How Long is TOO Much Layoff?
The Old Man of the Mountains Series II – Race 7
A mile and three quarters on Fast Dirt
$50,000
All horses, 8 years old and up, Non-Winners of ONE within the last year
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 within the past YEAR. That is a new restriction this race as our host has gone another three months without a win. It is a good matter of practice in this sport to give your horse a layoff every once in a while to clear his head and get him fit. I think we may have a few horses in this race that have taken that idea to the extreme! Read on to see what I mean. 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
- PRESTO(GB) (ErnieMan) 7 Points
- IRON GOLEM (Novajoe) 6 Points
- SILVERISH ECHO (Larbare) 6 Points
- MOULIN ROUGE (Hakim) 6 Points
- NIJINSKY LOVE GOLF (Titliest) 4 Points
- T. LOCK (LilBitFarm) 3 Points
- LORD ROTTEN (DCRanger) 1 Point
- PINEWOOD (KittyKats) 1 Point
- Sun Dial Standings in the series:
- BELL COGNAC (Cabin) 24 Points
- LYNCHBURG LEMONADE (Ravin) 12 Points
- THEIR FIGHT (DarkFaerie) 7 Points
- DOOR SALLY (ABCD) 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 is my favorite 12 year old maiden in the game. Of course those are a very rare breed! Trainer DarkFaerie has a true one of a kind horse here and an A.P.Indy offspring to boot. As usual, he should be contending for that final spot in the race, he likes watching from the rear as he gets a better view of the entire field that way in case he ever decides to put on a late rush. That is not likely but you just never know, you need to be patient with these things when you are this horse.1 – THEIR FIGHT ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 99/1 DarkFaerie 12 YRS 34 0 69.66 NEVER! $4,247
When you are a thirteen time winner you deserve to get a little layoff every now and then. Of course a FOURTEEN MONTH layoff may seem a bit excessive even for a twelve year old. PTribett5 has a new stable and has decided that the old codger deserves to show what he can do a few more times. Way back when he was a fine dirt runner and it would be nice to see the fire in those eyes once again so that he has a few new stories to share with the mares back at the old horses home. He may have a chance here.2 – BANANA THE STICKS(GB) ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED AVG SPEED EARNINGS 54/1 PTribett5 12 YRS 82 13 113.04 14 Back $363,006
He may be a loud digger but he’s been pretty quiet in this series. When you have awards for the frontrunners and the rear runners you would think you have a chance but this old guy just seems to sit in the rocking chair in the middle and watch the others battle it out for both ends of the race. Trainer WV has to wonder whether it is better to push him a little or hold him back to count somewhere in this series. It’s more like a walk in the park for this horse.3 – LOUD DIGGER ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 17/1 WV 8 YRS 80 16 104.85 19 Back $182,370
Welcome back to this Southern Gentleman who seems to only run the odd races in the series and is STILL is second in the Sundial Standings. I guess that trainer Ravin feels that you have to rest up just as much to finish last as you do to finish first. This nine year old hasn’t seen the winners circle for a couple of dozen races but should see the tail end of a lot of horses in this race. He is certainly one of the favorites to man the caboose after finishing dead last in his other two OMOTM series races.11 – LYNCHBURG LEMONADE ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 24/1 Ravin 9 YRS 61 5 102.53 22 Back $73,868
This old vet came in as the odds on favorite last race and finished closer to the rear than the front. He seemed to be amazed at the way some of these old plow horses would meander around the track sharing stories about the good old days during the race. Trainer WestSider wasn’t too happy with that effort and has tried to impress on his horse that this is a race and not a sewing circle down at the Senior Citizens Center. Hopefully he won’t be so starry eyed this time around.5 – SOUTH SIDE BENTLEY ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 2/1 WestSider 10 YRS 38 8 104.38 3 Back $145,592
”Holy Pulpit, Batman we’ve got and eight year old averaging just a little over a race a year here!” Actually, before his “tune up” race last time out, he had taken a short layoff of THREE YEARS! He sure shouldn’t be tired for this race! Trainer SimStar seems to have found this training method to his liking as most of the horses in his stable are averaging about the same. The old guy had run mostly sprint races before his layoff so I hope he can get all the way around this marathon track.6 – HOLY PULPIT ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 15/1 SimStar 8 YRS 13 1 85.19 8 Back $ 26,171
I’d like to know who woke this old golfer up and told him he could contend in this series. Trainer Titliest must have found a fountain of youth somewhere for this guy. In his past three races in the OMOTM Series, he has finished fourth, third and then second. The natural progression would be to find a win here but you know how it is on the golf course, just when you think you have it, you make a double bogey or a Snowman or something and ruin the whole round. Hopefully that won’t happen to this ancient hacker.7 – NIJINSKY LOVESGOLF ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 3/1 Titleist 8 YRS 63 6 106.78 18 Back $ 278,925
Our Host has really been coming on of late and is starting to look like his former self. Three top fours in his last three and he looks like he is ready to get back to the winners circle for the first time in a dozen races. Trainer LilBitFarm would love to see that and it would certainly throw a monkey wrench in the hopes of some of the hangers on in this series if the big boys who have already won would be allowed back in the series. That would certainly make for an interesting couple of final races with all of the leaders back in it. I’m rooting for “Lockie”.8 – T. LOCK ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 9/2 LilBitFarm 8 YRS 74 19 106.48 12 Back $ 357,311
Okay so the rumors are true…they almost had to push this race back a week so that this mare could finish the last race before it started. She had an amazing 5 SPF in the last race and I though my viewer had actually hung up while I was waiting for her to cross the finish line. With that kind of slug like speed she is a definite contender for the Sun Dial award at any time for trainer ABCD. It would be hard to run any slower than she did last time out, I even heard that they checked her for a pulse twice down the stretch!9 – DOOR SALLY ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 57/1 ABCD 8 YRS 29 1 87.13 26 Back $28,512 10 – CHARISMATIC DANCE(GB) ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 45/1 Pagasus 10 YRS 94 8 98.89 40 Back $93,795
Six more races before the magic 100 figure for this old dancer. I wish he could somehow do it during the Old Man Series so that we could celebrate it but alas it appears that it will be after this series has ended unless we have a Part Three to the series. He has mostly been taking long walks around the track for trainer Pagusus finishing somewhere in the middle and just generally enjoying himself. That is actually the way it should probably be when you reach this age. Enjoy yourself you old Dancer!
Now here is a frustrated horse along with trainer Cabin. They both felt that this old chestnut horse had the SunDial award wrapped up after three last place finishes in the series but these owners keep throwing slower and slower horses at him and they have cut substantially into his lead in that department. You would think that a 31 SPF in the last race would easily qualify for the anchor position in the fray but that was way ahead of Door Sally who is entered here as well. What do they have up their collective sleeves to get back to the end? Stay tuned.11 – BELL COGNAC ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 54/1 Cabin 8 YRS 62 9 111.14 19 Back $177,722 12 – PHAT OATMEAL ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 6/1 PTribett4 9 YRS 30 2 91.78 14 Back $ 47,880
Here is another “experienced” vet that is testing that long layoff idea. He is just short of two years of blissful running around the pasture chasing the young fillies and has decided to come back to the grind of the track. What happened here, did the retirement money run out? Was it harder to live on Social Security than he thought? Perhaps trainer PTribett4 just got tired of paying the feed bills and decided it was time to get back to work. We will see if he got Fat on all of that Oatmeal or if he still has plenty left in the tank after the mini-retirement.
Last but certainly not least is this old gal who has received much of the press in this series. Until the last race, she had been getting points in most of the races in the series but was being careful not to finish first and get knocked out. Trainer EML1 has devised a strategic plan that actually shows her winning points in each and every odd numbered race in the OMOTM series. Guess what folks? This is an odd numbered race so she should finish somewhere between 2nd and 3rd!13 – THE COW’S MOO ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WIN EARNINGS 7/2 EML1 8 YRS 37 4 90.57 15 Back $166,508 Morning Line = 5-7-13-8
Paz Picks = 7-13-8-5
In this series it is almost as important to pick the last place as the first. I am choosing DOOR SALLY to replicate her last race and finish as the caboose. I can’t believe she can throw another 5 SPF but I’d sure like to see it! Next I have to go with BELL COGNAC who has too much to lose if he doesn’t lose. Does that make sense? Then there is always our 12 year old maiden THEIR FIGHT who should always be near the back where he is comfortable. I like SOUTH SIDE BENTLEY to bounce back a bit and may make the board but I am placing him fourth on my card. 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 circle again and there is a possibility of a high finish here. I think he will hit the board in third. I’m going to take THE COW’S MOO who has perfected the near win so that she can collect points but she can still stay in the series. I think that by the beginning of the week NIJINSKY LOVESGOLF will back on the course because he will no longer be eligible here after his win on Saturday.
Good luck to all runners!
Email your comments to pazjazz.btb@gmail.comI love to hear from you!
