Senior Citizen Race Looks Like Fun!
The Old Man of the Mountains Series – Race 1
A mile on Fast Dirt
$50,000
All Horses, 8 years old and up NW1y
If you don’t know about this great series, check out the link: HERE.
Thanks for joining us at the Pastures of Green here in Vermont, not far from the New Hampshire landmark of the Old Man in the Mountain. We certainly have our own old men and women of the track this week for the first race in the OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN RACE SERIES. A unique and brilliant idea by Rich at LilBitFarm, this 10 race series will be run at Vermont. There will be a race every four weeks. Each race will be a conditioned alowance, starting with the same conditions (8+ NW1Y). Each week the conditions will change or stay the same depending on how Meat Loaf Loop does. For example if he wins the first race, the next would be NW2y,etc etc. So this is basically a series to outrun him. This mile long race may be timed with a sun dial but it should be tons of fun!
No disrespect meant to these truly respected veterans but I’ve tried to write this preview with a bent toward having some fun with this series. I hope that you enjoy it and accept it with that in mind. We’ve got a nicely matched field of old codgers so let’s take a look before one of them expires!:
1 – COLONEL FEINTING ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED AVG SPEED EARNINGS 27/1 BillDaily 11 YRS 21 2 81.7 81.7 $25,763
What an appropriate name for a horse in this race! Here’s hoping that he doesn’t FEINT from exhaustion during the race. Actually this is what you call a “lightly raced 11-year old” if there is such a thing. He has averaged just a bit over two races a year in his less than illustrious career. At that rate, he does about as much work as the guy that does the weather forecasts for San Diego! He looked pretty good two back though with a 2nd place, so he may be on a roll.
| 2 – COMMANDER F. | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39/1 | Beisbol | 8 YRS | 20 | 1 | 83.3 | 76.1 | $17,260 |
It’s a good thing that this horse finally got to do some racing before his Birth Certificate expired. His first few years he didn’t race at all. He should have plenty left for this race but he’s never hit a 90 SPF which is a big strike against him. For the COMMANDER to get to the next level, he is really going to have to kick it up a notch or two. He’s running out of time.
| 3 – LIGHT UP THE SKY | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20/1 | MaidenDash | 8 YRS | 53 | 13 | N/A | N/A | $259,827 |
A tough old bird with 13 trips to the winners circle but the last time seems like it was when God said, “Let there be light.” and LIGHT UP THE SKY was there to flip the switch. Actually it WAS in this century but just barely. He had one incredible year back in 2001 when he had 7 winners and hit the board 13 times in 18 races. He’s been mostly resting on his laurels since then. Maybe it’s time to “flip the switch” once again!
| 4 – FERDIBUSTER | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/1 | ScreenDoor | 8 YRS | 49 | 5 | 98.9 | 90.8 | $1,183,861 |
Our only millionaire in the bunch, if you take out the earnings of MEAT LOAF LOOP and AUSTRALIA MAT, he actually out-earned the other eleven horses in the race put together! You would think that by now he would be off on the beach some where sipping Pina Coladas and picking up young fillies while spending his hard earned cash. Folks, you are looking at a former Breeders Bowl, Bluegrass Derby and Middle Jewel runner. He still ran a few Stakes and got into the high nineties last year. He may still have a little magic left.
| 5 – MEAT LOAF LOOP | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/1 | SunnyBank | 8 YRS | 78 | 18 | 99.1 | 89.3 | $481,015 |
This well respected horse is the reason for this race with owner SunnyBank unwilling to part with a favored friend. An eight times Stakes winner and runner for SunnyBank since late in the 2000 season, he has nearly half a million dollars in earnings and an incredible 18 wins. He hit a triple digit speed figure once early last year but hasn’t been to the winners circle since the last race of ’04. Still competitive, this ancient warrior is taking on all comers in this interesting series. It will certainly be lots of fun to follow his progress. Hopefully he will last for at least 10 races!
| 6 – ANXIOUSLY BET | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/1 | RedRum | 8 YRS | 38 | 2 | 92.4 | 87.5 | $60,502 |
We have a mare in this race as well and even though she admits to being 8 years old, everyone knows that the ladies lie about their ages and there are whispers that she may actually be 10. While most females her age are home taking care of the little colts and fillies, she decided to wait until after her career was over and it seems that the child bearing years are just passing her by. Unfortunately, that is probably what most of the horses in this race will do as well. She won back in ’02 and remembers it fondly.
| 7 – GREEK JUDGE | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/2 | DerbyKing9 | 10 YRS | 25 | 4 | 90.7 | 90.7 | $158,192 |
Another lightly raced senior citizen, there are rumors that GREEK JUDGE was busy pulling chariots around the Accropolis in Roman times before finally getting a jockey on his back. Pretty consistent and with only 25 races on this set of tires he may be able to run by the 8 year old “youngsters” in this race.
| 8 – PRINCE PROSPECTOR | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58/1 | Briel | 12 YRS | 71 | 7 | 73.8 | 68.5 | $127,560 |
Wow! There are stories about the days when this proud 12 year old was actually in dinosaur races but I believe that those are a bit exaggerated. Not by much though. He’s been racing so long in the Sim that his first five races are listed with “ ???” as the jockey. I’m not sure if there was actually a jockey named that way back when or if it was just so long ago that no one remembers! His last race was the OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN pre-series allowance and this series is a fitting way for him to end his long and quality career. Carry on fine Prince!
| 9 – BORED SIR | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18/1 | Briel | 8 YRS | 44 | 3 | 82.8 | 79.3 | $60,373 |
You hate to have a horse with “BORED” in his name when they are on this Senior Citizen Circuit but this big roan horse is an offspring of Once Wild and he probably remembers the ONCE WILD ride he had back in 2001 when he went the first seven races and only finished below second one time. Certainly something to tell his grandchildren about and that may not be long at this age. Things have been a bit more boring lately with only 8 races since the beginning of last year. One of those was the OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN allowance, a precursor to this race though and he did finish fifth there. He might have something left after all.
| 10 – CHARISMATIC DANCE(GB) | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74/1 | Pagasus | 9 YRS | 77 | 8 | 71.0 | 70.6 | $92,420 |
Seventy Seven times into the gate and around the track. Quite a feat for any horse. This nine year old is rumored to have had Fred Flintstone as his very first jockey but the records were kept on stone tablets back then and have mostly broken or turned into gravel. It’s been almost that long since the DANCE was competitive, even in low level claimers so this series may have come along at just the right time in his long career. We will see if he can compete here.
| 11 – PHAR ONE | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42/1 | Catcher | 8 YRS | 70 | 5 | 64.2 | 64.2 | $160,495 |
This big chestnut horse has more mileage on him than a Mexican Taxi. If you played a win ticket on him every one of his 70 races and held on to them you would have filled your file cabinet but probably broke your bank account. Only five wins but I’m sure that every one of them was memorable. Of course this big guy’s memory just ain’t what it used to be so he may have a hard time remembering back to early this century. He’s been shuffling to the back of the pack in most of his recent races so he may get a good view of this one from a “ PHAR” ways back.
| 12 – EMINENT MINSTREL | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/1 | Lenny27 | 8 YRS | 36 | 3 | 107.2 | 97.1 | $62,560 |
Somebody needs to check this guys AARP card because he’s been pretty frisky in his past four races with a couple of mid 90’s and even a 109 SPF thrown in. Of course when you space those four races over three years you have plenty of time to rest up between them! I’m sure they didn’t tell this guy that this is a 10 race series or he would have had a coronary just thinking about it. That is about eight and a half years of racing the way he’s been going. At least he should be well rested.
| 13 – INDY JERKY | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73/1 | NewRacing | 8 YRS | 27 | 1 | 73.9 | 70.3 | $9,710 |
Another of those “lightly raced” eight year olds, with only 27 races and 1 win under his old and worn belt, INDY JERKY is trying to hang on to reach $10,000 in earnings so he can start drawing Social Security checks. He’s only raced in the last two years and I use that term loosely as he mostly watched the youngsters run around. Hey, I wonder if he could get paid for babysitting and get that earnings number bumped up over the 10k mark? Perhaps the new trainer will do him some good. It’s a long way out there in post 13 though.
| 14 – AUSTRALIA MAT | ODDS | OWNER | AGE | RACES | WINS | TOP SPEED | AVG SPEED | EARNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14/1 | Dragons36 | 8 YRS | 67 | 13 | 95.6 | 91.2 | $364,140 |
Just like going out for the paper, this 8 year old seemingly goes out to race every three weeks for 6 straight years. After 67 times around the track and an amazing 13 wins, he can probably do it blindfolded. A two times stakes winner, he has been with Dragons36 for three years now and runs on dirt or turf equally well. You just wind him up and put him out there. His career is winding down but he may still have some spring in those old legs.
Morning Line = 12-7-4-5-6
Yoss Tipsheet = 12-7-6-5
Paz Picks = 7-5-4-12
I think that this race was a great idea. It should certainly prove interesting as long as all of these vets can make it all the way around the track without locking up their walkers. EMINENT MINSTREL still has the speed but uses it so rarely that I am going to pick him to finish fourth. I’m going to take the man with the money, FERDIBUSTER to finish in it again with a third place. Our sponsor’s horse will prove to be a good host by letting the eventual winner pass by in the stretch but MEAT LOAF LOOP will take second. He may be heading to the oxygen tank at the end, but I think that GREEK JUDGE has enough left in his tank to take on the rest of these geezers. How appropriate if the “Old Man” of the bunch would still teach a thing or two to all of those young eight year old whippersnappers!
Good luck to all runners!
Paz