Thundering Roar briefly had the lead in deep stretch in the 5^th race at Saratoga Race Course on Monday (8/31) before getting passed but nonetheless finished in an impressive 2^nd place, losing by just 1 ¼ lengths!

TR was making just his 2^nd lifetime start and we had every reason to expect forward improvement off of his impressive debut race.  Myself and trainer Mark Hennig were completely shocked to see TR going off at 11-1 but the question was why?  The logical concern is that there are some well meant first time starters in the race that might run big.  After the weekend rain, the track was rated “Good” and it was clear that the track was softer and slower than it has been for much of this meet.  TR broke well and then tucked in behind 4 horses that were gunning out of the gate through a ridiculously fast first ¼ mile in 21.68 seconds.  TR rounded the turn and then was slightly stuck with jockey Javier Castellano looking to go outside but then as the #8 moved out, Javier tucked back to the inside to split horses and briefly grab the lead in deep stretch.  Race announcer Tom Durkin gave a thrilling and spirited annunciation of “Thundering Roar” as he grabbed the lead.  The #1 horse had been back behind TR following him before making a move splitting TR and the #8 to grab the lead and the win.  The winner is a much larger horse than TR and when he came through, he bumped TR, who was then pinned between the bigger horse and the rail.  TR showed his guts and toughness in continuing on and maintaining the 2^nd place position. 

The final time of 1:04.32 for the 5 ½ furlongs was very impressive considering the slower relative speed of the “softer” turf course.  In retrospect, I think this was a pretty good field.  We do want to run TR in a longer race with a softer pace which we believe that he’ll appreciate.  We should have this chance in TR’s next start at Belmont Park.

Make It Come True just finished her race at Penn National (Race 4 on Wednesday 9/2) with a deep closing 2^nd place finish!  MICT was actually laying back in 8^th place and 20 lengths back of the lead through a quick first ½ mile.  Trainer Gilberto Rivera told the jockey to sit on her until the 3/8 pole and then make the run.  MICT came flying late, only losing by 2 ¾ lengths before flying by the winner on the gallop out! 

Victory Assured is entered in the 9^th race (6:56 PM; twilight schedule for final Friday of meet) at Saratoga Race Course, a $56,350 New York Bred Allowance N1X/ Optional Claiming ($25,000 tag) Race going 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf course.  VA drew post position and entry # 10 in what will be a full field of 10 horses.  The far outside post position is unfortunate as this is a 3-turn race with the first turn (also the turns are tight on this course) coming up quickly.  Kent Desormeaux returns as the jockey.

From the very beginning, we’ve wanted to see VA run long and that day is finally arriving as the right race has come up!  The weather forecast is clear!  Except for the outside draw and the 3 tight turns, I love this spot for VA as the company and distance should give him a great chance to win at Saratoga!

Victory Assured just missed winning after an exciting stretch run and photo finish which landed him in 3^rd place in the 4^th race at Saratoga Race Course on Monday (8/10)!

VA ran down the heavy favorite to take the lead in deep stretch and then quickly lost the lead at the wire in a photo finish as two other horses came on from the outside with a late run.  It was a very exciting stretch run and 3^rd place finish, losing by just a ½ length behind the final time of 1:41.94 for the 1 1/16 miles over the Mellon turf course.  Kent Desormeaux said that VA didn’t see the two horses coming from the outside (as he was focused on running down the race favorite who was loose on the lead) and that if they had gotten to him earlier, he thought VA would have beaten them as VA re-engaged once he realized the other horses were there, but unfortunately it was too late as they passed VA right at the wire…

It was an excellent effort from VA and a great ride from Kent!  We’re targeting bringing VA back for another race at Saratoga in 3 weeks…

Manhattan Racing Stable’s first homebred out of our first racehorse, Fabulous Gin, is set to make his racing debut.

Thundering Roar is entered in the 5^th race (3:15 PM) on Thursday (8/6) at Saratoga Race Course, a $44,000 New York Bred Maiden Special Weight race for 2 year olds going 5 ½ furlongs on the Mellon turf course.  TR drew post position # 6 but will race as entry # 7 in the 10 horse field.  Trainer Mark Hennig has selected Javier Castellano as the jockey.

This race is a crap shoot and very difficult to handicap as there are several first time starters.  We’re hoping that TR takes to the turf surface and makes a good account of himself, setting himself up for continued improvement.

TR is by Roaring Fever (a stakes winner trained by Mark Hennig and by Storm Cat and out of the Seattle Slew mare Pennant Fever) and out of Fabulous Gin (by Go For Gin and out of the stakes winning Devil’s Bag mare Court).  TR is a smallish Chestnut Gelding (we did this in January) with a balanced athletic body.  TR has trained well and shows a nice stride and way of going.  We have no idea how TR will take to the turf but his pedigree supports the attempt so we thought we’d take a shot here to get a read on him…

Perfect Precision grabbed the lead in the stretch and drew away to a 2 length win in the 5^th race at Monmouth Park on Wednesday July 1^st!

PP broke well and jockey Elvis Trujillo grabbed a hold of him and held an inside position sitting in 5th place and 4 lengths back of the first 1/4 mile pace of 24.33 seconds.  After the first turn, PP tightened it up on the backstretch getting to the 1/2 mile mark in 4th place, now just 1 3/4 lengths back of the 48.77 second pace.  PP started the move on the turn and hit the 3/4 mile mark in 2nd place and just a head back of the pace in 1:13.30.  PP put his head in front and after a contested early stretch battle, kicked clear as easily the best and won by 2 lengths in a final time of 1:38.51 for the one mile distance.

It was a great trip, it was a great spot and it was an easy win for Perfect Precision!!!!  Unfortunately and not surprisingly, PP was claimed away from us...  The new owners got a great horse who gave us a couple of exciting wins this year.

I’ve decided to only write updates after wins and other noteworthy news which is why there hasn’t been much reported of late.  Victory Assured recently took 4^th place in a Starter Allowance at Belmont Park and before that, Perfect Precision had a 2^nd place finish at Monmouth Park which preceded this win…

We’ve got a huge weekend with the following races scheduled:

Magnificent Truth is entered in the 9th race (3:50 PM) on Saturday (7/4) at Philadelphia Park.

Manhattan Star is entered in the 11th race (5:46 PM) on Saturday (7/4) at Monmouth Park.

Make It Come True is entered in the 8th race (9:38 PM) on Saturday (7/4) night at Penn National.

and

Fair Catch is entered in the 10^th race (5:49 PM) on Sunday (7/5) at Belmont Park.

Stay tuned, hopefully there will be another winner to report!

Check out the photo link below for pictures from Perfect Precision’s win: