BBRS Cougar Bite Classic: Chasing the monster?

* grammar tolerance is advised

It’s end of november and Bargain Bowl event takes its place like every year. This year we have special anniversary of 10th edition. Despite relatively small group of players, bargain racing flourish and the quality of participating horses is higher and higher. More often then ever before, we can observe victories of bbrs (bargain bred racing series) participants in regular stakes races, even in graded. It’s more and more difficult to succeed with average horse from claiming races. Despite this fact, even those horses run in bargain races, probably because players of bbrs community can appreciate pure participance almost as much as victory in the race. This also is one of the beauties of bargain racing. From personal point of view, I don’t understand why is amount of regular bbrs trainers, who attend their horses to these races, so limited.
Bargain Bowl day consists from fifteen stakes races as well as two allowances for two years old sprinters. Knightmare had already described them in detail in these articles (dirt races, turf races, juvenile races). To win in each one of them is a big prestige for bargain trainers. Although some of them are even more important than others, similarly like in Breeders Bowl or its real life alternative. In Bargain Bowl these are Bargain Classic, Cemetery Winter Distaff and Cougar Bite Classic. In the times of old sim, they were rewarded by bigger purse than others. In previous years, it becomes to be my tradition to introduce you runners in one of this „big three“ – Cougar Bite Classic, turf test for middle and long stayers.
For the 10 times in a row, we remind mighty chestnut Cougar Bite, double G1 winner – horse with a cheap pedigree, who knocked to the ground many of expensive horses. Next to other names of the past, he became example for establishing this great tradition. In his tracks many brilliant horses were following him and building his memorial. The list of winners and ITM horses shows those luckier and more successful in this race.

In the last year’s edition, we were witnesses of generation change. Couple of competitors were regular participants for many years. Four of them ended career either immediately or relatively soon after 2013 edition. Comparing to last year, this „list of names“ changed a lot. Last year’s winner Arcano Opera, who was very promising in my eyes a year ago, diminished and after year of struggling he is not even part of Bargain Bowl day. 4th from last year’s race Zabaca prefers longer test The John’s Call this year. So the only horse, who „survived“ was Brilliant Notation. I will say something more about him later.
So we need to get used to new names. If the future is pleasant to them, may be we will talk about them like about legends one day. But now, let’s talk about their chances today.

	1 – LATE FOR THE TRAIN (Bullet Train x Royal Anthem x Manndar) – 17/1 Late for the Train is 3yo regular bargain participant, who was claimed by me from mtk’s stables. Sorry mate. I don’t know if it is fair, but I believe better me than someone without any relationship to bbrs :). For his previous connections, this colt didn’t fill all the assumptions after very promising 3rd place from his debut in bargain stakes company as 2yo. Mtk believed in this colt in dirt Bargain Derby, but Late for the Train was 11th there and he disappointed also in 100 Guineas on turf. In the beginning of july, he finished 4th in Bargain Turf Derby, but far behind the winning Xaaro. Then his previous trainer decided to build his confidence in claim races, where he improved his speed ratings. Rest of the story you know already. First start for my stables was 4th place in The Pearl Cup. Personally, I hope in another improvement but right now he seems to be horse with smaller chances. May be, he will show some progress later and will mature as 4yo.
	2 – SPICKARD (Missed His Date x Guns of Navarone x His Majesty) – 5/1 Second oldest horse on the start is Spickard from Gowans’ stables. Although he is 7 already, he is quite lightly raced and some power left in his tank. He was claimed a year ago to current owner’s stable and since then he is regular runner in bargain middle turf routes. In may, he was 3rd in the Hunt Turf Cup and in august 4th in Ten Lost Pyramids. As Hyrrokkin and Newbar Fujin, two fillies which beat him in these races, aren’t here today…we could accept him today as number 2 (without dirty thoughts, please :)) behind Go For All of It. Despite his age, he was very consistent and he also catched 2nd spot in the bargain Arc (Arc de Maleleve). His last run resulted in 5th place in The Pearl Cup. It is difficult to guess, how good is he going to be today. He also proved some consistency, but is age is going against him. On the other hand, he usually showed a good result in important races. I think here it also depends on the speed after the start. If his opponents won’t be too far from him, he has a chance to catch some of them in the finish.
	3 – SURGE CITY (Storm Surge x Slew City Slew x Saratoga Six) – 16/1 Boss and doyen of bargain bred racing series Knightmare brings 5yo mare Surge City to the start of Cougar Bite Classic. With all the respect, Surge City is a bit peculiar participant of the race. during her career she started in four bargain stakes races. Her best result came from 2013 Death Valley Oasis, turf stakes over 5F. Besides that, she managed some good results in sprint allowance races. Also she already has 34 starts in her legs, so wear and tear can have some effect here. But Knightmare is very experienced player with good knowledge of bloodlines, which suggest Surge City should be more miler than sprinter. He also knows, that you don’t for certain if horse can’t stay, until you try it (to be honest Surge City run over 10F once in maiden claim more than two years ago..but this can’t be decisive test). Knightmare did this “sprinter -> stayer experiment” with success some time ago. You may remember Concotelli, BB Silent Witness sprint winner, who succeed in Bargain Arc. So, that could be the answer to question – Why is Surge City here. Yes, that…and nice feeling of having horse in Bargain Bowl race. And for that is nice even to accept role of outsider.
	4 – STORMING JET (Storming Home x Jet Master x Northern Guest) – 11/1 3yo colt Storming Jet is runner from more and more successful dragnil’s stables. South African devil has watched slow but continuous progress of this horse. He broke his maiden in 8th attempt and right after that, he finished 4th in Bargain Derby and won The Bronx for 3yo stayers. Slowly maturing colt there definitely confirmed his distance abilities. Continuously. he showed decent and stable quality by 4th place in The Hinterland, 3rd in The Bargain Arc and 3rd in The Ko Ko Shan. These results suggest he is slightly better on dirt, but Dragnil decided for this race. It was probably hard decision because he could as well enter BB races Bargain Distance Challenge (12F) on dirt or The John’s Call (12F) on turf. Trainer finally decided for this race. May be it could also be test if tracks around 10F couldn’t fit him best. Storming Jet isn’t top favorite today, but he has a dynamite in his legs and that could bring unexpected surprise today.
	5 – BLUE SATIN PILLOW (Nihon Pillow Nail x Brave Warrior x Roman Diplomat) – 10/1 Blue Satin Pillow is just another confirmation of strength in Lgbost’s (Lino) stable this year. He is real aspirant to be the best trainer of this Bargain Bowl event. Just a small diversion from our topic, imagine that one of the best 3yo bargains of this season – Xaaro from Lino’s stable misses Bargain Bowl event just not to compete with his stablemates, who are favorites of Cougar Bite Classic and John’s Call. That’s sign of incredible strength and certainty of this trainer. Blue Satin Pillow doesn’t have such qualities, so he came here for experience and comparison may be. Lino also has very good eye to find hidden talent in claim races and in the same way Blue Satin Pillow came to his stables. He managed some allowance wins and in august, he decided to greet bbrs company. It resulted in 6th place in Ten Lost Pyramids memorial, which has same distance like this race. That wasn’t so amazing, but month ago he almost touched victory in the Pearl Cup. It is a question, if it’s because he prefer slightly shorter tracks or he gets to autumn shape and mood. It can be both, but still it will be very difficult to repeat such result here. On the other hand, he can bring only nice surprise to Lgbost. The result today doesn’t stand on his shoulders.
	6 – SAVA THE BEST (Savabeel x Best of the Bests x Ga Hai) – 9/1 One of three Hawkz’s runners is called Sava the Best. As one of the biggest bargain trainers, he always have plenty of horses and show some of them just in that right moment. However Sava the Best is not that kind of champion-type horse. He waited 10 starts before he could break his maiden status, another 8 till Alw2L win. That is not really encouraging. The truth is, he is showing progress as he is probably late maturing. It is also difficult to predict, if he can handle the distance. From previous results, it seems 10F could be his limit, but doable distance. Really hard to guess here. I suppose this level of horses is too much for him, but there is always space for pleasant surprises.
	7 – PLANET SIX (Planet Five x El Moxie x Bureaucracy) – 4/1 Fastnfirm, regular bbrs trainer made a last minute aquisition and bought at auction 4yo bay Planet Six. This colt seems to be very good purchase. In previous owner’s stable, he also started at G3 The Diolated Stakes, where he finished 5th and destroyed couple of stakes class horses. He also tried his luck in some stakes races, but without notable success. But also his allowance wins show his high qualities. Unfortunately, in last four starts, his speed marks dropped down slightly, which could be a reason for his auction presence. But definitely, this one we have to watch. We’ve seen many times that connections’ change filled horse’s veins with new strength. The question is his distance abitilities, but year ago he reached 100 speed on 10F..so this one is may be insignificant. This race could be interesting confrontation for Planet Six.
	8 – NEWBAR ROVER (Doncaster Rover x Sakura Bakushin O x Kenmare) – 15/1 One of two fillies on the start is big question mark of this race. This 3yo girl from Hawkz’s stables spent most of her career in allowances and has won so far two of them over 6F distance. In september, she managed significant speed progress and showed promising result in Iowa at allowance over 8F. That encouraged Hawkz to sent her to The Lantau Mile, where she met top bargain milers and finished at 8th spot. I think Hawkz find a good time, when filly started her progress, but I am afraid this race is too much. it is also big test for her, as she has never run further than 8F. And I think, this also will be issue here. Looking at her bloodlines, the sires are sprinters to milers, so 10F should be too much. But nothing is written in stone. Personally, I think this filly have a future in bargain series, but probably on shorter tracks.
	9 – NEWBAR CHOUX (Jimmy Choux x George Washington x Nashwan) – 7/1 Probably the strongest from 3yo challengers is called Newbar Choux. Bay colt from Hawkz’ stables was real superstar of last year’s 2yos. He won The Sandford, The Winchester and Bargain Bowl Class Ack Juvenile. Sometimes happens that 2yos are not able to improve a lot during their 3yo season. Newbar Choux improved, nevertheless he wasn’t as sovereign as before. He still got valuable 2nd spots from bargain races Bourbon Trail, 100 Guineas and Bargain Turf Derby. It is actually admirable, that he had no troubles fighting at 6F as well as 12F races. On the other hand, he has met brilliant runners like sprinter and miler Roderic’s Pins and successful stayer Xaaro. And they didn’t give him chance. After bargain spring, he tested his qualities at regular stakes race, which wasn’t so successful for him. After that, he returned to bargain stakes, but there he is struggling a bit. It seems to be difficult task for Hawkz to find out, on which surface he has the best chance to success. It is difficult to predict his result today. He is probably not going to win, but he could grab some part of the purse if he keeps his high class. Also 3yos are usually very strong in this part of year, which could be his advantage.
	10 – GO FOR ALL OF IT (All American x Sarava x Go and Go) – 3/1 This race has one absolute favourite. His name is Go For All Of It and his owner Lgbost has finally great chance to win this race after years of bad luck with Housefulloffghosts. Go For All Of It has all, what favourite needs. He is in perfect shape, probably still improving, he is lightly raced (12 races only; 10 of them won). He is simply on different level than all the others. This monster was claimed to Lino’s stable in march and since then, he has lost only one race. It was bbrs The Hunt Turf Cup, where he couldn’t get across strong filly Hyrrokkin (this year winner of regular stakes race, as well as 4th from G2 race) and finished 2nd. After the race he continued in his progress and in Ten Lost Pyramids memorial in august, it was him to give Hyrrokkin 2 lengths revenge from their previous battle. Together they demolished the rest of the field. In last race, just as an easy preparation this strong colt smashed all the runners of Peter the Great Turf Special, regular stakes race by more than 4 lengths. It seems we shouldn’t expect anything else here. His only shadow, Hyrrokkin is trying to defend last year victory in BB Vimes Turf Distaff for fillies, so there is currently no potential opponent for him. So speaking of the chances of this horse here it can be easily paraphrased the legendary quote of Denis O’Kelly just with slight modification: „Go For All Of It first and the rest nowhere“.
	11 – BRILLIANT NOTATION (Editor’s Note x Accelerator x Desert Wine) – 9/1 Last participant and the biggest celebrity in the field of this year’s Cougar Bite Classic is definitely Brilliant Notation. 8 years old veteran of bargain racing is coming to his 29th start in bbrs stakes race. During his long career, he managed dirt, turf, miles and longer routes. He was very decent on dirt surface, but got his biggest successes on turf. He has never been kind of winning type, but always strong and consistent. But he has some victories on his account and not the minor ones. Chiefly, he has two wins here in Cougar Bite Classic. He was always flawless at this time of year and won 2010 and 2012 edition. In 2011, his owner mtk decided to attack Bargain Classic triumph to reach the unique (never in history) achieved double. I’m wondering if mtk sometimes regrets this decision, because in these days, he could be the only horse with three triumphs in this race. But, we don’t know that for certain. There is still theoretical chance to do it this year, but it’s small, very small. After 2nd place from 2013 here, his powers have decreased a lot. He finished 8th in Hunt Turf Cup, 10th in Ten Lost Pyramids, so it’s highly improbable to see kind of comeback today. In fact, it’s his goodbye, as mtk revealed this week…symbolically leaving in the race, where he accomplished his biggest moments. So, whatever result is he going to reach today, he closes a rich and magnificent chapter and takes well-deserved place between bargain stars.

Cougar Bite Classic – official racecard

Cougar Bite Classic is slowly entering to a new stage. New generation of horses arrived. Table is empty, set and ready for new order. Go for All of It has biggest chance to establish it. He is in such excellent shape, that only injury can take him victory here. It would be surprise not to see him win. The situation behind him is very unclear though. Probably someone like Newbar Choux, Storming Jet or Spickard should confirm their establishment in bargain series. Also newcomer Planet Six could be somewhere there. He seems to have lost some of his powers, but he was graded competitive, which shouldn’t be forget. Also we should watch Blue Satin Pillow, which could easily confirm the high level of Lgbost’s stables. Sava the Best and Late for the Train could follow in this hypothetic result. Brilliant Notation in hist last career start is big question mark. We don’t know how much power left. Last year, he wasn’t really expected to be there, but finished 2nd. May be, he will find rests of his strength today, but it is not really probable. I don’t believe in fillies’ attack today. Newbar Rover and Surge City look more like sprinters and it will be difficult for them. On the other hand, this race is really great material for surprises. Favourite is clear but the rest can prepare many unexpected moments.

It is great, we could meet here again in this great occasion. Bargain Bowl is always magnificent finale of long bargain season. This series make whole simulation twice better than it would be without it. Knightmare is doing excellent job and it is always pleasure for me to mention it. The best reward is stable and growing community of players, which compete whole season with their cheap but classy horses. If you haven’t tried it yet, just breed something under 120 points or claim something cheap and look what’s new in bargain community. It is open to everyone. May be one day, I will write about your champion here :).

So let’s enjoy the biggest day in sim and all the nice stories, which it brings. Thanks for reading!