Update on the Doper named Filly with pictures!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Time for another update. A while back I asked the dopers for some help naming a thoroughbred filly. Snoooopy ended up suggesting the winning name. I told him I would report back on her once she started training, some others mentioned they would like to be informed as well, so I thought I would post it here.

No Sir End Cat, known as “Cat” around the barn, has just begun her formal racehorse training. She was taught basic manners last winter, then turned out until she had physically matured enough to handle training. Since she is on the slight side, that time is now.

Here she is a few days old: http://i14.tinypic.com/2ng4t37.jpg

Here she is at a year: http://i12.tinypic.com/2hnqu1f.jpg

And here she is now:
http://i16.tinypic.com/6b933hv.jpg
http://i15.tinypic.com/4kefn2q.jpg

Starting to look like a real racehorse! We are very pleased with how she has developed.

The day those latest one were taken, she was going to gallop on the training track for the first time. We were especially pleased to find that the rider on No Sir Ender Cat was also the first rider for Curlin, the Preakness winner. He has a reputation for being very good with young horses so we knew she was in good hands.

No Sir Ender Cat was paired up with Copracabana, another one of our two year old fillies. She and No Sir Ender Cat have not been separated since they were weanlings so it made sense that they would likely do better together this first time out.

Here is Copracabana:
http://i13.tinypic.com/4kpacg3.jpg
http://i12.tinypic.com/4pbprlw.jpg

She is definately a head turner. Everyone at the track always comments on what a beauty she is. Very graceful, a real pleasure to watch.

So off to the track they go. At first they were more interested I watching us, watching them:
http://i16.tinypic.com/5ycyfxf.jpg

But their riders got their attention and started the process of teaching our girls what they should do. The next time around, we were forgotten, the fillies taking clues from their riders of how to respond:
http://i10.tinypic.com/641zxv5.jpg
http://i9.tinypic.com/4q3vxx0.jpg
http://i12.tinypic.com/4r1ff9e.jpg

They both did very well. They were nervous, and even though they barely were at a very slow gallop, this first work tired them out pretty well. They will stay at an easy gallop for about a month, then when they have developed some muscle and stamina, start to breeze. They have been at it for about three weeks now, and are no longer nervous. You can tell they get excited when it is their turn to come out and run. They are starting to want to go faster than the rider wants, so are learning to take their cues from the rider. Soon they will learn to switch leads, pass other horses, rate, and then practice loading in the gate.

If all goes as planned ( it rarely does, but we make the plans anyway) they will likely make their first start this fall. We are excited for No Sir Ender Cat because her sire has had a few nice stakes winners lately. His kids look to be doing well on artificial surface, which is a real plus. We tend to breed for turf horses, and are finding those bred for turf often do well on polytrack. Two of the Kentucky tracks now have polytrack, so I think that gives No Sir Ender Cat an edge.

So Snoooopy, your girl is doing just fine. Unfortunately we never did get to race our three year old at Keeneland. When he was shipping back from Gulfstream Park he cut his leg and had to be confined to a stall for a few months so it could heal. He is back in training now, and looks better than ever. I will let you know if he has a race locally you might want to attend. If not, then I will let you know when No Sir Ender makes her first start.

We also have five yearlings and 6 foals. I have pictures of all of them as well. If someone should ask, I can be convinced to post some. :slight_smile:

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She is absolutely gorgeous! I’d love to see some of the others.

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“Cat” looks good, Grits. I know she is still quite young, and I’m not a big fan of two-year-old races or futurities, but has she worked yet? She looks like she belongs at the track; maybe it’s just me, but she looks confident and calm, yet ready to open it up and go. If you could, I’d appreciate it if you could keep us posted as to when she does run for real.

Oh, and those new foals? Photos would be great, but will there also be another SDMB “Name the Foal” thread?

4

Thank you Ms Pumpkin! Out of curiousity I checked to see if there was a horse named Ms Pumpkin. I remember seeing a Pumpkin Head. There isn’t, but I did find these:
Pumpkin Bluff
Pumpkin Bunny
Pumpkin Center
Pumpkin Cove
Pumpkin Head
Pumpkin Hill
Pumpkin House
Pumpkin Love
Pumpkin Mill
Pumpkin Moonshine
Pumpkin Patch
Pumpkin Peach
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Pie to Go
Pumpkin Ridge
Pumpkin Roll
Pumpkin Rose
Pumpkin’s First
Pumpkin’s Glow
Pumpkin Shell
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Spice
Pumpkin’s Pride
Pumpkin’s Trick
Pumpkin’s Victory
Pumpkin Time

The name Pumpkin Love does scare me a bit after reading a couple of posts.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8689454&highlight=pumpkin#post8689454

I am also not a fan of the early two year old races. I just don’t think many are mature enough to go through that stressful training that young. For a month now Cat has just been galloping a mile. I saw her this morning and am amazed at how different she looks already. She has added quite a bit of muscle and is filling out in all the right places.

She does have a confident calm manner. So far she is looking to be one of those who are fine to sit back and let the others go in front, knowing she has a strong kick at the end. Even in gallops she saves some in the tank, always finishing strong. The other filly just wants to be in front, and uses most of her energy fighting the rider. If she has enough speed, she will do fine as a front runner. She is showing heart too, “eyeing” the other horses that try to get in front of her. Cat is looking to be a late closer, which is good since she will likely be running on turf.

We are taking it very slowly with these two. Giving them plenty of time while they continue to grow. We will know she is close to her first race when she transfers from the training track to Churchill Downs. I will definately keep you posted.

And I do plan to ask the dopers for help on naming our five yearlings very soon. We thought we would start the process sooner this year instead of waiting too close to the deadline. I will include pictures of each of them in that thread which will be in IMHO very soon.

Thanks for asking!

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Just wanted to chime in. The only stuff I know about horses I learned vicariously while my sister adored them from age 5 to age 12.

But I do know that both of those horses are beautiful! Congrats and best of luck (assuming that is the proper wish for horse racing, I think ‘break a leg’ is rather morbid.)

– IG

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I’d like to know about it if either of them makes it up to Laurel or even Pimlico.

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I’m glad to hear that my Cat is a late finisher. I like horses who run that way much more than the ones that burst out of the gate and try to go wire-to-wire.

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Thanks! And you are right, “break a leg” wouldn’t go over too well in the racing industry.

When I attended my first race as an owner, I was told about how many normally rational horsemen are very superstitious. So I was told the do’s and don’t for my time in the paddock, to make sure if the horse didn’t win, I wouldn’t be blamed because I didn’t follow the proper superstitions.

The preferred way of wishing someone good luck is “Have a safe trip.” That shows you are being humble before the racing gods. You don’t want to appear greedy, all you ask is that your horse get around the track safely.

And other things thought responsible for a horse losing include:

Taking a picture in the paddock
Menitoning having your picture taken in a few minutes.
Saying things like, "See you in the Winner’s Circle.
Using the word “win”.

Pretty much anything having to do with certainty that your horse will win. The thought is that makes the racing gods mad. And you don’t want to make the racing gods mad right before a race.

And if your horse won the last time out, you are expected to be wearing at least some of the same clothes, expected to stand in the same spot to watch the race, expected to place your bet with the same clerk, and be drinking the same type of drink.

I have one trainer friend who invited me to join him in the paddock before a race as the owners were out of town and no one would be there. I did, the horse won a nice stakes race. The next time he saw me at the track, he invited me again. Again the horse won. The next time he was entered in a race he really needed to win, he called me and pretty much begged me to attend the races and come to the paddock, I did, the horse won. The last time he asked me to come in, the horse collapsed from heat stroke on the track. ( the horse and jockey were fine) Since I was responsible in his mind for the other horses winning, it was my fault the horse collapsed. He hasn’t asked me back in the paddock since. :smack:

Not many are that extreme about the superstitions, but the ones that are, take it very seriously. So I always follow them. To me it is kind of fun, one more thing that makes racing horses so interesting.

Like I mentioned, we make plans, then see what reality we are dealt. We plan on them running at Keeneland, and Churchill Downs, and then depending on their level, either shipping them out of state, or racing at Turfway Park, and Ellis Park.

But they could end up anywhere, so I will let you know. I did notice another horse by Sir Cat that recently won at Pimlico. Cat’s Revenge. The reason I noticed him was because he is rather unusual. He is 6 years old, and broke his maiden in that race. You don’t see that often. He has just earned his $16,000 sale price at the yearling sales. Now he needs to earn back enough to cover 5 years of room and board. Then his owners can look at making a profit on him. I will be watching and rooting for him.

But I am glad to see so many Sir Cat kids still running at 6 and 7 years. Our looks to be quite sound, and we plan on doing our best to keep her that way.

I also prefer the late finishers, especially on turf, and now polytrack. The front runners at the last Keeneland meet really looked to be at a disadvantage. If a late runner misses the break, is really isn’t a problem, they just have a little more work to do. When a need the lead type misses the break, you have to spend two minutes in agony knowing you have no shot at all.

But so far, No Sir Ender Cat is looking like she prefers the others in front where she can see them, saving it all for one big move at the end. I think those races are much more exciting to watch, although as an owner, you are always sure the jockey is waiting too long to make the move. It always seems they have left too much work to do. But the good ones know what the horse can do, and listen.

I will keep you posted…

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I like late closers too. My ex used to watch her selection in the lead on the backstretch, then she was always disappointed when a late (or not so late) closer took the lead at the top of the stretch and/or other closers would contend at the quarter or sixteenth. I tried to teach her how to read a result chart, but she wouldn’t listen. Strangely enough though, this had nothing to do with us breaking up.

Grits, is Cat shaping up to be a sprinter or a router, do you think? You said she’s been galloping a mile; and if she’s on the turf, the route distances would seem likely. But sprints (using the definition of “anything less than a mile”) on the turf, while not exactly common are also not unheard of, at least up here in Canada. At any rate, it sounds like you have her on a good training schedule, and I’ll look forward to hearing of her progress.

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It really took me a long time to be able to read the charts and have it help me with making betting selections. And I really wanted to understand it. So I can see trying to teach someone who won’t listen wouldn’t likely help.

Once I was able to read the charts, I would feel sorry for my friends who were happily cheering their front running choice who was leading at the half, and I would look up at the time realize the horse had no shot to win. Or if they heard the announcer mention that the front runner was setting a blazing pace, they would be so happy, not realizing that blazing pace was actually setting it up very well for my lone closer.

So far we have thought No Sir Ender Cat will likely be a router. She seems to start a little slow and takes a bit to get rolling. But when she does get going, she finishes strong. And her pedigree suggests going the distance. We will likely start her at 6 furlongs on the dirt, to give her a feel for racing. Then stretch her out and try her on turf. But we will have a better idea once she starts to breeze and we get a feel for her speed and stamina.

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Thanks for your reply. I am enjoying this thread a bunch. Who keeps racing a horse for 5 tears with no wins? That’s more optimism than I ever expect to muster.

My fathers uncle owned a few thoroughbreds, and was a trainer towards the end. I was too young to be near any saddling areas, so never picked up on the superstitions. These guys sound worse than baseball players.

My earlies memory of my paternal grandfather and me being alone, is us at the track, so racing has always been important, but only as a spectator.

Breeders’ Cup Day is a National Holiday at our house. We won’t even answer the phone during the coverage. We also have more Maryland Millions memorabilia than any household should.

Have a safe trip.