THE ASR TOMMY & JIMMY APPRECIATION SERIES (TURF)

 

 

Your Residency Members Salute You

In my many years in the simulated sports horse racing game I have been lucky enough to be a part of some brilliantly lead residencies. While the camaraderie of fellow members and having a group of members who make the residency experience worth your while is pretty important, without a smart, active and loyal management team at the helm, your residency experience may not be what you need to keep your interest in residency life.

 

A few years ago after the closing of a residency I had a long term membership with, I found myself wondering the residency-less wastelands and needed to find a place to set up camp A.S.A.P, as my enjoyment in the sim was waning, mainly because of my multiple under-performing sub-standard stables, but more importantly, the missing friendship and challenges residency life brought with it.

 

My search ended, after some re-formatting of a residency, at the All-Stars Racing Residency, run by two long term sim players in the form of Jacklad and Smokeglack. This management team have the ASR running like a well-oiled machine and it is not by fluke that this machine is running up there with some of the very best residencies in the sim stats wise, consistently week in – week out.

Between Jacklad and Smokeglack, respectively known as Tommy and Jimmy by their loyal followers at the ASR, they have the perfect partnership in keeping the residency afloat, each with their own tasks and influence within the ASR leadership.

Web master Tommy keeps the pages updated, regularly posting stable stats, contest pages, new member lists and anything else he feels fit to add along the way in the way of tools and stats are all done in a timely fashion and are always easy to follow and negotiate. His behind the scenes work goes for beyond what any simmer can expect and the time he spends doing his weekly updates really as appreciated by all at the ASR Residency.

Jimmy is the contests guy, rezzie race planning and purchase guy, the prize breeding guy and the all-round good guy of the team. He dreams up contests or offers variations of contests seen in our many years in the sim and plans and purchases events with consummate ease (or so it seems). He (and Tommy) offers prize pool breedings that would make most people salivate and credits prize offerings are always generous and very worthwhile. In times the message board lulls, Jimmy will always find something to get our juices flowing again, whether it be a trivia contest to a simple pick the number and win a horse contest. He knows how to get the masses active and is always a beacon of support when members post anything about a horse they are successful with or need advice on.

 

I could go on and on, but these guys are so humble, they will probably hate all the hoopla I am churning out here for the public to view, but without Tommy and Jimmy at the helm of the Good Ship ASR, I do not think the residency would be as strong and successful as it has become.

The members at the ASR residency surely are amongst the most spoilt sim players and give thanks to the fore mentioned management team for all their hard work and endeavors to make our residency life such a rich and active experience. As a small token of our appreciation, two races have been set up to acknowledge our thanks and continue our strong and ongoing in-rezzie rivalries and have a little fun along the way in doing so.

The First race in the Appreciation Series will be a Maiden Special Weight event run on the NZ turf track over 8.5 furlongs and is open to any MSW within the residency group. Each residency member was able to enter a runner. Members will also enter a runner in a dirt surface version of this event, being run in Kentucky and a point system will be awarded based on results of each member’s runners in each event.

The Tommy & Jimmy Appreciation Series Turf Event.

 

# 1. STAR BEYOND  michaelb 19/1 – Running out of this groupings master stable, michaelb, is this Star Witness colt  out of a Frankel x Harbinger race mare, World Strike. Although World Strike did not set the track alight in her racing career, winning 4 of 32 race day starts, placing on another 10 times at allowance level, being by Frankel she could very well prove to be a broodmare with a future. Star Witness is a lightly used sire, but in recent years has shown a clear preference to the turf surface and has sired 7 graded winners in the sim. Might be up against it here with some better credentialed horses entering the starting gates, but is definitely in with a runner’s chance and connections will be hoping he can make the oddsmaker eat his hat and upset his rivals in this event.

# 2. ASR’S ROCK antagonist 9/1 – Jacklad pins his hopes on his impeccably bred colt by Fastnet’s Rock x Kris S. x Kingmambo. ASR’s Rock makes his debut in this race and has the lineage and breeding to give the more experienced rivals a fair run for their money. Fastnet’s Rock’s breeding stats show him to be an out and out turf producing sire and has been successful when placed with mares with a Kris S. lineage in the sim on several occasions. Tommy is a lineage guru and would have put this breeding together knowing exactly what he was hoping for in the way of surface and distance. But being a debutante ASR’s Rock might just want to be a dirt sprinter … trainer will know a whole lot more after this event. If he lives up to his breeding, he will not be disgraced in this appreciation event.

# 3. FRANKEL D’ORO  asrstar 8/1 – Another ASR event and another gorgeously bred entrant from the Selurnivek conglomerate. Frankel D’Oro is a Medaglia D’oro  sired colt out of a G2 winning race mare Bobbysgoneoutwest (Frankel x Gone West), who won the G2 Prancing Ferry Stakes as a 3yo and the G2 The Sangster as a 4yo. She was also placed multiple times at the highest level. Her first offspring, Giant Bobby is a three race winner and is GI placed as a 3yo, so things looking quite favourable for Frankel D’Oro’s debut. If we want to hunt negatives, we could mention Medaglia D’Oro’s breeding stats pointing towards a preference to the dirt surface, yet still does boast the odd turf performer scattered through her breedings. We could push for negatives all we want, but Selurnivek gets a fair share of sim success and can turn stats on their ear at will. If anyone can get a turfer out of a supposed dirter … it is this guy! Another debutante who will give his trainer a better guide to his future from this race.

# 4. OG DUBAWI WELLS baffy0 7/1 – Bbaffert always plays a strong hand in ASR sponsored events and enters a debuting Dubawi x Sadler’s Wells x Mr. Prospector colt in the latest ASR event. Dubawi’s sire stats point to a favoritism to the turf surface and the backend of this breeding is very strong, so Baffie will be feeling pretty confident of his noble steed’s chances in this race. Another debutante who will answer a few questions for his trainer after this event, but Baff usually does well in ASR races, so OG Dubawi Wells could bring the goods come race time. Morning odds have him as a equal favourite offering 7/1.

# 5. BLITZ ARD  tees3 8/1 – Tees returns from a hiatus from the ASR residency and ensures his re-entry to ASR competition scene is going to be a return to remember by entering a beautifully bred Dubawi sired colt, Blitz Ard, out of a multiple graded stakes placed and stakes winning Montjeu x Kingmambo mare, Snow In Summer. This mare has already produced a grade 3 winning colt and Tees will be looking for a solid debut effort from this year’s offspring. Dubawi boasts strong turf/route stats in the sim and has been successful when bred into the Montjeu line. Tees will be out to show is stables strength on his return to the ASR group and winning ASR events got a little tougher with his recent return. Let’s see if he can make his mark from the get go!

# 6. REDOUTE’S PASS  bevronii 22/1 – Crandy sends a debutante to race for the spoils in the event and hopes his Raven’s Pass sired colt can upset the oddsmaker and rain on the more favoured runner’s parade. Redoute’s Pass is out of a well-bred, yet under performing race mare, Cozy Corner ( Redoute’s Choice x Giant’s Causeway) and he is the third offspring from the mare. Neither of this mare’s previous offspring set the simulated track alight, but Crandy will be hoping for the good old “Third Time’s a Charm” proverb to ring true here. The breeding screams turfer and should not find the 8.5 furlongs beyond him so may be more than just a “runner’s chance” in this race.

# 7. WROTE OFF Sedgewick 12/1 – Kingdamo is a newcomer to the ASR residency and hopes to get off to a winning start against his new rezzie rivals with this debuting Written Tycoon 2yo filly named Wrote Off. The filly is out of a tidily bred A.P Indy x Danehill Dancer race mare, A.J.P, a mare that never really lived up to potential on the race track, but did win 5 races at allowance level or lower. Two previous offspring have run handily enough to give Damo hopes of a decent effort in his ASR race debut, but the ASR is a hardened bunch of trainers and debuts can be an eye opener for new members … the romantics among us will be hoping Damo and his representative Wrote Off can prove he is going to be a very worth adversary at the ASR.

# 8. INVINCIBLE PIMPLE rickybobbylcl 7/1  –  Rickybobby lines up a solid Invincible Spirit  2yo filly to fly his stable flag in this race and comes into this event on the back of a solid debut in an earlier run ASR sponsored event. Invincible Pimple produced a more than handy debut when finishing a sound 2^nd placing in the ASR Sept Baby Turf event back in the second weekend of September. Sitting mid-pack for the opening half of the event, she steadily made ground on the pacemaker and eventual winner, Hunt’s Redemption, closing to within 1-1/4 lengths at the wining post. No other runner in the field made any ground on the winner that day, so the effort was all the more impressive by the filly and in posting an SP# of 89 that day, everything points to another solid effort in another ASR event.

# 9. PIVOTAL RANDOM fager 16/1 – Running for the Smokeglack conglomerate is Pivotal Random, a Pivotal sired colt out of Simulated Dancer, a 5 time race winning mare. He lines up here for start number 2 and based on his solid debut effort, this colt looks a very solid chance indeed. Making his race day debut in early September, Pivotal Random ran a very tidy 2 length 4^th of 11 on the turf over 8 furlongs, producing an SP# of  74 in the doing so. Racing handy just in behind the pace, he ground on solidly closing from 5–1/4 lengths off the leader at the 4 furlong mark, to finish just off the winning trio. This was a very handy debut, stepping out over the mile first time out, can sometimes find many 2yo’s out, but Jimmy’s Pivotal Random proved he is going to be a turf router to be reckoned with on the simulated track and will be one of the top chances in this race. Mum was a solid type at allowance level and has produced a couple of graded or stakes winning offspring, only adding to Pivotal Random’s credentials. Oddsmaker has offered a juicy 16/1 for the win!

#10. TRIOMPHE DE ARC hawkk8 9/1 – Hawkz brings his impeccably bred Frankel x Dynaformer x Sea The Stars colt is his bid to “Triomphe”  in this Appreciation Event. Breeder being asr15 suggests this colt may have been a prize pool offering from a previous ASR challenge and backs up what these Appreciation events were showing appreciation for, with this sort of offering all too common in the Tommy/Jimmy stocked prize pools. Triomphe De Arc made his debut in yet another ASR sponsored event and showed he was destined for bigger – better things with a solid 1-1/4 length 3^rd of 13 in round 2 of the ASR Ryder Cup Challenge. Having gone toe to toe in a six way battle to control the pace he stuck on solidly as 4 of his pacemaking rivals dropped away after the punishing efforts, although not challenging for victory he only lost 2^nd place right on the line by a late swooper, he posted an SP# of 78. Lineage says this horse is going to be a force to be reckoned with and looks like he will improve with the extra distance and if he chooses to dictate the pace, hopefully he won’t have 5 others Hell bent on doing the same.

#11. PERFECTLY NEW simroscoe5 22/1 – Yours truly throws his hopes onto the shoulders of his New Approach x Forty Niner x Pleasantly Perfect colt, Perfectly New. Lines up for start number four in this event and if nothing else, has race experience on his side. After having 2 starts on the dirt surface, resulting in a debuting 2-3/4 length 6^th of 14 over 5.5 furlongs closing handily from a rearward position and followed that effort up with a rather ordinary 5-1/4 length 5^th of 8 in a 7 furlong race, with SP#’s of 67 and then 70. Queue the surface switch and the pleasing turn of fortune for Rharfo’s humble steed where he revelled on the turf surface coming from behind mid-field in the field of 10 to finish just a quarter length off the race winner and scoring an SP# of 79 in the process. Extra distance looks favourable for Perfectly New and on the last start effort is sure to have a decent showing.

#12. STAR OF THE SKIES consorrow2 17/1 – Tops pins his hopes in this race on his Adlerflug filly Star Of The Skies. Having race start number 3 in this event, this filly out of a stakes winning Sea The Stars x Giant’s Causeway mare certainly has a lot in the way of breeding on her side and her lineage and past runs suggest she will enjoy the 8.5f this race offers. Last time out she seen closing steadily from mid field on a rain effected turf surface over 7f. and ground on solidly, closing on the leaders up the stretch holding third place until eventual winner swamped the leading three runners in the shadows of the post, she posted an SP# of 76 in finishing 4th . Her maiden debut was in a sprint over 4.5f where again, she stalked the lead in the middle of the pack and forged on steadily for her ¼ length runner up effort with a solid SP# of 70 for her efforts. The extra distance might be enough to bring her right into contention in this race and Tops looks to have a live chance entered despite the generous 17/1 odds offered.

#13. CLASSIC GAMBLE asrmarto 37/1 – Marto sends this Redoute’s Choice 2yo filly into the fray and is hoping the obvious liking for grass is enough for the daughter of a Dylan Thomas x Marscay mare to provide him with the winner’s wreath. Although well and truly beaten in her race debut, an ASR sponsored 6.5 furlong event, where she dropped away to finish a 9-1/2 length last of 16, she has returned to the track twice since and has finished a half length 2^nd of 10 in a 4.5f event and then a tidy 1-1/2 length 3^rd of 13 over 5.5 furlongs last time out. Start number 2 was a tidy run coming from behind mid field in a compact race to score an SP# of 68 for 2^nd and then in early September, again came from a rearward position, closing well in the stretch producing an SP# of 72 for his 3^rd placing. Take the debut effort out of Classic Gamble’s form line and she looks more than capable of challenging her rivals … if she finds the added distance to her liking, which I think she will, and her previous runs on the turf, she could provide the boilover ASR races are famous for.

#14. HIGHLAND EMPIRE ddclaims3 27/1 – Desertdog sends his Highland Reel sired colt into the fold and again hopes he can upset the form book and steal another ASR success. This will be Highland Empire’s 4^th start and on his previous 3 runs, he looks as though he will certainly like the 8.5 furlongs this event offers. Out of a stakes winning Empire Maker x Montjeu broodmare, he made his debut in the Galileo sired leg of the ASR Sons Of Series where he finished strongly for 2-1/4 length 3^rd of 13 in the 6 furlong event with an SP# of 70 and qualifying for December’s stakes final in the process. Although not setting the world alight with his following subsequent starts, where he firstly finished a 6 length 8^th of 12 over 6.5 furlongs with an SP# of 66 and last time out got to within 6-1/4 lengths of the winner to finish 5^th of 14 when racing over 7.5 furlongs sporting an SP# of 74 in doing so, I don’t think we can right him off as a winning chance. I am sure DD would have been expecting a bit more from this colt after is tidy debut effort and the extra furlong might be enough to prove this colt will not be a maiden for much longer now he is getting up in distance.

#15. GLACIAL WAR scorehobby9 10/1 – Hobby will be hoping the change from dirt to turf can work the oracle for his War Front colt. Out of a stakes winning mare, Glacial Speed (Deep Impact x Unbridled) Glacial War lines up the third time here with previous runs resulting in a 2-1/4 length 4^th of 11 over 5.5f on debut running close to the pace throughout and posting an SP# of 74 and then last time out he closed in on the pace making victor finishing just a half length behind in 2^nd place after racing handy throughout the 7 furlong event and boasted an SP# of 83.  His mum was handy over comparable distances and did taste success on the turf surface and in recent times War Front has been throwing a few more turf loving offspring so the surface switch might not be as big of a gamble as it may seem. Hobby knows how to get horses to win with his stables boasting a 25%+ winning percentage and will not die wondering. This colts future racing could well be set pending his efforts in this appreciation event.

#16. HONING KNIVES crimeboss1 5/1 – Broohar brings one of the several debutants entered and his Dansili x Kris S x Mr Prospector colt has the breeding behind him to be worthy of more than a cursory glance when casting an eye over this field. Dansili’s stats show him to be a very solid turf producing sire so Honing Knives gets a great chance on breeding alone to get him up fighting for the lion’s share of the winning purse. But as we all know, the sim is noted for throwing the odd twist and the old box of chocolates analogy for first time runners stays strong and until the race is run, you just never know what you are going to get from your debutant. Broo will be hoping his colt can live up to those impressive turf stats of is sire and get the spoils in this ASR event.

 

So there we have the field of 16 in the ASR’s Tommy & Jimmy Appreciation Turf Event. A rather open field and each runner has a chance at residency glory. Each trainers’ two runner’s placings from the turf and dirt will be added together to find the ultimate series winner so, 5th in this turf event and a 4th in the dirt event will give them a total of 9 points. The residency member with the lowest overall score will pick up the contest spoils. Tie breakers will be from adding the speed ratings with the highest combined number getting the decision.

Having so many debuting runners it is hard to tip out with any real confidence and the odds offered always seem to throw a mighty spanner in the works when you try to dissect each runners chances. I usually prefer to go with those runners with a run or two under their belt and for this reason I find it hard to go past Hawkz’ Triomphe De Arc. with experience and impeccable breeding, he looks very tough to topple. Rickbobby’s Invincible Pimple will give the fore mentioned colt a very good run for his money, great debut effort and well bred – looks very well placed here. To fill out the top three, I will toss in Jimmy’s Pivotal Random offering odds of 16/1, thinking he will build on his very good debut effort.