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REAL BOSS – Winner’s circle jammed for “Homeless” horse

There has been any number of syndicates that have attempted to get going over the years to lure new people into horse ownerships. Plenty have been put together in Ontario and some have worked (Two Bit Racing, Grasshopper) but most do not get off the ground.

Last August, a Facebook group of racing fans had an opportunity to experience the fun of following a horse they own a share in – now look at him!

 

 

 

 

 

METABOSS trailed a very slow pace early in the 1 1/8 mile El Camino Real Derby – Grade 3 – yesterday at Golden Gate Fields but came roaring, very wide to win by 2 1/2 lengths in 1:49 4/5

The story of this little, $10,000 colt is sure to explode even more than it already has (see story on Thoroughblog from yesterday’s post, and reprinted below) after that victory (85 Beyer Speed Figure) as he earned points for the Kentucky Derby.

Of course, this Street Boss – Spinning Yarns, Free House  colt has excelled best on turf and synthetic dirt so far but he was certainly impressive in his score on Saturday.

There are a few Canadian share holders in Metaboss, some of whom paid $300 last August for a share. Read more at the bottom of this post.
Canadian-bred CONQUEST TYPHOON (Stormy Atlantic) , who is expected to be named champion 2-year-old colt in Canada at the Sovereign Awards coming in April, was part of the dawdling pace, 3 wide all the way but he faded to be 3rd beaten 2 3/4 lengths, confirming his preference to be a turf miler.

Golden Gate re-cap:  Metaboss gave trainer Jeff Bonde of Pleasanton his first victory in the Grade 3 $200,000 El Camino Real Derby when he rallied from eighth in a field of 10 to win Northern California’s official Kentucky Derby prep race going away Saturday at Golden Gate Fields.

Metaboss was forced to race very wide coming into the stretch but the extra real estate proved to be no problem for the Kentucky-bred son of Street Boss as he took the lead inside the eighth pole and was lengthening his advantage at the wire.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Alex Solis, Metaboss won the 1 1/8-mile feature for 3-year-olds by 2 1/2 lengths over California Derby winner Cross the Line and jockey Juan Hernandez.  Conquest Typhoon, the 9-5 favorite ridden by Mike Smith, finished third, a neck behind Cross the Line.

Metaboss, who was coming off a 1 1/2-length victory in a 1 1/8-mile maiden allowance race on the turf at Santa Anita on Jan. 4, went off at odds of 6-1 in the El Camino Real Derby and paid $15.20 after clocking a time of 1:49.92 on the synthetic Tapeta racing surface.

“I just wanted to save some ground and be patient,” said Solis.  “At the half-mile pole I asked him a little bit and he kicked on right away, so I grabbed him and said, ‘whoa, whoa.’  I said I was going to wait until I got to the five-sixteenths to ask him and that’s what I did.  He caught them quick.  He kept opening up on them.  He ran a mile and an eighth today, now we just need a mile and a quarter (the Kentucky Derby distance) and we’re in business.”

Bonde said Metaboss has improved as he’s been given more distance to cover.

“In the sprints he was in with tough horses with a lot of speed but when we stretched him out you could see the difference,” said Bonde.  “When you’ve got a 3-year-old, you’re hoping you can make it to the Kentucky Derby.  There are a lot of steppingstones on the way, and you have to make sure you’re at your best on that given day.  We’ll look at it a lot closer this week and decide where we go from here.  I don’t see dirt as a problem because he’s trained very well on it at Santa Anita.”

Conquest Typhoon, who rallied from last to win the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes on the turf at Del Mar in his previous race on Nov. 30, went to the lead on the backstretch when Smith had enough of the soft fractions (opening quarter of a mile in 25.29 and half mile in 49.25).

“Since there was no pace, I thought I’d try to pull something different (and go to the front),” said Smith.  “I thought, when something is coming this easy, you can’t take it away.  The winner just beat me, that’s all.  The winner is a nice horse.  I was never going to beat the winner.  He beat us pretty handy.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

CANADIAN STUFF – Trainer MARK FROSTAD has only run 1 horse this year and that horse, CLASSY KID, made his 2nd start of the Gulfstream meeting yesterday and after a brave stretch battle, won the $20,000 claiming race on turf by a neck. Owned and bred by Stronach Stables and Al Corrado Estate, Classy Kid was winning for the 2nd time in his career in the 1 1/8 miles grass race.

Ontario-bred LAHAINA (Old Forester – Great Beauty by Great Gladiator) won a first-level allowance race at Fair Grounds on Saturday for Storm Stables. The 5-year-old Ontario yearling sale graduate won the 5 1/2 furlong turf race with a career best 76 Beyer Figure and it was her 4th career win in her 16th race. Her earnings stand at $82,000. Once raced by Donver Stables, this mare was bred in Ontario by John and Maggie LeBlanc and John Carey.

 

 

FROM THE POST “FAMILY” yesterday on THOROUGHBLOG…

WHO’S THE BOSS?  FACEBOOK GROUP HAVING FUN WITH HORSE OWNERSHIP

and Metaboss tackles big guys in Derby prep

 

 

Racing fan Julie Wright and her family will be glued to the TV or computer screen later today to watch the El Camino Real Derby from Golden Gate near San Francisco.

From Burlington, Wright is actually out of town this weekend, escaping the bitter Ontario cold for a few days but the excitement of her current trip cannot match the possibility that a racehorse she owns a little tiny piece of (“I have a few of his tail hairs”) could win a big race and stamp a ticket to the Kentucky Derby.

Wright and a handful of other Ontario racing  fans and horsepeople are part of a group of about 40 who were able to buys shares in METABOSS, a Street Boss colt owned by Mersad Metanovic, Michael Arndt, Daniel Priess, S. McFetridge and C. Azcarate.

It was Metanovic who paid $10,000 for the colt as a weanling, the second foal of the Free House mare Spinning Yarns. It was Arndt and others, members of a fun little Facebook group called HOMELESS HANDICAPPERS, who organized getting some shares in to the colt out to his HH friends.

Joshua Taylor, from Shelbyville, Tennessee, is also a member and he explains the creation of HH.

“Homeless Handicappers was founded by half a dozen horse racing fans and bloggers. The group were followers of various racing blogs including that of Justin Dew. We chatted together on various websites until one day were without a permanent site together.

“It looked as if we weren’t going to be able to find a “Home” for our group. Facebook was becoming more popular than Myspace so the Justin moved his Derby Bloggers group to Facebook. However, Justin took a hiatus, and the group activity level quickly began to dwindle. At times it seemed like only the 6 or 7 of us were left. We kept at it, and slowly started to regain interest and added membership. About a year later Justin returned and all seemed like it was going to return to normal.”

However, said Taylor, the Derby bloggers site became quite competitive and soon led to much arguing and some nasty post-exchanges. Taylor started a new Facebook page in which an interested person can join if invited.

“As a joke, I called it Homeless Handicappers. Everyone had a good laugh, because it fit us so well, though we could not come up with a name to beat it. The name grew on us so we voted to keep it, and we made the group public.”

Taylor describes the people who have joined:

“Some of our founders were either very lively and well known characters around the racing blogosphere or top notch handicappers with their own little following. Others were horsemen, genetics gurus, and new to the sport, but up and coming handicappers. We shared some really fresh perspectives, and wanted a place where you could offer opinions without being treated disrespectfully. We wanted to pursue every opportunity we could think of to promote the sport we love.

Following a special trip for the HH group to Delaware Park, membership exploded and it currently stands at 3,151 members.

It was Michael Arndt who took the reins and organized  a horse-ownership syndicate for HH members that has sparked a love of the game to friends and family of the members.

Enter Wright and her sister who paid $300 for a share in the colt with about a $30 per month fee for care.

“It is a total bargain for all the fun I am having,” said Wright. ” It has been fun getting to know everyone. There should be more organizations like this… it lets people join in without a big cash investment.”

The HH group has various members in on a few different horses and each horse has its own syndicate price and cost. The perks include winner’s circle photos, perhaps a monetary profit should the horse be sold and of course, bragging rights.

Metaboss comes off his maiden win on the grass and is an improving colt whose career is guided by Metanovic (thus ‘Meta’boss) and trainer Jeff Bonde.

Metaboss has his own Facebook page with already 1,100 likes and that is sure to grow as the colt goes along in his career. And should the colt do well in the El Camino Real Derby, the following for the Homeless Handicappers is sure to burst.