Spotlighting Bob The Cob
On the DerbyFever bulletin boards, a topic on achieving 300 wins for one barn caught my eye. Although, I cannot make this claim myself, heck, I’m barely on the verge of hitting 100 for one barn as it stands. Trainer Nextbonus can. Actually, the stable that has achieved this milestone goes by the name of Marsattack, which is part of the Nextbonus conglomerate. Upon looking at the conglomerate, there are four other stables on the verge of hitting this milestone.
But looking back at the bulletin board posting, a good amount of this success is credited to a horse with the interesting name of Bob the Cob. This male has a lot of endurance, competing in mainly long routes and a career that extended from 2002 through 2008 and included the maximum 100 races. Looking back to the introduction to this article, Nextbonus credits this horse with much of the 300 wins for stable Marattack. That is because this guy won 39 races!
Many of the horses racing in the Derby Fever have some kind of background to their name and Bob the Cob is no exception. Nextbonus named it after an actual horse by the same name. The horse was not a racing horse, rather a cruelly neglected horse that was rescued by a caring agency back in 2001. The horse received a broad range of media coverage. Nextbonus provided the following link that provides photos of the “real” Bob the Cob and some information on his past and current well being: http://www.equiworld.net/uk/ezine/0501/index4.htm
Now back to the sim version of Bob the Cob who comes to the game out of the blodline of Geri x Riverman x Storm Bird. Of the 100 races he has appeared in only two were on the dirt track. His career kicked off on March 30, 2002 as a three year old, debuting in Queensland on the turf. He ran 6 furlongs in a speed of 67, finishing a mid-field sixth and the race would be the only sprint race of his career.
This brown horse would move to China a month later and run 8.5 furlongs with a much improved 85 speed and finishing second by just over two strides after trailing by nearly a dozen early on. In May he would fly into Taiwan and go 9 furlongs. Sent off at 3-1, the first time he would be a favorite in a race, he would easily put away the field by four lengths, breaking his maiden with a speed of 81.
The win would be a launching pad as Bob the Cob had started a win streak that would extend through September, 2002 and his distance running would extend up to 14 furlongs. Each race was won by a minimum of 4 lengths. Included in the streak were three consecutive wins in Tennessee with jockey RJ Bokie aboard. Two of the races were allowance races bearing the names of “Bob and Ryan Twinkie Marathon” and “The Bob and Ryan Ding Dong”. Nextbonus revealed the the horse would race in Tenessee around the holidays, adding “ It was a tradition I shared with my friend, SIM player RBokie (Ryan Bennett Okerstrom, real life poet, thoroughbred owner/breeder and bon vivant ). His jockey rode Bob in every Tennessee race until his last.”
Bob the Cob would then venture into stake racing for the first time and bring a 7-race win streak into the two mile Longchamp Marathon (G2), going this long distance for the first time. At 7-2, Bob the Cob would be the third betting choice behind Russ and Mario Bar. As it turned out, Russ the 5-2 favorite would be pulled up early with an injury in the race. Bob the Cob would be 15 back by the half and by the ¾-pole, make up no ground, still 15 back but passing tiring horses moving from 7th to 3rd. Mario Bar would be just too strong as the front runner, and would pick up the win. Bob the Cob would finish in third, 9 strides behind the winner and the win streak would end at seven and later turn out to be the longest of his career, however, he would hit a speed of 103, breaking the 100 level for the first time. The 2002 running of the Longchamp Marathon had a field of nine runners, eight of them would end up to be grade winners.
Two weeks later, Bob the Cob would find a much, much softer spot in an allowance race containing a field of four. His competition were 3 very soft CPU owned horses which pushed Bob the Cob off at 1-10 and he destroyed the field by nearly 23 lengths, in a very slow 67 walk around the track. The margin of victory in this race would turn out to be the largest in his career.
In January, 2003, Bob the Cob would venture into his first career race on the dirt in an allowance race named “Bob and Ryan Get Dirty”. With the go-to jockey Bokie aboard in Tennessee, this guy would be sent off as the 3-1 favorite. Although he would ultimately finish second in the race, it wasn’t as promising as his turf efforts as he finished nine strides behind the winner with a speed of 87 going 14 furlong. By now, this distance would be his favorite to run. Nextbonus commented on this, stating “…most of his races were 14 furlongs on the turf. It was his best distance and I raced him in his comfort zone as often as possible.”
Returning to the turf, and after a horrendous effort in the 16f, G1 GSR Cup, Bob the Cob would appear in the 12f, G2 Pan Americana Handicap in March, 2003. Squaring off against nine others, and at 9-1 odds, the pursuit of a graded stake win would finally come his way as he thundered past the field and drew away by five solid lengths to make that wonderful trip to the winner’s circle.
Bob the Cob would make another dozen or so trips into graded races, including the October, 2003 Breeders Bowl Turf. However, a second grade victory would not come his way, despite finishing second in a couple of efforts. His best speed of his career came in June, 2003 where he charted a 117 speed in the G2, 12f Longstickgoboom Stakes, finishing second, four back and making up nearly a dozen lengths in the second half of the event.
In October, 2004, Bob the Cob would compete in the prestigious Ark De Triumph. A field of ten would go to the post, with eight of the entrants becoming grade winners during their career. Bob the Cob would stumble out of the gate and quickly fall to the rear of the field. He would be eased up before reaching the half with a worrisome injury. The injury would sideline him for a month and a half, and the Ark De Triumph would turn out to be his last grade level race. “He was never quite the same after breaking down in The Ark. But he continued to do well in lower classes once he healed.” Nextbonus said about this race.
As time would pass, and years would go by, Bob the Cob would race mainly in the California area, with frequent visits to Tennessee. The allowance level would ultimately become his home. In the middle of 2006 he would achieve another nice win streak that lasted six consecutive races.
The 2008 racing season would see the end of the career for Bob the Cob as he reached mandatory retirement as he reached his 100th race. He was brought home to Tennessee and reunited with jockey R Bokie for his 99th race in an allowance affair titled “Countdown to Retirement, Race 99 A Bob The Cob Thanksgiving”. This would be a restricted race with 11 horses entered, all age nine. As the 5-2 co-favorite, Bob the Cob would make an unusual run by settling near the front in the third position early on. He responded favorably to Bokie’s whip and rallied to the wire first, with an old mans speed of 67.
The weekend prior to Christmas, on December 20, 2008 would be his final race. An allowance race dedicated with the title “Bob The Cob Retirement Marathon” would contain a full field of 14 with many of the horses from his 99th race competing once again. This race was also restricted to 9-year olds and a bit of a dilemma developed at the Tennessee track. As Nextbonus put it “RBokie, the jockey, was out of town to ride in the DPCD festival so little Benny Wallace got the call.” Everyone with a talented horse would like to see it finish their career on a winning note. Would the jockey change have an adverse effect on this route runner? Dropping back to eleventh in the early going, Bob the Cob was a small 3 1/2 strides off the lead. As the field hit the midway, 7f pylon, he still trailed in ninth, but a soft four lengths off the lead. In his old glorious style, Bob the Cob cruised his way to the front, leading the field by two as the field came off the final turn. Through the stretch, jockey Wallace allowed Bob the Cob to draw off by over eight strides, winning the race as the second choice at 9-2 odds.
Bob the Cob ended his career with a record of 39-18-16 and earned over $1.7 million. If my calculations are correct, and with 100 races there is a good chance of error, he raced 19 times in Tennessee and had a record of 12-4-2 at the raceway. 14-furlongs was his forte, a distance he ran 65 times, producing a record of 30-12-12.
RETIREMENT
Male horses can be used only once as a game-dam and Bob the Cob was used with Rahy as the sire to produce a male colt by the name of Bobby. The 2-year old offspring raced one week after the retirement of Bob the Cob. Bobby failed to show any spark and dropped from the MSW level to the mid-level claimers and eventually the lowest 2k claimers when he was snagged for a cheap price. He raced once for his new connections in 2009 and hasn’t been on the track since. In seven career starts, the offspring never hit the board and has earned zilch in career earnings.