Thursday, February 28, 2013

It's Truly Ahvee is still here!

Happily, Linda reconsidered entering It's Truly Ahvee when we spoke on Sunday afternoon. We scratched from the $16K claimer and he will run in NY at Aqueduct in mid-March in a Starter Allowance, where he can't get claimed!

Inchscape is the name of our newest acquisition. He's a 3-yr. old out of Indian Charlie and a Seeking the Gold mare. He got left at the gate today in the first race of his career but came on at the end to finish third. Linda was happy to win a three-way shake (lottery) to determine which of the three trainers who put in claims would get him. We'll see if he will make us happy in the future.

Rhoda asked whether we could put him on the Kentucky Derby trail. We all had a good chuckle about that but it's fun to dream!

Cameron Lucky, our harness pacer, will be entered in the feature at Saratoga Harness's Opening Day on Sunday. She has been looking good in her qualifying races.

We expect to run our new acquisitions in March at Aqueduct. Footsie (Hear the Footsteps) is coming North to join in the fray.

Best,

A.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Say Goodbye to It's Truly Ahvee

Greetings!

Linda has entered him in a $16K claimer at PARX in Philadelphia. It's the 7th race with whizkid Jose Ortiz in the saddle. Can he go a mile? I don't know. However, he's the 2-1 Morning line favorite. I'll be surprised if a good-looking horse that won in $20K claiming company in NY doesn't get claimed.

Cameron Lucky qualified yesterday at Saratoga Harness. If I got the message straight, she will run another qualifier on Tuesday. Numismatic will also run in a qualifier that day.

No other news at present. 

Happy Purim. Eat, drink and be merry because I can't! Of course, I'll try to be merry, but if you catch me gritting my teeth...

Best,

A.

Sincerely,

Avram Freedberg

Friday, February 15, 2013

Another horse

Greetings!

Thanks for the feedback about the font color being difficult to read. Hope you like this one!

This is just a short update to say that we have a new horse (or a preacher) because his name is Brother Bob. We claimed him today at Aqueduct. His sire is Brother Derek who is a Grade 1 Stakes winner of $1.6 million. Let's hope this 3-yr. old can do half as well as daddy. 

More to come.

Sincerely,

Avram Freedberg


Thursday, February 14, 2013

News from Everythings Cricket Racing

Before we get into racing, here are my blood work results after 58 days of the Wheat Belly diet plan. First, the not so good news: triglycerides went up from 170/180 to 200. The frustrating news: Sugar levels - A1C stayed at 5.6, immediate sugar count was 107 compared with 110 last time. The good news: Total cholesterol went down from 205/210 area to 170/175 area and the "bad" cholesterol number went down significantly.

So, it was not overall what I had hoped for but thanks to the cholesterol number it seemed that the nonsense being dispensed by major health organizations about cutting down on cheese, eggs, meats, etc to keep your cholesterol numbers down is just not true. Yet, triglycerides rose?!

On the other hand, my carb intake has been severely reduced, but no difference yet in the sugar numbers.

I thought I'd last eating this way no more than a day and a half. Since intake volume restriction is supposed to happen naturally, I eat whenever I feel like it. No giant feeling of deprivation, though I do miss bread. Who wouldn't miss pizza? However, another piece of good news... I've lost 10 lbs. This is the slowest rate of weight loss I ever experienced on a "diet" but I was most interested in lowering those blood numbers! Hopefully, I won't get too discouraged yet and will continue. Obsessives like me get discouraged very easily.

On to racing news. 

Jess Not Jesse will have the chips in his joints removed. There is no downside and it may make him feel more comfortable. In 2 or 3 months we'll take new X-Rays and Ultrasounds and re-evaluate his total condition at that time o decide whether to put him back into training or to retire this gallant warrior.

Awakino Cat is thin with a ragged looking coat, so we're going to turn him out for 60 days and see if he can do better. So, it's a vacation at Pat's farm for him.

Hear the Footsteps is back in training and It's Truly Ahvee will, hopefully, race next week. Linda is still evaluating what to do with Arch Traveler. We'll hear something on that front in a day or two.

Cameron Lucky and Numismatic, our harness horses, will qualify at Saratoga Harness Track next week.

 

My best to you!

Sincerely,
Avram Freedberg


Sunday, February 10, 2013

New Horse

First purchase is a claim of 5 yr. old Arch Traveler out of the 4th race at the Big A today. He’s run against top horses with only minor successes. Linda will see how he looks tomorrow, then decide what to do with him. She likes to geld males – horses too – so that may be in his short-term future. It is a favorite tactic of seasoned horsepeople for getting a horse to concentrate on racing. Ah, the male gender… similar in many species! Lucky I’m not a racehorse.

More to come.

Have a good week.

A