Chestertown Slew
 

So something doesn't add up here. Chestertown Slew sold for $32,000 at Keeneland January to a regular owner at Turf Paradise. He's now entered in a pretty tough $75K stakes race there. How can a NY bred capable of running in open stakes company only be worth $32K? And why the heck would you bring a NY bred out to Turf Paradise? Is the new owner out of his mind or did the previous owner give him away for nothing? There is also the fact that he's an intact son of Seattle Slew to throw into the equation. Anyways, here is the field:

Turf Paradise - February 16th, 2008 - Race 8
Turf Paradise H. - Grade:
Estimated Local Post Time: 4:14 PM
Race Type: Stakes
Breed: Thoroughbred
Age Restriction: Four Year Old and Upward
Purse: $75,000
Distance: One And One Sixteenth Miles
Surface: Turf
Post Horse Name Age Sex Weight Jockey Name
1 Capitano (PA) 7 Horse 117 Glenn W. Corbett
2 Chestertown Slew (NY) 6 Horse 114 Luis Contreras
3 Prorunner (KY) 6 Gelding 115 Sandi Lee Gann
4 Twin Sparks (KY) 5 Gelding 115 Miguel Hernandez
5 Bad Boy (KY) 4 Gelding 117 Seth B. Martinez
6 Power Strokin (FL) 7 Gelding 115 Daniel P. Vergara
7 Running Free (CA) 7 Gelding 115 Wilson Omar Dieguez
8 Willow O Wisp (FL) 6 Gelding 122 Alonso Quinonez
9 Crested (GB) 5 Gelding 123 Brice Blanc
10 Billy Allen (IRE) 7 Horse 117 Chris Landeros
11 Fitz Flag (ARG) 8 Horse 120 G. F. Almeida

Two starts back he ran for $25K and wasn't claimed. Maybe the better question is why did someone pay $32K for him.

Holy smokes, Billy Allen is still around.

Who knows, he might fit with these. He's be running in some claiming events in recent months so the price seems OK. Maybe they are just spotting him here to see how he stacks up.

He was also catalogued in one of the mixed sales recently... Chuck considered that the Stable grab him if he was to go cheap... but I think he was withdrawn...

I'd think $32K and being able to vet him and not having the risk of a breakdown in the race you make the claim is probably a wash compared to a $25K claim. Still a little baffling he's taking a $25K claimer and throwing him in a stakes race that didn't come up that easy.

he was not withdrawn in January.
we looked at him and I was actually quite taken with him. a nice looking horse.....a few thousand less and he would have been worth it.
I can't remember exactly but it seems like maybe he had an issue...chuck might remember better than me.

I bid up to 25k I think. He looked good for his age though he is pretty crooked and has some long pasterns and he hasnt run very many races considering how old he is. I was thinking of running him for 25k at Tampa or waiting to Keeneland to run him in the same 25k race he won. Ideally you could run him in NY and get the extra NY bred bonus money but the 35k claimers on the turf there may be a bit too tough for him now and there are no NY bred races that he fits anymore.

that's right....i remember I said I would take him off your hands as my next hunter project:D

As opposed to next hot stallion prospect in Alaska or Wyoming.

he wouldn't have that option after I got my hands....err emasculators....on him.

Only cruel, anti-Peta people would geld a 7 year old

I once gelded a 13 year old horse....and he was much happier when he could be turned out with the other boys.

You may be a serial gelder

nervous?

A little...

don't worry there's a whole line in front of you;)

Let me know when I'm close so I can go out of town for a while

will do.

I tried to put a group together to claim him when he was in for $20k at the Meadowlands, but he scratched. He's one of the last sons of Seattle Slew out of a GSP mare, and certainly seems to be worth a lot more than $20k.Too bad they sent him out to TP.

NYB's have a lot of O/C races now (versus being previously straight allowances), he'd fit well in those, if not the fakestakes they run on a weekly basis.

He is not what he was. He is at best a 35 claimer on the turf, maybe. Plus he was always a horse that had lots of spacing between races, rarely running more than a few times a year. His stud value is close to zero.

Kind of like getting a defensive penalty when the offense is on your one inch line?

Yeah, doesnt hurt too much.

You think you could get 20 mares at $1,000 a pop for him? Is there a market for a son of Slew that is at least stakes placed? Seems like a few Slew lovers out there would take a shot.

he was 3rd in an off the turf stake 3 years ago....and has shown that he is not stakes caliber.....zero stud value

You just want to geld him.

You need to get way more than that at a much higher rate to even come close to breaking even. You have the expense of keeping the horse which includes general boarding and food, nominatation fees, advertising, lab costs, etc. Plus a horse like this is going to be live foal, stands and nurses which means even if his conception rate is high you wont get paid for at least a year and you will be lucky if you collect on 80% of the total mares. As far as I can tell there is no demand for a horse like this nor should there be. Plus he is neither very correct nor fast.

Yeah, that makes sense although I imagine some of those costs are going to exist for whoever has the horse whether they breed or not.

There is a possibility that they will stand him in AZ or somewhere out West but the number of stallions that actually make any money that stand there is probably zero. At least if they are running him they have a chance to get their money back.

Hes getting a trainer upgrade. He has enough class to be useful out there and certainly pay for himself.

:D :D