Derby, Oaks or Bust

DERBY, OAKS OR BUST

MID-SUMMER UPDATE

By Whirlwind

I started this journal with six horses I thought would be precocious and talented enough based on their pedigree to be focused on throughout their juvenile season.  Well, of course, the best laid plans as they say has gone somewhat awry and unless there are some wild turn-arounds, I’ll be left with two of the original six to keep on track.  As a result, I am adding four more, three bred over graded stakes winning horses and one from a mare with no previous owner.

With the plethora of breeding opportunities available to players, how exacting are the thought processes that go into a potential horse?  The game now offers more tools and statistics to assist in trying to breed “the one.”  How has this information affected the players and the quality of the horse population?  Within the super group, two of my partners use this information, usually from Yoss and sinoboy as well as the game’s own statistics and they research for crossings that have shown that they work well and have produced runners in the past.  Their methods certainly have produced, just look at Seeking Sal or Horseshoe Bay.  My outlook is a bit more organic and based on a combination of what I have observed in the sim and what the real world statistics of sires are. Breeding the best to the best and hoping for the best no matter how we get there, is what we are all trying to do.   

The horses that aren’t going to be making the rest of this story are: WILD WILD LIFE, CLASH CITY ROCKER, I ZIMBRA and SATAN’S STEED.  All were nicely bred, most have broken their maidens but have not shown the talent to compete at higher levels at this time.  Which leaves two of the original group: 

WRONG ‘EM BOYO-super19  Red Ransom x Danzig x Seattle Slew. 3-1-0-1  He has raced on the turf and broke his maiden in good style in his 2^nd race.  We followed that with an outing in the Gd3 Norfellow, where he missed the break and never ran his race.  His next outing will be an allowance going at least 8 furlongs, I think he will only get better as the distances increase.

INTRUDER-super5  Victory Gallop x El Prado x Fit To Fight  4-1-1-2.  He is a ½ brother to Virtuoso, same dam and I kept the sire within the same line as Virtuoso, opting for a son of Cryptoclearance with Victory Gallop.  If I had been a bit smarter with this colt, he would only have raced twice at this point.  I expected him to need some distance to do his best running and probably should have waited until the distances were at least 7 furlongs or two-turns.  He races in a mature style with an explosive closing move.  I was getting a bit frustrated but when I put him in a mile race in week 2923, he won by 2 lengths in 1:38 for a sp#77.  He will go in a stakes route for his next outing in either the Buckeye Juvenile or Camel Juvenile.

Since four horses have been left back at the farm for a while, I’m bringing in four new horses to the barn.  Here they are with their pedigrees and accomplishments thus far. 

THE HEDONIST(GB)-super15  Powerscourt x Miswaki x Private Account  2-1-1-0 

I bred this one from a colt in one of Tony’s stables, that I bred for him a couple of years ago.  Harvester Of Eyes was a Gd.1 winner and ran on both surfaces.  I went to a freshman sire that I like, Powerscourt, a son of Sadler’s Wells.  He and Eddington are the new sires that I am quite high on and the ones we have are doing quite well.  The Hedonist made his first effort on the turf at 5 ½ furlongs and closed nicely for 2^nd, beaten only a length.  It was pretty obvious that he was going to love more real estate and 7 weeks later he raced in a mile race, was 8 lengths back after a ½ mile and closed like a freight train to win going away in a very solid 1:38.  He will probably try a stake route in about week 2958.

HARD KNOX- super20  Kingmambo x Seeking The Gold x Private Account  1-0-0-1

This filly was bred from a pretty good racehorse, Fort Knocks, a graded winner of almost $1mil, from my aak stable.  I went with Kingmambo as a sire, he may be the hottest sire in the sim right now, with runners on both surfaces.  She has only raced once, in a 7 furlong MSW and tired in the lane to finish 3^rd on an off track.  I expect her to graduate in her next outing going two-turns in week 2951.

GROWLING- super7  Kingmambo x Forestry x Royal Academy 2-2-0-0

I bred this filly from what was probably my most frustrating horse, Growl.  He only won 2 career races but retired with over $500,000 in earnings.  He was hurt for a big part of his career but consistently ran in graded races and picked up checks and if you look at Growl, you will find Private Account at the end of his pedigree, just like the two preceding horses, I guess that’s a pattern there.  Growling started in a 5 ½ furlong MSW, stalked the pace and drew clear and won easily.  Seven weeks later, she raced in a stake in Texas over 6 ½ furlongs.  This time she relaxed a bit more and sat slightly off the pace and fired to win going away in 1:17 3/5 for a speed rating of #83.  It was an impressive race and she appears to be the real thing.  She has had seven weeks to rest and goes this week in the Gd.1 in Florida over 8 furlongs and we’ll really get to see what is in the tank.

THRILL RIDE- super30  Eddington x Silver Hawk x Alydar  3-1-2-0

This guy was bred from a mare with no previous owner that we used last year, to get the stake winner, Embargo by Fasliyev.  I thought it could be interesting to breed back to the Raise A Native line but through Mr Prospector.  As I have stated previously, I am quite fond of the Fappiano branch and feel pretty good about Eddington’s upside, he is built to succeed in the breeding shed.  In his first two races, he closed from the back but ran out of room each time.  In week2923, he was entered in an 8 furlong MSW on the main track and flew through the stretch to win easily in 1:37 3/5 and a speed#81.  He will return in about week 2972-79, probably in an open allowance or listed stake at a mile.

Well, we will have to wait and see what the racing gods have in store for us this summer.  We may expect great things from some of them and be disappointed and then from out of nowhere, one of them jumps up and bites us on the ass when we aren’t paying attention.  Hopefully a couple of these will make Saturdays a bit more interesting and fun this summer.