The Tribute To The Tip Sheet Writers

The 2014 Equinics pays tribute to many of The Sim players and horses.  The Tip Sheet Writers honor the writers from days past.  Long ago in Sim history we had only eight tracks and each track had eight races.  In the heyday of tippers we grew to 14 tracks and 14 races.  Many tippers would take a track and handicap all the races every week.  Of course, at the time betting was a big part of The Sim world and people loved the tip sheets.   Most were pretty straight forward and traditional, like It Ain’t Heaven – It’s Iowa put forth by Chilcoat (Kendra).   But the one that everyone rushed to read was The Florida Flops put out by two English guys – Shelmo and Marky with occasional help from Flstables of Belgium.  It was total irreverence and the more they cut down or made fun of your horse – the funnier it was to read.  People, myself included, would enter at Florida just to read the remarks.

 

Unfortunately, as The Sim grew, so did the number of tracks and the number of races at each track.   It soon became almost impossible for the tipsters to keep up, and the tip sheets became history except for Trotter who always comes through for the big races.  For 2014, however, they will be remembered in the Equinics by The Tribute To The Tip Sheet Writers, a 12 furlong race for fillies and mares, 4 & up.  Here is the lineup of horses, trainers and residencies for the 2014 Equinics.

 

Host residency, Vermont, will be represented by the talented, burnt chestnut, 4 YO filly, Criminal Venture.  A daughter by Dynaformer out of Dangerous Reward (Kingmambo), this filly is trained by Futurestar.  Dangerous Reward, a Grade I, winner has had nine foals, all winners, eight of them have been stakes winners and three have won graded stakes.  She would be  a blue hen if The Sim had such a ranking.  As for Criminal Venture, she has won half of her 14 starts and is equally at home on both turf and dirt.  Especially important, she has won two of her last four starts and since May 29^th has won six of eight.  She loves the distance, has a top notch trainer and is well placed here.

 

The GR Simsters have entered On A Serious Note.  She is a big strapping, 5 YO brown mare by Eskendereya out of a Seattle Slew mare.  Trained by Laylow, this nice mare has won nine of her 15 starts and two of her last three.  She has had a nice break since her last start when she uncharacteristically didn’t make much of an effort and with the freshening; the word is that she is training really well.  Look for a good performance from her on Saturday.

 

Barnyard by Lion Heart will represent The SERA Residency and the well put together, 4 YO bay filly seems to be peaking at just the right time.  Trained by Lostkey13, Barnyard is the first foal from the Southern Halo mare, Kitty Heaven.   Barnyard may have come up through the ranks but she has won seven of her 15 races including two of her last three and she definitely belongs.  Look for her to make her presence known.

 

Bearing the flag of EAAA Racing will be Sharp Blades, a 5 YO pretty red chestnut mare.  She is by Montjeu and out of a Northern Dancer mare with seven wins from 18 starts.  If you throw out her last, what a pretty form showing 15/18 in the money.  She comes in to this race in good form, winning The One Pot Dirt Stayer two back at the distance.  She is owned and trained by a very good conditioner – Slim.

 

Empire State Racing will send out Simologist, a 4 YO grey filly by Mineshaft.  Trained by Newsim2, she is out of the Grade I winning Unbridled Song mare Caddilac Moon.  She is lightly raced with only 10 starts but she has won four of them including last time out in The Wildcat Tales Dirt Filly Stayer.  She is a filly that is on the improve and don’t be surprised if she makes The Tip Sheet Writers her fourth win in a row.

 

The copper chestnut, Cry For Luck, is by Dansili and has won nine of her 21 starts.   She is also a winner of two of her last four starts and she has won at the Tip Sheet distance so that is a plus.  Trained by Golduck for Comedy Central Residency, this is a hard trying 5 YO mare that cannot be discounted.

 

Sim Hispano has entered the horse with the longest one word name in the race.  Paralelipipedus is a 6 YO, blazed face, big brown mare who is very solid at The Tip Sheet distance.  She is the second entry by the sire Montjeu and has seven wins from 16 starts.  She has been first or second in every race since June of last year.  She is trained by Purolomita and has only been out of the money in three of her 16 starts.  She may well be the one to beat .

 

Laxe is the trainer of URC’s entry, Tigressa.  Sired by Tiger Hill and out of Delaxe (Nureyev) she may have the most experience of this group.  The pretty, light bay 6 YO mare has won eight of her 37 starts but all but one of them have been on the turf.  But don’t count her out as she does have a win on the dirt and should be just fine.

 

City Race Rhein-Main Turf Club will send out their banner on the back of a 4 YO brown filly named Tschick.  Trained by Turfklub, Tschick is a winner of her last two and she loves the distance.  She has plenty of stamina, being by Falbrav and out of the stakes winning mare Takamaka by Medaglia D’Oro.  She has won seven of 22 starts and has been in the money 16 times.

 

I’m Just Sayin, a beautiful bright chestnut 4 YO filly, will be carrying the hopes of Queensland.  She is by Shamardal and out of a Sadler’s Wells mare.  She might need her best, but stamina will certainly not be a problem and she comes into this race in good form, winning three of her last four starts.  She is four for six on the dirt and is trained by Mexican who knows how to get one ready.

 

Kobras is the trainer of NWRC’s hope Natalie’s Curls.  By Curlin and out of a Danzig mare, the 4 YO dark bay filly has won five of her 15 starts including her last two.  She closed well to win The Car Ginny and should relish the extra half furlong.  She should be flying at the end and looks to do well.

 

Trained by Kroth4, Gold Mine Cat, is a plain dark brown filly with a big bald face and a blue eye that really makes her stand out.  She ran 2^nd last time out in The Minnesota Testbarn Matron with a speed figure of 110.  She has won four of her 17 starts and is 12/17 in the money and with her big white face, you won’t miss this 4 YO daughter of Mineshaft come steaming down the stretch.   She will represent The Minnesota Testbarn Residency.

 

EWC will send out the well named Zerolight trained by Johncozie.  A good looking, 5 YO, red mare with two high white hind stockings, she is by Fantastic Light and out of Zero Tolerance II by Storm Cat.  She is a winner at the distance, has won eight of her 22 starts, and has been in the money 18 times.   She is a solid performer who gives her best every time.  Dismiss her at your own risk.

 

Davarto2 will represent Midas with his pretty grey filly Cities Service.  This 4 YO by Dynaformer, out of an Unbridled Song mare, has won four of her last five races and that is impressive in any one’s book.  She loves the distance and Davarto is one of the very best trainers around, so even though she will need her best to win, the others will need their best to beat her.

 

I really like the name of Blazing Saddles entry – Swagger Jacker.  She is a rangy, 4 YO chestnut filly by Rip Van Winkle and out of the Kingmambo mare Scapa Flow.  Every one of Scapa Flow’s foals have been winners and Swagger Jacker has been in the money an impressive 17 times for her 20 starts, with six of those being wins.   She hasn’t been worse than third in her last five outs and that includes a closing second in The Grade II Big Desert Stakes.  She also has a win over the Vermont track two back and this mare certainly figures to be in the hunt for a picture.  Swagger Jacker is trained by Mtkbps

 

All Stars Racing will be represented by a regally bred flashy chestnut filly named Blissfully.  She is a 4 YO daughter of Awesome Again, out of an A.P.  Indy mare, and is trained by the one of the best – Eternity of the Tis Juliet conglomerate.   She is lightly raced with only ten starts but she has won four of those and also has only been out of the money twice.  She finished a closing second last time out in The Ed’s Valentine Lc Special and with the extra half furlong on Saturday, I think this may be the one to beat.

 

We have a stellar field honoring The Tip Sheet Writer’s   Good luck to everyone.