2015 Eclipse-Older Male Dirt Division- Little Column B

Try as he might, LITTLE COLUMN B could not win a grade level stakes race. That was in 2014. In 2015 things change. Things changed so much that this not-so-little guy became a big winner. He’s the winner of the 2015 Older Male Dirt Long division.

In preparation for this article, I reached out to Lenny271, the owner of this champion. Asking for a little background and insight into his horse Lenny replied “Little Column B is named after a saying from Archer – Sterling Archer always says ‘little column A, little column B’ when explaining his motivations, usually for something quite stupid. I bred him from an open mare – something I hadn’t done in a number of years before breeding him. The mare hadn’t been used in a while and I noticed her first offspring, out of Forty Niner, was a monster who had hit the board in both the Derby and Belmont and also ran a bunch of races with speed figures over 120. I rolled some very cheap dice with Admire Moon to get some Forty Niner blood in the sire and the rest is history. I got very lucky lol. LCB hit the board in the Belmont like his brother and has really flourished after stretching out even longer.”

After a 2014 season where LITTLE COLUMN B scored three wins in listed stakes and a third in the G1 New Yorker and second in the G1 Clerk of Sacles, the 2015 season kicked off with a fine start, a win in a 2 mile listed stake, the Sagatector Dirt Endurance which he picked up on a sloppy track.

This win would kick off a season where LITTLE COLUMN B would not finish worse than second in nine starts. The G3 Cowboy Handicap would be next on the agenda and LITTLE COLUMN B looked in good shape as he took the lead moving past the half, but the 9/5 favorite would be overtaken by the second choice, Professional Cynic, and finished second.

Moving into April the Desert Stamina Cup in Dubai would pit LITTLE COLUMN B against Professional Cynic in the 14 furlong, Grade 1 race. At 7/1, LITTLE COLUMN B would leave the gate slowly settling into 11th place until he got to the half when jockey L. Radzinksi would encourage him to advance. Picking off horses one at a time, he rallied his way to the front of the field and drew off to a 4 stride win and getting the best of Professional Cynic who followed behind and finished third.

A solid 110 speed would follow in the listed Basque Doug Dirt Endurance 13 furlong race where LITTLE COLUMN B had no problem handling the field as the 9/5 favorite and easily powered his way the lead and pulled away to a 7 length win.

Arkansas would be the next stop where LITTLE COLUMN B would return to G1 racing in the 14 furlong Razorback Route. He would be the second choice at 4/1 in the race. For most of the race, he ran towards the back hooking up with Haack’s Rocket. They would take off together and rally to the front and eventually battle straight to the wire. Haack’s Rocket would win the race by a quarter stride and they both would chart a solid 111 speed for the event.

Flying back overseas to Surrey, this superstar would continue his campaign and take on a crew in the G3 Eurpope Stayer. A solid 9/5 choice in the race LITTLE COLUMN B would make his patented late run style and come charging late in the race in pursuit of the wire. He had one horse to run down in the late stretch and that was longshot Dukesaster. It would take a photo to show that he would miss the top place by a mere head.

L. Radzinski would get a phone call and accepted the call to take the mount in the September running of the G1 Monster Mash in Spain. Again pegged as the favorite at 3/1, LITTLE COLUMN B did not disappoint. Radzinski timed the ride perfectly and drew off to a three stride win capturing the second G1 win of the season. The win won the mount for Radzinski for the remainder of 2015.

Onto the Breeders’ Bowl Dirt Marathon, a 14 furlong race that featured LITTLE COLUMN B as the crowd favorite at 4/1. Getting off to a very slow start, the colt was next to last for the early going. By the half, he was a good 16 strides back which led to major concern as he has never finished better than fifth after trailing by 15 strides or more at that point of the race. Radzinski kept after the horse and used the whip several times around the final turn as he got the favorite to the lead and proceeded to run away and win by 4 solid lengths as well as a career best speed of 113.

LITTLE COLUMN B would end 2015 in the same way the season started and that was racing on a sloppy track. This time it was in New York in the Big Apple (G1). This time Radzinski would keep him positioned in the middle of the pack and advanced forward in the second half of the race. Perhaps the Breeders’ Bowl took a bit out of him as he was overtaken by Haack’s Rocket (who was 4th in the Breeders’ Bowl Dirt Marathon) and LITTLE COLUMN B would conclude the race in second, three off the winner.

Overall, LITTLE COLUMN B would amass a record of 5-4-0 during the season and included three Grade 1 wins (and all with Radzinski aboard). A total of $1,920,00 was enough to win the Eclipse Award beating out Haack’s Rocket who was second in the point total with $1,162,500.

Trainer Lenny271 was asked about the future for this year’s champ. He replied “I’m not sure how much more he has in the tank, but his 2015 campaign was quite good. I’ll try and spot him well a few more times if he proves himself still able.“

Congratulations to Lenny271 for a job well done and much luck for continued success!