Horse Advice: Wizard's Council

[Gwen Morse]

https://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.ph ... ID=1122832

He came to me as a gift horse from Lee Cara. He was a late-blooming allowance horse who peaked as a stakes gallop last season. He's still a stakes gallop after the changes.

His equipment is correct and he's sound.

Last season I sent him to Japan because I (mistakenly) thought he would stomp through lower graded stakes. I was wrong. He didn't do badly but I think he made less money than he would have if I'd just raced him at Middleground Park the whole season where he'd likely win most of his starts. I boarded him halfway between Japan and Australia so he could pick up races in both countries but I think all that happened was he was tired from shipping.

He ended last season on a win so he should have confidence. I sent him to Europe this season because I know there are a lot of turf ungraded stakes and his first run was a third. He's only 5 so he should still be pretty good.

He's not doing badly but I think he's not running to his potential.

[Kelly Haggerty]

If you aren't planning to stand him you could geld. That will give you a boost. And you did the same thing I did to one, and gave it 4 weeks between races without a gallop or work. Apparently the Steward has said that for some horses that can be pretty detrimental. Maybe leave him in one place and race him at one track for awhile. And I probably would geld a 5yo that is where he's at on earnings. My $.02.

Assuming of course you don't mind $.02 from a newb.

[Dylan Christensen]

Honestly I think he’s running about as well as you should expect. Just don’t push him to hard and make sure he wins occasionally and he should keep racking up cash.

[Gwen Morse]

If you aren't planning to stand him you could geld. That will give you a boost. And you did the same thing I did to one, and gave it 4 weeks between races without a gallop or work. Apparently the Steward has said that for some horses that can be pretty detrimental. Maybe leave him in one place and race him at one track for awhile. And I probably would geld a 5yo that is where he's at on earnings. My $.02.

Assuming of course you don't mind $.02 from a newb.

I'm not going to geld him (although I appreciate the response). If I can get him to 350k in earnings I want to nick him with my mares and see if I can use him as an in house stallion.

I just mismanaged him last season (and the first start of this season). He's going to stay in Europe this season and race fortnightly going forward. The responses both on the forum and in PMs are pretty much do what I already know I should do (which is leave him in one place and keep up his condition).

He's just "that horse" for me and I have no idea why. The one where all you want to do is put your back against his rump and your feet against the rear of the gate and push him out faster. He runs fine but I just want him to run *better* than whatever he's doing. Honestly, if he was winning SC races I'd probably still be whining behind my screen because he wasn't also breaking records.

Thanks for all the responses, I'll try to chill out and let him do his thing his way.

[Art K Stables]

If you are concerned with shipping, I would use enhanced shipping and remove that complicating factor