Breeders’ Bowl Notebook No. 5

By ITCH

There must be something about this game.

Players are willing to keep at it year after year, sometimes waiting significant portions of their lives before they get a horse good enough to run in one of the Sim’s biggest races.

Then comes that magic moment.

For longtime Simmers Ivan and Claudio, that moment is now: Breeders Bowl 2014

This was the lead I wrote a few days ago for my last notebook of the season.

Since then, our story has gone from heartwarming to heartbreaking.

While the gig is still on for Claudio, aka Newmarket, a stunning cruel twist of fate has seen Ivan’s horse bumped from its race.

When he sent me a PM, Ivan (put an accent over the A) had AYUNTAMIENTO entered in the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Turf. He was qualified No. 13 at the time.

“I’m hoping I don’t get bumped from now until closing of entries,” Ivan so accurately foretold. “Definitely this will be the highlight of my training career in the Sim and also my first Grade 1 win if in fact Ayuntamiento wins it.”

Alas, Ayuntamiento did get bumped. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Ivan had somewhere else important he could go with the horse. It just so happens there is a Grade 1 turf race for 2yos at Surrey this week. If Ivan can win his first Grade 1 this week, that would be a heck of a consolation prize for missing the Breeders’ Bowl.

In fact, it just may be that getting bumped from the BB might turn out to be a blessing in disguise with this horse. While it’s hard to miss the Breeders’ Bowl with a horse that is a perfect 4-4, Ayuntamiento goes from an extremely difficult race in which he would have qualified near the bottom, to a much more likely spot for which he’s currently qualified first. The race in Surrey will pay the same Grade 1 points as the Breeders’ Bowl race, and be far more easily attained.

Of course, Ivan does not need this writer to help with his Sim attitude. He’s already bounced back, as evidenced by his second PM.

“Unfortunately I have been bumped out of the race, so no BB for me … yet.”

Yes!

The man says “yet.”

He’s not giving up!

“I am a very humble trainer, not with the financial resources of other trainers,” Ivan had explained in his first PM, “but with a passion for the game and horseracing in general.”

Truly inspirational, Ivan, and good luck in the Grade 1.

Coincentally, Claudio’s story also revolves around the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Turf. His J.G. BALLARD, a 2yo bay son of the English sire Acclamation, has qualified for the race from which Ivan’s colt was bumped.

J.G. Ballard has raced his way into the Breeders’ Bowl via two second-place runs in Grade I races going six furlongs. He’ll stretch all the way out to a mile in the BB, racing two turns for the first time in his brief career. Look for J.G. Ballard to be a pace factor in the Juvenile Turf. The horse has been showing speed at sprint distances in Grade I company.

“Probably I will be stretching his stamina too much,” Claudio admitted, “but after two second places on strongly run Grade 1s, I will go for it.”

It’s been a huge year for Claudio. Earlier in 2014, he also made some memories in Equinics.

“This year I had my first runners in Equinics, and my first Equinics winner, DALHAM HALL. So, I’m looking for another first-time memory to tell my grandsons,” he said.

Dalham Hall is a 3yo bay daughter of Galileo who has earned more than $1.5 million in winning six of her first 11 starts. She ran in four straight Grade 1 races from Equinics in February to the United Oaks in July. All three of her runs at a flat mile were outstanding, including her triumph in the Grade 1 Equinics-Nobody’s Perfect. Dalham Hall also backed that up with another score in the Grade 1 Irish 1000 Guineas. She’s No. 2 in the 3yo filly turf route division, and is entered to run on Nov. 9 in a Grade 2 in New Zealand at her favorite distance of a flat mile.

Before then, Claudio will be cheering for J.G. Ballard in the Breeders’ Bowl. It’s his first Breeders’ Bowl runner since 2001!