Governor's Pride at Charles Town on Saturday

[ZiaLand]

This was a bit of a surprise.

Governor's Pride is in a claiming race at Charles Town on Saturday. This is the half-brother to one of the former leading sires in New Mexico, Look See. Look See was a successful regional sire and probably would have been even better had he not died in a pasture accident with only 5 crops produced. Governor's Pride is a multi-handicap winner of $450K +. Sad to see this guy's career must be in decline.

Governor's Pride is 8, and is a son of Housebuster (Mt. Livermore) out of a daughter of Danzig. He won his last race in July. Claiming price is $7,500 if I'm reading the conditions correctly.

Here's the info I received:

Race: 7
Race Type: Claiming Purse: $18000
Distance: Four And One Half Furlongs
Surface: Dirt
Age: 8
Sex: Gelding
Jockey: Alex Estrada
Trainer: John J. Tammaro, III

Race conditions:FOR THREE YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD. Three Year Olds, 118 lbs.;
Older, 121 lbs. Non-winners of a race since August 24 Allowed 3 lbs. A race
since July 24 Allowed 5 lbs. Claiming Price $7,500, For Each $250 To $7,000 2
lbs. (Races where entered for $6,000 or less not considered).
Last Raced: 07/07/2005 at CHARLES TOWN in Race 1

Finished: 1st
Last Reported Workouts:
09/08/2005-CHARLES TOWN-Four Furlongs-Dirt Fast-48:60 Breezing
07/29/2005-CHARLES TOWN-Four Furlongs-Dirt Fast-50:00 Breezing
03/04/2005-CHARLES TOWN-Three Furlongs-Dirt Fast-37:60 Breezing

[BJ]

Laurie,

It appears, from the records, that Governors Pride's ORIGINAL OWNER, (Stephen J. Barberino) and the one that made all the money with him, dropped him in for $40K in August of 2004 after running several bad stakes and handicap races. Then, the horse must have gotten really hurt, because in Nov. 2004, he was dropped for $3K. He's been at that level for about a year. (I downloaded the past performance record... if you want it...PM me.)

The current owners claimed him 3 races back for $3K. They've been stepping him up and winning with him on the raise. Good for them! They've already made $18,600 with him in two races!

This old war horse deserves a decent retirement.

Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Earned (USA $)
2000 9 5 0 1 $122,560
2001 9 5 3 0 $214,370
2002 11 1 1 1 $52,060
2003 1 0 0 0 $0
2004 10 3 1 1 $56,750
2005 7 4 3 0 $32,900
Totals 47 18 8 3 $478,640

I sure hope his current connections are classier than the ones that originally dropped him for $3K. He is clearly happier with them. The original owner...the one that made all the money with him and then let him go for $3K, is the kinda owner that makes me wanna wretch! That fits the profile of the type that would sell a horse to the kill buyer, to get that last dime out of the horse, knowing perfectly well where it was going, IMO.

[ZiaLand]

Thanks for the additional info and insights on Governor's Pride, BJ. Looks like a pretty impressive race record to me and glad to hear he's back on the improve. Hope he continues to run well and is eventually retired to a well-deserved and comfortable rest.

Laurie