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race 5030.3414
E2, The Sundown Mile-G2, 4yo+ M 8F Turf

These are the pedigrees of the horses engaged at the 4 day stage of the real life race.

Rahy*Silver Hawk*Mr Prospector
Dubawi*Green Desert*Slip Anchor
Dansili*Quest For Fame*Majestic Light
Librettist*Singspiel*Ela-Mama-Mou
Kyllachy*Bishop Of Cashel*Carwhite
Elusive Quality*Thunder Gulch*Affirmed
Passing Glance*Averti*Lahib
Medicean*Statoblest*Nodouble
Hurricane Run*Distant View*Nijinsky
Diktat*Fasilyev*Rahy

As we can see 9 of the 10 pedigrees are European turf race based. In that both sire and dam sire raced on the turf in Europe and 7 of the dds did to. If you want a turf horse in real life and the sim it should be you concentrate on horse that ran on the turf free from drugs. There is one exception here but then there are two horses that would be bargain bred in the sim and I would have little confidence either pedigree would succeed in the sim at the expense at statistically far worse expensive sires. This has to be wrong hopefully Mike’s game upgrade will resolve this kind of issues long term.

I think we should visit Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket England’s main independent stallion farm and a very successful one at that. All four of the active stallions are well above average and in truth all should be in the top 100 in the game; two are for sure one in the top 20.

Dutch Art he was a real life first crop sire last year and was a massive success. He was the world leader on number of 2yo winners over 50% of his runners have won races which is top class in Europe. He has had 7 black type horses and already has a graded stakes winner in 2012. He looks a stallion with a future the majority of his stock will be sprinter milers. He has the added bonus of being almost free of Northern Dancer which will continue to make him popular. He has not done to bad in the sim so far and appears well rated at present given the right class of mare.

Kyllachy is a sire with a good record. He sires lots of winners his offspring sired the winners of over a hundred races in Britain last year and at the current rate he will do so again. (0% of his offspring are best at below a mile but some do get a bit further. If advertisements were required he was the sire of the winner and second in the sprint races at the Dubai World Cup this year and had two graded stakes winners Easter weekend and was the dam sire of a graded stakes winner this weekend. He is a sire on an upward curve (shame I had a share in probably the only unsound horse he has produced) as most are really tough. His sim record is terrible and he should be a decent sire in the game and one of the top Northern hemisphere turf speed sources. He should have a similar sim rating to Dutch Art.

Medicean is another very good sire. He has not really built on his initial success but continues to be a very reliable stallion of top class horses. In Dutch Art he has already sired a more than useful stallion son and his daughter should do well very much like his own sires daughter have done. He is a very worthwhile stallion to use and has a very good sim rating. If I am honest a touch to high but not by much though compared to some sires think Awesome Again it is not a total disaster.

Pivotal is one of the best sires in the world. He has sired 50 graded stakes winners since the start of 2003. If we exclude horses that have covered in Brazil and India, plus remove restricted races in the period he is one of the 10 best sires over that period. Only 2 others had not dual hemisphere at all and both are not active. He is a very versatile sire as well seeming to be able to graft class onto his offspring instead of stamping a running style or distance preference like his son Kyllachy. He is and should be one of the elite sires in the sim.

Virtual he was best as a 4yo and so far has had no runners in real life. He is a hard sire to weigh up. On the positive he is a son of Pivotal and many Polar Flacon horses seem to upgrade their stock considerably see Pivotal and in the real race Passing Glance (whose win to runner ratio and upgrading of quality is amazing from some horrible mares). On the flip side he is from the same family of the failed sire Entrepreneur (who interestingly is working well as a broodmare sire). His closely related brother did not set the world alight in a short stud carrier and in truth it is hard to see him doing any better.

JUMPING DOWN (NZ) ZABEEL (NZ) x SUMMER SQUALL x RAISE A NATIVE

Zabeel is at an advanced age but he has been a very good sire for a long time. The fact only 8 horses have sired more graded stakes winners is all the proof you need. The only weakness in his statistics is the fact many have been in New Zealand which does not exactly have the best racing in the world. This is a serious racehorse though make no mistake of that. His form is top notch. He has only run once this year which was not a great run by his high standards. The big question is was that ring rust or a sign that a change in year has seen his ability levels reduce. At present I would side with the former. A return to his best gives him a great shot and I am sure if he does not make the frame at least connections would be disappointed.

WHAT YOU SEA (GB) BEAT HOLLOW (GB) x PULPIT x BELONG TO ME

Beat Hollow now operates as a jump sire. He was really struggling for mares as a flat sire had less than 20 visit him last year. That being said he can sire a decent horse though on.ly has sired one grade 1 winner and six overall. His sim record in recent years is pretty much where you would expect it and now should be downgraded again though he will do well as a jumps sire his flat bred runners are doing well already and his brother Court Cave is in demand. This fellow was very good this time last year and won a grade 1 race over 12f. He has been hard to place since then. He is still running decent speed figures though without much. Over this trip and this class I cannot see things changing.

FAST TAPPER (KY) TAPIT x FASLIYEV x HANSEL

Tapit has done very well in north America he has 18 graded stakes winners worldwide only two not in the USA,
with one of those being in Venezuela. All bar one has been on the dirt and that winner was in a filly’s grade 3 which outside of the USA would not have graded status. His runners in England and Ireland have been dire he has not sired a winner of a race above class 4 and the way many run they seem to either have breathing or bleeding issues and in some cases both. He should be a top class dirt sire in the game but be well below all the sires with runners in his ability on turf. This horse has run in graded turf races 4 times and three of them have been very poor efforts though he was placed on the other occasion. He has the speed figures to make the fame here but in truth it would be a worry if he were good enough to win.

DUBI DU BOP (KY) EL PRADO (IRE) x ARAZI x A.P. INDY

El Prado was a decent sire but nothing to exciting to be honest. He would have been in real terms around 85% of the ability of Medicean based on graded stakes ability. His sim rating has appeared to been adjusted as a dam sire and is much more in line with where it should be. This horse is another who can run good speed figures but when upped in class to graded races tends to struggle. If he puts his best foot forward can make the frame though a win seems unlikely.

SKY IS CRYING (KY) STREET CRY (IRE) x GALILEO (IRE) x DANEHILL

Street Cry is a very good sire with 35 graded stakes winners already. He is not a source of stamina especially in Europe where the metal side of many of his offspring’s pedigree causes issues. It will be interesting to see how all those horses with Dustbin and Zarooni develop; I am guessing better with the latter but it has to be a worry for his statics. I do believe he will be an even better dam sire if bred to the right sires (ones who are sane).This horse has a great pedigree which has turf miler written all over it. At present he is living up to the billing posting good speed figures and handling each step up in class. If he does not bounce he should win this and it would be no surprise to see him go on to far bigger things.

PREGUNTA GRANDE (AUS) RED RANSOM x LAST TYCOON (IRE) x SECRETARIAT

This horse has a good turf pedigree. The stand out element is the one the majority of players will over look his dam sire Last Tycoon. His record in this area is outstanding since 2003 only Sadler’s Wells, Danehill, Mr Prospector and Southern Halo have had more graded stakes winners as dam sires Darshaan has the same number 69 and he like Last Tycoon is horrible underrated and therefore undervalued in the sim. This is the kind of dam sire that should be gone on the bell every week. This horse ran poorly last time so I hope for connection’s that was his bad race with no explanation the sim loves to throw up. If he returns to his form prior to that run he has the ability to make the frame but is yet another horse in this race that tends to find graded company a bit beyond him when it comes to winning.

MR. IVOR (FR) MR. SIDNEY x SIR IVOR x SHARPEN UP (GB)

This horse has a horrible pedigree on all levels. His sire did not win until four and is at stud in France no horse that ran exclusively in the US has done well at stud in Europe since Northfields what gives this horse a chance of doing so nothing. At the stud he stands the unproven Fuisse was a far superior racehorse with a better statistical chance of success and although lightly used in the sim there are no real grounds to believe he could do what this hopeless case has done. Let’s be truthful it is hard to see Mr Sidney doing as well as Kentucky Dynamite who has not sired a horse rated over a 100 yet. If we add on the dam sire that has had only two graded winners in real life sired from horses born after 2001 we really get a picture of a skid horse. Breeding Fuisse to a Kendor mare should give you a chance of getting a stakes class horse this pedigree should give you a horse that cannot win a maiden claim. This horse ahs one run in graded company and was destroyed though has been on an upward curve since then. His speed figures are good as well though has yet to win in open allowance company a massive leap of faith is required too fancy him in here.

As for my selections

1 Sky Is Crying
2 Jumping Down
3 Fast Tapper