EQUINICS 2016: The Woodstock

By ITCH

By the time the 2016 Equinics get to Woodstock, the event will be down and dirty, right in the middle of things.

Perfect!

What better way to pay tribute to that immortal music festival that took place 47 years ago at Max Yasgur’s farm in the Catskills in upstate New York?

The theme for this year’s running of the Equinics is a tribute, and each of the races has been assigned a name that pays tribute to a historical event or figure.

Now check this out, man! This is far out and trippy, see? Just like Woodstock.

What we’re gonna do in this preview is select a performance at Woodstock that best exemplifies the particular skill set of each runner. This is going to be wild, man, so hold on tight!

Let’s get to the horses and the bands who are players in The Woodstock, a Grade 1 for older fillies and mares going 5.5 furlongs on the turf. There’e Grade 1 points and a $750,000 purse at stake on Saturday, but more importantly, Equinics medals. By the time Equinics gets to Woodstock, the event will be about halfway through. Post time is 2:30 p.m., right in the middle of it all.

Our top qualifier is Gowans‘ MY WILD MAMBO, a former plater who has risen to No. 3 in the turf sprint division. To represent this 4yo bay daughter of the Irish sire Myboycharlie, we’re looking for a Woodstock performer who knows all about the highs and lows. We’re looking for a blues performer like Janis Joplin, who took the stage at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17, 1969. Unfortunately, Joplin’s shaky physical state during her performance, stemming from her heroin addiction and a 10-hour wait after arrival, created a poor performance that was not included in the Woodstock documentary. Ready to represent Blazing Saddles, My Wild Mambo has been a much more consistent performer. She’s piled up 144 stakes points to rise all the way to No. 3 in the division, and can jump to No. 2 with the 64 stakes points she would earn with a victory in Equinics. For now, there is no catching the No. 1 filly in this division. That’s CARRAIG AONAIR, a 5yo daughter of Fastnet Rock who has a stranglehold on the top ranking with 240 stakes points, by far the most in the division. That’s going to have to be all right with Gowans, as Carraign Aonair is trained by a Blazing Saddles rez mate in 4Amigos1. The Equinics provides an important chance for My Wild Mambo. She’s not yet won a Grade 1, and she’s not going to ever have a better chance than she will in The Woodstock. From this day forward, any Grade 1 race in which this filly runs is going to be tougher. There are only five graded winners in here. Gowans knows that the resume for My Wild Mambo is going to look a lot better with that Grade 1-winning badge on display. She’s been knocking on the door in Grade 1 company and now is her chance to break through. In two attempts at Grade 1, My Wild Mambo has run her race both times, hitting the board in each race and proving herself a legitimate Grade 1 contender. She’s a late runner cutting back in distance half a furlong from three straight races at six furlongs. However, note that she is a perfect 3 for 3 at the distance. If she can run that record to 4 for 4, Gowans will have delivered an important gold medal to the cause of Blazing Saddles. This is an important race both for this filly’s individual interests and those of her residency. Anytime a contending residency has a top qualifier for a race, they’re going to be counting on a medal. In this particular instance, they’re looking for gold. My Wild Mambo is 12-1 and drawn to the outside in post No. 19.

Our No. 2 qualifier is Daniel’s DANCER MEZTLI, a 4yo bay daughter of Danehill Dancer who is No. 5 in the turf sprint division. Daniel will be representing the European Union Racing Organization here, so for this filly’s Woodstock tribute, let’s go with a band that was part of the British Invasion. Let’s go with The Who, who took the Woodstock stage at 5 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17, 1969. The performance of The Who was interrupted by Abby Hoffman, a protestor who founded the Yippies, directed the Chicago Eight, and got arrested at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Hoffman grabbed a microphone to attempt to speak against the jailing of John Sinclair, a member of the White Panther Party. “I think this is a pile of shit while John Sinclair rots in prison!” Pete Townshend, guitarist for The Who, was adjusting an amplifier between songs, and turned to look at Hoffman over his left shoulder. “Fuck off!” Townshend exclaimed. “Fuck off my stage!” He ran at Hoffman and hit him in the back with his guitar. Like the Woodstock performance of The Who, the career of Dancer Mezlti also was somewhat interrupted over the winter. The difference is that the light racing schedule was well planned by Daniel, unlike the rude interruption sprung on Roger Daltry and the boys. Dancer Meztli raced only once between November and March, thus ensuring that Daniel would have a fresh filly for the big plans he had in store for her in summer. While Hoffman’s interruption at Woodstock served to distract from the performance of The Who, Dancer Meztli’s career interruption only put wind in her sails. On her third race back from her winter siesta, she ran the race of her life, rallying from seventh to win the Grade 1 CVBears Hometown Turf Stakes. She bounced off that big run and could only manage fifth last out in her second Grade 1 chance. This will be her third-straight start in Grade 1 company, but this is a lot softer field than she’s faced in the first two. That’s the good news. Dancer Meztli is, in effect, taking a class drop here. The bad news is, the 5.5-furlong distance is a big question mark for this filly. Her Grade 1 win was at 6.5 furlongs. When she gets beat, it’s because she does not get going fast enough. It makes you wonder if she can rev it up in time to get up going shorter. Daniel and his mates at the European Union will be hoping her class edge can carry her through to win a medal at what may not be her best distance. The Brazilian morning line oddsmaker makes this horse the favorite. Dancer Meztli is one of only two horses in the field at single-digit odds. He’s 8-1 and breaks from post No. 4.

Master Matty’s MAMA’S CHOICE, a 4yo bay daughter of Redoute’s Choice, comes into the Equinics on a hot streak. She’s won four in a row, a run of razor-sharp form that culminated in her crowning achievement last out, when she shocked the Grade 1 QLD Snowy Print at 17-1. What Woodstock performance could have been hotter than that of Santana, who took the stage during the heat of the day, at 2 p.m. on Saturday. At the time, Santana was relatively unknown to the Woodstock crowd, but that was about to change. Legendary promoter Bill Graham had ensured a place on the bill for the San Francisco band, for whom he served as manager. Their set was powerful and magical at the same time. Drummer Michael Shrieve, the youngest performer at Woodstock, gave a seminal performance recorded for history in the Woodstock documentary with his solo on “Soul Sacrifice.” For his part, guitarist Carlos Santana played brilliantly despite hallucinating that his guitar was a snake. The band Santana came from nowhere to explode on the Woodstock scene, something like the career path of Mama’s Choice. Although this filly has one of those win-machine-type career total of nine wins from 15 starts, she struggled to win when first introduced to stakes racing. In three listed tries from Oct. 10 to Feb. 27, the best Mama’s Choice could do was second, and missed the board in the third try. Matty backed off to allowance company in the spring, rebuilt her confidence, and gave her another chance in listed company. On June 5, she was ready. Mama’s Choice took a big step forward with her first stakes win, and earned a chance to run as a longshot in her most recent race in the Grade 1 QLD Snowy Print. She rung the bell at 17-1, and now she’s in the Equinics. Just like Santana, she’s on the big stage now. A victory in The Woodstock would vault Mama’s Choice to No. 2 in the division. This filly gives a very reasonable chance at a medal for the powerful GR Simsters, who are favored by most to take the team championship in Equinics 2016. When we caught up with Master Matt on a Saturday afternoon in chat, he was celebrating another Grade 1 triumph. His horses had just run first and third in the Grade 1. “Boom! Boom!” he exclaimed, and why not? FLIGHT OF LUST won the Grade 1 Friendly Wager at Newmarket going 10 furlongs on the turf. ANGEL IN THE NIGHT was third. But those are not the horses we’re worried about here. What about Mama’s Choice? “I think 5.5 will be on the short side,” said Master Matty. “I assume she will make a late run and try to get a minor placing.” He admitted he had not yet made a close examination of the field for The Woodstock. “I have not looked at the field, so I may be wrong about that. I guess there would not be many proven fillies at the weird distance in that race.” Mama’s Choice will break right next door to the No. 2 qualifier, Dancer Meztli. She is 12-1, and breaks from post No. 5.

Bezza will represent All-Stars Racing in Equinics 2016 with VENUS SERENA, a light gray daughter of Kitten’s Joy. She’s out of Bezza’s graded-placed 10yo Pulpit mare IMPENETRABLE (an ironic, inaccurate moniker for a broodmare unfortunately, lol.) This mare is producing extremely well for Bezza. Of six foals so far, all but one are stakes placed. Venus Serena is one of two foals to be graded placed, and will be looking to join PIROGUE, a 3yo son of Pivotal who owns a Grade 3 win. It’s easy to see that Venus Serena comes from a regal family and reflected that by keeping up with her classy brothers and sisters. Now, this only makes sense because Venus Serena clearly has been named for tennis’ Williams sisters. There you have more than one member of a family succeeding, same as with this filly named for them. In tribute to her powerful dam, we will select the performance of Joan Baez, who took the stage at 12:55 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16, 1969. Baez was six months pregnant at the time. The female counterpart to Bob Dylan, the folksinger and anti-war protestor was the last act on Friday evening. Appropriately, she wished everyone a good morning. Her perfectly arranged set combined with her beautiful and skillful voice was a fine finish for a chaotic and exhausting first day of the festival. The Woodstock provides an important opportunity for Bezza’s filly, who has failed to hit the board in her two tries so far at the Grade 1 level. That fact alone makes her look shaky at this class, but a handicapper of Equinics races keeps in mind that these are relatively soft spots as far as Grade 1 races go. The class relief may work in her favor, as may her proven affinity for the 5.5-furlong distance of The Woodstock. Venus Serena shows victories in both of her last two races at this distance, both in listed company. This filly has been second in a Grade 3 to be graded-placed, and was a hard-luck loser in both of her Grade 1 tries. While she was only fifth and fourth in the two races, she finished in proximity to the winner, losing by two and a quarter last out and two and a half in the first try. She’s never tried Grade 1 at 5.5 furlongs, which may be her wheelhouse if recent races are to be trusted. Her 43 stakes points have earned her a current ranking of No. 24 in the division, but that could make a dramatic change if Venus Serena wins on Saturday. She could jump all the way to No. 2 with a win, provided none of the three fillies in the Top 5 entered here hit the board. Let’s just say 64 stakes points would move her comfortably into the Top Five. This is a big race for both the horse and the All-Stars Racing residency, as it’s a clear opportunity for both stakes points and an Equinics medal. Venus Serena is 14-1 and breaks from post No. 16.

Airbiscuit is a solo performer for the Racing HQ, and will run RAVEN’S OASIS, a 4yo bay daughter of Raven’s Pass. It’s a one-barn outfit, so let’s look for a Woodstock solo act as this filly’s tribute to “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music.” At 1 p.m. Saturday, Country Joe McDonald made his first appearance on the Woodstock stage. He would later perform with The Fish, when he returned to the stage at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. McDonald had formed the band in 1965 and The Fish were built to last, playing together for 40 years and recording 33 albums. McDonald’s best known song was the “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag,” featured prominently in the Woodstock documentary. “Well, it’s one, two, three, what are we fighting for?” McDonald asked in song. “Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn. Next stop is Vietnam.” Raven’s Oasis, due mainly to the fact that there is no Zika virus associated with Equinics, can safely travel to the Simulated Brazil track to try to prolong her elongated streak of very good races. This filly has turned into a veritable winning machine since Oct. 22, when she won the first of seven in a row. Airbiscuit racked up a serious boost to the barn’s win percentage with this dominant filly. Airbiscuit was conservative in placing the white-hot filly, as six of her seven wins were in allowance company. She was just crying out for a chance to run against better, and Airbiscuit gave her that chance last out when he finally saw fit to run her in graded company. She did not disappoint! Raven’s Oasis ran her eyeballs out in the Grade 3 Boon Turf Stakes, emerging from a 3-way battle for the early lead to kick clear at midstretch. She looked like the winner, but in the very late stages, Jrogue’s STIRLING GHOST got up by the slimmest of margins, nosing out Raven’s Oasis in a photo finish. The margin of victory was only .01 lengths as shown on the old viewer. The winner earned a speed figure of 110.675, while Airbiscuit’s filly got 110.651. There’s no such thing as a dead heat in the Sim, and as such, Raven’s Pass had to swallow a very tough defeat. Even though she was narrowly beaten last out, this is a filly who gives her all to keep going back to the winner’s circle. She has the most wins of any runner in the field, with an impressive total of 14. Raven’s Oasis is 12-1 and breaks from post No. 13.

Now doesn’t this make sense? Of course TieDye has a runner for Woodstock! It’s the Pye Man himself with CANDID BULB, a 5yo brown daughter of Candy Ride who parlays a long stretch of dependable performances in listed racing to an apperance in Equinics 2016. The boss of the East-West Connection will try to earn a medal for his team in the Woodstock with a mare that has apparently been named in tribute to both the light-bulb silks of the TieDye operation, but perhaps as well to his, ahem, forthright nature on the message board. The Pye Man is a willing public speaker on subjects which he feels strongly about, so we select Swami Satchidananda as a the Woodstock tribute for Candid Bulb. It was the Swami who gave the opening speech for the festival, which was heard at 7:10 p.m. on Friday. “My beloved Brothers and Sisters,” said the Swami, “I am overwhelmed with joy to see the entire youth of America gathered here in the name of the fine art, music. I fact, through music we can work wonders. Music is the celestial sound, and it is sound that controls the whole universe, not atomic vibrations. Sound energy, sound power is much, much greater than any other power in the world.” It is said that the Swami’s prophetic words shaped the destiny of an entire generation. So there all the hippies sat and listened, wearing their Tie Dyed T-shirts. It was a peak effort by the Swami, and it was a peak effort last out for Candid Bulb, who ran a lifetime-best speed figure of 109 in settling for second. Candid Bulb has run seven straight races in listed company, missing the board only once. She’s been on the ticket in six of seven races, but with only one victory to show for her consistency. Her only stakes win came two back in a Nebraska listed going 6.5 furlongs. In addition to the class question that must accompany a listed horse into Grade 1 company, Candid Bulb also must answer a distance question, as only one of those listed tries was at 5.5 furlongs. Candid Bulb was second at the distance, but three of her last four races were at the longer distance of seven furlongs. She has a pace adjustment to make on the class jump, perhaps a cause for doubt among some handicappers. However, the brothers and sisters at EWC believe in the boss, just as the crowd of 500,000 heeded the words of the Swami those many years ago. They believe he can get it done and earn an Equinics medal for the residency. Candid Bulb is 17-1 and breaks from post No. 17.

Tees will carry the banner of The Elite Racing Club to the Woodstock with RUSHIN, a 4yo bay daughter of High Chapparal, out of Tees’ Grade 1-winning, 15yo Danehill mare, DANECAT AGAIN. Despite her regal bloodlines and stellar on-track career that saw her earn nearly three-quarters of a million, Danecat Again has been a disappointment in the breeding shed. As befitting a Grade 1-winning filly, Tees has bred to her every year since her retirement in 2005. He has not had much luck. Of nine foals, none have reproduced the graded success shown by the mare. Danecat Again has produced only two graded-placed horses. Rushin is one of those. She can be the first graded winner for her mare if she finds her way to the Equinics winner’s circle. However, don’t be surprised when she’s late to the party. This is a deep closer who does not show up until late, kind of like the great Jimi Hendrix, the final performer of Woodstock. Hendrix did not take the stage until 9 a.m. on Sunday, when fewer than 200,000 people remained at the festival. Despite the considerably smaller crowd, Hendrix embarked on an uninterrupted set lasting nearly two hours, one of the longest performances of his career. It concluded with a long medley that included the solo performance of the Star Spangled Banner, which would become emblematic not only of Woodstock, but of the entire 1960s era. Despite her tendency to not show up until late, just like Hendrix, Rushin shows a remarkable record of consistency, hitting the board in 13 of her 15 career starts. Deep closers like Rushin normally are not so consistent. Tees was reminded of that trend last out when Rushin failed to fire in the Grade 2 Winter Sprint. In her only previous graded attempt, Rushin came flying from last of 14 to finish a close-up third in the Grade 2 Coolmore. There are two knocks on this filly: One, that her last race is poor; and two, that the 5.5-furlong distance seems too short for her. Rushin has been taking far, far back in races a quarter mile longer than her Equinics race. She’s going to take far back, maybe even last out of the gate, then will need a blazing final quarter to contend. Didn’t Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire once? She needs to combust like that. Rushin is 11-1 and breaks from post No. 12.

This is a special Equinics for a lot of residencies, but perhaps none more so than the brand-new Eh Team, who will be represented in The Woodstock by the frontrunning KURGANA, a 5yo light gray daughter of Kurofune. This consistent mare sees a big opportunity in the Grade 1 Woodstock. She’s currently ranked outside the Top 100 of the division, but would vault far into it if she can make her speed stick on Saturday. With her affinity for arriving early, she’s like Richie Havens, the very first performer at Woodstock. Havens took the stage at 5:07 p.m. on Friday to get the festival underway. The original plan called for him to play only four songs. But, the audience like Havens, and several of the bands were stuck in traffic. Havens played for nearly two hours, and later joked that he played every song he knew. With the other bands late to the festival, the question became how long Havens could last. Same with Kurgana. She’s going to the front, and hoping everybody else gets stuck in traffic behind her. How long can she stay there? Unlike many of her opponents in here, Kurgana has been racing in these short sprint distances like the 5.5 furlongs they will run on Saturday. She’s currently a little light in the speed figure department, with only two figures in triple digits in her last six races. That’s a knock, but this filly has shown the ability to lead in graded company at distances as short as five furlongs, as she did last out when just failing to last in the Grade 3 Kaz Hayashi Sprint. Kurgana has run very well in that same race two years in a row now. She got caught on the wire in Hong Kong. Only that prevented her from defending her championship from 2015. In addition to her pace edge, Kurgana arrives at the Equinics in her third race back from a long layoff. The third race back off a long layoff is often a huge effort, and that’s what Kurgana is going to need to add a Grade 1 victory to her already impressive resume. They’ll be rooting for her north of the border, that’s for sure, eh. I like this mare’s chances as the first legimate speed horse we’ve seen in the race. Kurgana is 20-1 and breaks from post No. 9. That seems an overlay on the the possible speed of the speed.

Checkmate will represent good, old DelPenn National in The Woostock with PATH OF DARKNESS, a 4yo bay daughter of Lawman. She’s out of Checkmate’s graded-placed 9yo daugter of Gone West, PATH TO GREATNESS. This mare is off to a very good start in the breeding shed, producing stakes winners with her first two foals. She was barren in 2015, but in 2014 produced Path of Darkness, and already has a 2yo with a stakes placing. PATH TO BELLEVUE, a bay son of Savabeel, became stakes-placed in only his second career start. As wily veteran Sim trainers know, rest is the friend of the race horse. You might say a horse that gets rest might get by with the little help of a friend, like Joe Cocker sang on Sunday afternoon, the final day of the festival. Though Cocker had been in the music business for quite a while, he was hardly known before Woodstock. But, after his triumphal success at the festival, the man with the soulful voice became famous everywhere. Especially well received was his cover of the Beatles song, “With a Little Help From My Friends,” which was the second time that song was played at the festival. Richie Havens gave his rendition in the very first performance of the entire festival. Cocker’s backing band was the superb Grease Band, a formation that lasted only two years. Shortly after Cocker’s performance, a heavy thunderstorm washed over the festival, and everything was brought to a stop for several hours. Like the song says, Path of Darkness has gotten by with the help of a nice rest. She owes her appearance here in Equinics 2016 to the patient, shrewd handling befitting a veteran DelPenn trainer. Checkmate rested this filly for a good while, sending her to the farm. She was off from Nov. 29 to March 20, a break of nearly four months. When she came back from her vacation, Path of Darkness was a new horse. She ran three straight good races in listed company, culminating with a victory two back in Turkey in which she earned her career-best speed figure of 114. That number is competitive at any level, but the question becomes whether she can reproduce a special effort like that at 5.5 furlongs, shorter than the seven-furlong distance where she got her big number. In addition to answering a distance question, Path of Darkness will have to turn the tables on both Mama’s Choice and Dancer Meztli, both of whom defeated her last out when she was sixth in the Grade 1 QLD Snowy Sprint. That 114 figure looks good two back, but there are other signals with this filly that are mixed. Path of Darkness has gotten good respect from the morning line oddsmaker at 10-1, and will break from post No. 7.

It only makes sense that our amigos at Hispano Parlante might be dangerous south of the border. They’re speaking Haack’s language in Brazil, host track to the turf racing for Equinics 2016. An accomplished Sim veteran with a powerful 60-barn outfit, Haack will run GENUINE HAACK, a 4yo brown daughter of Distorted Humor. In thinking about a proper Woodstock tribute for this filly, we can ask ourselves, who could be more genuine than the great Jerry Garcia? If ever there was a truth teller, it was Garcia, who took the Woodstock stage with The Grateful Dead at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. While the vibe at Woodstock seemed to have been a perfect match for the Grateful Dead phenomena, their performance at the festival was not their best. They came on late because Owsley Stanley, their soundman and electrical engineer, wanted to fix the electrical ground on stage. Also, their heavy equipment had crushed the turnable stage. Further, rain had flooded the stage and the band members were in danger of electric shocks. After a while, it all ended with an almost everlasting “Turn On Your Lovelight,” after which the band left. Haack is looking for a much better performance out of Genuine Haack. This filly never has missed the exacta in six career starts on the turf. She was good on the main track, winning four of 10 starts, but like the Grateful Dead, she seems to prefer the green stuff. She debuted on the turf early in her 2yo season, on March 5, 2014. She won, then was second in her first vs. winners. Haack switched to the main track, and she moved up speed-figure wise while winning another two races. Most Sim trainers would have a hard time stepping back off a two-race winning streak, but the trainers at Hispano Parlante dance to the beat of a different drummer. (Or, in the case of the Grateful Dead, dance to the beat of two different drummers: Billy Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart.) Unconventional though it may have been, Haack sent a hot 2yo filly to the farm, resting her from August until December. It was a pattern that repeated in her 3yo season, when Haack again gave her a long rest at the same time period. It is clear that Haack had a plan with this filly. He wanted her at her best in the early months of the calendar. The strategy did not succeed completely until her 4yo season, and not without a switch back to turf. When Genuine Haack ran her two worst races of her life, Haack made a surface switch that has worked out brilliantly. In four races on sprinting on the turf as a 4yo, Genuine Haack has exploded, running her first two triple-digit speed figures, followed by her first two 110-plus numbers. She’s won three of four since returning to the turf, and jumps to the Grade 1 level after a win and a runner-up finish in her first two listed stakes. It’s a significant class jump, and she’ll have to handle that while cutting back a furlong from four straight races at 6.5 furlongs, but her rapid improvement makes her look like she fits the part. You always have to respect your opponents from Hispano Parlante and this filly fits that profile. Genuine Haack has drawn on the far outside in post No. 20 and is 16-1.

Pekays will represent Queenland Racecourse in Equinics 2016 with DARCI’S MEDICINE, a 4yo bay daughter of Darci Brahma, a sire from New Zealand. Since the Bee Gees were not invited to Woodstock, and AC/DC did not form until four years after the festival, there was no performer from Australia at the festival. So, we’ll have to concoct another correlation for Darci’s Medicine. Perhaps her name lends itself to a tribute to the medical staff at Woodstock. Concert promoters had hired 43-year-old Dr. William Abbruzzi, a local general practioner, to oversee the emergency medical care at the festival. He was non-judgmental when it came to drug use, which was expected to be widespread. Abruzzi hired 18 physicians, 36 hurses and 27 medical assistants to work in eight-hour shifts over three days. It soon became clear that the number of spectators would be larger than expected. “We have the makings of a medical disaster here,” said one participating physician. Spectators having bad LSD trips were a recurring case. Luckily, the medical staff had help from 85 members of the Hog Farmers, who had been hired by promoters to handle the bad trips. Instead of injecting patients with thorazine, the Hog Farmers talked them down, and reminded them that the LSD would wear off soon. It worked. Only two people died at Woodstock. One was a teenager from New Jersey who was crushed by a tractor while sleeping on the ground. The other was a Marine from New York who overdosed on heroin. The fact that only two people died came as somewhat of a shock. After all, 40 residents of Buffalo died during the same weekend. The populaitons were temporarily the same. For Darci’s Medicine to contend for an Equinics medal, she’ll need a small miracle, too. She’s missed the board in three straight tries in listed company. She needs a turnaround, and big class jumps are rarely the formula to snap a losing streak. This filly has only recently turned cold, and was red-hot for the second half of 2015, when she won five in a row. The fifth and final win of that streak came four back, when Darci’s Medicine won her stakes debut. Everything seemed rosy on that day, but it’s gone sour since. After two surprising finishes off the board at the same class level, Pekays stepped in and sent him filly to the farm. She was off from Feb. 27 to June 5, a healthy break of just over three months. She missed the board again in another listed in her return race, in which she was unsuccessfully stretched out to a mile. One thing we can say is Darci’s Medicine will be a very fresh filly for Equinics. She’s had another two months off since her last race. Darci’s Medicine is 27-1 and will break on the far inside from post No. 1.

Tulloch will fly the colors of MIDAS in Equinics 2016 with OUTBACK PICOLA, a 4yo brown scratch-bred daughter of Sea The Stars. Now, this is the kind of filly we’re looking for in The Woodstock: one with an obvious correlation to a performer at the festival. Outback Picola is the lightliest-raced horse in the race, having been to the post only eight times. Clearly, that means the band Mountain has to be her Woodstock tribute. The band, named for the enormous physical stature of singer and guitarist Leslie West, had only played three gigs before they took the Woodstock stage at 9 p.m. on Saturday. Mountain was heavily influenced by the band Cream. Former Cream collaborator Felix Pappalardi had expressed an interest in producing West. They recorded an album, and soon thereafter, found themselves playing in front of 500,000 people. Mountain was received enthusiastically by the audience, but the band did not appear in the documentary, and they were left off the first volume of the live album, as well. Handicappers will be less likely to overlook Outback Picola, what with all those “1’s” in her past-performance running lines. This filly is fast from the gate, and has led seven of her eight career starts at both the second call and the head of the lane. The only time this filly did not get the lead was three back in her graded stakes debut. For the only time in her life, Outback Picola was headed at the second call. She could not quite get in front of Willyam’s THETRUTHMAYSCAREU, who went on to win that mile race in powerful fashion, earning a 114. Outback Picola faded to sixth, but we can forgive her for that. It was a her graded debut and she ran into a very tough horse. Since then, she’s re-established her strong form in two listed stakes. Outback Picola led until the late stages of both a 7.5-furlong test in New Zealand and a 6.5-furlong race in the United Arab Emirates. She earned big 112 speed figures in both races. That’s the good news. The bad news is she had to settle for third and then second. She’s running very fast races and earns respect off those two big figs, but she’s found herself just short of finishing the job against lesser. She makes her graded debut here in the Grade 1 Woodstock. This race will pose a unique set of challenges to this speedy filly. The first, and most obvious, is the class jump. The second is she may have to prove she can hit the board without being on the lead. This filly is plainly very fast as easily verified by her running lines, but is she as fast as Kurgana? That one has proven herself a speedball against graded going shorter. There’s a likelihood that Kurgan will be in front of Outback Picola at the second call. The last time that happened, Outback Picola missed the board for the only time in her career. She must show a new game in The Woodstock. One who certainly believes in her chances is the oddsmaker at the track in Brazil. He makes her the second choice in the race. There are only two runners with odds in the single digits: this one and the favorite, Dancer Meztli. Outback Picola is 9-1 and breaks from post No. 2

Spinround is far too young to remember Woodstock. She reminded this writer of that fact in chat during our interview for this race. I asked her who her favorite performer was at Woodstock. “Itch,” she reminded me, “that took place 20 years before I was born.” Oops, my bad. I was hoping Spin was going to make it easy on me for this paragraph and pick a band for a tribute. Ever eager to help out her fellow Sim trainers, Spin eventually obliged. “I guess I will pick Jefferson Airplane,” she said. All right! Thanks for the help, sister, and good pick. I have a soft spot for the Airplane because one of their guitarists, the great Jorma Koukonen, lives just up the road from me here in Point Pleasant, W.Va. His Fur Peace Ranch, an academy for aspiring guitar players, is located just north of here on the Ohio side of the river. Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane originally were scheduled as the headliner for Saturday, Day 2 of the festival, but did not take the stage until 8 a.m. on Sunday, the last band to play on Day 2. It had been only a few days after they had played a free concert in New York’s Central Park. Slick called it “morning maniac music.” They were joined by noted British session keyboard player Nicky Hopkins, the former piano player for the Jeff Beck Group. They played until 9:40 in the morning, when Day 2 of the festival finally came to an end. But, that’s enough about those giants of psychedelia from San Francisco. Let’s move on to RAPTO, Spinny’s 4yo bay daughter of New Approach, currently standing in England. She’s a scratch-bred, with Storm Cat in the middle and Alleged in the back. I have referred dozens and dozens of people to Spinround for breeding advice over the years, so it’s intereseting to see who she chooses when she does a scratch-bred. (She has so many blueblood mares to from which to choose!) Many times, Spinround will be looking to develop turf horses with stamina. Some of her best horses have run 10 furlongs and more on the turf. That’s what she was looking for with Rapto, but the filly had different ideas. Spin had a very high opinion of this filly from the beginning, giving her a chance in the Grade 1 Adorable as a 3yo, a race going 12 furlongs, more than double the distance of The Woodstock. In fact, Rapto is stakes-placed going 10.5 furlongs. However, after double-digit defeats during two straight turf routes, Spinround switched gears. In February of this year, she cut all the way back to six furlongs, and it worked. Rapto kicked home to win after being fifth at the head of the stretch. Since then, Rapto has tried three more times at sprint distances. She’s been hit or miss, winning again but also missing the board twice. Now, she takes a jump back into graded racing, which she has not seen since many months ago when she was racing at 10.5 furlongs. Her most recent victory sprinting was at 7.5 furlongs two back, a quarter mile farther than she’ll race on Saturday. Racing the shortest distance of her career, Rapto will represent Empire State Racing, led by Mr. Trotter himself and expected to be a strong contender for the team gold medal in Equinics 2016. Let’s just say a lot of the ESR representatives are qualifying for their Equinics races much farther up the qualifying order than Rapto. “I’m just proud to represent ESR,” the classy Spinround said. “I think she’s got talent and she likes to sprint, but she’s never gone this short before.” Rapto is 16-1 and will break from post No. 8.

I don’t think any of the performers at Woodstock were giving the final performances of their careers. That would have been too obvious a tribute to Kashbarn’s MISS HAP, an appropriately named 4yo daughter of the South-African sire Byword. It’s an appropriate name because it is funny. That was always the goal at Comedy Central, a Sim residency that sought only to have a few laughs to smooth the bumps in the rough-and-tumble journey of a Sim trainer. Win or lose, the crew at Comedy Central tried to take it all with a smile, and none moreso than Roxyken, also known as Kashbarn. In the interest of full disclosure, this is the Equinics team to which your writer belongs. It is Miss Hap who has my rooting interest in The Woodstock. I know what you’re thinking: Good luck with that! While several of the runners in the Grade 1 Woodstock are taking their chances with jumps off uneven efforts in listed company, Kashbarn is doubling down on that handicapping hazard. Miss Hap takes an even bigger jump, from allowance racing to a Grade 1! Simply put, this filly faces an uphill battle both in terms of class and speed figures. The best argument we can make in her favor is her affinity for Saturday’s distance. While Miss Hap struggles going 6.5 furlongs or more, she’s done quite well at the shorter distances of five furlongs and 5.5 furlongs. I know it was only allowance company, but Miss Hap shows four good races in a row at the sprintiest of sprint distances. If she has any hope of competing, she’ll have to lay just off the pace and try to make a move. In searching for a proper Woodstock tribute for the Comedy Central runner, we have to look for something with a little humor in it. That leads us to Sha Na Na, who did not take the stage until near the end of the festival, at 7:30 a.m. on Monday. Only one more act was to follow, the immortal Jimi Hendrix. Replete in their trademark golden jumpsuits, the members of Sha Na Na launched into their doo-wop act to the hoots and howls of the Woodstock crowd, who took Sha Na Na as a novelty act and considered them worthy only of a view guffaws, and not for serious musical appreciation. In 1969, Sha Na Na was anachronistic, focusing on music and outfits from the 1950s. They did not have an album contract by the time they played Woodstock, but they soon got one. They also went on to get far more enthusiastic receptions for their performances than they got at Woodstock. This will be the final Equinics for our residency at Comedy Central, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Squirrel and Roxyken for everything they’ve ever done in this great game. I’d also like to thank CMD, who really wanted a residency of his own and somehow talked Squirrel into helping. Comedy Central opened its doors in July 2008, and been amusing and amazing the Sim ever since. Thanks for all the fun! Good luck to all my fellow CC members in our final Equinics. Miss Hap is 33-1, and will break from post No. 10.

I apologize ahead of time to the trainers of the final six qualifiers for The Woodstock. I’m sorry, but your horses qualified behind the Comedy Central runner. That is like having a slower bobsled than Jamaica.

By the time Creedence Clearwater Revival hit the stage at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, most of the crowd was in need of a rest. “We were ready to rock out and we waited and waited and finally it was our turn. There were half a million people asleep. These people were out. It was sort of like a painting of a Dante scene, just bodies from hell, all intertwined and asleep, covered with mud. And this is the moment I will never forget as long as I live. A quarter mile away in the darkness, on the other edge of this bowl, there was some guy flicking his Bic, and in the night I hear, ‘Don’t worry about it, John. We’re here with you.’ I played the rest of the show for that guy,” said John Fogerty. If you thought Fogerty and his bandmates were eager for their audience to awaken, they have nothing on the friends and family of Liddleski. Here is perhaps the most inspirational story of Equinics 2016. Despite battling brain cancer that put him in a coma for over a month, Liddleski is back playing the Sim. He will represent the British and Nordic Racing Club with DUKE OF HEIGHTS, a 6yo brown daughter of Duke of Marmalade. The fact that Lids is still with us, and still has the wherewithal to relearn the Sim, is the miracle of the Equinics. “I have a tumor on the head is where it all started from,” Lids begins his story. “I was sitting on the sofa eating food, then woke up five weeks later. I never got enough oxygen to my brain, so really my brain overloaded and I passed out. They say I have a mandible tumor and hipoxic brain damage, which means loss of memory. But it will come back bit by bit, but they aren’t 100 sure if it will be permanent. Kim, Dinioh and Lanee have been awesome all the way through it, plus family. I woke up and I didn’t know anybody at all. And sometimes, I still don’t, just what I’ve been told of people and what I’ve read or seen. If people wonder how I can type so much and know so much, it’s because I have people around me 24/7. Like now, Dinoh (Brandon) sits beside me and watches what I do. I could not remember my mother passing away, or my brother getting murdered, or having cancer in my mouth. I didn’t know any of that. I had to learn to shave and eat before I could do anything. The doctors told me this game will do me good in helping me know who I am. But sometimes, I have to hide in chat. I panic. I whisper to Kim all the time so I know what’s happening and who’s who. I boxed for 27 years and always had a fit life, good body, good health, but it comes to nothing now. So now, I’m living the way I want to live. I’ve been self-employed for 22 years, but I couldn’t tell you how to paint a door now, but I will get to where I left off.” Said Liddleski’s friend, chat-room regular Kimugle: “I am here to help, buddy.” One silver lining of Liddleski’s forced time off is the four months of rest it gave all his horses. A lot of them are coming back gangbusters. Among those is Duke of Heights, who’s run twice since her vacation and improved significantly last out. She can be expected to be ready to put forth a prime effort Saturday in her third race back. She’ll need beyond her top effort. She faces a huge challenge on the massive class jump from allowance to Grade 1. Duke of Heights is the longest shot in the field at 45-1, and will break from post No. 19.

The next horse to qualify below the Comedy Central applicant is SPUN AND DONE, a 4yo roan daughter of Hard Spun. This filly has less than five stakes points, but has earned more than $300,000, so we have to take a guess that her best races must have been more than a year ago. She must have once had more stakes points than this to have earned so much. Indeed, Spun And Done is graded placed. She was a late-running second in the Grade 3 Neil Gwnn Stakes in April of her 3yo season. Her racing record has been hit-or-miss since. Three tries against Grade 1 and 2 proved fruitless, and this filly soon found herself falling far down the divisional rankings when April 2016 rolled around. She’s plummeted all the way to No. 1,286, an ignominous ranking for a filly that once hit the board in a Grade 3. Spun and Done can make all that right by hitting the board in the Grade 1 Woodstock. The Equinics represent a huge opportunity for Spun and Done. Selurvinek’s mates at the powerful Minnesota Testbarn Residency did him a huge favor by nominating this filly. Her points are gone, and she no longer can qualify for a Grade 1 on her own merit. She’s a like a former golf champion who’s lost his touring card but is invited to play on a sponsor’s exemption. This is Spun and Done’s last chance at graded points. They don’t run another Equinics for another two years. If Spun and Done is going to return to the graded scene, she’d better hit the board on Saturday. You can bet Selurvinek will be asking her to give it all she’s got, which is worth respecting because this is a very veteran Sim trainer with more than 40,000 starts under his belt. Now, let’s see here. I’ve already used Joe Cocker as the theme for another runner. It was Joe who got by with a little help from his friends, as Selurvinek is doing in the Equinics with Spun and Done. What the heck. Joe was pretty good that day back in 1969. His performance was good enough to be worthy of a double tribute. Spun and Done is 16-1 and will break from post No. 11.

The next filly is only ranked this far down the order is because she is running outside of her best division. Equinics, host Pastures of Green, will be represented here by Mightyforego’s ARYA’S STORM, a 4yo bay daughter of Dansili. We can only guess that Pastures of Green must have a very good runner for the dirt sprint for older fillies and mares. Why don’t we check? A spot of research reveals that it is the great Dixiedotco who will represent Pastures of Green in the Grade 1 Fall of the Berlin Wall, a 6.5-furlong dirt sprint for older fillies and mares. He’ll run INDIAN DEFENSE, a 4yo bay daughter of Smart Strike who’s consistent in repeated listed tries but has missed the board in both of her graded attempts. We have to respect this strategy because it is the one concocted by Pastures of Green. They only invented the Equinics, after all. Since they’re the ones who got it all started, why don’t we pay tribute in their honor to the people who made it happen. Woodstock was initiated through the efforts of Michael Lang, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman and Artie Kornfeld. Roberts and Rosenman financed the project. Lang had some experience as a promoter, having co-organized a small festival on the East Coast the prior year that drew 25,000 people. They wanted something bigger, but had no idea the size of their event until the first day of the festival, when the people came coming and coming, and a massive traffic jam eventually emptied all its captives unto the grounds of Woodstock. In all, they numbered half a million! Organizers planned Woodstock as a profit-making venture, hoping to charge $18 for entrance into the three-day event. It famously became a free concert only after it drew hundreds of thousands more than organizers were prepared to handle. Less than half of the people at Woodstock paid for tickets. The rest got in free. Arya’s Storm does not get into the Woodstock for free. In doing so, she forfeits a chance in what probably would be her better race, on the main track, where she’s risen to No. 36 in the sprint division. She’s got plenty of stakes points to make graded fields on the dirt, having seen a very strong, elongated stretch of sharp form snapped in her Grade 1 debut. This filly has graded class. She also has experience racing on the turf. Before she went on her hot streak on the dirt, Arya’s Storm started the first 12 races of her career on the turf. Her famous trainer was sure she was a turf horse. And why not? She won a Grade 1 on the turf as a 2yo. It’s too bad those stakes points have expired, because Arya’s Storm would qualify a lot farther up the order than she has. We knew there was something up with Pastures of Green running this filly here! She’s got the class and hidden ability on turf. With the unusual distance of 5.5 furlongs, there are a lot of fillies and mares racing outside their element in The Woostock. Arya’s Storm is just a little bit further out of hers, but you got to respect this outfit and his residency. The horse at least has a far better chance than most qualifying this far down the order. Arya’s Storm is 11-1 and will break from post No. 3. The short price is a dead giveaway that this horse has a lot better chance than her placement in the qualifying order would suggest.

Like Arya’s Storm, here is another horse qualifying far down the order that has a far greater chance than its stakes point total would suggest. JEDI PRINCESS, a 4yo chestnut daughter of Speightstown, is another class horse making the switch from the dirt to turf. This scratch-bred racer has 22 points in the dirt sprint division, good for a place just inside the Top 100 at No. 98. But on the turf? Kingscourt’s filly has a lousy 2.75 stakes points. The first clue that this filly must be a lot better than she first appears is the residency she will represent in the Grade 1 Woodstock. This is the entrant for the powerful Universal Racing Club. This historical residency is listed fourth in the lifetime stats of Sim residencies. It’s lifetime win total of nearly 50,000 races is behind only the Minnesota Testbarn Residency, the GR Simsters and Pastures of Green. It’s no wonder that the URC’s Equinics nominee has some class to her. Jedi Princess made the leap into a Grade 2 and a Grade 1 in her last two races. She was fifth in both, surely a disappointment to Kingscourt, but she did finish within two and a quarter lengths of the winner in both races. Two back, she led the Grade 2 Vagabond Handicap to the head of the lane before hanging in deep stretch and fading to fifth. This filly has effective early run in listed dirt sprints, cashing in on two victories there. Now, the question becomes whether she can so that same kind of speed in a 5.5-furlong turf sprint. She’s only started once on the turf, running an even third in a short allowance field way back in May of last year. Like the unknown turf ability of Kingscourt’s filly, Melanie Safka was similarly unknown in the United States before her performance on the opening day of Woodstock. She’s had big hits in both France and Denmark, but had not yet enjoyed similar success selling her records at home. That all changed after she took the Woodstock stage at 10:50 p.m. on Friday. Melanie soon wrote her hit song “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” which apparently arose from the Woodstock audience lighting candles during her set (although most of the candles were actually matches or lighters.) “Lay Down” became Melanie’s first Top 10 hit in America, peaking at No. 6. Can Jedi Princess hit her career peak in the Equinics. She’ll have to handle the surface switch to do so. Jedi Princess is 13-1 and will break from post No. 15.

Fastnfirm will represent the Megalopolis Racing Circuit in Equinics 2016 with STREET VAPING, a 4yo brown daughter of Street Sense. In a sense, this claiming filly represents what Equinics is all about, which is the spirit of competition among residencies and the joy of competing. Fastnfirm has been around a long time, and he knows a filly that was just in for $50,000 is highly unlikely to be able to keep up with an Equinics field, but she can run fast enough to unfurl the banner of the residency. This filly was claimed for that $50,000 tag last out from the old-timey Sim veteran Fabman. So there you go, Fabulous One, you’ve got another runner in the Equinics and you probably don’t even know it. Street Vaping ran pretty well in her last race for Fabman, wiring a 7.5-furlong turf race against a big field of 11. It was her second triple-digit speed figure, and a nice victory. Of course, that’s highly unlikely to translate to Grade 1 success, even a watered-down one like we often see in the Equinics. In reality, Street Vaping in all likelihood is taking one for the team, kind of like Ravi Shankar did on Friday night of the Woodstock festival, when he continued to perform through the rain. In addition to putting up with the rain, Shankar also agreed to appear despite his disdain for drug use, and for being around a partying crowd of young people. In the wake of spiritualism and the search for new influences felt by children of the Sixties, the Indian music genius had become quite popular. He was considered a very special guest for the Woodstock festival to have perform. Street Vaping is 37-1 and will break from post No. 14.

Of the 19 runners who will contest the Grade 1 Woodstock in Equinics 2016, the one who has earned the least amount of money so far is SKY HOME. This 7yo chestnut daughter of Sky Terrace has earned only $127,000 in 19 career starts. Similarly, the band Quill was compensated the least among the 32 musical performers at the Woodstock festival. For appearing as the first act of Day 2, taking the stage at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, Quill was paid a grand total of $350. The band’s lineup included five members, so that meant they got $70 each for appearing at Woodstock. In the week preceding the festival, the members of Quill had been living at the setup crew’s camp at a nearby motel. They provided entertainment for the stage crew, Hog Farmers and festival workers. They were hired by festival promoters to play a series of goodwill concerts at nearby state prisons, mental institutions and halfway houses as a gesture to assuage community concerns about the upcoming festival. It was a strange tour for Quill. They enjoyed it, but there were moments of unpredictability, as members of the animated audiences ranged from the insane to the incarcerated. The old gal Sky Home is probably in as much trouble in this Equinics race. We’d like to root for an old gal like her, but I’m afraid her lifelong habit of earning almost all 90-ish speed figures does in her chances. However, it’s all in the spirit of competition and flying the banner for your residency. That’s what Sledge4 will do here for the Northwest Racing Circuit. Sky Home is 41-1 and will break from post No. 6.

GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY!!!!