Red Moon Cat has an impressive win at the Fair Grounds

WOW...

That was all I could say when Red Moon Cat came from more than 12 lengths off the pace to blow by what looked like a certain winner in Candy Delicious who had drawn off to a nearly 7 length lead from the rest of the field to win a $45,000 maiden allowance race.

Leaving from the 11 hole and jostled at the start, Red Moon Cat stayed far back. Behind a wall of horses at the eighth pole she looked to have no chance to catch the winner. Rider James Graham found a hole and Red Moon Cat proved she had what it takes to win.

Red Moon Cat, a 2 year old Louisiana Bred daughter of Malibu Moon, had been entered on the turf in her 2 previous starts but thanks to the weather was moved to the main track in both attempts. She found her calling on the turf track at The Fair Grounds Race Course November 29th in what I think was the most impressive Maiden win of the meet. For a little filly, about 14.3 hands, she showed tremendous heart and courage and we are proud to have her in our stable.

Red Moon Cat is owned by James and Ywachetta Driver of Irving, Texas and is trained by Dallas Keen.

First day training at the Fair Grounds 2009

Today we sent horses to the track for the first day after moving our stable to the historic Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. After all of the rain we have had for the past few days since we shipped on Tuesday I was pleasantly surprised to see the track was in good condition and it looks like the horses are traveling well over the surface. Only noticed a few loose spots on the outside rail about the 7/8 pole that might use a little tightening. Track maintenance has been working on the barns and adding dirt to shed rows and stalls. Things are definitely shaping up for the meet. Other than the crabby electrician I had to deal with to change out our light bulbs everyone seems excited about the upcoming meet.
This year we are excited to have several very promising young horses in our stable. Two year olds Dr Paysuer, Perfect Peace, and Playbill Missile are showing a lot of talent. We also have a few of our older favorites like multiple stake winner Hotlantic, King Dan, and 3 in row winner Icy Kitten to name a few who will be ready to run at the beginning of the meet.
We have several new owners to welcome to the Dallas Keen Racing Stable. Mike and Brandi Cook from Schertz, Texas and Paul and Nancy Swannie from Humble, Texas sent horses to us this summer that have come a long way. Anne Johnson started her first race horse Hero's Crown, and we welcome back Dallas' old friend and owner C.A. Walker who purchased one of our homebreds, Diamante De Oro, who quickly found his way to the winners circle for his new owner.
A big thanks to our big supporters and long time owners as well. Special thanks to Roger, Jack, Todd and Guy. May we all have a fun, safe and prosperous 2009-10 meet at the Fair Grounds.

26 Year Old Horse, Rescue Update

On May 18th a skinny old grey thoroughbred was donated to our rescue program. He was severely underweight, drastically needed teeth work, and his hooves were actually starting to turn loose from his hoof wall. When his tail was lifted his anus was over a foot inside of him and his eyes were sunken into his head.

His owner said he bought the horse he called Sunny from a horse trader 8 years ago and he though he was about 15 years old. He said he couldn't afford to buy special feed for him anymore and that he had lost several hundred pounds in the last few months. He had tried to donate him to other rescues but with no luck. Then he informed me we were his last stop before heading to the public horse auction. A terrible ending for any horse story.

This big skinny horse had a bright eye despite his skeleton like appearance. I knew he didn't want to die and if he had any chance at all of making it I was going to give him every opportunity.

I offered him a flake of timothy hay only to notice Sunny had to picking up, chew, spit it out, and repeat this process several times before he could swallow a single bite but. Nearly in tears I made a phone call to Dr Gene White of Diamond W Equine. He drove through 6 o'clock Ft Worth traffic to work on his teeth that evening. It appeared he had been kicked in the mouth at some point in his life rearranging his front teeth and causing one of them to grow straight out like a tusk, which we pulled. The bottom molars had grown into the top gum where teeth were missing and completely prevented normal chewing. The old grey gelding fought us through his tranquilizer from the pain.

The next day I started attempting to research his tattoo. With help from Andrew at the Jockey Club we found him. He was 26 year old Yeah Me Do. I posted about him on the Alex Brown Forum and was contacted by people who knew Yammi and soon after was contacted by his breeder who wants to visit his old friend soon. His breeder lost track of him after he was claimed in California back in the 80's. Years after the claim he was told Yammi was dead by the trainer who had claimed him. He was so thankful to hear of his rescue.

In less than three months Yammi has fully and miraculously recovered. He is fat and healthy, his feet have grown out enough that he is out of danger of loosing them and we have even started riding him a little, bridle-less of course.

For more updates on our other rescues or to donate to the care of horses like Yammi please visit Remember Me Racehorse Rescue at www.teamkeen.com.

Looking for Thoroughbred Owners wanting to Claim...

Purse Structure at the Fair Grounds makes it easy to recoup claiming investments.



The first week of the meet we claimed a horse named Mercantile from Tom Amoss for BK Racing, LLC for $10,000. Now this would have been just like any other claim except for the fact that Mercantile was purchased just last year from the Florida Fasig Tipton 2 year old in training sale for $2,000,000. OUCH!!!



Even though Mercantile looked good in the paddock the day of the race we were pleasantly surprised that evening when we went over him. He had no major issues and had a good throat. BK Racing was thrilled with the good news since claiming horses always carries some risk. Mercantile trained well over the next two weeks and had a nice half mile work.



Mercantile was entered back but not for $10,000 like we claimed him for. Dallas and Brad Kyles of BK Racing discussed trying him at an allowance level. It turned out to be a good choice. Mercantile ran second that day in the allowance race and nearly paid for himself on his first start for his new connections.



Other horses we have claimed for other owners have moved up as well. See the stories of Kinoko Man and Perfecty Seatle, both owned by Bob and Pat Sheetz at http://www.dallaskeen.com/claiminghorses.html as well as a few other claiming success stories.



Anyone that has known Dallas for any length of time remembers when he trained for Bob McCaslin. Bob and Dallas became good friends and successfully claimed hundreds of horses. Unfortunately, Bob passed away in 1997 but not before he became Lone Star Park's first leading owner and Dallas the first leading trainer of the inaugural Lone Star meet. Dallas went on the be leading trainer again the next year.



Dallas won the Bob McCaslin Memorial Stakes the year following Bob's death. The horse that won it was at one time owned by Bob but was claimed. One of Bob's friends, Charlie Lewis, claimed the horse back and he went off at huge odds. He won the stake despite not being the favorite. (not really related to the subject but a neat bit of info anyway)



With all that said we are looking for a few folks interested claiming horses at the Fair Grounds. The purse structure makes it easy to return your investment when you carefully select and claim horses that are competitive and can be ready to run back quickly after being claimed. You can watch the barn live on the web cams anytime by clicking here and using the word 'guest' as your login and your password and then choosing a network type. Please feel free to call Dallas and discuss claiming options. We have horses on a watch list but like input from owners too. If you see something that looks like a good claim we will be glad to help you in the process. Good luck and have wonderful Christmas everyone!