SHAKOPEE/ROCHESTER, MN – EDITOR’S NOTE: Ted Grevelis, one of our co-founders, manages Breakaway Stables, owner of Magic Castle, an entry in the Minnesota Sprint Championship. We’ll take the opportunity this week to give some insight into going in a big race from the perspective of a small claiming partnership finding itself in an unfamiliar spot. This is part four of our series.
There are logistics!? Holy cow – this was one of the last things I thought about, but there are logistics involved to be a part of Festival Day. All the partners are inviting people to come out – including us – and you have to arrange for some space for them somewhere. Fortunately, Festival Day comes with the services of Tiffany Leggett.
Tiffany was the Horseperson’s Bookkeeper here for several years. She fills a similar role at Remington Park now, but we have her here now helping out for Festival week and she was amazing finding us a spot in the Clubhouse. We have a few tables and it should be enough to keep some of the partners and guests comfortable for the evening. Racing starts at 4:00 PM and there are eight races before ours, so it will be nice to have a home base.
We also have a few buffet tickets that come with our seating so we’re kicking around if we should open a tab for the table, first come/first serve, everyone on their own, etc. as far as costs go. We don’t want to leave anyone out, but with only four, what to do? Heather and I will be too busy covering the other stakes on the card to buffet, so that’s okay. Another partner mentioned that she’s going to be too nervous to eat – which I totally understand.
This is clearly not a major deal but it was a little unexpected. I can sort of sympathize with the pro-athletes that try and get their family taken care of while getting ready for the Super Bowl or Finals. Sort of. I’m not preparing for anything myself; nor am I doing any preparation of the horse, so admittedly the analogy is far from perfect.
As far as Castle goes: he’s training well. He worked this weekend with Zeke aboard and he went a soft four furlongs in order to work on a few things that Karl wanted to work on. It went well, so we’re in with a puncher’s chance.
NEXT: We’ll take a look at the race itself from the perspective of owners that want to win and what has to happen.
