I think the Preakness Trifecta will be the same, just in a different order. An interesting side bar, Lucas instrumenting Calumet Farm buying Mr. Z. That would be an interesting press conference if he would beat American Pharoah. He might not beat him, but can affect the race as Mr. Z is going to be out there either near or on the pace.
Baffert could win the three races in the Triple Crown with two different horses, but that is not what he wants.
Good Luck to all!
Snoozing
Still snoozing
Huh??
Where’s Mom?
MOM???!!!
Last night we attended the Indiana Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association awards banquet and came home with three honors. MISTER POLLARD was named Champion 3 Year Old Colt Indiana Bred 2014 and Indiana Horse of The Year 2014! Not only did we all have a great time racing MISTER POLLARD last year, we have also received these very special awards. We also took home an award for SWEET SUMMER (Mister Pollard’s mother) for Indiana Broodmare of the Year 2014. Falcon Racing representatives Michael Johnson and Tony Medley were able to attend and enjoy the moment as well. Indiana Racing opens on Tuesday, April 21st and we are all looking forward to a successful meet.
We won races at Churchill Downs, Oaklawn, Beulah, Presque Isle, Mountaineer Park, Indiana Grand, Belterra (formerly River Downs) Saratoga, Turfway Park and Ellis Park. We also placed at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Keeneland, Charlestown, Kentucky Downs and Hawthorne. Sixteen tracks and over 50,000 miles added to my car odometer.
2014 was a good year (not great but good). We always strive to do better. The stable had 33 wins, 30 seconds, 50 thirds and won $1,104,585 in purse money. Trainer ranking was 207 in North America. The major horse this year was MISTER POLLARD winning three stakes. The first was The Indiana Bred 3 yr. old $150,000 Governors Stake (which we also won in 2013) the second was the $85,000 Hoosier Breeders Sophomore Stakes and the third was the $150,000 Too Much Coffee Stakes. He also dead heated for second in the $100,000 Bachelor’s Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He will be named 2014 Champion 3 Yr. Old Colt Indiana Bred and is one of the leading contenders for Indiana Bred Horse of the Year winning $246,000 this year, the most winnings in one year for any horse I have ever trained.
We retired our homebred DREAMIN BIG this year after she surpassed $600,000 in lifetime earnings which is the highest earning horse we have ever bred, owned and trained. We look forward to her future offspring as she is now in foal.
We also retired another nice homebred, PRIZE WINNER with $265,810 lifetime earnings. She too is in foal and we look forward to her future as a broodmare.
We also won the first annual $75,000 Indiana Stallion Auction Stakes (colt division) this year with maiden HOOSIER NEIGHBOR.
We also took a small string to Saratoga this year and had a win, a second, a third and two fourths in five starts. We hadn’t taken any horses there for about six years and would like to return this year with a few more.
This year we would like to achieve more wins and reach a goal of $2M in purse money. I know we have never done this, but we have some nice young horses and look for the older horses to come back as good if not better.
On the personal side, we had our first grandchild (Truman) this past April who was born to our oldest daughter Elizabeth and her husband Luke Sharrett. In April of 2015, our daughter Sara and her husband Justen Turley are expecting a baby boy, who will double the grandchild count for the Lauer’s! Conformation we have entered yet another stage in life.
We would like to thank everyone who had horses with us this year. We will continue to do our best and look forward to a successful 2015.
The Churchill Meet is 2/3rds over and has come to an abrupt halt due to the cold temperature’s and snow we have gotten this year. They have cancelled the card two days in a row. The last time they cancelled a day in the fall meet was in 1986. They did cancel a couple of spring days in 2011 when tornado’s came through.
They are suppose to add extra races each day to make up for the lost two days (hopefully we won’t lose anymore). Thanksgiving has always been a giant day at Churchill as well as Friday and Saturday.
Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas will open six weeks after Churchill’s meet closes with the bottom purse for $5000 claimers being $18,000 and purses up to $62,000 for maiden special.
Still time to claim one at Churchill to run at Oaklawn this winter.