Back with more stable notes after a brief break during a very busy sales season.

Let’s start with a great opening weekend, at our summer home base of Monmouth Park. Over 20 Kenwood partners and co-owners enjoyed opening day on Saturday May 14th from our two finish line Clubhouse boxes (this year we added a 2^nd box to accommodate all our new co-owners) and a parterre suite. It was a beautiful day and the racing was fun, but for Kenwood the best was yet to come the following day, when a large crowd came out to see our first horse of the meet run Sunday. We were treated to a truly thrilling race, as Awesome Challenge started the season off on the right hoof with a win by the shortest possible nose, after a head to head duel. Sent off a surprising 7 to 5 favorite, she engaged the leader and strong 2^nd choice early. The two favorites separated themselves from the rest of the field on the far turn and were heads apart the entire length of the stretch. The runner up was bearing out and brushed our horse several times in the run to the wire, had we lost the head bob the other filly might well have been disqualified, but Awesome Challenge made a final lunge right at the wire to prevail by the shortest possible nose.

A profitable group #26 ended with both of their horses winning races and making money. Congratulations to all the happy co-owners!

We are pleased to announce the dates for four educational seminars this season. We first offered these seminars two years ago at the suggestion of people at our annual meeting and there was a fantastic response. All of them were oversubscribed last year, and we expect these will be as well. Here’s the schedule:

1. “Buying horses at auction”, Saturday May 28th
2. “Analyzing pedigrees”, Saturday June 4th
3. “Understanding the condition book”, Saturday June 25th
4. “Purses and claiming”, Saturday July 9th

All seminars will begin promptly at 10am and last for 90-120 minutes. These will be informal events, combining a PowerPoint presentation with conversation in a casual setting and are totally free of charge. Light food and drink will be served. Friends and guests are welcome, but space will be limited and priority given to current Kenwood partners & co-owners.

Sonny’s Pharoah was 4^th in her 2016 debut on May 5th at Penn National, ran evenly, never far back, but made no big move either. Trainer Mark Salvaggio said she was a bit nervous in the warm-up (normal for 5 months off), we think the race under her should help, it was not a horrible return but honestly we’d been expecting better.

Also on May 5^th, Three Arch Bay was a closing 3^rd at Penn National, just up from last in the final just to hit the board, well back of the top two. On April 16^th, this hard trying filly finally broke her maiden after four straight third place finishes. She’s been on the board in every one of her 6 starts for 2016 so far.

Long May You Run was 6^th in his 2016 debut on April 29^th, also at Penn National, but it was a really good effort against a super competitive field. Sent off over 20 to 1, he led almost the entire race before tiring in the final yards to be beaten just over 2 lengths for the win. He needed the race and looks primed for a win next time.

Scuba Sue was 5^th on April 29^th at Laurel Park, beaten less than three lengths after a horrible trip that saw her bumped and left at the start and in tight in the stretch. She never quit and with a better trip is sitting on a big race next time.

Huamantla was 6^th on April 22^nd at Penn National, in her 2016 debut, but she too ran well in what was a prep on the dirt for a turf horse. Hoping for a good year with her this season.

On April 14^th, Title Fight was a dull 5^th at Penn National, this off of two straight good efforts (2^nd and 3^rd) at Penn. We decided a very brief rest might freshen him up and sent him to the farm; went back in training three weeks later looking good and expected to run in early June.

Our premier two year olds from a successful March OBS sale, Win Money My Honey and To Honor Stephanie both arrived at Monmouth Park on May 2^nd and have both trained forwardly since. Looking forward to their debuts this summer.

We followed up our March sale success, with the purchase of five two year olds at OBS in April and announced three groups, numbers 30, 31 & 32.

Group #30 features three two year old colts, including a High Cotton colt, High Five Cotton, who had the co-fastest work time, 9.4 of the entire sale. We don’t focus as much on times at these sales, but rather on HOW the horse moved, and he did it easily. It’s very rare indeed to be able to buy one of the best and fastest moving horses at the sale at an affordable price, let alone for $35,000. He’ll be trained by Steve DiMauro at Monmouth Park, and as a Florida-bred is eligible for the Florida stallion stakes series this summer-fall . We also bought a colt, Wandagonenotastray, by a promising young 2nd crop sire, Gone Astray, out of a very nice female family, and a colt, Lead Investor, by the highly-regarded 2nd crop sire Tizway, out of a Grade I stakes winning and graded stakes producing mare from an outstanding South American female family (many horses from Argentina have come to the U.S. and been great champions here).  

Group #31 is a single horse offering of a filly by the very hot young sire Eskendereya named Pink Cashmere, who was bred and named by the world famous international model Esther de Jong. You can see a great 5 minute video that profiles Esther and this filly. We consider it a special opportunity to have a horse with this kind of potential in our barn, who in addition to everything else is a New Jersey bred eligible for substantial bonus money when she races at Monmouth Park and The Meadowlands. She’ll be trained by Steve DiMauro and will be based at Monmouth Park, where she hopefully will make her debut this summer.

Group #32 is also a single horse offering of a powerful filly, Authentic Kitten, by one of the premier sires in North America, Kitten’s Joy, who stands for a $100,000 stud fee and has been the leading sire in North America. Kitten’s Joy is the sire of over 60 stakes winners and his foals have been particularly good at classic distances on both turf and dirt. This filly’s young dam is a sister to three stakes winners including Brother Derek, who won the Santa Anita Derby and over $1,600,000 in his career. We bought this horse on the final day of a long four day sale with 1000 horses offered. We loved her and expected to pay more, but when she failed to reach her $50,000 reserve, we went to the seller and purchased her post sale for just $45,000. She’ll be trained by Steve DiMauro at Monmouth Park, where she’ll hopefully make her debut this summer.

Groups 31 & 32 both were closed and overfilled with 16 new co-owners in less than 2 weeks. Group 30 is overfilled as well, but we’re going to leave it open for a couple more people to participate.

Kenwood continues to have a fine year with our runners to date with 16% wins and 60% in-the-money for 2016. The summer season is just beginning and the best is yet to come!

Another good week for Kenwood Racing on the track, in the breeding shed and with our newest two year old groups…

Awesome Challenge took a big step forward with a very game 2nd at Gulfstream Park on March 25th. Caught up in a 3 horse speed battle for most of the race, she never quit. She was passed in deep stretch by a horse sitting just off the pace, who clearly benefited from the battle in front of her, but still fought to the end to finish ahead of both horses she'd been battling with and the rest of the field. This is a nice filly who is coming around well for us and should be a lot of fun all year long. After a poor debut for us with a big excuse behind the gate on January 28^th and a well beaten if decent 3rd on February 18th at Gulfstream, this race shows she’s really coming around. Hopefully she’ll run once more at Gulfstream before we ship to Monmouth Park at the end of April. She should fit very well up north off this good effort.

In terms of racing results, Kenwood is having a very fine start to the year, with 7 in-the-money finishes from 11 starts at the prime winter Gulfstream Park meet (Dec. 6^th – April 3^rd) and 10 in-the-money finishes from 15 starts overall so far in 2016, Our last 7 starters have hit the board; in fact, the last time a Kenwood horse was worse than 3^rd was back on February 4^th. Gulfstream is a very tough place to race in the winter and while we’ve obviously had a limited number of starters, it’s hard to do much better there than we have so far this season.

Tom Petty is right...waiting is the hardest part, but in this game patience is usually rewarded and we think it will be next Wednesday (3/30) as Three Arch Bay gets in just the right spot in the 3^rd race. Recall she was in a similar spot twice this winter and racing was cancelled due to weather, we entered her three times this week and races didn’t go, but finally it looks like she’s in the right race, right distance, just a 6 horse field with several early speed types in there to set up her late run. After three straight thirds, this is a perfect race for her to break through with a win. Fingers crossed!

More good news on March 25th, as Exchanging Fire has been pronounced IN foal on the first cover to Jump Start on an early March 8^th cover date.  That would give her an early February baby next season.

The response to our first two co-owner groups for 2016 was excellent as groups #28 & 29 both over filled in just 72 hours. The four horses we purchased at OBS March are all doing well with the usual 30 days of R&R on the farm before heading to the track to begin training. Three horses are at Daydream Farm in Hamburg, Pa. and the other one is at T-Square Stud in Ocala, Fl. We thank our co-owners for their support. Now it’s on to OBS April in just three weeks.

For those who didn’t notice, Unspoken Quality was dead last 3-23 in his first race for his new owners since being claimed from us (see chart ). He was over 40 to 1 off a good 2^nd for us when claimed, not the spot we’d have run him in. He’s a nice, solid, hard trying horse, we ran him in the right spots, made money with him, and feel he was claimed at the right time.

It's an exciting time of the year, with four new horses purchased at OBS March and racing action heating up. The market at OBS March, while not down a lot from last year’s record numbers, was clearly soft as we had predicted, especially in the middle “commercial” market. Take out the top 20 Hips sold to billionaires with play money, and almost everyone agreed it was a buyer’s market (which we took great advantage of!) To quote the article from The Blood-Horse, “Following a robust day of trading Wednesday, OBS reported an overall two-day gross of $51,650,000 for 325 head sold, down from the $55,432,000 total in 2015 for the same number sold. The two-day average fell from $170,560 to $158,923 and the median price declined slightly to $100,000 from $105,000. The RNA rate, which will change as OBS reports private sales, was 25%, compared with 23% a year ago”. Shows that the horse market continues to follow the stock market and the economy in general. Hey, racehorses are bought with leisure money, when people in the oil patch who love horses are struggling to keep their rigs operating (to cite just one example), they don’t show up at OBS, at least not with the usual amount of money to spend.

For Kenwood Racing, it was a very intense and busy and interesting 3 days, long and tough but exciting, and it all paid off with the purchase of four exceptional horses at true value prices, including one of the best bred, most attractive, best moving horses we have ever purchased, a filly, by the top sire Awesome Again. We spent $100,000 for her, the most ever for a two year old for our co-owner program, and we think she was worth every penny. Time will tell on that, but the kicker was she’s a New York-Bred on top of her great looks, pedigree and way of moving. A video is worth a million words about her, take a look at her video.

The next day we struck again with the purchase of our top rated colt, by the hot young sire To Honor and Serve, a horse we valued at $75,000+ who sold for just $50,000. He’s stunning too, take a look at his video.

Add to that two more colts purchased for bargain prices by two great young sires, The Factor and Gone Astray, and we went home with 4 horses we loved, for a lot less than we planned to spend. We came with a budget of $300,000 and spent just over $200,000 for the horses we really wanted. Enough said!

A large group of partners and co-owners were with us from the start at the sale and can attest to the work done and the process that produced these results. This elite sale this year, just as we predicted in our blog post, Two Year Old Sales - A look at the market, with a slightly less robust stock market, and a decline in participation from owners tied to the oil industry, offered a rare opportunity to buy really good horses at unusually affordable prices and we think we did just that.

Turning to racing news, Title Fight ran a much improved race March 19th at Penn National, finishing a closing 2^nd while coming on fast at the end. He was a well beaten 3^rd against weaker in his debut at Penn last time and he beat the horse who finished 2^nd ahead of him last time easily this time, so he’s heading in the right direction and we think we’re in a position to win some races with him this year.

Huamantla, Sonny’s Pharoah and Long May You Run all worked really well at Penn National this week. Huamantla is super sharp, we are thinking she might be ready to run in early April. Long May You Run as good as ever, looks like late April for him. Mark worked Sonny’s Pharoah against a tough older horse who has won $300,000 in his career. He is older and coming off a layoff, but the fact she stayed with him easily every step of the way says a lot, 3 year old fillies rarely do that. She had a world of talent last year and appears to have really matured. She should be ready by end of April also, while it’s too soon to get really high on her after a few works, we’ll admit we are eager to see her run.

April sale at OBS is next!

A less active time for our runners last couple of weeks, but action is heating up fast on the racetrack and at the sales.

In racing news, threes were wild, as we had three starters and all three were third. On February 18¹⁸, Awesome Challenge was 3^rd at Gulfstream Park, not a bad race, but we had been expecting even better from her in this spot. She came out of the race well and we are looking for another race at Gulfstream for her.

On February 20^th, Three Arch Bay was a well beaten 3^rd at Penn National, despite posting the best speed figure of her brief career. Two horses shipped into the race from New York, making it one of the most competitive maiden races for the level seen in quite some time at Penn. When the dust cleared, the two shippers ran 1^st and 2^nd, well ahead of the rest of the field, with Three Arch Bay rallying in the stretch to best the local runners. We think off this race, she’s ready for the winner’s circle. We’ll find out on March 10^th, as she’s entered in a similar spot at Penn as this is being written. There’s one shipper from Parx that looks tough, but no New York shippers and she fits well in here.

Finally on March 4^th, facing a super tough field for the level, Title Fight responded with an improved 3^rd in his debut at Penn National. A bit fractious in the gate, he broke well enough and was nicely placed just off the early speed, made a decent 4 wide move at the top of the stretch to gain contention, then flattened out a bit. He managed to gain 3^rd, beaten about 5 lengths for the win and about 2 lengths for 2^nd money. It was an obvious step forward over his last two at Gulfstream, where he was 5^th by 15 lengths and 8^th by 22 lengths, a good example of how much the class-competition level matters. Many people will recall last year we had a horse named Selma Gayle who ran equally poorly in Florida and after a 3^rd in her Penn debut, ran off three easy wins in a row. Hopefully with this one under his belt and a little more normal kind of competition for the level, Title Fight make it to the winner’s circle and have similar success for us. There’s a good spot for him back in a couple of weeks at Penn.

March begins the two year old in training sales season, always an exciting and important period for Kenwood Racing and the entire thoroughbred industry. This year, with the stock market and economy not as robust as in the last couple of years perhaps, if the thoroughbred market follows the stock market as it has in years past, there will be some real soft spots and buying opportunities for the exact kind of runners, quality horses at value prices, we look to purchase. To kick off the season, please take a moment and look at our most recent blog, which offers an overview of the upcoming two year old sales. We hope you enjoy it!

The OBS March sale begins with the under tack show (workouts) March 9-11^th, you can view them here . The sale dates are March 15^th & 16^th and you know we’ll be there in force at the sale, where we’ve purchased the bargain priced (and profitable!) runners, Michael With Us, The Truth & KG (both graded stakes placed), Long May You Run, Jersey Jules and Titanium Jo.

A very happy Valentine’s Day with lots of love to horses everywhere!

Some big news to start the month; it wasn’t at the racetrack, but rather at the sales. When Titanium Jo finally got into a race, just a week before her sale date at the Fasig-Tipton mixed sale in Lexington, Ky., we were hoping to head to the sale with another win under Kenwood Racing silks. Jo got the perfect trip, stalking the leader on a slow pace in the feature race at Laurel Pak on February 1st, made a bold move on the far turn, but flattened out in the stretch to finish 4^th. Jockey Tyler Connor rode her perfectly and said she tried every step of the way as she always does. A ton of rain came down just before the race and it was a wet and tiring track, not her favorite surface, but tracks aren’t made to order so no excuse.

We were disappointed, thinking if she had won she’d have gone into the sale with a shot to bring a real premium price. That said, with the 4^th place money she went over $100,000 in lifetime earnings, which is something people look at with broodmare prospects and with her pedigree and looks we felt she still could sell well; worst case we planned to race her ourselves this year and sell her in November. We felt she should sell in the $70,000 - $90,000 range and were not surprised to see he get plenty of attention in pre-sale showings. When the bidding started, she quickly flew past our reserve and brought an excellent final bid of $95,000, one of the top prices for the opening day of the two day mixed sale. She was purchased by a top Kentucky breeding farm, who will likely retire and breed her this year. By the top Storm Cat sire Bernstein, out of the outstanding producer Kings Lynn by Mt. Livermore, Titanium Jo broke her maiden impressively in her 2^nd start, in a maiden special weight event at Monmouth Park, as a two year old in 2014.  She went on to win multiple allowance races and earn over $100,000 in her fine racing career.

“Titanium Jo was good to us on the racetrack and brought a fine price at the sale today” explained Kenwood founder and co-managing partner H. Robb Levinsky. “While we’d have loved to get 3rd and black type in one of the three stakes she was 4th in as it would have been a huge home run at the sale given her exceptional pedigree, it’s hard to be anything but happy with these results. We stretched and paid $77,000 for her at OBS March 2 years ago in 2014, our top price paid in the last few years because we knew with her pedigree if she was any kind of racehorse she had considerable residual breeding value. In the end, even without winning a stake she earned over $100,000 for us at the track after winning two allowance races and running sound and well for 18 months. We received $95,000 for her today, a fun and profitable outcome. We appreciate the good work our consignor Hidden Brook Farm and the people at Fasig-Tipton did for us at the sale. We know she’s going to have a good life and be a successful broodmare for her new owners. It’s a win-win for everyone”.

Kenwood is pointing for the upcoming Fasig-Tipton and OBS two year old sales in March and April in Florida, where the company has enjoyed great success purchasing bargain priced horses in the last few years, including the stakes horses Michael With Us and The Truth & KG, purchased as two year olds by Kenwood for $57,000 and $40,000 respectively. Both horses went on to be stakes winners and graded stakes placed. Overall from 2011-2014, all 28 of Kenwood’s 2 year old purchases have raced, 27 have won, and 20+ have already earned more than their purchase prices. These 28 horses were purchased for $999,800 and have earned over $2,500,000 through January 2016. As for Titanium Jo, we were very fortunate to have owned and raced her for her entire career and wish her new owners much success with her in the breeding shed. 

Unspoken Quality ran hard and well despite finishing 6^th at Gulfstream Park on February 4th. Beaten just four lengths for the win despite the far outside post and a very slow early pace, with a better post and some pace in front of him next time as jockey Juan Leyva said “he can definitely compete with these”.

Three Arch Bay was in two excellent spots and both times racing at Penn National was cancelled due to weather conditions. She’s back in again in the 2^nd race on Wed. Feb. 17^th. Not as favorable a setup as the races that were cancelled but still a good spot. Let’s hope after two cancellations, the 3^rd time is the charm and she gets to run!

Title Fight, Long May You Run, Huamantla and Mackinaw Pharoah all settled in well at Penn National. Title Fight should run in early March, while the others, just in from some R&R at the farm, should be ready by early spring.

Final call for Belmont Stakes seats and for anyone interested in Saratoga housing this year. It’s cold now but think summer!

With most of our better runners on the farm for a little R&R as we point for the spring - summer at our home base of Monmouth Park, the winter is rarely our best part of the season, but Kenwood Racing is off to an excellent start in 2016, with two wins in January. 

First up, a great 2^nd annual Ownerview National Owners Conference at Gulfstream Park came to an end on a perfect note on January 14th , as Unspoken Quality overcame being forced terribly wide on the first turn from an outside post, to win going away. Cheered on by a large crowd of Kenwood Partners, Co-Owners and Friends, Unspoken Quality showed heart and courage under a very heady ride by jockey Juan Leyva, who kept his head after the rough start and put the horse in a position to win. Congratulations to group #26 who owns Unspoken Quality with Kenwood. We were able to purchase him at a bargain price and he has now posted a win, a second and three thirds in five starts for us.

Kenwood had a real impact at the National Owners Conference and received many accolades. It’s going to be a busy season at the sales for us with all the interest from many new and current co-owners. You can see a video of Kenwood founder and co-managing partner H. Robb Levinsky speaking on one of the featured panels of the conference here.

Just two days later on January 16th, Big Apple Brit got an absolutely picture perfect ride by jockey Taylor Connor and took full advantage of it, scooting through a big hole on the rail at the top of the stretch to win in hand at 8 to 1 odds at Penn National in his final start for Kenwood, before being sold at the Fasig-Tipton sale in Maryland on January 31st. Kudos to trainer Mark Salvaggio for having him fit and ready off a 7 week layoff. Brit beat a solid group for the level, with Kenwood co-owner David Lowrey, who he is named to honor, on hand to cheer him into the winner’s circle.  In over two years of racing, all under Kenwood silks since being purchased at the OBS April sale in 2014, Big Apple Brit gave us many thrills and winner's circle photos, with a lifetime record of 36 starts, 6 wins, 7 seconds and 5 thirds and earnings over $82,000 to date. He competed mostly in lower level claiming races, but was one of our soundest and most hard trying runners, who gave it his all every time and was as solid as they come. We wish his new owners great luck with him and we have told them he always has a safe home with us, when his racing days are over. 

And on January 18th, following up on the successful private purchase of Unspoken Quality (see above), Kenwood Racing celebrated the start of an exciting new year with the private purchase of another horse, as the three year old filly Awesome Challenge (by the fine Florida sire Awesome of Course) joined Kenwood and co-owner group #26. "We were very fortunate to be able to purchase Unspoken Quality recently, for what has proven to be a bargain price and we think this filly, coming off an impressive win in her last start at the always super competitive Gulfstrean Park meet, has the potential to be another good buy," explained Kenwood founder and managing partner H. Robb Levinsky.  Awesome Challenge will remain with trainer Steve DiMauro at Gulfstream Park. A compact, well-balanced filly, we feel Awesome Challenge is just starting to show her best form now and has a bright future ahead of her. 

On one of the few down notes for the month, Title Fight turned in a real clunker on January 27th, finishing last of 8 horses at Gulfstream Park, with no excuse. He's shown he can't compete at the tough Gulfstream winter meet and will now head to trainer Mark Salvaggio at Penn National where we hope, as has proven to be the case with so many other horses, a little class relief and a new setting will get him back in form and into the winner's circle. 

Kenwood's fine filly Titanium Jo is entered in the Fasig-Tipton Winter sale in Kentucky on February 8th, as a racing or broodmare prospect and was assigned hip #245. We expect her to run again prior to the sale, and if she doesn't bring our price at the sale she will stay with us and run the rest of 2016. She would make an awfully nice broodmare - racing prospect for someone willing to pay the price. You can see her catalog page here. It’s impressive.

A new year begins with lots to look forward to!  Our first starter of the year was the filly, Three Arch Bay, at Penn National on January 7^th. While she did not win, she did turn in a greatly improved race, rallying strongly in her first try at a distance to finish a closing 3^rd, beaten just over one length for the win. This was her first on the board finish in four lifetime starts. It was by far her best race, a real step forward. Recall she was totally up the track the first two races, a well beaten 4^th last time, so a close, closing 3^rd is clearly moving in the right direction. Have to be pleased with where we are now with her compared to where we were just a few weeks ago. Good way to start the year.

The following day at Gulfstream Park, Title Fight sat a perfect trip in 3^rd, under leading rider Javier Castellano and simply couldn’t quicken when the real running came, finishing 5^th. Javier made the exact same comment as hall of fame rider Edgar Prado, who rode him previously, “the horse feels good, tries hard, and simply doesn’t have a strong enough finishing kick”. Bottom line, he’s just not as fast as these kind of horses. We’ll look for a softer spot and a longer distance next time at Gulfstream. If that doesn’t do the trick, he’ll ship up to Penn National, where the racing is a lot less competitive (for about the same money). Since he’s sound and honest, he should perform very well there, if we go that route. Recall last year when we sent Selma Gayle up north after running 12^th and 10^th beaten 20+ lengths for us at Gulfstream in the winter, she reeled off three straight easy wins for us at Penn. This is a far better horse than she ever was and has run much better at Gulfstream than she did, so chances are very good he’d look like a different horse, if we ended up going that route.

All our horses are training well, we are looking for races for Big Apple Brit, Three Arch Bay and Titanium Jo for the coming week, while Unspoken Quality is in the 10^th race January 14^th at Gulfstream Park and he looks to have a real good shot in a large field there.

Sonny’s Pharoah is ready to return to training and will ship in from Daydream farm to trainer Mark Salvaggio shortly.

On Saturday January 9^th, a group of Kenwood Co-Owners met at Kenwood president Jack Czajkowski’s home near Monmouth Park, as we introduced our new active racing group, which will include a stable of horses based at Belmont Park for racing in New York, with a top New York trainer. Look for more details soon as Kenwood Racing expands into the New York market!

On Sunday January 10^th, our old friend Sky Ace was beaten 25 lengths at Gulfstream Park (see chart). He’s never come close to hitting the board in his career to date. For that matter, he’s never been in the hunt for any part of any race since being claimed from us at Belmont Park last fall. We really liked the horse when we purchased him at OBS last spring, but when he showed absolutely no ability in his training, we ran him where we thought he belonged in his debut and he was claimed from us for $40,000. If we had kept him, we’d have had $25,000 more in expenses and $40,000 less from the claim, quite a difference. That’s part of the game, and why you don’t want to overpay at sales because no matter how much work you do, some horses just have no ability, get hurt, don’t want to be a racehorse, etc. It’s also why you run them in the right spots, not worrying about the occasional one someone claims from you that turns out to have been a good buy (and with us that happens VERY rarely!). 

Kenwood Racing founder & Co-Managing Partner H. Robb Levinsky will one of the featured speakers at the 2nd annual National Owner Conference, to be held at Gulfstream Park from January 11-14th. Robb will be speaking on a panel called "Acquiring Your Thoroughbred Racehorse - What Are Your Options?" on Tuesday, January 12th, and will be speaking at several breakout sessions during the conference.

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!

Not as much action this time of year, but the big news for Kenwood Racing was at Laurel Park on November 14^th, as Titanium Jo got a good trip and was simply outclassed by a very, very contentious group of horses, finishing 7^th in the Safely Kept Stakes at Laurel. Jockey Tyler Connor said she tried every step of the way.  The track was speed-favoring all day, which didn’t help, but he had her in an excellent, ground-saving position, grabbed the rail turning for home, and she simply was outrun to the wire. This couldn't have been a tougher group, they ran faster than the males ran in a stake a few races earlier.  Note: Jo went off at over 100 to 1 odds coming off two wins and a third in her last three starts, so you can see she was facing a salty bunch indeed.

A few hours later at Penn National, Fuego Mi Amor ran much better than her last couple of races, coming on strong to finish 4^th, in a lower level 6 furlong claiming race. This filly simply has not turned out to be a quality racehorse, despite her fine pedigree, a lesson in how uncertain the breeding game is. You breed the best to the best and hope for the best, as the old saying goes.

On November 18^th at Penn National, there was little good to report from Three Arch Bay, as she finished 7^th of 9 horses, with no excuse. She improved modestly over her debut, (7th beaten 9 lengths this evening, compared to 8^th beaten over 20 lengths in her debut), but make no mistake about it, this is not a good racehorse. Since young horses do improve, she merits one more try, to see if she moves forward a little more. If not, she’ll be retired to a safe home.

On November 19^th at Gulfstream Park West, Title Fight got a terrific ride from hall of fame rider Edgar Prado. He was in ideal stalking position, moved up to challenge for the lead turning for home, and then flattened out to finish 4^th. While he looked like a winner on the turn and we hated to see him lose ground in the stretch, it was a huge step forward from his poor last race over this surface, especially as this was a somewhat more competitive group. Recall last time, he really didn’t care for this sandy surface. Racing returns to the real Gulfstream next month and we think off this race, he should run very well there next time. He looks super and trains like a good horse at Gulfstream, so we think we are heading in the right direction here.

A few minutes after Title Fight’s race, Proven Warrior broke a few steps slow, rushed up to grab the lead, ran hard and well, but tired late to finish 3^rd at Churchill Downs. He clearly didn’t want to stretch out to 7 furlongs, however this was the only spot available and he gave it his best. The good news is, as planned, he was claimed from us out of the race. With the claim price just $1,000 less than what we paid for him, plus the 3^rd money today and his win last month, we came out pretty well here. This horse is a runner, but he has some issues and he was properly managed to get maximum value here, while of course treating the horse right in the process.

Finally, we close with a re-print from a recent article from The Blood-Horse on the growth of Maryland racing and the progress that is starting to unfold at Laurel Park. The Stronach Group is to be commended for making a serious commitment to revitalizing racing in Maryland and the results are starting to show. Attendance, field size and purses are all up, and it looks like it’s just the beginning. It’s an open secret that Pimlico will be closed and racing will be conducted at Laurel Park year round, which makes total sense from any perspective. Laurel has the best location, the best facility to work with, and if the work done in 2015 is any indication, it’s going to be a beautiful facility and the future is very bright

Maryland's Growth Potential Focus of Meeting

By Tom LaMarra

Maryland racing stakeholders the evening of Nov. 20 received a status report on the state of the industry, and they were told there is great potential for growth in the state.

The Maryland Jockey Club reported that almost 400 people—horsemen, industry representatives, government officials, and racing fans—attended the town hall meeting at Laurel Park, which has undergone millions of dollars in renovations this year. Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, which owns the MJC, said pari-mutuel handle is up almost $60 million this year.

"Over the past 10 months we've invested nearly $20 million into our facilities," Ritvo said. "The support from horsemen has been wonderful. Mr. Stronach believes there is great potential in Maryland racing, but we must continue to improve our business. We must have a high level of integrity, have a safe environment for our customers, take care of our retired horses, widen our network of fans, and continue to grow the business."

LaMarra: Maryland Continues Rebuild of Racing Program

Though the Laurel grandstand and clubhouse have been the focus of this year's upgrades, Ritvo reiterated the 2016 Preakness Stakes (gr. I) will be held at Pimlico Race Course. The MJC earlier this year publicly discussed the possibility of eventually moving the second leg of the Triple Crown to Laurel.

"This place is going to be world-class," said Bruce Quade, a member of the Maryland Racing Commission. "Believe me—The Stronach Group is walking the walk. Maryland racing's best days are yet to come."

Ritvo again mentioned that the MJC is interested a future bid to host the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

A relatively quiet week, typical for November, with three starters, but the big race of the month looms…

On November 5th, Big Apple Brit ran his usual honest race, to finish a fast closing 3^rd, beaten just over 2 lengths for the win, coming from dead last with a flying finish at Penn National. It was shorter than his preferred distance and they ran very fast for the level. This horse almost always comes up with a good effort. Off this race, he should be tough to beat if we can get a similar spot in a route race next time. Brit has been with us over 2 years now and what he lacks in racing ability, he makes up for in soundness and heart.

The next day, Unspoken Quality got a good ride and a good trip and ran a good race, finishing 3^rd, just one jump short of catching the 2^nd horse, in a photo finish at Gulfstream Park West. He handled the turf ok, after running a bit greenly on it in the first part of the race, but it didn’t seem to move him up as we had hoped for. This horse appears to be exactly what we expected when we purchased him privately for a bargain price a few weeks ago, a sound, honest runner who tries hard on a variety of surfaces-distances. He’s had a 2^nd and a 3^rd for us in two starts so far, both at considerably higher levels than what we paid for him. We don’t think he’ll make us famous, but we do think he’ll win money and get us in the winner’s circle. We’ll look for a similar spot, probably on dirt for his next start, either right at the end of the month at Gulfstream West or right at the beginning of December when Gulfstream opens for the winter season.

A race for JW Racer finally went at Laurel Park on November 8^th to end the week, after 6 previous races failed to fill at various tracks. We can’t say it was worth the wait, as he had a rough trip and finished a well beaten 5^th. He was between horses much of the way, dropped back to dead last, rallied slightly in the stretch, but did not run the race we had expected, so we were not sorry to see him claimed from us here. We liked this horse, but after winning his debut he’s had two really poor races in a row, so the claim probably came at a good time.

A little education here about entries; to quote racing secretary Georganne Hale at Laurel Park, when we called to ask her to use the race for JW Racer she said “we haven’t had a two year old winner’s race go all year”. In other words, once a two year old won their maiden race, there has been no place to run them in Maryland during all of 2015. We entered this horse at multiple tracks for weeks with no luck. As explained in previous blogs and emails, most races you see each day at any track are for maidens or cheap claimers. When you have a good upper level claiming or allowance horse, the opportunities can be few and far between, especially with two year olds, since (as also mentioned detailed previously) only 40% of horses win a single race at age two. In other words, there’s not a lot of two year old winners to draw from. If you have one, you’ve beaten the odds with that horse! Just like there are hundreds of thousands of people each year who want to play pro basketball or football or tennis, and only a handful make it. There are roughly 25,000 horses born each year; only a few hundred become stakes horses, perhaps a couple thousand become allowance horses, and the rest are (mostly very cheap) claimers. That’s why there are lots of cheap claiming races and much few races for the better horses.

Chuck Peery reports that Proven Warrior came out of his win last week excellent. He’s pointing him for a race November 19^th at Churchill Downs.

Long May You Run and Mackinaw Pharoah arrived safely at War Horses farm in Virginia, on November 6^th for a little R&R. No problems with either horse and no long down time expected. LMYR just needs a little freshening after a long season and Mackinaw needs a little time to mature into hopefully a much better three year old grass horse.

Title Fight is doing well and ready to run. There’s a race for him in about 10 days at Gulfstream Park West.

The past performances for the horses nominated for the Safely Kept Stakes at Laurel Park on November 14^th are out and Titanium Jo is as ready as we can get her, for this important opportunity for a $100,000 purse and black type, which would mean a lot to her future value when she is sold as a broodmare prospect, besides the purse money.

Don’t forget the 2^nd annual national owners conference at Gulfstream Park in January, with Kenwood Racing’s own Robb Levinsky speaking on one of the featured panels, "Acquiring Your Racehorse". Sign up now at www.ownerview.com/event/conference. Of course, the Kenwood team will be attending the conference, which will include live racing at Gulfstream Park with prime seating, dinners, tours, and the opportunity to attend the Eclipse Awards dinner. You’ll meet the leading people in the thoroughbred industry, attend unique social events, and see the races in style. January is the perfect time to escape the cold and see some outstanding racing in South Florida. Plan to stay through the following weekend and enjoy the races!  We’ll make space in our finish-line box for Kenwood people attending the conference on a first come, first served basis.