One day in the summer of 2003, I was watching “Thoroughbred Action” on Fox Sports New York, a program that shows the day’s NYRA races in 30 minutes. One of the races at Belmont was an allowance race. I picked out a name from the post position list that I liked, and rooted for him. He stormed home victorious by a fair margin. I decided that I liked this horse, so I would follow him using Equibase’s Virtual Stable. He won his next race too. He soon became my favorite all-time race horse (although I’ve only been following horseracing for the past 5 years or so), edging out Medaglia D’Oro and Commentator (who has a similar backstory as to how I came to like him). His name was Ghostzapper.
I give this backstory so that it doesn’t seem like I was just jumping on the bandwagon after he won the Breeders Cup Classic. I was pulling hard for him then. I was pulling hard for him in the Woodward. Heck, I was pulling hard for him in the Tom Fool. Granted, he was not one of my favorite horses until after that win, and he did not become my favorite horse until the Iselin BC Handicap. But after that race, I made sure I got a chance to see him. I couldn’t go to the 2004 Breeders Cup (although I would end up going to the 2005 one…an amazing experience in the bitter-cold air of late October New York). But I made sure to show up at his return race in 2005, the Met Mile. I had my usual spot on the finish line rail, and had my camera ready. Unfortunately, my photo of him winning the race came out awful; partly due to the fact that the camera was zoomed in (for no real reason), partly because he was running so fast, and partly because I was shaking from the fact that he was blowing away this field in an amazing spectacle, which could only be understood in person. Luckily, I took about a thousand photos of him before, during, and after the race, and got a great shot of him during the Post Parade (which has gone on to be my desktop background since May 2005).
The background information about Ghostzapper and I is important so that you understand my point of view. I will say that Ghostzapper was arguably the best racehorse of my generation. You can make a case for Cigar, Azeri, Point Given, or any number of horses who went on to be a great. But my belief will always be that Ghostzapper would beat them all. Some may agree, and some may disagree, but I have proof.
There is a magic set of numbers in Horse Racing. There is a number that separates the good from the great. Another one separates the great from the amazing. The largest of all separates the amazing from the all-time legend. I will only focus on that last group. The magic number is 120. What is this number, you ask? It is a Beyer Speed Figure. Some people will argue with the validity of these, and some will swear by them. I fall into neither category. It is merely a gauge of how well a horse ran, taking all effects into consideration. It is an amazing feat for a horse to break the 120 speed figure barrier. In fact, at the time of this publication, no horse had done it in 2006. The closest was Deputy Minister in the Bluegrass Stakes, earning a 116 (which is probably a number he didn’t deserve, as Keeneland always favors speed). In 2005, only the cream of the crop did it; Saint Liam, Lava Man, Commentator, Bellamy Road.
Oh yeah…and Ghostzapper. But his 121 in the Met Mile wasn’t just one amazing feat. A horse can run a career race and show legendary signs. But one race does not make a legend. No; what makes Ghostzapper so special is that he did it more than once. In fact, he did it 4 times. In 5 races. Let that sink in for a minute. Once you reach this plateau you’re in elite company. No one can touch you. You can’t lose. Everyone expects you to bounce. You can’t do it again. And yet he did. And again. And again. And again.
The Sim has a similar system to Beyer Speed Figures, although the nuances of the real system do not necessarily factor into the sim system. Here, we call them “Speed Figures”, and abbreviate them SP or SF. But the idea behind them is the same; they are a way to compare two horses, from two different tracks, at two different distances. Even the barriers still hold. A 100 in the real world is high allowance-low stakes level. Same as the sim. So when Mike realized that horses in the sim were breaking this sacred 120 barrier all the time, he decided to tone down the speed figures. It makes sense, as they were no longer realistic. Nowadays, they are. So it begs the question: Who are the all-time greats in the sim? Who are the fastest of the fast; the ones who broke the 120 SP barrier, even in today’s sim?
In fact, while many had speed figures in the 120s back then, most were highly inflated. So, I translated all of the old speed figures into today’s standards. It is much the same process as an Economist uses when determining the value of money in earlier years– they translate it to the current value. After doing this, only 4 horses ever broke the 120 SP barrier. Each one has its own story. Now they get a chance to have their story told, going from the 4th fastest of all time, up to the fastest.
Buda With The Slew – 120.3097 SP – If you were to ask me to name the fastest horse in the sim, I would have named this guy. Owner capeside got this 2yo Danzig x Seattle Slew x Night Invader back in 2000. The breeding said turf, which is where he spent most of his 2yo year. However, his owner decided to try for the BB Juvenile, rather than sticking with the turf. His overpowering 2-3/4 length win was a sign that maybe he liked the dirt better. His 2001 run was even better, as he reeled off a 4 straight G1 win streak, including the Bluegrass Derby and Middle Jewel, and was stopped only by a poor running in the New Yorker. After one more win in the Buckeye Derby, he seemed to hit a wall. He failed in some dirt, so his owner switched him back to turf for the Canada Mile, where he failed some more. He went back to dirt, but ended his 3yo campaign on the turf again, finishing 10th in the ASR Derby, and a very disappointing 4th in an open allowance. So no one was expecting very much from 2001’s Sim Eclipse Award winner for 3yo of the year.
Buda’s first race of 2002 came on January 19, also known as week 1278. He was entered in the San Valenzuala Breeders Bowl Stakes (sic) at California. Unfortunately, the California track was drenched in rain for two days leading up to the race, so the track was sloppy. Buda went off at 12.70/1, coming off of two poor turf races and two poor dirt races. Even though the race was a Grade 2, it had an amazing field. The favorite was Stupid Kingdom, who would eventually go on to be a millionaire, with 17 wins in 73 starts. The 2nd choice in the 8 horse field was Western Groom (2.70/1), who earned $4.6 million with 20 wins (6 G1) in 74 career starts. In fact, Buda went off as the 6th choice in the race. When the race started, it didn’t look good. Western Groom got out to an easy lead, which was as large as 5-1/4 at the 4f mark. Buda’s running style was a closer style (in his winning days), where he would come from 6-9 lengths back. He managed to get to about 6-1/2 behind Western Groom, settling in 4th. Going into the far turn, M Dorsey (Buda’s jockey throughout the Triple Crown) felt the old kick that Buda had. He started closing, and got to within 3 at the top of the stretch. Buda had never run on an off-track before, but he seemed to love it, as he gained ground with every step he took. He kept coming and coming, until he passed Western Groom. Then he kept going. Dorsey put the whip away, but Buda didn’t slow down. He crossed the finish line in 1:40 flat, 2-3/4 clear of Western Groom. It was another 18 lengths back to 3rd place. Anyone watching the race knew it was amazing. They knew they were watching history. In the first race of the year, Buda With The Slew silenced all of his critics, and sent the sim abuzz. Unfortunately, it appeared to be a unique performance – perhaps due to the battle with Western Groom. He would not win another race in his career, and was bred later that year.
Forty With Polar – 120.721 SP – Forty was a 4yo when he entered the sim, debuting in 1999 in week 236. A Forty Niner x Blushing Groom(FR) x Foolish Pleasure, owner debi had no doubts that he was a dirt horse. He ran 18 times in 1999, winning 3 times, although he was 0 for 5 in stakes races. 2000 faired a little better, as he finally broke through in the season opener, the BigRed77’s Gee I Hope I Get Some This Year Handicap. He set the pace the entire way and won by 3. That warranted a trip to Graded Stakes, which met the same fate that the stakes tries met. He ran 17 total races in 2000, winning 3 races. One of those was a graded stakes, the Kentucky BB Sprint, which he won going away by 1-1/2.
2001 didn’t start off any better, as his first 6 tries, in a mix of allowances, stakes, and graded stakes, were all failures. Then he ran in the Northerly Stakes in Louisiana and won, wiring the field. That race, a “120” SP (nowadays it would be roughly a 112 SP), was a peak performance. So, as expected, he bounced in his next one (which happened to be on an off-track and at 8.5f). His following 2 were no better, running 10th and 9th. So when he entered week 1180’s Scottsdale BB Stakes, a Grade 1 event in Arizona, it was no surprise that he was installed as the 21.20/1 11th choice out of 14. The favorites in that race were Hard Cat and Zach’s Projects at 4.80/1. When the race started, Forty did his normal thing and got out to the lead. His opponents decided to let him have a somewhat easy lead, and he had a length out in front. He widened the lead to 2 lengths as they entered the far turn. Since the race was only 6f, the others would have to start coming now. Jockey B Drewrey, in his first time aboard the horse, took the whip out and starting forcing Forty. He pulled out to a 4-1/2 lead at the top of the stretch. The only question was whether the whip came out to soon. But it turned out fine, as Drewrey put the whip away mid-stretch. Forty continued rolling, slowing down slightly because he didn’t need to run too hard. As it turns out, he ran harder than anyone could have imagined. In winning by 2, Forty With Polar ran 6f in 1:08, earning his 120.721 SP (although at 130, the number looked jaw-dropping at the time). He was the first to run this fast, and no one in the sim had seen a race like this before.
The rest of that year was not great, as he would end up with 2 5ths and an 11th in his last 3 races. He would win once in 6 races in 2002 before taking a long break at the farm. He returned in 2005, but was much older than he had been, and didn’t quite have the speed that he showed in his heydays. He was recently sent to the breeding shed.
Wing’s Of Naskra(GB) – 120.9426 – A popular choice in the trivia contest, he is not the winner. Owner bobbyg bred this In The Wings(GB) x Graustark x Naskra as a 3yo in 2002, and he made his debut on June 1, 2002. He easily won that race, and then bounced between allowance and stakes company, where he faltered. His owner moved him to the turf for his fifth try, where he discovered that Wing’s preferred the dirt. His return race to the dirt was his breakout performance, as he wired an allowance field going away to win by 3-1/4. He finished up 2002 with a 3rd and two wins, all in allowance company.
He opened up 2003 in a stakes race, and finished a dull 7th. So bobbyg sent him back to where he was comfortable, in allowances. He wired the field in his next race, going 6f in 1:08-4/5. So his owner sent him back to the stakes level, where again he failed, finishing 7th. But his ever-persistent trainer kept Wing’s at the top level, and he finally came through in his next run, going 6.5f in a blistering 1:14-4/5. He also won his next race, which gave his owners high hopes. He decided to try graded company for the first time, and what better way to do that than in a Grade 1? So he was shipped to NY for the Gary Carter Handicap, a 7f race run on May 3, 2003 (week 1747). He came in as the 7.50/1 third choice in the full field of 14. The favorite was Virginia Muskrat at 3.50/1, coming off a 3rd place finish in a G3 the race before. When the gates opened, jockey P Lewis tried to send Wing’s out to the lead, which is where he was for 3 of his prior wins. Unfortunately, Marc Weapon, the 8.50/1 choice, got a better jump, and stuck a head out in front. The two locked up in a speed duel, and by the three furlong mark, Wing’s was able to stick his nose out in front. Lewis, not one of the top jockeys at the track, decided to press on. Going into the far turn, the lead was up to 1 length. Lewis then went to the whip, and Wing’s took off. Much like his name says, he began to fly. While Marc Weapon was able to hold on to second, 5 lengths ahead of the third place horse, he was no match for Wing’s, who showed a kick that no one could have expected. He drew off to win by 3-1/2, but even more impressive was the time. A horse who finally broke through in stakes races two starts prior, he finished the 7 furlongs in a stakes record and track record 1:20-1/5. No one that day realized how fast Wing’s really went. The front two horses held on the entire race, and no one believed they were going that fast. When the final time came in, the cheers erupted in the New York Grandstand.
That wasn’t it for his run. He was sent back out in the Cosmopolitan Handicap, an 8f race in New York, 3 weeks later, and he again wired the field to win by 4, covering the ground in 1:33-4/5. Unfortunately, he hit a rough patch when he tried a 10f race, and exerted himself too hard, so when he returned to sprinting in his next race, he was injured and was distanced in a 6f race. He tried the Breeders Bowl Sprint in 2003, but finished a dull 7th after starting a length behind the pace-setters. He finished off the year going back to his roots, taking home a NW1t allowance race. His 2004 campaign opened with a 2nd and 3rd in two stakes races, but he never quite showed the skill that he did in the middle of 2003. He raced 5 times in 2004 before entering Sim-limbo. His owner appears to be inactive, as he has not run since week 2342. It is sad to see a horse with the kind of history sit, inactive, with nothing to show for his accomplishments. He ran the fastest dirt race of all time. Sadly, it was upstaged by another horse – who set the turf record (as well as the all-time record) 2 weeks prior. That horse was…
Pro Saint – 121.1737 – The all-time record holder came into the sim as a 3yo in 2000. A Mr. Prospector x Welsh Saint(IRE) x Groton, he debuted for owner catthief99 is a dirt sprint MSW on March 4, 2000 (week 598). He ran 2nd in that race, but was able to come back and break his maiden in his second try, in another dirt sprint. After one failed attempt in a dirt mile allowance, he went back to dirt sprints, where he finished 2nd and 4th in two claimers. In the second claimer, run on August 19, 2000, Saint was claimed by gipper5. His new owner sent him back to allowances, where he finished 2nd twice and 4th twice. After the two fourth place finishes, and in his 10th race, gipper5 decided it was time to try the turf. He started with a turf sprint, where Saint blew away the field, winning the NW1x race by 3-1/4. He ended 2000 with an attempt in a mile turf stakes, but it was a failed attempt, as he finished 18 lengths behind the winner. 2001 was a good year for him, as he reeled off 3 straight allowance wins near the beginning of the year, all in turf sprints. His first try in a graded stakes came in the 2001 Sydney Sprint, where he finished 8th. He came through 2 races later however, in the G3 ASR Blessingindisguise Stakes. He won one more stakes, and then ended the season with a win in the G1 Because I Said So Stakes, followed by a disappointing 11th in the G1 Japan Sprint. His 2002 debut came in the Equinics, but he finished a dull 5th. That set the tone for the year, as he went 9 races, split between graded stakes, regular stakes, and an allowance, without winning. Finally he came through in a NW1s allowance, in his 10th start of the year. His 11th start was a 3rd place finish in a NW3s allowance, and he ended his season with a win in the Khairpour(IRE) Handicap.
2003 started out much better for Saint. He opened it up with a win in the Rolling Rock Stakes, a listed stakes at South Africa. He followed that up with a career-best run, although 3rd place finish, in the Vice Regal Challenge, at 6.5f. He stretched out a little to 7f to try the G3 Mr Anderson Special, and put together a massive closing move to go from 6-1/2 back at the top of the stretch to a mere 1 back, a second place finish. Gipper5 made an interesting decision to once again try Saint in the Sydney Sprint, a Grade 1 at 5.5f. It rained the day before, and the turf came up yielding. His one previous run on off-turf was a 2nd place finish in a 2002 stakes. This time, he would be up against much tougher competition in Brown Voss and Nine Gold Rubys, the co-favorites at 4.70/1. Saint went off as the 3rd choice at 6.20/1. His one earlier win in 2003 had come with a different type of running style, as he sat only 2 lengths off of the leaders. Jockey M Long, who had never ridden Saint before, looked at the form and saw this. He figured that maybe Saint didn’t have the closing kick he once did. He saw the move Saint made at 7f, but this was 1.5f shorter, so he would need to stay closer. That was the gameplan. With the shorter distance, however, that seemed to be everyone’s gameplan. Shadow broke for the lead, getting ½ length out in front, and 2-1/4 lengths ahead of Pro Saint. That put Saint in 10th. He held his ground at the halfway point, slowly moving ahead as other horses gave way. In the far turn, Long sent Saint with all he had; unfortunately, Brown Voss was currently ahead of Pro Saint, and he would be a tough horse to get past. Both Pro Saint and Brown Voss came flying and passed Shadow in the top of the stretch, where Brown Voss held a narrow lead. But Pro Saint looked like a possessed horse. He was moving faster than anyone had seen. Brown Voss didn’t stand a chance in this race. Saint thundered by, storming off and widening the gap. He ended up winning by 1-1/2, and everyone knew this was a special race. A look up at the clock proved everyone correct; 1:01-3/5. No 5.5f race had even been within a second of this. Brown Voss, who ran a career-best race, was denied by an all-time legend. This one race set both the turf and all-time record. While Wing’s Of Naskra would come close 2 weeks later, this held on as the leader. And since April 19, 2003, the day of the Sydney Sprint, no one has been able to beat this feat.
Pro Saint regressed off of this race, as could be expected. He won only one more race in his last 8 starts for the year, an ungraded stakes. He tried the Breeders Bowl Mile, but the distance was too long and he faltered, finishing 12th, over 20 lengths behind. 2004 seemed to start off a little better, as he reeled off back-to-back wins in the G2 Everclear Handicap and an ungraded stakes, both at 5.5f. He took a 3 month break and came back a little slow, losing in his next 4 races (and finishing no better than 5th). Gipper5 sensed trouble, so he put Saint back on the shelf for 5 more months. His return race in December did not go well, and he finished 5th, losing a lot of ground at the end in a 7.5f race. He came back the first week of 2005, and won a NW1n allowance on the good turf. It would be his last win, however. In 6 races in 2005, he had a record of 1-0-1. He was sent to stud and bore Sulpher Springs, who won his first two races…both turf sprints. Since then, he has become stakes-placed, although he has not run since 2853.
Some people may know all of these horses – some may know none. But regardless of whether you saw them race, or followed their careers, there is one thing that they all share; they are part of a sim legend. Everyone strives for a 120 speed figure in the sim; very few get it. And while these 4 horses may not have been the best horses of their generation, they each had one race that was unrivaled by anyone in the sim. Records can be broken; but these four races will live on in the Sim world forever.
Tune in next week when the Speed Study Series takes a look at another Graded Stakes Record: Most Graded Stakes Records set.
Bryan (shagfarms) can be reached at TripleCrown@suscom.net. He can also be reached through the BTB Message Board, the Main Message Board, the Chat Room, or by Private Message.