Avatar's in the theatre. The Ravens are in the playoffs. And Tim Keefe has a Website.
Welcome to TimKeefeRacing.com.
Happy New Year.
My buddy Sean Clancy talked me into this, he figures it will be a fun way for my owners and friends to follow the stable. Hopefully there will be a lot to follow in 2010!
Celtic Innis is back for his sixth season of racing, we're aiming at the Fire Plug for him. Our 2009 stakes winner Frisky Thunder should be back after a winter freshening. We worked the yearling sales hard in the fall so we have a strong team of 2-year-olds learning their lessons for spring arrivals. Yes, I'm already thinking about spring.
Enjoy the site, let me know what you think and all the best for 2010.
Last month’s Frank Whiteley Jr. Stakes winner Still Having Fun drew the rail for Saturday’s $100,000 Miracle Wood Stakes. The 3-year-old stakes goes as the sixth race and is scheduled for 3:00. Although the post might usually be a worry going the 1-mile distance at Laurel, we learned last time in the Whiteley that Still Having Fun has no problem taking the inside route and getting a little dirt in his face. Drawn to his outside in the seven-horse field are four rivals he soundly defeated in the Whiteley. Newcomers include Dynamic Asset and He Hate Me, the only other stakes winner in the field.
Still Having Fun has come out of the Whiteley in good order and Tim hopes the three-week turnaround won’t be a hindrance Saturday.
“He really didn’t need a timed work in between races,” Tim said. “He had a long, strong 2-mile gallop with Tattooed Friday. He gets a lot out of his training in the morning, he’s very competitive. He listens to his exercise rider very well. He’s not difficult to ride, but he’s a 3-year-old colt. He feels good.”
He also listens very well to his rider in the afternoon. Still Having Fun showed a tremendous response when guided to the inside for his stretch run in the Whiteley by jockey Feargal Lynch. Lynch can’t wait to get back on the colt, who he has ridden in each of his first three starts.
Sylvia E. Heft’s Eighttofasttocatch was the popular winner of today’s feature on Jim McKay Maryland Million Day, defending his title in the $150,000 Classic in wire to wire fashion at Laurel Park.
The Maryland Million is the one of the most important racing days at Laurel Park with 11 events for runners sired by Maryland-based stallions for combined purses totaling $1 million. The 29th annual event drew a crowd of 18,870 on a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon in central Maryland.
Sent to post as the 3-5 favorite, Eighttofasttocatch carried Forest Boyce to a driving, 4-1/2 length victory in 1:50.54 for the 1-1/8 mile distance. Concealed Identity beat the rest to finish second, while Turbin was third.
Eighttofasttocatch Goes Out On Top In The Jennings Handicap
Sylvia E. Heft’s Eighttofasttocatch was the easy winner of today’s $125,000 Jennings Handicap, the final start of his storied career. In doing so, Eighttofasttocatch retires a millionaire.
Forest Boyce returned from riding at Fair Grounds to hold the reins aboard the Tim Keefe trainee, who was winning the Jennings for the fourth time. With the win, the 8-year old moves into 19th place on the list of Maryland-bred millionaires, ending his career with $1,072,970 in earnings.
This was his seventeenth lifetime win, fifteen of which have come at Laurel Park. Among his many victories are three wins in the Maryland Million Classic. He has won twelve stakes overall.
The election of trainer Tim Keefe as only the third President in Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association history, coupled with the election of seven new members to the MTHA’s Board of Directors appears to signal a new, more inclusive direction for MTHA leadership. After being elected President, Keefe was excited about the organization’s future.
“I think the new Board is very energetic,” he said. “Everyone is looking forward to adding their own input and is anxious to get started.”
The Sept. 4 meeting - at which Officers were elected - was the first since the Board of Directors was chosen in an election which saw unprecedented voting with over 25 percent of the MTHA membership casting a ballot.
Joining Keefe on the Officers roster is founding member Linda Gaudet and R. Larry Johnson as Vice Presidents, as well as Michael Horning as Treasurer.
Sylvia E. Heft’s Eighttofasttocatch was the popular winner of today’s feature on Jim McKay Maryland Million Day, defending his title in the $150,000 Classic in wire to wire fashion at Laurel Park.
