Newcomer to Challenge in OLD MAN Series!
The Old Man of the Mountains Series II – Race 6
A mile and three quarters on Fast Dirt
$50,000
All horses, 8 years old and up, Non-Winners of ONE within the last 9 months
If you don’t know about this great series, it started last year with Sunnybank hating to see the end of MEAT LOAF LOOP’s career come about too quickly so he set up a ten race series where “MEATY” would host the races with his conditions and any fellow old codgers could join in the fun and gather points during the series for scoring first through third in the races. The twist to this series is that if you win, you have to wait for the Host to win too or you won’t qualify for subsequent races until he does. It proved to be great fun last year and went down to the wire with the final race deciding the winner of the series. This year our host will be trainer LilBitFarms and his grand old horse, T. LOCK who has had a nice long career and is ready for one last hurrah.
Thanks for joining us at the Pastures of Green here in Vermont, for a wonderful and truly fun series. This week we are running an eight year old NW of ONE in NINE months. We have some first timers and a few guests that are returning after having taken a few races off. You always have to wonder if at this age, they just forgot to come back out in previous races!. It is always a fun series and a great opportunity for some of our elder statesmen.
Here are the leader boards for the top and bottom of the barrel:
- The Leader Standings in the series:
- BEER RUN (Greenirish) 10 Points
- HELPER BOP(TBTA) 9 Points
- THE COWS MOO (Eml1) 7 Points
- IRON GOLEM (Novajoe) 6 Points
- SILVERISH ECHO (Larbare) 6 Points
- MOULIN ROUGE (Hakim) 6 Points
- T. LOCK (LilBitFarm) 3 Points
- NIJINSKY LOVE GOLF (Titliest) 1 Point
- LORD ROTTEN (DCRanger) 1 Point
- PRESTO(GB) (ErnieMan) 1 Point
- Sun Dial Standings in the series:
- BELL COGNAC (Cabin) 21 Points
- LYNCHBURG LEMONADE (Ravin) 12 Points
- THEIR FIGHT (DarkFaerie) 6 Points
- A. CONTENDER (WindHmHill) 3 Points
- T. LOCK (LilBitFarm) 3 Points
- LORD ROTTEN (DCRanger) 1 Point
- AARON PINE (JFisher5) 1 Point
- SECOND STRIKE (NoraNadia) 1 Point
- CATS MY BOY (Prufrockja) 1 Point
- LOUD DIGGER (WV) 1 Point
No disrespect meant to these truly respected veterans but I’ve tried to write this preview with a bent toward having some fun with this series. I hope that you enjoy it and accept it with that in mind. We’ve got a nicely matched field of old codgers so let’s take a look before one of them expires!:
This old gal was the recipient of much controversy after the last race where for the second time she was accused of backing down in the home stretch to allow someone to pass her and keep her in the series. She is now the only horse left in the series with a chance to win unless our host can win a race and allow some of them back into the fray. Owner EML1 is a master in this series and should have this Grand Dame ready to come in somewhere lower than first!1 – THE COW’S MOO ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 5/1 EML1 8 YRS 36 4 90.57 14 Back $166,508
Here is an old magician with thirteen total wins and yet when he came up against these fine ancient specimens in Race 4 of the OMOTM series he could only muster an eighth place. Perhaps he was tired out from listening to all of the wonderful stories that these guys and gals spin in the paddock the night before the race. Let’s face it, collectively they have more history than the Chinese Dynasties! He may want to make a little history himself here.2 – PRESTO(GB) ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED AVG SPEED EARNINGS 10/1 ErnieMan 8 YRS 54 13 96.67 14 Back $245,790
There are rumors that this old guy was actually racing dinosaurs back when Elvis made his name popular in lyrics and rhyme. Perhaps trainer Miressa, whose name sounds a bit lyrical itself can get this horse to go a bit “Postal” and that way his chances to win would increase tremendously.3 – RETURN TO SENDER ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 14/1 Miressa 8 YRS 40 5 103.67 17 Back $59,971 2 – CHARISMATIC DANCE(GB) ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 82/1 Pagasus 10 YRS 93 8 98.89 39 Back $93,795
After winning the coveted Sundial award in the first OMOTM series, this ten year old can’t seem to get slow enough against these anchor draggers. Trainer Pagasus has tried everything he knows to move him either forward or back in the races but it seems that his horse is stuck in the rocking chair, going back and forth but finishing in the middle. With only seven races to go before that magic 100 races, he had better hurry.5 – DOUBLE DANZIG ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 12/1 FritzTown 8 YRS 38 5 92.59 9 Back $104,722
A recent claim for trainer FritzTown, this is a perfect spot for the old guy. He would love being able to retire to the old horses home and tell the ladies about his thrilling win in the OMOTM series. If he can stay awake here he certainly has a chance. Of course his memory will have to hold up to being able to remember the story, a common problem among this set.
After just missing in the third race of this series with a fourth place finish, this veteran let the next two races completely slip his mind. That happens sometimes at this age. He was actually looking pretty good in that race before he got his walker caught up in another racer at the top of the stretch. That happens at this age too! Trainer LGBost6 will try to keep him alert and out of trouble this time.6 – SAL’S GIFT ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 5/1 LGBost6 8 YRS 68 7 111.15 10 Back $216,067
Our Host has looked good in his last two OMOTM outings with a fourth and a second. Some of the leaders who are on the outside looking in and waiting for a change in the restrictions would love to see him improve on that and pull out a win again. It could happen here although trainer LilBitFarm is a little bit upset with the Morning Line outlook for this race. His horse would love to prove him right.7 – T. LOCK ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 10/1 LilBitFarm 8 YRS 73 19 106.48 11 Back $ 354,811
This old gal is certainly an enigma. She was a slow starter in that she only ran three races in her first four years of racing. This will be her very first race longer than an mile and a quarter. Top it off with the fact that she’s never run faster than an 81 SPF since her maiden and you have to wonder what she can possibly do here. She is an old and good looking mare and that about qualifies her for this series. She hasn’t won a race in over two years and that was a maiden claimer so I don’t think you will see her at the top of my tip sheet!8 – DOOR SALLY ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 50/1 ABCD 8 YRS 28 1 87.13 25 Back $28,512
Here is our twelve year old maiden in the race. Not only has he never won a race, he has never finished second either. The morning line picks this old guy as the 99/1 favorite for last but he continues to finish no lower than next to last even with sub 40 SPFs. What’s a trainer to do? DarkFaerie has tried everything short of tying an anchor on this horse but he still can’t get that big win for the Sundial Award. He is certainly in the running though and is a fun horse in this series.9 – THEIR FIGHT ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 99/1 DarkFaerie 12 YRS 33 0 69.66 NEVER! $4,247
Here is another returnee to our series. He ran in the second and third race of this installment and it tired him out so much that he only ran one race in nearly three months. That ought to leave him rested enough to join this crew as they look like they are sprinting to the Saturday Night special at the Buffet Line at the old folks home. He actually has points in the Sundial Series but I think that was more a product of arthritis as opposed to just being old and slow. We will see!10 – LOUD DIGGER ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 38/1 WV 8 YRS 79 16 104.85 18 Back $182,370
Wow, who let this young looking ten year old in this race? He and his “throw in your face” high ninety SPFs look to be a one and done in the OMOTM series as he is a fairly heavy favorite to lead the charge down the stretch. Unless a couple of the veteran ladies in the race can flirt him up and get him off of his game he should easily win the race. Besides that, the rumor is that THE COW’s MOO is going to push him across the line to make sure that she stays eligible anyway!11 – SOUTH SIDE BENTLEY ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 5/2 WestSider 10 YRS 37 8 104.38 2 Back $145,592 12 – PINEWOOD ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 6/1 KittyCats 8 YRS 44 5 109.86 12 Back $108,118
This aged veteran was throwing around stories of 100 plus SPFs and a time when he ran to three straight wins. Of course that was way back in “Oh-Four” and the closest he’s been to 100 lately is the 100 proof Kentucky Bourbon that KittyCats puts in his feed to ward off the pains of arthritis. He is returning to the series after a near miss of the board in race three. If he can stay upright and stagger around the track he has a chance of finishing on that board this time.
This old golf pro finally hit the board after previous near misses in earlier OMOTM series races. He would still rather be racing the golf carts on the course instead of these old cart pullers but trainer Titleist knows that he is as close to being a points owner as a three foot putt. Of course if you’ve ever stood over a three foot putt that counted for something, you know just how tough that can be. Here’s to seeing “Nijinsky” put it in the bottom of the cup!13 – NIJINSKY LOVESGOLF ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 7/1 Titleist 8 YRS 62 6 106.78 17 Back $262,425
It must have been those bean burritos that helped propel this perennial anchor around the track in the last race in the series. After finishing last or next to last in the previous four races, he moved up all the way to seventh last time out. Trainer Cabin who thought his horse had the Sundial award locked up has to wonder what got into the old guy. There have been lots of extra oats and lots of loafing around in hopes that the “Bell” can get back to the back once again in this race.14 – BELL COGNAC ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 56/1 Cabin 8 YRS 61 9 111.14 18 Back $177,722 Morning Line = 11-1-6-12-13
Paz Picks = 11-1-6-13-12
In this series it is almost as important to pick the last place as the first. I am choosing BELL COGNAC to back on his game and finish as the caboose as he was consistently and amazingly slow in the first few races. He should be challenged by THEIR FIGHT and possibly by DOOR SALLY a newcomer to the series. I always like to mention our host, and T. LOCK has been running well. It would be great to see him hit the winner’s cirle again and there is a possibility of a high finish here. I like SAL’S GIFT to gain series points in his first Series race with a third. I’m going to take THE COW’S MOO to once again tip toe down the stretch and push a horse ahead of her across the finish line so she can stay in the series. I believe that the beneficiary of that pushing will be SOUTH SIDE BENTLEY who looks a lot younger than the rest of these Senior Citizens.
Good luck to all runners!
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