Derby Post # 2: Clan Of The Cat

Ahh….Derby Week. Is there anything more exciting? It is the dream of a great majority of sim breeders/trainers to have a horse in this, the premier event in North American racing. Today I will turn the spotlight on one young colt who has made this dream come true for his proud owner.

Clan Of The Cat is owned by slowracers. He is by Mountain Cat and is the fourth foal out of the Grade G Danzig x Secretariat mare Oak Clan, who has no previous owner. Despite seeing some pretty good sires, including Seeking The Gold, Clan Of The Cat is her only stakeswinner to date. I caught up with Slowracers and asked how she came to breed this handsome red colt. “I bred him hoping I might get a horse who could at least win ungraded stakes. There was an unused no active owners mare with Danzig x Secretariat and I just couldn’t pass that up. I wanted to use Storm Cat but there was no way I could afford him so I went with one of his sons,” she stated. Well, she certainly could have done worse. Mountain Cat sired 61 foals in this crop, and 68.9% are winners. Eight of them, 13.1%, are stakeswinners.

Clan Of The Cat made his debut in Kansas, heavily favoured in a mile race on an off track. Despite his odds, he finished a well-beaten fourth. “His first race was dismal,” says Slowracers, “but I told myself it was only the off track and he’d come back and win the next one.” Feeling confident, she shipped him over to the much tougher Delaware circuit, where he rebounded with a convincing win and a solid 83 speed figure under the expert guidance of H. Ross. Bypassing the allowance ranks for his next start, he entered the Secret Siphon(Brz) Special in Minnesota. A super three-length victory over fellow Derby starter San Pellegrino was more than enough to prove that he had ability.

Well, once you’ve got a stakeswinner, especially a 2yo that runs 90, the obvious next step is to try a graded race. His next start came in the Club Stakes – G2 in nearby Nebraska. It featured a pair of future Derby starters, and Clan Of The Cat performed admirably, closing ground to finish third with a 91. Slowracers was more than pleased with her handsome steed. “I just about died when he came in 3rd … that was my first ever graded placing in the game, I was thrilled! Still, I knew it could be easy sometimes to get a stakes win or a place for a 2yo. If he couldn’t do that as a 3yo it wouldn’t matter.” His final start as a 2yo came on Christmas Eve in the Willyam13 Are You Ready Special in Kentucky, where he scored another stakes victory and improved once again, running a 92. How’s that for a nice Christmas present?

Fast forward to the new season. “His first race at 3 was a G3 and he finished 4th, not too bad but I thought then that he would be just an ungraded stakes horse at best,” explains Slowracers. Ok, so he finished fourth…but he was only 1-1/2 lengths behind and still closing. That was the San Somebody Stakes – G3 in California, and was only a mile. Furthermore, he improved again, running a 93.

His next stop was in Vermont for the Equinics. “The only reason he went in the Equinics is because Great Plains is a small residency and we needed entries. I figured he’d finish near last but once again he surprised me, showing his heart and finishing 3rd. It was then and only then that I started having Derby thoughts,” says Slowracers. Derby thoughts indeed! He ran a 99 in that race, once again closing strongly and looking like a little more distance wouldn’t hurt him. It was time to get serious about earning enough stakes points to make the Derby field.

“I took a big leap and entered him in a Derby prep race in Louisiana and he flopped, I was crushed. I almost cried, thinking his chance for a Derby spot was ruined. I think he didn’t like being shipped down South. We shipped him by van and they’d got stuck in traffic in a thunderstorm. It didn’t help that I’d been pushing him hard, trying to make up for the late start he’d got as a 2yo.” I had a filly prepping in Louisiana that week myself, and I must say, whatever they did to that track, my girl didn’t like it any better than Clan Of The Cat did. She never bounced back, but Clan Of The Cat wasn’t about to let it get him down.

“When the Green Monkey Derby came up I was urged to ship him overseas for one last chance. He handled the trip well and was kicking down his stall on race day. I prayed for a top 2 finish, it was the only way he’d have enough points to make the Derby field. He didn’t let me down,” Slowracers gushed as she fiddled with the big colt’s forelock. Indeed, the second place finish with a 98 in that big G1 was more than enough to vault him up in the standings.

I asked Slowracers how she felt about Clan Of The Cat actually reaching the Bluegrass Derby. “If you throw out the Louisiana flop he’s finished in the top 4 in every race he’s run. I couldn’t ask any more from him. He’s my first horse ever to earn 100,000 or more. And if he finishes last I won’t complain, he deserves to be there and I know he’s going to run his heart out for me. If sometime in the future I have a Derby winner or (please God) a Triple Crown winner, that horse wouldn’t mean more to me than the Cat does, because the Cat got me there first, and the first is always the most special.” As for her feelings on his chances in the race, well, that was a little less positive. ” I don’t think he has a hope in hell of winning, or even being in the top 5. I’m very doubtful he can go the distance. It doesn’t matter to me though, I’m just so proud to have a horse going in the Derby, it’s always been my dream. I’ve only been playing 2 years and I know a lot of people who have been playing longer who still don’t have a Derby horse.” Well, I beg to differ on the opinion of whether he can get the distance or not. In his previous races it has looked to me as if he would actually prefer a little more room for his closing move. I might be inclined to question whether he can make the 12 furlongs of the New Yorker, but I think 10 furlongs will be right up his alley.

So, here he is today, peeking out over his stall door on the backside at Kentucky, the site of his last victory. He shows interest in everything around him, with an intelligent look of curiosity in his eyes. Nothing bothers him as long as he doesn’t have to ride in a van in a thunderstorm. He is one cool cat with a bright future ahead of him, and for today at least, he is on top of the world.