When Lambs Become Lions.
You’ve spent hours, days, and weeks planning breedings for the 2008 season. You were sure you had that perfect mix of power and speed with the horses you bred. You anxiously waited for two year old racing to begin. You counted the days until when one of your new jewels would run. You were sure at least one runner would run a breathtaking six furlongs, and obliterate the field. You were ready, and race day came. You anxiously waited for the races to be posted. You fidgeted threw race after race as each of your horses fell one by one. Race after race your horses succumbed to the competition. The utter failures made you want to go hurtle all your misery into the toilet bowl, but just then you remember a wise man once told you too be patient.
Before you start to sell off all those youngsters in the auction take a look at these uninspiring debuts:
BIGREDWANABEE (6485) VISION AND VERSE x TWO PUNCH x SECRETARIAT: This five year old debuted with a speed figure of 61 and finished 10th in it’s first ever race as a two year old. Bigred now has $227,195 in career earnings, and 3 stakes wins. Now that is a turnaround!
Rexton (34256) MISWAKI X NUREYE X BERING: Rexton has earned over 460k in 46 lifetime starts. Rexton’s start wasn’t all glory. Rexton debuted with a 70 speed and an eight place finish, then was switched to turf and finished 4th with a 68. After switching back to dirt Rexton finished 3rd with a 71 and went on to win several high profile races as a four year old after two years of being a mere solid allowance sprinter.
SOLAR SONG (84460) DEPUTY MINISTER X NUREYEV X BOLD RULER: Solar Song is arguably one of the greatest race horses of the sim with over 14 million in earnings. Solar Song has won back to back Eclipse horse of the year awards, but in his first race ran a meager 60 speed figure finishing 5th in a field of only five. The August debut wasn’t much but after switching to dirt it was all history!
TOTAL CHAOS (10307) RAHY X CARO X PRINCE JOHN: Total Chaos finished dead last in a field of eight with a 59 in a debut that was run on what later would be recognized as his preferred surface. The race would be the last time Total Chaos would ever finish out of the money while racing on turf. The six furlongs race just wasn’t long enough and eventually Total Chaos went on to win over 3 million in earnings.
OTTOMAN TURKS (123799) EMPIRE MAKER X SADLER’S WELLS X BUCKPASSER: Ottoman made a late three year old debut at eight furlongs on dirt with a 71 speed finishing last in a field of nine. The next race Ottoman was moved to turf and won. Since the move from dirt Ottoman has been a monster distance runner on turf winning over 2 million.
ROSENTHAL (55307) ROCK OF GILBRALTAR X CAERLEON X MILL REEF: Rosenthal debuted with speeds of 51, 76, and 62 with finishes of 6th, 2nd, and 8th on turf. Rosenthal never strayed from turf and went on to win over 2 million dollars. The debut speed of 51 was particularly bad when you consider it was attained in the month of May. As with many great horses a change in distance would do the trick.
DANCIN IN SEATTLE (9222) DANZIG X SEATTLE SLEW X FAPPIANO: When this horse debuted at 55 the owner of eliza stables had to be seething. Although Dancin finished 3rd in the seven horse field the result was uninspiring for a horse bred from such outstanding stock. With over 1.8 million in earnings dancing turned out just fine.
LEMON CREAM PIE (133982) LEMON DROP KID X STAGE DOOR JOHNNY X CRÈME DELA CRÈME: At three a 13th place finish with a speed factor of 67 is not impressive, but just two races later after switching to turf Lemon ran a 90 speed to win handily at 11 furlongs. This four year old colt has finished “In The Money” in 12 of 13 races. Now that is impressive!
PEDRO EXTREMIST (103762) SAKHEE X RAHY X DANZIG: 23 ITM finishes out of 34 is impressive for any horse, but 58, 62, 11th, and 12th are not impressive figures at all. That’s how Pedro started, but Pedro turned out to be just fine with over 400k in earnings.
AN URBAN (88846) MACHIAVELLIAN X KINGMAMBO X NINISKI: The breeding here is impressive but running two lousy races with 58 speed ratings at two years old , and following them up with two 78’s and a 67 at three is not. In Urban’s first five starts 4th was the best this homebred horse could do, but once switched to turf this horse was a beast finishing ITM in 26 of 37 races. An Urban has over 480k in earnings, and is surely a horse nobody wants to run against in a long routes battle!
I am sure there are many more great horses out there with much worse starts to their careers. This is just a sampling of what I found researching through the top earners. I look forward to hearing even more impressive worst to first stories in the chat forum.
Remember it’s only March, and we’ve got a lot of racing to go!