Equinics 2014 Diary – GR Simsters: From There to Here

By Dan (aka Given)

I was stirred from my daydream by the thrumming of an engine. Waiting on my porch, I turned my head 90 degrees to the left and saw the white Range Rover limo navigate around the corner. I grabbed my travel bag, stepped out to the edge of the driveway, and waited for the car to pull up. It stopped in front of me, the rear window went down, and I was greeted by Ryan (aka Lenny), who calmly said, “You ready to do this?”

It wasn’t really a question, however, and both of us knew that. We are the GR Simsters, and of course we are ready to “do this.”

I tossed my bag to the driver, who put it in the trunk, got back in the car, and activated the automatic rear door open. As I slid inside, I was greeted by Brian (aka PadreBri) and Todd (aka War Emblem). In many ways, it was fitting that we were the first four in the limo on the way to Vermont for the 2014 Equinics.

2004 EQUINICS

The GR Simsters residency began early in 2004 from a group of players who competed in the ORLWorld’s Gallop Racer competitions and communicated in the Gallop Racer forums. We were introduced to the Sim by our friend and former rez member Geoff (aka Galileo), who was the first president of the GR Simsters.

We knew little about the Equinics when we started the residency, but were nevertheless excited to take part in 2004. The four of us – me, Ryan, Brian, and Todd – actually planned a trip to Arlington Park for the Million on the weekend of our maiden Equinics voyage. None of us had met in person before.

It ended up being one of those weekends that you never forget.

We wanted to kill Todd for his excessive snoring – former GR Simster Tony (AFC) later gave him the monikor the Urinating Freight Train due to a combination of the decibel level of his snoring and well, we will leave the other component of the nickname to your imagination.

Ryan’s love affair with Kitten’s Joy started that Saturday at Arlington Park, as we watched the 3yo son of El Prado destroy his competition in the Secretariat Stakes. As many of you know, Ryan has bred 18 million Kitten’s Joy horses, including one of the contenders for 2013 Horse of the Year – To Catch a Kitty.

Perhaps most memorable about that weekend was huddling together in a hotel room and watching every single one of our Equinics races. It was an absolute bloodbath. It was so bad that it got to the point where we started betting each other on what point in various races our nominee would be distanced.

We finished in a tie for last place in the 2004 Equinics, with precisely 1 point earned, thanks to a 3^rd-place finish from –

“What’s up playas!”

I was so engrossed in my recollections that I hadn’t even noticed the limo had stopped and Dave (aka TM) had joined our party. Dave and his brother Phil were the most experienced Simmers in our residency, and our only point earner in the 2004 Equinics was their monster turfer Ziklag, who ran third in the Equinics as part of a scintillating career.

I also noticed that while Dave had joined the limo, Todd had seemingly disappeared.

“Yo freight train,” said Brian, “where are you hiding? Are you back there trying to find Miley Cyrus’ CD to play? How many times do I have to tell you we aren’t listening to that crap and reinforcing your sick Hannah Montana fetishes!”

Mind you, the limo was pretty large, and had a built in entertainment center in the back.

“Screw you Brian!” was the retort from the hidden back of the limo. “You know I don’t have a thing for Miley Cyrus anymore! I have since moved on to Peyton List.”

“That’s some sick shit,” said Dave, and we all just looked at each other, shook our heads, and laughed.

2006 EQUINICS

In my mind, what has always set the GR Simsters apart from the competition is the single-minded obsession with being the absolute best. Despite the fact that we finished last in the 2004 Equinics, I don’t think any of us had a doubt where we would finish in 2006. Some might call that brazen arrogance, some might call it overconfidence, but to us, it simply was where we knew we wanted to be.

Sure enough, 16 months after our initial Equinics foray, as a large underdog, we captured the Gold medal in the 2006 Equinics. Ryan led the way with three winners (Compensation, Creepshow, and Ganglord), but in many ways the horse that led us that year was Xtremely Gold.

Geoff, our president at the time, had claimed her into our residency stables on November 26, 2005. She was already a Grade 1 winner, and I believe that her owner was quitting the game. I am sure there were many claims in on her, but Geoff’s claim came through, and she instantly became a horse that didn’t belong to any one GR Simster, but instead belonged to all of us.

Two months after joining the GR Simsters, Xtremely Gold trounced her Equinics race by 5-3/4 lengths and set the tone for our inaugural victory. She went on to win five more Grade 1 races and was inducted into the Sim Hall of Fame.

As I was daydreaming again, fixated on her accomplishments, the other Dave (aka Deadinthelane), along with Rick (aka Rocket), popped into the limo as the sixth and seventh members of our sojourn. They have both been members of the GR Simsters from the very beginning, and have both contributed a lot to the residency.

Dave’s filly Verdant Field gained a special place in GR Simsters lore when she put forth her best career effort in the 2006 Equinics to earn us needed points with a second-place finish.

Dave is also one of four active GR Simsters members who has won an Equinics race, accomplished with Grand Entrance in 2012.

“What’s up gentlemen, you ready to party like it’s 2006?” Dave exclaimed, while simultaneously sliding into the limo and tossing a bottle of vintage Laphroaig to Todd, who despite not having any representatives this year, has two Equinics winners on his resume – Max California in 2008 and Bill the Butcher in 2010.

Unbeknownst to all of us, the limo had already made its way and was pulling up to pick up another lifelong member of the residency.

“How’s it going my friends?” said Bill (aka Willyam). “It doesn’t get any better than this. We have been through a lot together, and it’s time to add another chapter to our journey.”

We all nodded in agreement and continued to reminisce about the early days of the rez. Soon enough, before long we had arrived at the travel junction where the remaining members of the team were waiting to get picked up.

Miguel (Gio Ponti), Mike (aka Mike C), Matt (aka MasterM), Michael (aka Lado), Liam (aka Liamswan), Donny (aka Gobidon), Greg (aka Gcliffo), Mark (aka Silversun), and Robert (aka Aladar).

A mix of longtime GR Simsters members like Miguel, Mike, Michael, Liam, and Donny, and the newest additions in Matt, Greg, Mark, and Robert, we knew this was going to be an awesome group to travel to Vermont with.

Matt exclaimed, “What’s up mates!? You ready to get to Vermont and put a hurting on these other rezzes?”

He had good reason for confidence, bringing two horses to the Equinics, including one of the top 3yo’s from last year in the Breeders’ Bowl Mile winner Sun Dynasty.

Mike and Michael, each bringing their share of runners to the battle, were just as enthused, and they starting talking amongst themselves planning out the celebration party.

2008 EQUINICS

Greg, fairly new to the Sim yet already one of the top writers in the BTB arsenal, was more introspective, asking us GR Simsters veterans about our history in the event.

I told him about our last-place finish in 2004 and our Gold Medal in 2006, and then launched into some of the history leading up to the massive showdown looming between the GR Simsters and the DelPenn Residency in the 2008 Equinics.

DelPenn, a veteran residency, was home to one of the most well-known conglomerates in Sim history, simply known as Super.

Boasting such Sim stalwarts as Tony (aka AFC), Jeff (aka Whirlwind), Laura (aka Topicount), and Wayne (aka Texasace), Super had the smarts, the leadership, and the experience to potentially dominate the Sim. From 2005 until the end of the decade, Super did exactly that, winning almost every big race there was to win in the Sim.

That’s what people know about Super.

What many people don’t know about Super is that I was the main reason that Super came into being.

In late 2004, I was searching the retired mares in the Sim for ones owned by other players that were now open to all players, per new rules put into place by Mike. I came across one named Mother Virtuous, a well-bred Gone West x Mill Reef mare who had already produced one stakes winning offspring.

I bred her to Awesome Again and didn’t think of it again.

That is, until March of 2005 when I received an email from Tony saying that he needed to talk to me about some stuff. He went on to explain that he was so angry that I bred to Mother Virtuous, he vowed to put a hurting on the GR Simsters by using retired mare breeding. That was how the Super Stables came into being.

In any event, Tony and I started trading emails back and forth, he realized that both his group and the GR Simsters were trying to attain the same goals, and he shifted the focus of the Super Stables from going after us to simply winning as many big Sim races as possible.

It was one of the best things to happen to me, because Tony and I became great friends, and he even later joined the GR Simsters for a spell.

But in 2008, Super was close to its peak, and with their horses representing DelPenn, we knew it was going to be an all-out battle to claim Gold.

Despite again winning four Equinics race and racking up 35 points, the GR Simsters could only claim the Silver Medal, falling three points shy of DelPenn.

2010 EQUINICS

It was admittedly a tumultuous time for the GR Simsters. We still had a large member base, but around the time of the 2008 Equinics we had some residency turmoil. Our president, Geoff, had made the decision to leave the residency, and we had some other members leave as well, including Rob (aka Desperado) and Mark (aka MTK). There was a lot of taking sides, and people taking shots at other people, and quite honestly it wasn’t a great environment for the residency.

I had taken over as president, and as the 2010 Equinics approached, the pressure was mounting to reclaim the Gold medal we had lost in 2008. In our favor was the fact that Super had mainly dissipated by then, and wouldn’t be a factor in the Equinics, so DelPenn wasn’t going to be a threat. The members that had left our residency had gone to form a new residency, Blazing Saddles, but they were just getting off the ground and didn’t seem like a major threat in 2010.

However, there were a few very powerful rezzes out there, in EAAA, Vermont, and Sim Hispano, with the ever dangerous Ledwith, to name a few. Plus we had lost some bigtime members.

We simply didn’t know what to expect, and as the president of the rez, and as someone who had failed to win any Equinics races to that point, I personally felt a lot of pressure.

I suppose some days the Sim Gods are smiling down upon you, and for the GR Simsters, the 2010 Equinics were one of those days. We emerged victorious in five Equinics races, and racked up 42 points to reclaim our Gold Medal and bring home our second Equinics trophy. My horses finally came to run, with three wins (Dead Zone, The Beggar King, and Tatsu), and Ryan (Infinite Bling) and Todd (Bill the Butcher) also picked up victories.

In many respects, for the remaining members of the residency, it was even sweeter than our first victory.

“Wow,” exclaimed Michael, “that must have been a pretty awesome victory party you guys had. What happened after that? Upward and onward to 2012?”

2012 EQUINICS

In everyone’s lives, people often fade in and out, and the Sim is definitely a microcosm of that. I think that the period following the 2010 Equinics was probably the most dormant period in GR Simsters history.

The Equinics victory was sensational, but even before then, you could tell that some of our members were losing interest – not losing interest in the GR Simsters solely, but losing some interest in the Sim. It’s always hard for any entity to keep up at a high level for a long period of time. From 2010 – 2012, I think many of our  members lost some interest – we didn’t run as many contests, our forums were rarely inhabited, it was simply a period of inactivity. Not many people left the rez, but they simply didn’t have as much time and energy to devote to the game.

For that reason, the 2012 Equinics were almost a lost event from the start. We put together a talented team of runners, but the energy simply wasn’t there. I wasn’t as into the game as much, Ryan wasn’t, Todd had taken a break, Brian wasn’t as into it, etc….

We managed to win three Equinics races, but our point total of 26 fell well short of our past three Equinics tallies, and we couldn’t even muster a medal, finishing tied for 4th.

Our former members over at Blazing Saddles put on a show and brought home a well-deserved Gold Medal, and I was left with thinking if the era of GR Simsters dominance was officially at an end.

2014 EQUINICS

“Surely the dominance wasn’t at an end, because look at the terrific team we have assembled for the 2014 Equinics,” said Mike, who will be sending five horses, including the scary looking Bustin Chops, to represent the GR Simsters in February.

“Seriously, it seems we are on the upwards trend, no?” queried Miguel, who joined the GR Simsters at a very young age in 2005 with his buddy Joey, and who have both matured into future leaders of the real life horse racing industry.

Yes, so it seems, I recollected. After 2012, the GR Simsters needed something to shock the system, and the update that Mike gave to the game was just that. It re-invigorated many of our interest in the game, and led to a resurgence of the core members of the GR Simsters.

Brian, who has always been incredible with his web prowess and his artistic design, put together an awesome new website for the GR Simsters to call home. It should also be mentioned that Brian will be sending the uber talented McGibblets to the 2014 Equinics as the official GR Simsters Team Captain.

Anyways, armed with our new website and our newfound enthusiasm for the game, we were able to recruit some excellent new GR Simsters into the fold who should help our residency for years to come.

In 2014, nine different GR Simsters are sending horses to the 2014 Equinics, and with members like Robert, Greg, Miguel, Donny, Liam, Rick, and Mark all on the upswing with their stables, that number is sure to grow in 2016.

And as if on cue, the limo has just pulled up to the Vermont Equinics complex, and it’s time to see what 2014 holds in store…best of luck to everyone as we approach the best event in the greatest game ever created.