Hello, Mr Anderson: Showtime for Turf Sprinters
Tasmania– What a talented group of four year olds! That’s the headlining story of this year’s Grade 3 $125,000 Mr Anderson Special. We got a mouth-watering group of post-sophomores ready to hit the graded streets — they bring solid records in preparation for their prime time (ker-POW!) debuts. Satrus, Williamette Valley, Paper Jesus, R Loyal Man, Power Forward and the filly Nothin’ To Lose all look so picture-perfect for breakout performances in the turf sprint division.
And what a prime time capital moment it is for them too against a flashy backdrop of the division’s past Sim superstars. We got our one-turn, green monster favorites Cronus, Omerta Code, I Make Stuff Up, and General’s Chariot in the hunt Saturday. We followed this quatertet last year in the run to Breeders Bowl 2007. They’re gonna make the young pups (who threaten to see them off into the sunset!) work for their feed.
Did someone say that this race was a Grade 3?!!? Yowsa! What a field that should at least be regulated to Grade 2 honors if not a soft Grade 1!
But no worries, the horses do all the talking after all. They’ll go seven furious furlongs over a slightly edgy turf course rated as “good.” Don’t know if the off track will be much of a factor, but we’ll see what happens. Raise the curtains and strike the lights! It’s show time………
The Celebrities
Attention autograph seekers! Four handsome hunks shall be in attendance Saturday. If you stop by the Tasmanian barns before the race, I’m sure they’ll pose for a photo or sign your program with a hoofprint. =^) But if I were you, I wouldn’t dream of star-gazing anywhere near them after the race — some of them might be a bit grumpy.
Cronus(IRE) (6/1) leads our celebrity quartet. The bookies paid their respects to Chilcoat’s Giant’s Causeway son, making him the slight racetime favorite. Respect of course due to Cronus’ whirlwind 2007 campaign. At this time last year, the press folks didn’t rate Cronus so highly. The then-4yo colt won an age-restricted Grade 1 race and of course us media types blow raspberries at that. LOL! But Cronus proved us wrong as the year wore on. He was nominated for the Sim Eclipse Turf Sprinter title on the strength of his sensational runner-up efforts in the DPCD Penn Dash and Breeders Bowl Turf Sprint.
Cronus made his ’08 debut in the very fast and very, very tough Vermont 4 Lovers(G2) last month. Even though Cronus finished a rather distant 5th, Chilcoat has to be ecstatic with the big 108 SP# after the layoff. What kind of horse will Cronus be at age 5? He’s got 32 starts now. This horse keeps teeter-tottering in the precipice. Which way are ya going Cronus?
On the other hand, Omerta Code (14/1) is all over the map. The Supers’ Sadler’s Wells 5yo was much anticipated last year after he won the 2006 Japan Sprint(G1). But alas, the colt played the yo-yo part to the hilt as a 4yo. He might win a Grade 3 in the late springtime, only to cough it up in a lousy summer. He finished 9th and not a factor in the Breeders Bowl before the Supers asked him to turn into a wintertime pacesetter. Omerta Code responded with a nice 2nd in the Movieland Express(G3), but was ignominiously beaten against DelPenn residency-restricted company.
Omerta Code again set to the lead in January’s Everclear(G2). He got caught in a duel though and a wall of horses passed him late for his second-straight 90 SP#. There’s a lot of speed here Saturday — doubtful Omerta Code will do much in this spot and it really might be time to drop back to the listed level. He’s only got 30 starts. Plenty of time to make a graded reappearance.
General’s Chariot (8/1) dropped down to the stakes level last time out and the result was a nice win by the old timer and former champion. The 6yo son of Gone West is just one win away from 20 lifetime winner’s circle trips. I’ve never trained a horse to 20 so that’s my goal with him this year. Like Cronus and Omerta Code, the General had a rollercaoster 2007 season. He started out yicky in spring, had a fun summer with a Grade 2 win as well as a heartbreaking runnerup effort on Smackdown day. He acquitted himself decently with 4th place finishes in the World Cup and BB, only to choke bigtime on DPCD day in December.
Blah. I really don’t like him in this spot with all the speed up front and some splendid closers to the rear. Then again, maybe I’m lowballing him and he really needed the win LTO. However, it’s his 44th lifetime call to the post. Ouch.
But misery loves company, so move over Snowchief & General for Lenny & I Make Stuff Up (12/1). Ha! Gosh, Lenny sure had a puzzler last year with the 2006 champion turf sprinter. I Make Stuff Up just couldn’t deliver a good groove. The Mineshaft son had some good efforts late last springtime with 4th place finishes in the Rising Sun and Golden Jamboree, but from summertime onwards, the colt just wasn’t his ol’ nasty self. He went from Grade 1s to completing his 4yo campaign in the ALW ranks.
Poor ‘Stuff’s gotta be the wackiest horse in the Sim. Lenny returned him to the graded ranks in the Vermont 4 Lovers(G2) race last month and the horse wanted no part of it. A huge disappointment for Lenny — I Make Stuff Up has to show something here or it might be high time for the breeding shed.
The Sizzling Upstarts
Take your pick from these excellent 4 year olds. I agree with all of their placement in this race — it is time to see what you got! Some are more accomplished than others though……
We’ll start out with Kbsweet’s wonder-duo: Paper Jesus (11/1) and R Loyal Man (11/1). Both colts boast modest pedigrees, but, boy, can they sizzle. Paper Jesus is the downtown closer to R Loyal Man’s most wicked speed. R Loyal Man has the greater lifetime best SP# of the two (114) to Paper Jesus’ 109. Both have black type, Paper Jesus has the grades……
Paper Jesus ran a professional sophomore turf sprint campaign last year. He was a graded winner earlier in the season and missed the celebrated Never Ready Sprint(G1) winner’s circle by a nose in July. The colt was very consistent in the money afterwards in the grades. He did miss a ticket to the Breeders Bowl due to lack of stakes points, but Keely had to be impressed with the youngster’s tough 4th place finish (beaten only 3 lengths) in November’s Because I Said So(G1).
If you toss out the season-ending DelPenn day debacle, Paper Jesus had a very solid season last year — something to build on as an older horse contender. The colt might have been a bit rushed in the Vermont 4 Lovers(G2), but he posted a fine time (105 SP#) and was just a couple lengths back of Cronus in 6th place. I expect this colt to improve off of that effort. Maybe the cutback to the half-furlong less will sharpen his final drive to the wire.
I really like Paper Jesus for the board here. On the other hand, R Loyal Man could be in for a rough afternoon. The Mr Greeley colt was in and out of the ranks last season, but threw a big wire to wire 114 SP# victory in a player-sponsored Grade 3 last October. He just gathered his form in the cool weather of autumn. The colt also ran well in the DelPenn residency sprint.
However, R Loyal Man had a flubby 2008 listed stakes debut. His PPs indicate that he needs the pace and he’ll fight tooth-and-nail for that Saturday. You never know, but I think he’s setting up this race for his stablemate.
Speaking of speed, let’s look at Sdmf’s filly Nothin’ To Lose (12/1). She’s regally bred by Lemon Drop Kid and sure put a whoppoing pacesetter’s effort together in her last outing. Granted, the filly faced a short field and got loose on the lead, but a big 110 SP# is nothing to sneeze at. The gal’s got a lot of backclass too, having run in the ’07 1,000 Guineas. She was also a winner in the Sun State Cup(G1) over a mile late last summer and acquitted her self well in her final two route races of ’07.
Honestly, on paper, it sure looks like Nothin’ To Lose is gonna get caught in a speed duel with R Loyal Man, A Bit Of All Right and Wonderboy Da Vinci. Speed duel for H-E-double-toothpicks at that. She’s got an immaculate record, winning 11 of 19 starts. If she could just develop some consistency for Sdmf…. need to try dirt too with that pedigree since she isn’t always throwing 100+. Can go either way with this gal Saturday, but she’s one to watch.
Three more 4yo colts really catch your eye in this race. First up, we have the midpacker Power Forward(GB) (9/1). Dokki3’s Powerscourt(Gb) son is 8 for 18 lifetime and displays these beautifully consistent 100+ speed figures on his PPs chart. The colt did make a graded appearance last summer in the Snowphantom(G2) where he made up tons of ground to finish 5th by only a length or so. Laer in the year, he returned to the ALW and stakes ranks where he took 2 of 4 starts with 110 and 112 SP#s respectively.
I know what you’re thinking: “Snowchief, ya always get ga-ga over the speed figs!” But gosh, you just love to see that consistency and those numbers that indicate superior ability. This colt is graded material — you just gotta be patient, he’s gonna throw clinkers every now and then because he’s a closer. IF not the board here, then I expect at least a minor money effort and then onward to future grades!
Ditto for bagur’s Satrus (8/1), absolutely awesome numbers with 7 for 17 lifetime record. The War Chant 4yo though has a bit more graded experience, having finished 5th this year in the Everclear(G2). Satrus ran huge (110 SP# victory) in the Northwest Racing Circuit’s Cavalcade Cup Turf Sprint on Breeders Bowl day last year. This colt ran great in the World Cup prior to that too — I thought that 7f division was the tougher race of the two and this colt acquitted himself well in that race.
Will Satrus bounce after the sky-stretching 114 SP# listed stakes triumph LTO? It was just 4 weeks ago. Wouldn’t be too surprised if he fired a bit average-like, but maybe that’s he’ll need in this field? Hmm…. so “has peaked” or “continuing to peak”? Sure looks darn good on paper though — yeah! Gotta keep an eye on this one down the raod in the division too.
The final super-4yo is the Supers’ other entry: Williamette Valley (7/1). Woowwee, royally bred by Seeking The Gold too with 6 for 18 lifetime scorecard. Unlike our other 4yos though, this colt stayed in the listed level ranks last year, building those ultra-important speed figures. ‘Valley strung together a three-race win streak with sleek speed numbers late last year. The streak culminated in a 111 SP# score on the DPCD-restricted turf sprint over 7f. The Supers have kept this colt as a seven furlong specialist too, so what a perfect spot for his graded debut.
A ton of things going for this colt and I think he’s your winner. He’s gonna get the speed up front. Satrus may bounce a tad. He’ll have to overtake a game Power Forward and outrun Paper Jesus and Cronus to the wire though. Additionally, ‘Valley won his ’08 debut last month. The Supers pick their battles carefully and I think they’ve got this colt ready for Saturday. What a beauty.
The Supporting Cast
We got a mix of older horses and a couple 4yos in the hunt. There are some good ones in this groupand one or two have spoiler possibilities.
Acadie’s A Bit Of All Right(IRE) (8/1) is the frontrunner for upset honors. The 5yo son of Perfect Soul also possesses those gorgeous triple-digit numbers that melt your Sim fancy (of your own horse’s victory!). The speedster won a listed stakes on Simhistory Day last summer, but mostly pays his dues with in the moeny efforts near each time out. The horse just missed an oppotune photo finish last time out with a 111 SP#. ‘Right has had a good break since and ceratainly factors into the quality of this group. I worry he’ll get into a speed dule though with the filly as well as R Loyal Man and Wonderboy Da Vinci.
Wonderboy Da Vinci(IRE) (12/1) could indeed foil the pacesetters hunt. He’s a very fast 6yo by Theatrical(IRE) and finished a strong 4th in the Everclear(G2) two months ago. This is a hard-knockin’ veteran of 34 starts — he knows the ropes. He might not be as flashy as the talented youngsters, but he can get into the thick of things for a minor prize. Has a slight chance if he doesn’t go all crazy, joining the suicide speed duel. Races for wonder4 stable.
Wemblem’s Captain Amazing (15/1) is an interesting dark horse, but he’s a bit too green for me at 4 for 15 lifetime. He still has the NW4x condition. I don’t mind seeing him in the listed ranks, but this is a pretty good Grade 3. The other 4yos in the field have all well exhausted their conditions. The Rock Hard Ten son though has steadily climbed in speed figures, running a 107 LTO. It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to see the closer surprisingly hit the board. However, more often than not, it’s gonna go the other way.
Finally, A Fleet Of Bbors (23/1) threw a few good numbers recently for alexx2 stable. The 5yo son of Bahri was mostly in ALW cpany last year though. With a 5 for 32 lifetime record, he’s not really at this level. Could mix it up in the pacesetters hunt. Won’t be around much long after the opening quarter though.
Race History:
Kbsweet’s Night’s Desire has won the past two runnings of the Mr Anderson Special(G3). He was pre-entered, but Keely instead sends her powerful one-two co-entry of R Loyal Man and Paper Jesus. Night’s Desire is the most notable winner of the race. The first four runnings were won by horses whose lone stakes victory came in the Mr Anderson. Hopefully, our winner Saturday will live up to Night’s Desire’s example and race on!
Stakes record: 2002 Fresh Honor by Honor Grades, 1:21 1/5
Snowchief’s Picks:
The off track could throw my whole analysis for a loop. LOL! I don’t think it will be too much of a factor though, but cold toss out one of these 4yos though who hasn’t yet raced over the squishy stuff.
Satrus looks on target for this group on paper, but I’m gonna wager that he won’t be as sharp after the swift effort LTO. Cronus should be in the hunt and he’s due for a victory — it could be his day, but he’s also known for playing the bridesmaid.
I think it’s gonna be a ridiculous speed duel up front, so I’m tossing out the pacesetters Nothin’ To Lose, R Loyal Man, A Bit Of All Right. Wonderboy Da Vinci could stalk, but will probably be closer to the pace and thus get cooked.
Omerta Code needs to show up — doubftul he’ll do so. Flip a coin on I Make Stuff Up — nah. General’s Chariot could grab some minor money, but won’t hit the board if the race goes to 105 SP#+.
It comes down to closers Paper Jesus, Williamette Valley, and the midpacker Power Forward. I’d box those three, tossing in Cronus and A Bit Of All Right. Williamette Valley seems to be the “now” horse.
Win: Williamette Valley
Place: Paper Jesus
Show: Power Forward or Cronus
Good luck to all!