Salt Water Reign Set to Return

Some people don’t believe in horses for courses but, for you non-believers out there, we’ll throw these stats at you.  Salt Water Reign’s career record in her 20 starts is 5-3-2.  At Aqueduct she’s got 10 starts with a record of 5-2-2.  That means in her 10 starts elsewhere she's 0-1-0.

That’s quite a contrast.  We have no reasonable explanation for that and trainer Steve Klesaris doesn’t even buy into the horses for courses theory.  It’s hard to dispute the numbers however and we couldn’t be more excited than to have our most productive runner return to her favorite oval.  She’s earned over $188,000 plus a few New York bred owner awards.  She’s a nice horse to have in the barn and perhaps will make a nice broodmare when her racing career is over.  For now, for her, she can’t get to Aqueduct fast enough.

                                                                             - Mike Oliveto, CEO Hibiscus Stables

Q & A With Hibiscus CEO, Mike Oliveto
As we head into the final months of the year, we asked Mike to share some thoughts on the stable including current status, short term views and plans for 2010.


Q. What’s the current state of the stable?

"Racing is a game with a lot of ups and downs.  It’s not for the faint of heart.  LOL.  We rattled off 6 wins in six months over the first half of the year and were well on our way to smashing previous Hibiscus records for wins and earnings.  Then things turned on a dime.  We tragically lost Iron Curtin in a freak accident during training 2 weeks before Saratoga and that seemed to set the stage for a string of hard luck.  Salt Water Reign had some muscle aches from her nose miss in the slop and needed a trip to the farm.  Sextant’s on-again off-again sore hoof acted up in Saratoga and William Thomas stepped on a rock or something in Saratoga and simply wasn’t himself in his two races there.  And of course good old Portuguesemano’war keeps plugging away at Penn National but has caught a sloppy, soupy track in three of his last four races and he’s simply night and day from a wet to a fast track.  We’re working through a bit of tough racing luck right now."

Q. What’s the outlook for the next three months?

"Thankfully the short term outlook is very positive.  Salt Water Reign is back from her trip to Fair Hill, is in training at Belmont, and looks fantastic.  She’s pointed to a return around Thanksgiving.   Portuguesemano’war is as sturdy as an ox and we’ll keep trying with him to get him out on a fast track.  The younger horses are all coming around and are very exciting.  Kat Scratch Fever has been breezing like clockwork and is being pointed for her debut around December 1.  Lord Greystoke has fully recovered from surgery to remove a nagging chip from his knee.  He’s back in training in Ocala and is slated to ship back to Linda on November 1.  He should return to the races in December.  William Thomas got over his hoof issue as soon as he returned to Belmont from Saratoga.  His last race was strong and he took second to a very nice horse.  We’re pointing him to a race on October 24 and hope to be able to knock out this N1X condition before Aqueduct. 

The two-year-olds are doing great.  My Indy Kitty is breezing in California and she’s also being pointed to a debut around December 1.  She and Kat Scratch Fever may debut within a week of each other at Hollywood Park.  The Grand Slam colt is under tack in Ocala and may ship north to Steve soon.  If everything goes according to schedule (in this business??  LOL) we could have a very busy December, and a chance to end the year on a high note.  Also, we have some shares of Lord Greystoke available and we’re planning on adjusting his price to reflect the fact that he’s a maiden late-year three-year-old.  He was very competitive before he chipped his knee and we’ve heard nothing but stellar reviews from Ocala.  He’s got all of his conditions in front of him and he’d be a good horse to take a look at for anyone thinking about getting some action."

Q. What are the stable’s plans for 2010?

"The state of the Thoroughbred industry is in a major corrective phase right now.  Like the overall economy prices are soft and it’s a great opportunity to jump onboard.  We took full advantage of that phenomenon in 2009 and plan to do so again at the 2010 sales.  We have a very disciplined approach and so far we’ve assembled a nice string of competitive runners.  Additionally, the breeding market is in more of a correction than the racing stock market and we may look at putting together some breeding partnerships as it’s a great buy-low perfect storm right now.  We’ll announce more about our plans more toward year-end."

D.A.'s Trivia Corner - New York Racetrack History

Long before Belmont opened in 1905 there were several racetracks operating in the New York City area by several regional jockey clubs. This month's trivia digs back in time to when Coney Island and the Bronx where the places to be area thoroughbred racing.

See below for answers.
                                                                                      - Doris Ann Hayes, Hibiscus Stables

Answers to Trivia: 

1) Answer: B. Closed in 1894 to make way for the Jerome Park Reservoir. It was originally home to Hunter College and Lehman was installed there in the 1960’s. P.S. It’s my alma mater.

2) Answer: A. Won by Beldame and Vagrancy.

3) Answer: D. The Devil’s in the details. He won in 1:34.20 in 1983 with Eddie Maple up. The other 3 were close all finishing in less than 1:35.

4) Answer: C. She took the blanket of Black-eyed Susans in 1924. She also was the broodmare of Nellie Flag.

5) Answer: B. Inducted into The Racing Hall of Fame in 1957-she produced eleven foals and only one major stakes winner-Revenge.

6) Answer: D. His career in horse racing spanned nearly seventy years and he was inducted into  the Hall of Fame in 1958. He trained 2 Triple Crown Champions- Father and son Gallant Fox (1930) and Omaha (1935).

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