Cotton is getting ready

We're back !  Cotton is in New Jersey and will be running in middle to late July. She had a great workout last week and is ready to fly.  Her trainer Jane Cibelli is very pleased and if our trainer is happy then I'm happy. She is due for another workout this weekend. Speaking of workouts, I need to go run . My trainer (wife) is not quite so please with my progress.

NC in NJ

NC is safe and sound at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. She's getting acclimatized to her new digs and environment. She put on between 100 and 150 pounds, which is a good thing as she was a bit light. Just don't tell her that her rear end looks big...

Joc and I are hoping to go down to New Jersey to see her race...the horse, not Joc, and we hope to include visits to the surrounding area. We're not sure if we want to head north and see  New York and  Philadelphia or head south to Washington and Virgina. Or maybe we'll just stay home and wait for our new kitchen.

Parlez-vous le 'Bill' ?

Bill and I were sending emails back and forth when suddenly he starts sending me messages in french ! Apparently he loaded a french translation app into his Blackberry and was sending me text  with a Gallic twist . Though somehow the sentence "We need to pay the vet bill" translated into "Ta poutine est en feu". Don't ask me how that happened...je ne sais pas *gallic shrug*

Study Week for Cotton

We decided to give Cotton a break as Tampa Bay Downs is closing for the summer and Monmouth Park in New Jersey is starting in mid-May.  Let's call it  Study Week....ok let's call it Spring Break. Hey, I went to university, I know what Study Week is really all about ! The only studying that takes place is answering the age old question of how many drinks can one person cons...ok, enough about that. Northern Cotton is going to be studying past performance charts, analyzing her  competitor's strengths and weaknesses, lifting weights...and that's it!  I don't care how many toga parties she gets invited to... 

Meeting and Oscar's Deli plug

The brain trust of Quest d'Or Stables met on Friday morning at Oscar's Deli minus Dean. Some have argued that the brain trust of Quest D'or Stables is actually Northern Cotton...they may have a point.

We discussed current expenses, potential revenues and future plans ( note the word potential before revenue). However this adventure turns out we all agreed that this has been a great experience and beyond our expectations in turns of scope. I mean, who'd have thought our little horse could have brought us so much excitement.

A quick word regarding Oscar's Deli ( run by co-owner Larry). Great food, great service and located in the heart of downtown. Check it out, tell  Larry that Northern Cotton sent you.

http://www.menumanitoba.com/oscarsdeli.htm 

Quick pic

Here she is before the race at Tampa Bay Downs

Not a stellar outing

Disappointment....4th place. She started fine took a quick lead and then settled back of couple of lengths behind the leader. Perfect position for her. Things started going wonky down the backstretch though as she dropped to second last place in a matter of seconds. She rallied somewhat down the stretch and finished fourth trailing the winner 7.5 lengths.

Why did she drop so quickly ? We're still waiting for a final analysis but it seems she had some congestion in her lungs and may have suffered some sort of heat stroke. As well we may have run her a bit too quickly after her last race, 2 weeks was perhaps not enough time.

The plan is to rest her for a month and then run her out of Monmouth Park ( New Jersey) in some long distance races ( 1 mile plus) .

Oh but don't despair, we are staying positive. In that race she ran against horses that have made over $100,000 and we know she can race with them. We learned a few things and have a good idea what sort of races she should be entering. She just turned three and it's early April , lots of racing still to be done .

No one said this would be easy...

Race Day minus one

Tension mounts, palms are sweaty, wife is antsy, can't think straight...today I'm doing the laundry !  Oh right and tomorrow is race day...

Got an update from co-owner Bill who is in Tampa to see the race. NC is doing great, she's filling out her frame and is looking like an adult . Bill is really impressed with trainer Jane Cibelli and her foreman Rob. They've done a great job with Cotton. If any of you are interested  here is her website

http://www.cibelliracing.com/The_Latest.html


There's a couple of really good horses in this race so it will be a tough challenge for NC . We're always looking for improvement and while a win would be great we want to see how she progresses. 

Need to run...laundry needs attention.

Pics

Here's a couple of pics of  Cotton from Tampa taken by co-owner Dean . The non-horse in the picture is Jane's foreman Rob.

Lineup for Cotton's race

Check out race 7

http://www.drf.com/race-entries/TAM/USA/2012-04-07/D/7

Cotton's next race....this weekend !

Her next race is this Saturday April 7 at Tampa Bay Downs.  It's the seventh race and she's running out of post position number 5. If you have the Horse racing channel via Shaw or MTS you should be able to catch the race ( but you won't catch Cotton....Heeyuk! ). The race will take place at about 2:15 PM CT . We'll be watching the race at Assiniboia Downs.

It's an allowance race so the quality of horses will be pretty high. She can do it !

Random Thoughts on Race Day

You want it, you crave it. It's Gerry's "Random Thoughts on Race Day" post .

• I took the day off as we had other errands to run. It felt a bit different than other race days, we seemed a bit less involved given that she's running 1,700 miles away.
• Joc and I  leave for Assiniboia Downs to watch the race on TV  with co-owners Michel, Bill/Shelley,  and Larry. The fifth owner Dean ( no relation to the fifth Beatle ) is in Tampa Bay to watch the race live.
• We find out later that Dean got to sit in a private box  , was privy to confidential discussion between our trainer and the jockey and bragged to everyone that he picked Northern Cotton.
• We arrive at Assiniboia Downs and find out that there is an exhibition called Taboo exploring alternative sexual relationships. The exhibition takes up the whole main floor  And here I thought a race track was all about saddles, riding whips and training...Hmmmm, wait a minute... 
• We find the gang at the second floor  restaurant and settle in and make our bets. Michel disappears for a long while. Bill thinks he's throwing up in the bathroom. I suspect it has something to do with the Taboo exhibition downstairs...
• It's post time and she gets into the chute with no problems. They're off and she's sitting in a good spot down the backstretch . I'm wondering if she'll stay in the pack for the rest of the race or if she'll show her stuff. 
• We're all watching and cheering as she comes down the stretch passing the #6 horse to grab second place. It's a mixture of relief, joy and a tinge of disappointment. Relief because she showed she can compete down there. Joy as second place is nothing to whinny at. Disappointment  as she could have won that race. It's all good though.
• After the race , people who were watching come by to congratulate Bill . He seems to know everyone there , I give random "thumbs up" to  no one in particular, trying to look like I know people.
• Calls are being made to friends and spouses. I see Larry walking towards me saying "I love you".  I'm thinking that our ownership group is a little closer than I thought it was. Or maybe it had something to do with the exhibition downstairs. Of course Larry is talking to his wife on his cell , I settle for a firm manly handshake.
• We analyze the race and discuss options for NC's next race. Will she do better in a longer race ? What's the next step ? What are the options ?   I really enjoy race days. 

Why the lack of updates ?

You may have noticed the lack of  recent updates regarding the activities of our favorite horse. There was a reason. We entered NC into an optional claiming race of $75,000 ( the one where she just finished second ) . What does that mean and why all the hush hushiness ?  It means that anyone could have claimed ( i.e. bought) NC prior to the race starting  for $75,000. Of course  the buyer would have to be present at Tampa Bay Downs to actually make the claim. We would still have gotten our share  of the purse for that race (plus the $75,000) but NC would no longer belong to us.  We didn't want that to happen so we kept things quiet. Now the odds of NC being claimed were pretty slim. Would anyone invest that amount of money into a horse that won a race way back in September from a relatively obscure track in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Probably not,  but given her bloodlines, you never know.  A claim was not  made and she is still ours !

You may be asking yourself, is this blog so influential that horse players across the world are scrutinizing it ? While I like to think so , I'm fairly certain the only people looking at it are friends and family that I've emailed a hundred times " Hey, here is the link to my blog! ". We may get commodity investors searching on the words northern and cotton , hoping to cash in on some cotton variant growing near Yellowknife , but that's probably it. Of course, you are reading it right now and that's what's important !

Northern Cotton runs at Tampa Bay Downs !

Northern Cotton ran her first race at Tamp Bay Downs today.

Here's the replay link :

March 23, 2nd race, she is #7 ( orange and black)

http://www.tampabaydowns.com/daily-replays.aspx

While she came in second we were very happy with the result. She showed she could run at a prominent race track  against quality horses . Even more encouraging was that the other horses had recently run. Cotton had not run since last September.

She started in her usual goofy fashion by bumping the horse to the right of her. In the backstretch she was bumped a couple of times but recovered well. Turning for home she , once again, turned her head towards the grandstand. Trying to show her good side ? Checking out the stallion in the paddock ? Trying to get a glimpse of the feed truck ? You tell me cause I don't know. 


She made a great run at the end to finish second. We  were hoping the #3 and #1 horse would duke it out at the beginning, tire themselves out and Cotton would take the race at the end. Unfortunately the #1 horse decided to go for a jolly jaunt letting #3 have a free trip .Cotton was flying at the end but could not make up enough ground.

So we're happy and looking forward to her next race .  There was a veil of secrecy over Cotton's first race at Tampa . More about that on my next post .

Quick summary

    Here's a quick summary of NC's activities the last 6 weeks in Tampa, Florida . Her training is progressing really well. She's had 3 workouts and may be racing in about 2 or 3 weeks. Her trainer seems quite impressed with her competitiveness and her willingness to take on any horse. She eats a lot, like a horse in fact... She must have a great metabolism as her weight is remaining constant. . Co-owner Dean is in Tampa right now and Bill may go down to see her race. Joc and I  may pay her a visit  if she races a second time .
   We're anxious to see how she does in that environment. More to come when we have the race date pinned down.

Let's hear some news please

Many  of you have been asking...where is Northern Cotton , what is she doing, what is she up to ?  We recently had her transported to Tampa , Florida via horse trailer.  We'd have let her drive but she keeps getting caught for speeding...

She's starting her training regime after a few months off and we hope to have her running in a race by mid-March . We'll see how she does down there and then decide what to do when Assiniboia Downs opens in late May .  So while we dumdum owners endure a January winter in Winnipeg,  NC is enjoying the pleasant mid 20's of  western Florida. Something is not quite right here.

More pics

These were taken by co-owner Dean at NC's "winter residence"

Which one is Northern Cotton ?

I'll give you a hint, she has 4 legs and a tail....hmmm need more hints? OK, that's our favourite horse with Lefty the cat who , coincidentally,  is on the left side of the picture.

Whooooooa....it's been a while

Northern Cotton is currently on a farm near Starbuck , and while she's not sipping on a latte . she is  taking a break . Her life has been pretty hectic since we purchased her in April . She's traveled  from Florida to Winnipeg , trained hard,  and raced 3 times. She needs a holiday and time to just be a horse .

We hope to bring her to Phoenix in late December or early January, get her back in shape and race her a couple of times down there.  We'll then make a decision, based on how she does down there, as to where she will race for the spring and summer. 

The Circle of Winning

Well here we are in the Winner's Circle. I'll skip family and friends for now and just identify the owners and handlers

Trainer Rob is at the far right with jockey Gustavo Ortiz on NC . His groom (will get his name soon)  is hanging on to Cotton. Bill, the one who selected Cotton and bought her at an auction is in the blue shirt with white stripes. Skip to Dean ( yellowish shirt) who is no doubt telling Jocelyne that he was the one that actually selected Cotton ( just kidding Dean) . You probably recognize the guy in the white shorts.  Skip to Larry in the blue shirt ( owner of Oscar's Deli, great food !)  and then Michel in the green cap. Michel is pondering his next interview for Radio-Canada and how he was the one that actually selected Cotton...

More of those to come ?

More random thoughts

This should be easy as most of my thoughts are pretty random

• Woke up to my third race morning and there's always something special about it . Not quite Christmas , just a feeling of excitement.
• Darn, still only 11 AM, I do more organizing in my office
• We have lunch at home and head out . We arrive at 12:30 and there's already lots of people at the track. It's the last racing day of the season plus it's beautiful out so everyone is coming out.
• I go watch her in the paddock . She looks like a pro , not as goofy as she looked  in her first race but feisty enough to show she means business.
• The favourite is #4 , not sure why as she's never run a race. NC is second favourite running as #5 . Apparently the trainer of #4 has been making lots of noise about his horse beating ours. We put his quotes up in NC's stall as motivation.
• I get in the wagering line up  and I hear people betting on #4, I snicker silently. 
• Mitch Bourbonniere is there with his son Joseph. Mitch is Maurice Bourbonniere's son . Maurice and my Dad were great friends and often went to the track together. I'm glad Mitch is here today.
• Co-owner Michel Simard tells me " I have a good feeling about the race"...I start worrying.
• As usual the race comes all too quickly and they're off. She breaks well but #4 breaks even better. I think I see #3 (blue) take the lead until my son Martin says that's NC, #5 (green) . As a Bomber fan you'd think I'd know the difference between blue and green, but for once I'm cheering green !
• They head into the turn and I can tell NC is not going to let up as she did in her first 2 races . They head into the stretch and I know she's got it. She wins with ease (almost 5 lengths) . I swear she could have run another mile .
• Hard to remember what happened next. Joc had run to the front while NC was coming down the stretch and then came running back to me for a hug. Sister-in-law Colette was just as excited as we were....maybe she bet a grand on NC ? Was great to walk to and enter the Winner's Circle. I've seen so many others do that before me. 
• We get our picture taken. Oh crap, I wanted Martin to join us in the circle, too much excitement ....la prochaine fois Martin.
• Joc and I wanted to go see NC but they had to hose her down and take her back to the barn for a vet check ( the horse...not Joc)  .You knew it was coming didn't you...
• I bet the next race and cash in a $245 quinella and then make $170 on a Win bet in the sixth. Horse racing seems so easy on certain days. And then there's most days...
• We have a couple of drinks at my sister's , then head to Cafe  22 for supper, where, once again, they have no pasta. 
• Rather sad to see the racing season end, what are we going to do with NC over the winter ?   

Here's the replay

Check out the replay at  http://www.assiniboiadowns.com/race-replays.cfm

Pick September 25 and race 1 and enjoy the thrill

She's a winner !

     Northern Cotton of the Quest D'or Stables broke her maiden ( I know, it sounds painful ) by easily  winning her first race .  She broke well, stayed behind the leader for a bit , edged out in front  in the backstretch and easily took control of the race winning by almost 5 lengths . She beat #4  the favourite ( who had never run a race) very convincingly and appeared to have plenty in the tank when the race was over.
     Great way to end the season and a great birthday present for Jocelyne. Now we have to figure out what to do with her over the winter ! More thoughts this week after I calm down...

Running this Sunday !

Race #1 on Sunday Sept. 25 ( oh, that's somebody's birthday as well !!! ) .  We'd love to see her run a strong race and set the tone for next year as a 3 year old. If she wins , that's a bonus .

See you there!

Oh yes, the birthday person...the birthday girl...the girl who has had quite a few birthdays. The girl who has had more birthdays than me . She will be there as well!

Resting up

I've been a bit negligent in posting, then again all is quiet on the western stables.  Bill is gone to Copenhagen and the owners will probably get together when he returns.

We will run her again sometime in September and then figure what to do with her once the ASD season closes at the end of the month.