as he had shown in his other races, settling into the back of the pack for the 1 1/8 mile race.

As they turned for home and with a wall of horses in front of him, the jockey had no option but to swing wide out of the turn and tapped Bull to accelerate down the home stretch. He passed a few horses but he left himself too much ground to make up at the end of the race and finished in 5th place, a little over 4 lengths behind the winner, Fiddlers Afleet.

Although defeated, the colt showed that even on an off-day he can compete at this level as he finished in front of such accomplished horses as Kelly Leak (who defeated Kentucky Derby winner Mine that Bird in the $800k Sunland Derby) and Duke of Mischief (who had won the $250k Iowa Derby and raced against the great filly Rachel Alexandra this summer).

And he gave us an experience we will never forget.

Interview with Trainer and Jockey

Link to the video.

Feature Race

Perfect Bull has been entered in the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby, to be run on Sunday Oct. 11 at Remington Park. The colt will break from post two as the field of eight contests the mile and one-eighth distance in its twenty-first renewal. Carded as race nine, the approx. post time is 5:06pm (sign-up at twinspires.com for a live video feed or find on HRTV, channel 404 on the DISHnetwork).

Having recorded his first career victory at the Oklahoma City oval last fall as a 2yo, Perfect Bull has been stabled there once again since his victorious Minnesota campaign. A Minnesota-bred winning the Oklahoma Derby is not without precedent as fellow MN-bred Wally's Choice won the event in 2004. The family tree also boasts a victor as Perfect Bull's broodmare sire (father of his mother), Dazzling Falls, won the event in 1995. Looking for history to repeat, Perfect Bull enters the race ready to make history of his own.

Additional news, insights and ramblings may be found at..
This Week's Feature Race
Oklahoma Derby Week
Remington Park
Canterbury Park blogspot