Big Field Of 13 Going For Grade 1 Reckless

South Korea may not the first place that pops into your mind when you think of the pantheons of horse racing.

But it is the place where a very special race is held every year.

South Korea is the birthplace of a valiant war horse that not many people have heard about. This horse never captured the attention of Hollywood‘s movie moguls, though, in hindsight, that might not have been a bad idea. But this horse was, nonetheless, a very brave little filly who was named by Time Magazine during her lifetime as one of America’s 100 greatest heros of all time.

The Grade 1 Staff Sargeant Reckless Memorial is a 9-furlong race on the grass for fillies and mares three years old and up. The race was made to honor a little sorrel filly who went by the name of Reckless, a filly whose service during time of war for her adopted country made her a hero among heros.

You might be wondering why this race is in South Korea and why it‘s held this time of year. It’s in South Korea, not only because Reckless was born there, but also because Reckless “fought” in the Korean Conflict in the 1950’s. And it’s held this time of year as a reminder of Veteran’s Day in America.

Reckless never won any big races on the track. In fact, I’m not even sure that she ran in any races, at all. Very little is known about her, before her purchase by the American Marines, but I do remember seeing in one of the videos about her that her sire was Korean and her dam was Japanese and that she was actually born at a race track in South Korea.

Her South Korean owner sold her to an American Marine for $250, because he reportedly needed to buy a prosthetic leg for his little sister, and Reckless’ job for the American Army was transporting supplies to and from the Marine base camp to the front lines.

Her job description expanded, when the Marines saw exactly how good Reckless was at her job. Eventually, she not only transported supplies and ammunition, but she also carried wounded soldiers back from the front lines, after she dropped off supplies and ammo to soldiers still able to fight on the front lines. And sometimes she made these trips alone, on her own, with artillery shells exploding all around her. She saved many wounded soldiers’ lives by transporting them back to the base camp to receive medical attention.

Reckless loved to eat breakfast with the soldiers. Some soldiers said she was particularly fond of pancakes and scrambled eggs. I saw in one video that she also liked to drink beer with them. She was truly one of the “guys,” and the soldiers loved her. And, when the battles got particularly fierce, the Marines would strap their flak jackets on her to protect her from enemy fire.

After her service with the Marines in Korea, Reckless was eventually shipped to America from her native Korea, with some of the Marines she served with in Korea, and she lived out the remainder of her post-war life at Camp Pendleton, in the San Francisco area.

There are many, many great stories about Reckless. But I remember one story that particularly stands out, and it was about how Reckless made 51 trips–most of them on her own–back and forth from the front lines to the base camp, during one extremely fierce battle in Korea.

I’ll just link the story about Reckless, and you can watch her story, if you haven’t seen it, or if you‘d just like to watch it again.

It’s from HR-TV’s popular show, Inside Information, which details the exploits of various champion race horses and trainers and jockeys from our past. When I first saw the story on television about Reckless last summer, I was touched, because it was a different sort of a horse story, a story about a horse hero in a time of war, a horse who saved lives and drank beer, a horse who was eventually promoted to the rank of Staff Sargeant in the United States Marine Corps.

Inside Information EP26 “Reckless” 

Someone even wrote a song about her, if you would like to listen to it.  It’s a little hokey, but that’s okay.   JD seems to be really fond of it.  And, hey, she was a great little filly who deserved a lot more than a song…and a beer or two or three.

Reckless, Pride Of The Marines

Last year, War Witch won the first running of the Grade 1 Staff Sargeant Reckless Memorial. There was a pretty small field gathered for the running of this race last season, and I believe that’s probably because there probably weren’t many people who were even aware of the race’s existence, much like most people were never aware of the existence of Reckless.

War Witch caught early leader Nevertryneverfail late to just get up by a neck at the wire in the inaugural running of the Reckless Memorial last season. War Witch ran the 9 furlongs in 1:47.80, a stakes record that seems almost destined to fall this year, given the quality of the field gathered here this weekend in South Korea.

This year, the field has gotten better for the Reckless Memorial. There are no less than six Grade 1 winners, including a 2011 Eclipse Award winner, in this year’s version of the race. The field has also gotten much bigger, and there is a field of 13 for the 2012 running of the Staff Sargeant Reckless Memorial.

Staff Sargeant Reckless, this race is for you.  I think she would be proud of this field, because this race is chock full of great fillies and mares, who have been real heros ON the race track during their careers.

And, now, here are the entries for the second annual running of the Grade 1 Staff Sargeant Reckless Memorial, at nine furlongs on the turf in South Korea, for fillies and mares, three year olds and up, for a purse of $500,000.

(1)  BICHITA GRAMERA  (JPN)             Odds: 12/1

Owner: Bichitos       (Deep Impact x Prospector Autumn (Nureyev))

Bichita Gramera, a five year old daughter of Deep Impact, is one of six grade 1 winners in this year’s Reckless Memorial. In fact, she’s got a couple of huge grade 1 wins on her resume, including a win in the Grade 1 Ugly Breeders’ Bowl Distaff last season. She’s only raced six times this season, with two wins, neither of them stakes wins. But of her six starts this year, she’s been in the top three five times. She’s not running the triple digit speed figures as consistently as she did in previous seasons, but one thing that Bichita Gramera did last time out was romp to a convincing win in a 9-furlong allowance race in Iowa. She scored a 105 speed figure in that win, and she looked a lot like her old self in that win. Because she is sired by a Japanese horse, like the filly the race is named after, you have to circle her as one of your sentimental favorites here.

(2)  EXPLOSIVE SKY  (JPN)       Odds: 9/1

Owner: Astinator2       (Deep Impact x Bout Time (A.P. Indy))

Explosive Sky is a three year old daughter of Deep Impact, from the A.P Indy mare, Bout Time. The name of the dam sort of popped out at me, because JD and I happen to own a two year old half brother to Explosive Sky. Explosive Sky comes in here off a Grade 1 win. Hers was in the 9-furlong Grade 1 QE2 Challenge in Kentucky. Explosive Sky has an outstanding record so far in her brief career, winning eight of her 11 career starts, including her last five in a row. Explosive Sky has been almost untouchable this year. She popped 115 and 117 speed figures her last two times out, both graded wins. She’s going to be big trouble for this field of older fillies and mares, if she runs back to those two races. She loves to run on the front end, something she’s done in both of her last two graded wins. She’s not only got incredible front end speed, but she can make it last, and she broke the 1:47 mark for the 9 furlongs in her last two races. This will be her first time running against older females, and she’ll be looking to extend her five-race win streak here.

(3)  HAACK’S MACHINE  (IRE)      Odds: 15/1

Owner: Ottico         (Sea The Stars x Xtreme Haack (Kingmambo))

Otto Haack of Venezuela will send his four year old daughter of Sea The Stars here in the Grade 1 Reckless. She is one of two entries by the sharp trainer.  It took this entry of Otto’s 20 starts, but Haack’s Machine finally broke into the graded win category two starts back. And she did it in a big way, in a very big race. She scored a huge upset win in the Grade 1 Princess Di Cap in Upper New York. She beat a field of seven others there, and she did it on the front end. She led the entire way in that race, jumping out to nearly a six-length lead before cruising home with the easy win. It was a huge effort on her part that day. She had shown early speed before, but she had never won in gate-to-wire fashion in graded company before. In fact, she had never won on the front end the entire way since she scored a six-furlong allowance win in Victoria in the second start of her career way back in 2010. Haack’s Machine doesn’t have quite the speed numbers some of these she will be facing, but when she runs in grade 1 company, she comes up with these huge efforts, like she did in the Princess Di Cap. Last season, she almost scored her first grade 1 win in the 11-furlong Diana Grand Prix. That distance might have been a bit long for her. She’s back in her comfort zone this weekend at 9 furlongs, and she’s in another grade 1. That could spell trouble for the rest of this field. And if Haack’s Machine should get involved in an early speed duel, the sharp trainer has a late closer, Platinum Haack breaking from the perfect post, 13, to swoop in late and pick up the pieces–or maybe win the whole thing. Either way, Otto Haack, has two very nice shots here at some big money in South Korea this weekend.

(4)  COLD WORLD  (IRE)        Odds: 9/1

Owner: Redhill5         (Montjeu x Caerleon x Carson City)

Redhill sends Cold World here to South Korea this weekend. At first, when I was looking over her record, I thought she was a three year old, with only 13 career starts. But, in fact, Cold World is a very lightly raced four year old daughter of Montjeu, which is about as royal as it gets, when it comes to turf pedigrees here in Derbyfever. She’s also got Caerleon and Carson City back there in that scratch-bred pedigree of hers, and she’s relatively new to the graded stakes scene. She only started racing last September, as a late three year old. She’s been in graded company her last four times on the track, running mostly in the mid-Atlantic and New York and Ontario. She scored her first two times out in graded company when she won the Grade 3 Whole Time Stakes in Virginia four starts back. She followed that up with an equally impressive score in another 9-furlong event, the Grade 2 Smart Dancer in Ontario.  Her last two times out, she was stepped up in distance, to 10 and 11 furlongs in graded races in New York and Ontario. She finished off the board in the 11 furlong Grade 3 Glen Is Falling Handicap, but when she dropped down to 10 furlongs last time out in the Grade 1 Liz Taylor, she rebounded to score a third place finish.  More importantly, she got back into the triple digit speed figure range.  Cold World should really appreciate another drop in distance here, to 9 furlongs, and she just might score her first grade 1 win in this spot. She’s won at this distance twice in graded company, so why not?

(5)  NEO FORTY  (GB)     Odds: 5/1

Owner: Lopic            (New Approach x Forty Niner x Lyphard)

Neo Forty comes from the barn of Dan Silver, and the scratch-bred daughter of New Approach is probably the most accomplished mares in this race this weekend. You guys have all heard and read about Dan’s super mare.  She’s won no less than eight graded races, five of them Grade 1’s, including the prestigious Grade 1 Oaks de English as a three year old. She won the Eclipse Award last season, and she comes in here off a huge score in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Prix Opera in Paris last time out. She ran against three other foes that day, but it was an impressive win, nonetheless, for Neo Forty.  She ran on the lead the whole way, something Dan is probably hoping she’ll do this weekend. She’s got tremendous speed, and she’s looking to make this her third grade 1 win of the year in this spot. And she might just be looking to get another Eclipse Award for herself this year.

(6)  WALK THAT LINE  (KY)      Odds: 8/1

Owner: rtribbet          (Street Cry x Northern Dancer x Alydar)

Walk That Line has made it to the track eight times this season, mostly in listed stakes company. The four year old daughter of Street Cry is pretty lightly raced for a five year old, and she’s only got one graded start on her resume. That came this season, when she finished sixth in the 8-furlong Grade 3 Wilshire Boulevard in California this season. She has seen the 9-furlong distance she’ll be running this weekend only a handful of times in her career. She broke her maiden at first asking at 9 furlongs, on the dirt, two seasons ago. And her last two times out, she scored at nine furlongs on the turf. Last time out is a very key race to watch when you’re looking over this field. The daughter of Street Cry won a listed stakes race in Vermont, and she did it with a very impressive 111 speed figure, which happens to be the highest speed figure race of her career. She could be one to watch here closely, if she runs back to that number. That was a pretty nice field she faced last time out in Vermont, and that 111 speed figure puts her right up there with a lot of these in the Reckless Memorial this weekend.

(7)  PENTROY  (NZ)        Odds: 12/1

Owner: Davarto       (Pentire x Well The Fleets (Sadler’s Wells)

This is a pretty interesting filly that davarto sends in here to South Korea this weekend. She’s a four year old New Zealand-bred daughter of Pentire who’s only been to the track 14 times in her career. Her career is a monument to davarto’s patience, his hallmark as a trainer here. He usually doesn’t race his horses before they’re ready. And when he does, and he sees something he doesn’t like, he’s not afraid to turn them out to pasture and hang onto them until they are ready. He tried this daughter of Pentire only twice as a two year old, and her speed figures were less than stellar. But, instead of throwing her on the scrap heap, davarto turned her out and held onto her for an entire year and a half, before he raced her again. He’s brought her gradually up the ladder until she progressed into triple digit speed figures. Finally two starts back, he got Pentroy into her first listed stakes, an 8.5 furlong affair in New South Wales, where she scored in her first stakes try. Davarto was right in hanging onto this young filly. She’s been popping some pretty impressive numbers in her last few starts. Last time out she ran in her first graded stakes, the 8.5 furlong Grade 3 Black Light Stakes in Vermont, where she passed horses late to get a top three finish. And now she’s running in a grade 1, against not only an Eclipse Award winner, but probably also against the best field she’s ever faced in her 14 career starts. She’s a real feel good story, a story about patience in a trainer who knew his horse had talent. It was just a matter of time, and davarto took that time to get her where she is this weekend–with a live shot in half a million dollar grade 1 race.

(8)  INVADING HAMMER  (KY)         Odds: 15/1

Owner: Aaihr            (Invasor x Thor’s Hammer II (Sadler’s Wells))

You don’t see many graded stakes winners from Invasor around the track, but here’s one of only two in the entire game. Trainer aaihr bred this one extremely well, and Invading Hammer has carved out a pretty good career for herself running in listed stakes company. She’s a five year old daughter by the Argentinian-bred Invasor, out of the Sadler’s Wells mare Thor’s Hammer II. She took the track 22 times before she finally got her shot in graded company two starts back in the Grade 2 Molson’s Export, where she ran with a few of these she’ll be facing this weekend. And, last time out, Invading Hammer rewarded aaihr with the first graded win of Invading Hammer’s career, when she scored big in the Grade 3 Bickernocker Handicap in Delaware. She popped a 103 speed figure in that race, and she ran wild on the lead, opening up as much as a 10 ¼ length lead on the field before holding on to win by half a length. That’s pretty typical of Invading Hammer. She loves the early lead, and she’s got the talent–and the speed–to get on the front end. Her speed figures aren’t quite up to a lot of these, but that’s okay. If this mare gets loose on the lead, she can do exactly what she did last time out. And, that’s get a big early lead and try to hold on for dear life at the end. She might do exactly that. Keep an eye on her. There’s a lot of early speed in this race, so there’s no doubt she’ll be pushed early on. Can she hold on against what is probably the best field she’s ever run against? That’s the big question for Invading Hammer.

(9)   ON ANOTHER LEVEL  (KY)          Odds: 9/1

Owner: Blazingsad             (Henrythenavigator x Trippolette (Redoute’s Choice))

This four year old daughter of Henrythenavigator is looking for her first graded win ever this weekend, when she runs in the Reckless Memorial. She’s pretty new to graded company, and she’s very lightly raced coming in here. She’s only got 17 career starts under her belt. She finished off the board in both the Grade 1 Ugly Breeders’ Bowl Distaff and the Grade 2 Call For Cash, both in California. But the last two times out, On Another Level showed she was ready to step up into graded company, narrowly missing out on wins in both the 9-furlong Grade 1 Maybe Johnny Handicap and the Grade 2 Molson Export. She lost by ¾ of a length in the former and only a ¼ of a length last time out. She was coming from far off the pace in both starts, and this might just be her time to break into graded company. Last time out, she ran her eyeballs out, when she lost to West Hollywood at the wire. Three more jumps, and On Another Level would have scored her first graded win ever. She popped a career-high 112 speed figure in that effort, and if that’s any indication of how she will run this weekend, look out. On Another Level might be ready to break into the graded win category.

(10)  WEARY KIND  (IRE)         Odds: 7/1

Owner:  Bigjet             (Galileo x Korbyn’s Kind (Kingmambo)

There are some pretty regal names here in Weary Kind’s pedigree. The four year old daughter of Galileo is out of the Kingmambo he-mare, Korbyn’s Kind, and Brandon’s horse also has Nijinsky II back there in that beautiful pedigree of hers. Weary Kind comes in here off a walk-in-the-park score in a 9-furlong allowance race in Victoria. She’s a four-time graded stakes winner, and three of those were in grade 1’s. She scored back to back graded wins at the end of last season, when she won the Grade 1 Motherly Love Stakes in California and the Grade 3 Penn Oaks in Pennsyvania on Del-Penn Champions Day. She’s run mostly mile races in her career, but when she stretched out to 9 furlongs last time out (for only the second time in her career), she definitely showed she can handle the distance. She won by open lengths, and it might just be the right kind of tune-up for this big grade 1 race in South Korea this weekend.

(11)  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  (GER)           Odds: 9/1

Owner: Mtkbargain            (Monsun x Miswaki x Danzig)

Mark Kelly sends in Autobiographical here to South Korea this weekend, and like a few others here, Autobiographical comes in here off a grade 1 win in the 8-furlong Prix Marcel Boss in Paris. The four year old daughter of Monson tried the long turf classics as a three year old, but she really didn’t find her comfort zone, distance-wise, until this year, when she scored her first ever graded win in the Grade 2 Winter Forest in Berkshire, four starts back in June. Mark’s outstanding filly came from far off the pace last time out in the Prix Marcel Boss and finished with a mad, late rush to score an easy 1 ½ length victory there. She was 11 lengths off the pace there, in Paris, last time out, so she should appreciate this extra furlong she’ll be getting in South Korea this weekend. She might just appreciate the speed duel on the front end expected to develop here this weekend, with that European-style late kick of hers. She could be dangerous in this spot, particularly if she gets that much-anticipated speed duel on the front end to run at late. Watch Mark’s horse carefully here. She should like the way this race plays out early.

(12)  TOY SOLDIERS  (FR)       Odds: 7/1

Owner: Tazbred1      (Soldier Of Fortune x Generous Storm (Storm Cat))

Trainer Tazbred1 sends the only French-bred into South Korea this weekend, Toy Soldiers. Toy Soldiers is trying to do something that Invading Hammer’s owner has already done. He’s trying to become only the second owner of a graded winning horse by her sire, Soldier Of Fortune. Toy Soldiers is definitely no stranger to graded company, though, unlike Invading Hammer. Toy Soldiers has been in a number of graded events in her career–six, to be exact, and she’s been oh so close to getting that first graded win a number of times. She’s been run from grade 3 races all the way up to what was probably the biggest race of her career as a three year old, the Grade 1 Irish Oaks. She just threw the two biggest speed numbers of her career, when she ran a 110 and a 111 in her last two starts. That bodes extremely well for her here in this spot this weekend. She ran on two months rest before and after she threw that 110 in an allowance win two starts back. And she comes in here on another nearly two-month rest this weekend, and that definitely makes her one to watch in this field. If she can run back to her last two speed figures, Toy Soldiers can definitely be in contention for some major league prize money for tazbred1. Tazbred1 would probably love nothing better than to own one of only two graded stakes winners from Soldier Of Fortune. And if Toy Soldiers wins here, she’ll be the only grade 1 winner from Soldier Of Fortune.

(13)  PLATINUM HAACK  (KY)       Odds: 10/1

Owner: Juliotto        (Awesome Again x Sexy Haack (Holy Roman Emperor))

Platinum Haack is the second of two entries from the barn of Otto Haack of Venezuela, and it’s hard to tell which filly is better, despite their odds. Both ran the same speed figures last time out, but one is a front-end speedster, while this one, Platinum Haack, loves to close late. It’s a pretty sharp move here from Otto to double enter these, but then again, Otto’s a pretty sharp trainer who rarely misses a move to pick up some graded stakes points–and the earnings to go along with them. In a race with so much early speed, his other filly, Haack’s Machine, could burn out on the front end, while this one, Platinum Haack, could very well be around late to pick up the pieces, should an early speed duel develop. Unlike Haack’s Machine, Platinum Haack doesn’t have nearly the earnings of her stable mate, but she is definitely capable of swooping in late and picking up the pieces should the race fall apart on the front end, like she did last time out in an allowance win in Indiana. Platinum Haack is a daughter of Awesome Again, and she hasn’t seen nearly the graded action her stablemate has thus far, but she’s definitely got the talent to get some graded money here. Like her stablemate, Platinum Haack has run in 21 career races, and they both have something in common–a tendency to finish in the top three in races. Platinum Haack was been in the top three in 13 of her 21 starts, winning eight. And a lot of that is due to her sharp trainer, Otto Haack, who’s looking to make a big double dip in a big $500,000 grade 1 race this weekend here in South Korea.