Jan 18

Looking Ahead to 2018!!

Updates:

I'm so thrilled to continue with Royal Victory Thoroughbreds in 2018, and look forward to offering more horses and adding new Partners in the New Year!  For those of you following along and may be considering ownership in 2018, I have exciting details about a promising young filly to be offered in the New Year that I will be sharing more about in an upcoming communication. 

2017 was a very exciting year as we found the Winner's Circle 3 different times out of 10 races for a 30% winning percentage, along with three fourth place finishes for 60% in the top 4!  My highlight of the year had to be witnessing Party Pooper win an impossible head-bob on July 17, propelling Royal Victory Thoroughbred Partners into the Winner's Circle for the firs time in 2017!  It truly was a PRICELESS MOMENT!  

As we approach 2018, you may note that January 1 of each year (Aug 1 in the Southern Hemisphere), The Jockey Club recognizes a birthday for every registered racehorse regardless of their actual foaling date; thus, when you raise your glass on New Years Eve to ring in 2018 🍸, you should immediately raise it again to wish all racehorses a Happy Birthday 🎂. This means Annisquam will next race as a six year old mare and Pyscho Sister as a five year old mare in spite of their biological birthdays in April and February respectively.

The arbitrary birthday is used to avoid confusion and errors with all races requiring some age-based condition. By establishing the Jan 1 date, it means every racehorse born in 2015 is now considered a 3 Year Old in 2018 and those born in 2014 are 4 Year olds and so on...

This birthday rule explains why almost every racehorse in North America is born between Jan and May. In fact, breeders are so eager for early foals, they put their mares under lights at the beginning of the year (and perhaps some fertility assistance). Without this human intervention, such amorphous behavior would not begin until warmer days arrived. A thoroughbred born earlier (Jan/Feb) in the year is believed to hold a maturity and physical advantage over those born later (May/June). This doesn't matter much by the time they turn four but it can make a difference during those formidable 2-year old and early 3-year old seasons.

© 2019