Eleven to Challenge the Rock in G1

Eleven to Challenge the Rock in G1

Casterly Rock Looks to Defend House Lannister

By Given

Vermont is the venue this week as eleven challengers are lined up to take on the 2005 Breeders Bowl Sprint Champion Casterly Rock in the G1 Lion of Lannister. The race is open to all 4yo’s and will be run at the Breeders Bowl distance of six furlongs. For those that are unawares, the name of the race comes from George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, far and away the best thing going in modern fantasy these days. If you haven’t picked it up and you enjoy epic fantasy, I recommend you stop reading this review and head to your local bookstore to pick it up. In any case, as an honor to GRRM, I am going to associate each horse in the race with a different house in his series. I will attempt to keep it spoiler free so that if you decide to pick up the series I won’t ruin anything for you. So now let’s get onto the horses!

1)     Salmon Hater, 4yo colt, 4/1, S Gravina (14.9%), Deputy Commander x Storm Cat x Forty Niner, trained by manager

Representing the Twin Towers of House Frey, as they certainly have no love lost for the flying fish insignia of House Tully. Plus, this horse has been sniffing around a graded win but hasn’t caught one yet, which is reflective of Walder Frey’s desire to be a powerful and respected lord but his inability to accomplish that feat. Salmon Hater has come into his own of late, running three straight 111+ speed figures to finish off his 3yo campaign. Two of those were stakes wins and the other a narrow stakes second. He’s run six furlongs twice in his career and has yet to emerge victorious, although he did run a close second in a G1 at six furlongs four races back with 103 speed figure. I think he’s better at seven furlongs than he is at six, but perhaps his recent runs are more indicative of a horse coming into his own than a distance preference. Certainly a top contender to knock the Rock off his seat.

2)     Royal Sovereign, 4yo colt, 9/1, G Blackmore (11.8%), Touch Gold x Easy Goer x Nijinsky II, trained by waremblem1

Representing the Direwolf of House Stark, Royal Sovereign’s owner is a self-styled king who would think to challenge the Lannister throne. But his honor-driven view of reality leads him to overlook important power structures, like believing he can overthrow the rightful king with a pop gun army. Royal Sovereign is a lightly-raced multiple stakes winner on the dirt who’s best days are in front of him. He’s two for two in races seven furlongs and less, including an impressive seven furlong stakes win with a 103 speed figure. His lone six furlong run was an allowance win early in his 3yo season and he hasn’t seen the distance since, so he could very well be best at that distance. He’s been off 11 weeks and that could definitely come into play, along with that fact that this will be his first try at graded company. In any case he looks like a good one and a better than expected showing is within the realm of possibilities.

3)     Casterly Rock, 4yo colt, 9/2, W McClendon (17.8%), Giant’s Causeway x Gone West x Sadler’s Wells, trained by grrm

Representing the Golden Lion of House Lannister, Casterly Rock sits atop the Iron Throne as the king of the sprinters and the Breeders Bowl Sprint Champion. It’s not often you find a 3yo Breeders Bowl winner that took six starts to break his maiden, but that can be attributed to his moronic owner, who clearly isn’t the brightest bulb of the bunch. This horse started off his career 5 (0 2 1) before his trainer tried him at six furlongs on the dirt, and the rest is what kings are made of. After winning that MSW with a 104 speed figure, his next seven dirt sprints resulted in speed figures of 101-100-104-111-104-110-111, with the final 111 being a 1-1/4 length victory in the 2005 Breeders Bowl Sprint. After that triumph he was given nearly two months off and came back to run a subpar 4^th in the DelPenn Sprint with a 100 speed figure, although his margin of defeat was less than two lengths. He’s been training well for his 4yo debut and is clearly the one to beat at his favorite distance.

4)     Mountain Ted, 4yo colt, 11/1, B Langhorne (11.9%), Monashee Mountain x Victory Speech x Wild Again, trained by highclaim

Representing Mance Rayder’s Wildlings, who live in the frozen tundras of the Frostfang mountains, Mountain Ted is a semi longshot who will look to sweep from the mountains, or the back of the pack as it may be, to provide an upset. He’s won eight of 20 starts but hasn’t done much earth shattering of late, and in his last race he ran up the track in the DelPenn Sprint. He had an ambitious 3yo season with 16 races including four nice stakes wins, the most impressive resulting in a 106 speed figure at 6.5 furlongs. Five back he had an impressive run in a six furlong G2 running second with a 103 speed figure. He’ll need to improve upon his lifetime high speed figure by about five points to have a shot but don’t count out the wildlings!

5)     Hope Im A Winner, 4yo colt, 51/1, Z Ruzek (9.3%), Halory Hunter x Northern Dancer x Venetian Jester, trained by 6ward

Representing the Fox of House Florent, Hope Im A Winner looks to be in pretty deep against this field. He’s run on the dirt seven times and hasn’t hit the board in any of them. He finished last in his only dirt stakes appearance and if he doesn’t finish last here it will be a moral victory.

6)     Boot Camp Claimer, 4yo colt, 72/1, M Henson (5.7%), Statue of Liberty x Editor’s Note x Cartwright, trained by vermacht2

Representing the Lightning Bolt of Beric Dondarrion’s Brotherhood Without Banners, Boot Camp Claimer is an outsider that has been cast away by the Lannisters and will have trouble breaking back into the circle. His highest speed figure in 19 career starts is a 94 and he’s never run top five in stakes class. Needs a career effort to finish in the top half of this race.

7)     Cyrrius King, 4yo colt, 6/1, G Bungard (11.9%), Seeking The Gold x Wild Again x Masked Dancer, trained by flame

Representing the Fiery Stag of Lord Stannis Baratheon and his Red Lady Melisandre, Cyrrius King is, well, a serious contender to the Lannister throne. One needs to look no further back than one race to see that, as he ripped off a sickeningly fast 115 speed figure while blitzing a 6.5 furlong stakes in front-running fashion. He’s two for two at six furlongs although neither was a stakes race, but he clearly loves the distance. If he shakes free early it could be that no one will catch him, and there could be a new king of the sprinters!

8)     Goodbye Tabasco, 4yo colt, 12/1, Y Waymer (10.7%), Tabasco Cat x Rubiano x Known Fact, trained by pick4

Representing the Moon and Falcon Shield of House Arryn, Goodbye Tabasco seems to falter when coming out of allowance company to go into stakes company in a similar fashion to the way that House Arryn likes to stay in their impregnable mountainous castle in the Eyrie. Make no mistake this horse has had some very nice allowance runs including a 103 speed figure at six furlongs four races back and a 102 in a 7.5 furlong allowance last time out. But his lone four stakes attempts as a 3yo resulted in dismal runs, and he will need to step it up with the big boys this week to have a shot at finishing top three.

9)     Zysoviet, 4yo colt, 9/1, F Neely (11.6%), Soviet Star x Palatable x Mill Reef, trained by zyro

Representing the Squid of House Greyjoy, Zysoviet has been torching allowance races the same way that Balon Greyjoy torches the Iron Isles, but both need to step it up outside of their comfort zones to show that they are real forces to be reckoned with. In his last eight races, this horse has been running exclusively in dirt sprints with six 100+ speed figures including a 106. The problem is that only two of those runs resulted in wins and his lone stakes effort of the eight returned a less than stellar 11^th place performance. It would be no shock to see him run a huge effort in this spot, but he’ll need to prove his class.

10) My Sheba T, 4yo colt, 5/1, D Fendlay Jr. (15.9%), Kinshasa x Alysheba x Dynaformer, trained by tsyndicate

Representing the Golden Rose of House Tyrell, My Sheba T is a horse that, like his house, is just starting to come into his own. Even though he was put through a long and strenuous 3yo campaign, he shone the most brightly at the end of the road, and in his most recent race he barraged a 6.5 furlong G1 on the dirt, winning by 1-1/2 lengths with a 110 speed figure. That was his second 110 in his last three races, and a sure sign that this horse is here to stay. Like Cyrrius King he’s a very speedy horse, and that could work to both of their disadvantages, but there’s no doubting this horse’s talent. A certain candidate for victory and he should have a great 4yo season!

11) Abner Hill T, 4yo colt, 8/1, P Salisbury (9.3%), Akaaber x Danehill x Clever Trick, trained by apacolypse

Representing the Red Sun pierced by the Golden Spear of House Martell, Abner Hill T has faced the Lannister king twice in battle and grudgingly fell to him in their first meeting, the GR Simsters vs. DelPenn Smackdown. But in their most recent match-up, this representative of House Martell emerged victorious, finishing second in the DelPenn Sprint G1 with a 101 speed figure. Surprisingly enough he hasn’t won a stakes in his last 15 races, but he has put in some very nice runs including a 107 speed figure in a 7.f furlong stakes two races back. He likes to come from the clouds and he should see a healthy pace to run at, all good signs for a nice run from this colt. Definitely one to fear!

12) Miracle To Me, 4yo colt, 9/1, J Snowlynn (6.5%), Deputy Minister x Alydar x Secretariat, trained by soulbleed

Representing the Sworn Brothers of the Nights Watch, Miracle To Me dons his owners black silks like the Sworn Brothers don the black cloak of the Night’s Watch. And while many of the horses from noble houses in this race put up some big performances during their 3yo season, this horse watched them. And while he watched he grew. His pedigree screams blue blood, but when he was slow to learn how to race his owner sent him to the Night’s Watch in disgrace, but he has been learning and improving of late. Two races back he ripped off a 104 in winning a mile allowance, and in his most recent race he ran third place and a 103 in an owner restricted DelPenn Stakes. He is probably still a bit off from competing against the top horses in his division, but I doubt he will disgrace himself this week.

It should be a great race, or clash of the houses, whichever way you prefer to look at it, and may the best horse win!