December is usually a slow month for everyone in the game, so there's not a lot of current action to report for our final stable notes of 2015, but some decent efforts and a lot to look forward to for the New Year ahead…

Huamantla was a dull 6^th on December 2^nd at Penn National. After several sub-par efforts following her debut win for us, we decided she needed a freshening and she went to War Horses at Rose Bower Farm in Virginia for some R&R. We expect to have her ready for turf racing in the spring.

A large crowd was on hand for opening weekend at Gulfstream Park to see two Kenwood runners compete on Sunday December 6^th. Both Unspoken Quality and Title Fight were 3^rd in solid efforts. The peak winter meet at Gulfstream is always tough, with large, competitive fields racing for relatively modest purses. Great racing, but not an easy place to make money. We think off these good races, both horses can be competitive in Florida this winter.

On December 9^th at Penn National, Three Arch Bay made a step forward, a closing 4^th , which while by no means great was MUCH better than her last race, which in turn was better than her first. Horses do take time and develop at different schedules. If she moves forward next time at a longer distance as much as she did this time, we’re going to be in decent shape here. Fingers crossed! Her next start is scheduled for mid-January at Penn National.

On December 16^th, Titanium Jo ran hard at Penn National, finishing a closing 2^nd against a solid field of allowance horses. Well back early in a race shorter than her preferred distance, she rallied strongly in the stretch to catch the two favorites for 2^nd, while about 3 lengths behind the winner. This is a nice honest filly who gives it her best. If we can find a similar spot at a slightly longer distance next time, she’ll be tough to beat. Nice to have another good effort from her to end the year and head for the new one!

On December 27^th, Unspoken Quality was our final starter of 2015. He lost some ground when he hopped as the gate opened, but recovered quickly and in a good, ground-saving ride finished a hard-trying 3^rd, well behind the winner and just ahead of several other horses who he simply outran to the wire. He was running at twice the level we paid for him because he was ready to run and there was no other spot available (welcome to Gulfstream!) so this was another very decent effort, following up on a good 3^rd Dec. 6^th at Gulfstream (above). This horse has never finished out of the money for us in 4 starts since purchasing him privately. If we can get him into a slightly softer spot next time, he should have a good shot of breaking his maiden. He’s sound and tries hard every time, a good and hard to find combination. Note that Sky Ace, our old friend from group #24 was also in this race and finished a dull 8^th, far back and never in the hunt. He was claimed from us for $40,000 in New York in his debut; we were smart to place him properly and very fortunate he was claimed, as is usually the case with claiming horses.

Title Fight had a nice 5 furlong maintenance work at Gulfstream on December 30^th and is ready for one of a couple of possible spots on January 8^th to begin the New Year.

With Parx and Penn National both closed for the next couple of weeks (Parx until Feb. actually), we’ll have to wait to run Big Apple Brit, Three Arch Bay, and maybe Titanium Jo until the middle of January. All are doing well.

As the year ends, it is worth re-reading our Blog post, Kenwood's record with horses claimed from us speaks volumes. A total of 10 horses were claimed from Kenwood Racing in 2015 for $247,500. Exactly one horse (Scuba Sue) won as much as a single race for their new owners. At some point, a few of the others will get to the winner’s circle, but it’s obvious as a group, these horses were very well sold and our trainers (and we) got as much, if not more run from them as anyone.

A new year begins with a lot to look forward to, some very exciting new plans on the horizon. May the horse be with you all in 2016 and beyond, we appreciate your support!