Awesome Life (3 yr old colt) raced on 24 August (Travers Day) and he showed some of the speed we were expecting from him. The race was his first on dirt and 2nd start overall. He broke quickly and went for the lead along with the 7/5 Chad Brown favorite. The mile was a little too long for his first dirt race as he tired halfway down the home stretch. This was our first race at Saratoga Racecourse and it was a great day for all of us. He came out of the race in great shape and just worked 4 Furlongs in 48.7 4th of 22 horses at this distance. Awesome's next race will be in a couple of weeks at Aqueduct. We look forward to him improving again and will be in a shorter distance that will greatly improve his chances for success.
Cahira-our 2 yr old filly has started In Front Training Center (see video below chestnut filly) and will be with trainer Rudy Rodriguez at Aqueduct on October 1st. We are really expecting her to hit the ground running based on her efforts at the Ocala Breeders Sale and her class. She is by Midshipman, 2 yr old colt champion and Yaletown, a daughter of Thunder Gulch a Kentucky Derby Champion. Her first race should be around the mid to the end of November.
MJ's Yoshida- our 2 yr old NY Bred filly is trained by Maxine Correa at Tampa Bay Downs in Florida. Maxine has worked with trainers James Bond and Nick Zito for many years and has a stable of her own now. MJ worked from the gate this week and we believe like many of the Yoshida offspring. she will really like the turf for racing. Her first start will be in November. We plan on keeping her at Tampa/Gulfstream over the winter and return to NY racing in the spring, when the NY turf racing starts after the winter.
Brody's Appeal- our 2 yr old NY Bred colt has grown tremendously since we purchased him as a 5 month old. He has started training at In Front Training Center and will send him to a trainer at Aqueduct probably in November and race in Dec/Jan.
We were hoping to have at least one of our 2 yr olds racing at Saratoga this summer but unfortunately, they were not ready. It was more of a dream than a goal. The horses are in great shape and progressing very nicely, which is all we can really hope for. We do expect all 4 horses to be racing this fall and winter. The next couple of months are going to be exciting for OKeefe Stables and our partners!!