What's wrong with this picture?
 

Why did I just assume he was off on a farm somewhere living the good life?


Penn National - February 11, 2011

Race 6 - 7:04 PM Exacta / Trifecta /2nd Half of Mid Double / Superfecta / Pick 4 (Races 6-7-8-9)
CLAIMING $4,000

Purse $12,000. (plus Up To 40% Pabf) For Four Year Olds And Upward Which Have Not Won Two Races Since August 11. Weight, 122 Lbs. Non-winners of a race at a mile or over since January 11 Allowed 3 Lbs. Claiming Price $4,000 (Races where entered for $3,500 or less not considered in eligibility). One Mile.
P# PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Claim $ Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L

1 1 Devil Approved It (KY) 5/G L $4,000 K Santiago 1127 M L Rojas 4/1
SCR Awesome Rubiano (FL) -------------------------------------Scratched-------------------------------------
3 3 Tori Light (FL) 9/G L $4,000 M Chaves 119 R Servideo 30/1
4 4 Bleniem (ON) 7/G L $4,000 A Salgado 119 B L Kulp 8/1
5 5 Trippedoutofadream (FL) 6/G L $4,000 M Rispoli 1157 H T O'Hern 6/1
6 6 Rovic's Wealth (KY) 7/G L $4,000 W T Cloninger, Jr. 119 J D Crumley 6/1
7 7 Wave Me By (FL) 4/G L $4,000 W Corujo 1127 M A Miller 15/1
8 8 Ball Four (KY) 10/G L $4,000 W P Otero 119 D Balsamo 5/2
9 9 Marty's Hunch (PA) 7/G L $4,000 R Montanez 1145 B M Kravets 6/1
10 10 Balian (PA) 6/G L $4,000 D G Whitney 119 B M Kravets 15/1


Owners: 1 - Wanderers Stable; 3 - Zanek Stable; 4 - Brandon L. Kulp; 5 - Renpher Stable; 6 - Joseph E. Besecker; 7 - Rossi Racing; 8 - Bruce Golden Racing; 9 - Stevark Stable, Inc.; 10 - Rodney Chronister

Breeders: 1 - Liberation Farm & Fiona Craig; 3 - Robert Bakerman; 4 - Eugene Melnyk; 5 - Karen Silva; 6 - Robert Mondun & Vickie Mondun; 7 - Gilbert G. Campbell; 8 - B. D. Gibbs Farm, LLC & Grand Slam FarmLLC; 9 - Castle Rock Farm; 10 - Mer-Lyn Farms, LLC

http://www.pedigreequery.com/ball+four2


Owner: Bruce Golden Racing
Breeder: B. D. Gibbs Farm, LLC & Grand Slam Farm LLC
State Bred: KY
Winnings: 30 Starts: 8 - 3 - 4, $723,270

At 4: 2nd Kentucky Cup Classic (G2,9F)
At 5: Won Kentucky Cup Classic (G2,9F), Tejano Run S. (TP,9F); 2nd Fayette S. (G3,9F)
At 6: 2nd San Antonio H. (G2,9F)
At 7: Won Fayette S. (G3,9F); 3rd Native Diver H. (G3,9F)
At 8: Won Mervyn LeRoy H. (G2,8.5F)

You think he should be in for 5k?

He's Ball Four for God sake!:confused: :(

This is depressing.

Not sure I see anything wrong with the picture. 30 starts in 10 years is as light as it gets, horse still has some run in him apparently - he's installed as the m/l favorite....... What's the fuss?

The fuss is that 4k seems crazy for him and honestly some of my personal fuss is I'm having Mr. Umphrey flashbacks now.

He was in the Met Mile. The Met Mile!

Rabbit or not he deserved better than to die on a track somewhere in Pennsylvania running for a few thousand dollars.

I just get really sad when I see horses who had been at a certain level sink this far.

It's my problem and it's reality... it can be a brutal sport on many levels.

Doesn't mean I have to go silently into the night and accept these things without feeling like someone has a knife in my heart.

Okay that was a little overboard but you know what I mean.

He is a race horse he was bred to race not eat hay and oats and be a pet. Apparently he is still running ok if he wins he will make an owner 6k a trainer and jock 600 a piece and a vet will have to shot him up again. Basically he is a small business, because 6 years ago he was way faster changes everything? It's not like he is in a kill pen he is feed 14qts a day and cared for what do you desire for him a cabana in St Lucia?

opt 65k claimers at Tampa bay ran for 22k purse today and none of those horses were for sale for under 30 40k?

Sorry Gooey, I admire your sensibilities but I was simply reacting to the trhead title.

I don't see anything "wrong with this picture." He is a late developing, lightly raced 10 year old that is in at a level that anyone dreadfully concerned for his well being can easily obtain from the claiming box.

My guess is that he can/still wants to run (as evidenced by his m/l) and the owners feel he'd rather compete than rot away on the farm.

I'm sorry I don't read any more into it than that. Just my opinion.

No.

This wuld be closer to where I am, so...

http://www.mauirealestate.net/maui_homes.html

* * *

I know, Rudy... were not twins * . We don't need to have the same opinion. :)



* (Or are we?). :D

edit - He won. :)

http://www.equibase.com/static/chart...021111USA6.pdf

After Equine Medical is done with Ball Four at Penn Nat he thinks he is Maui smoking ganga.. Maybe Juan Carlos claims him and takes him to Philly and you will see his return to glory?

You have some races where horses are finishing their last quarter in 30+. He'll be competitive.

FL breds ran for 22k. The rest of them ran for 18k.

although i can understand where you're coming from for the most part, i'm not so sure about this line.

How do they get away with offering such horrible pots and why? Why would anyone race claimers on dirt at TB. I get the mdn turf races and how insignificant the purses are if you have to have turf but claimer on dirt WTF? 800 bucks gets your horse to FG, Oak, Philly, NY even Penn. People like racing for 8000 purse instead of 15-25k all for a 800 dollar ride to somewhere

The main reason is that the horseman organization there is run by clowns who want to keep purses depressed so that the place wont be more attractive for guys with better horses. If you are from Suffolk Downs you need someplace to go in the Winter. 20% of the horses that race there are training in Ocala and have to run somewhere. Some of the more established outfits use the place to winter like Proctor and have just enough bad maidens and turf horses to run to keep their stall allotment.

There are enough struggling and broke outfits there that need to run as much as possible and they keep the field size up. I quit running there much a few years ago because blowing conditions for cheap pots is counter productive in regards to the fiscal health of your horse operation. Look at Prospect Knight at Philly today. He has made 30k since late October. Had we shipped to Tampa he would have made 12k running in the same conditions. That is the difference between breaking even or making a few dollars and losing money.

Ashtyn Too is running a mdn 25 @ Tampa in the third race today.

He's a NY bred that set pace and faded going a mile on the turf at first asking - puts up a 40 bsf for the effort.

I don't know the trainer (she has 49 starts last year, this is her 6th start this year.) but it appears to be a family deal.

Point is, he's in for a 14K purse(with an ok shot at it), cutting back to 7/8th's and going to the dirt, when he would certainly fit on the inner in a state bred mdn35 for over double the money.

Allison Hassig would be a would be a good one to ask "Why run here?"

It doesn't seem to make much sense.

The first time I attended a live, parimutuel horse race was at Waterford Park (aka Mountaineer) on July 4, 1970. In one of the claiming races (there were only two levels there in those days - $1200 and $1500) was an 8yo gelding whose whole presence - build, conformation, the way he carried himself - argued that he was a breed apart from the others in the field. And so he was; he was Knight's Plume, a son of Round Table from Leallah, by Nasrullah, and a minor SW in his younger days. Three of his half-brothers (all stakes horses) became classic sires, or at least the sire of SWs, around the world, but gelding Knight's Plume kept on racing, eventually winning 22 of 88 starts. Don't know whatever happened to him after that. There were fewer horses around in those days - 20-30 foal crops for stallions, Northern tracks didn't run in the winter - and since he was sound he may have found a second career. One hopes so.

Okay which part?

I loved Mr. Umphrey but there's no other reason he ran in the Met Mile... not that I can see.

He did his job there... he had run his own races but was used as the rabbit for both Silver Wagon and for Diamond Stripes.

As far as where and how he died... I still have the email from his trainer.

(God it's sad).

He died in February of last year, at Philly, running for a tag (7k).

So I'm not arguing here at all just asking what part of that line are you questioning?

Confused...

my mistake, mmsc. i was thinking you meant that ball four was sure to die since he'd sunk to a low level.

That's okay. I was really afraid of that happening so you weren't mistaken.

Really so happy he won yesterday!

All better. :D