Oriental Rose entered at Fair Grounds Jan 14

geowarrior · Postby **geowarrior** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:58 pm

Oriental Rose, one of my partnership horses, has been entered for a 1&1/16 mile allowance on the dirt at Fair Grounds on the 14th Jan.

It's possible she may be scratched as our managing partner and trainer were going to assess the field before making the final decision on whether she should run. She is currently listed among the entries for Sunday's race.

I think Rose has been a bit of a disappointment to the stable (not necessarily to me - I'm just happy to watch her run and have her pay her way) so far. Of the pair Citi Smoke and Oriental Rose, the managing partner and trainer thought Rose would be the star. Although she scoped out fine after her last race, during the latter part of the race the jockey related that she was tossing her head around, which is very un-Rose like behaviour. She is the total opposite of Smokie, normally very smooth, professional and unfazed by anything. Even when she gets a pretty rough trip as she has once or twice, she never makes a fuss. The head tossing made the connections wonder if she might be displacing her palate in the race, which could account for the behavior and the fact that she is coming up empty in the final stretch. So a tongue strap is being added to her gear, and she has taken to it quite well in training.

I thought she'd be going a shorter distance next time out, but this entry is still a dirt route. Like, Smokie, Rose is in tip top physical condition and has been brought on slowly, so no concerns about soundness. I don't think anyone's worried yet that she's not won since breaking her maiden, but I'm sure no-one would have predicted the developments we've seen in the careers of these two stablemates (they were bred by the same person also) when we first saw them last summer.

geowarrior · Postby **geowarrior** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 9:20 am

Rose has not been scratched and is racing today (Jan 14). Fair Grounds race 4, approx. 2 pm. New Orleans time.

BenB · Postby **BenB** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:13 am

lots of luck with her

geowarrior · Postby **geowarrior** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 2:21 pm

Thanks Ben. Rose came 4th of 7, about 3.5 lengths behind the leader. She apparently veered out at the break (which I didn't see), and settled in last. She made a pretty good run towards the end but failed to close any significant ground against the winner and did not overtake the horse with whom she was duelling for third. My sense was that she ran a little better today but still did not show any closing speed. She may do better at 7f or so. We'll see what's next for her. Racing in the tongue strap was an experiment and it certainly didn't do her any harm but didn't produce the finishing kick hoped for. The time wasn't that fast, about 3 seconds off the track record. Rose, of course, with this 4th place finish, is still paying her way, so I believe our leaders will keep playing with distances and possibly surfaces, but keep her racing at the allowance level. This May 2 year old is still just a baby.

Our m.p. is still travelling back from New Orleans so no word on whether Rose (and Citi Smoke) came out of their respective races o.k. I'll post when I get word.

Meanwhile if you want to see pictures of Rose as she was during one of her earliest workouts last July, check out this site. If you want to see Rose and Smokie pictures set to music, click on view slide show (about 8 minutes). If you just want to see individual pictures, click on individual thumbnails on the right hand side to bring up the picture you want to look at. http://www.daretodreamstable.com/photoshows/rosesmokehtml/data/index.html

ageecee · Postby **ageecee** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 3:37 pm

Maybe a drop to 25K N2L would help her chances. Just think shes a little outclassed against these horses. Just my opinion so dont get mad.

geowarrior · Postby **geowarrior** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 7:47 pm

Ageecee, I'm not mad, in fact I agree, as I said in a previous post that I thought she could do with a drop in class after her last race. However, I don't think the connections want to risk losing the horse to a claim at this relatively early stage, so I'm guessing as to what the trainer/m.p. will do with her next. We are kind of between a rock and a hard place here. She could do well at the lower level, as you say, but if we lost her it would be a bit of a loss of capital investment for the partners. With her being only just three and a May foal there is still room for improvement. And Rose is a beautiful filly - it would be a shame to lose her.

I don't have any say in what class Rose races in (one of the drawbacks of partnership racing) so I'm watching just like you to see what nappens next.

We'll see they decide, and b.t.w. I'd never get mad when someone expresses an opinion.

Georgerz · Postby **Georgerz** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 8:13 pm

Well, may be she can race in an optional claiming race, without a tag. That could be the drop in class, without risking a claim. jmho

geowarrior · Postby **geowarrior** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:53 pm

That's true Georgerz, although I haven't seen too many suitable optional claimers at Fair Grounds recently. Then again I'm not sure if I have looked that carefully. I do know that there has been a bit of a problem generally in finding races for Rose to run in especially when she was switched to longer distances.

We'll just have to wait and see what the m.p./trainer decides, because as I said I have no input into racing decisions in the partnership.

geowarrior · Postby **geowarrior** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:00 pm

It looks like our m.p. saw things to like in Rose's run yesterday. She's going to stay in allowance class but drop back to 6f for her next race, which is likely slated for February 11th at Fair Grounds.

She came out of yesterday's race in good order.

Don't everybody jump on me about staying in class. :roll:

Remember I don't have a say in what class she races at.

Postby **Roguelet** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:04 pm

I saw your other post too, it looks like both of your babies will be running on the same day... that's always exciting. Remember, they're young and still coming into their own... no rush to drop them down just yet, you can always do it later... that option isn't going anywhere.

geowarrior · Postby **geowarrior** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:20 am

Yes, Roguelet, they are racing on the same day. And you are right about no hurry. Rose is paying her way with fourth placings and my only concern would be whether the consistent not-winning is damaging her confidence. Otherwise I don't see any great pressure to do something drastic and Rose is such a beautiful filly, I just want to keep her! That being said, I'm glad I don't have to make the decisions!!