Black Type Bugler

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Black Type Bugler

eHorseracing.com’s Official Online News Source

Old Geezers Compete in Vermont!

pazjazz

The Old Man of the Mountains Series III – Race 5
A mile on the Firm Turf Course
$50,000
All horses, 8 years old and up, Non-Winners of FOUR within the last year

If you don’t know about this great series, it started two years ago 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 RiverDance and the LilBitFarms Stables and their grand old horse, USA 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 FOUR in the last year but that could change for the next race with either a win by our host or if he doesn’t he is actually able to move it back down to NW of three in a year. Both the Old Man Leader Standing and Sun Dial award points are very close at this juncture so this race could be a lively one at both ends. Of course when you are dealing with this age of horses, the word “Lively” may not be the best adjective to describe things!

Last time out, our host took the race off although he moved into the gate and came out the other side, he kind of just strolled around and chased butterflies down the track. Hopefully he is back on his feed and ready to challenge here. That is the fun part of this series, you really have NO idea what may happen!

Here are the standings to date in the series:

    The Leader Standings in the series:

  • LEGADILLO (LuvsTheKey) 10 Points
  • WHISPER (Be1stFarms) 7 Points
  • OASIS CAT (MEP) 6 Points
  • USA (RiverDance) 6 Points
  • CELTIC LEGEND (Correction) 5 Points
  • COROKEYPRIN (IrishMan2) 3 Points
  • FURIOUS ODYSSEUS (RedRum) 3 Points

    Sun Dial Standings in the series:

  • PRESTO (Ernieman) 10 Points
  • RUBY ATTIC (FaerieBad) 9 Points
  • MARIO MOMENT (Tsunami3) 6 Points
  • USA (RiverDance) 6 Points
  • SLY SHOT (Tsunami36) 3 Points
  • LARIONOV (IrishMan) 3 Points
  • SERPENTINE INVADER (DarkFaerie) 2 Points
  • BRATTICUS (TheFred) 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!:

1 – RECORD SETTER ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
23/1GreenIrish8 YRS 63 12 99.23 4 Back $ 246,052
He has actually had a couple of pretty good showings in the two races that he’s had in this series. It seems like when he gets to the stretch his old body tells him that is enough and kind of shuts down on him. He hasn’t received any series points yet and would love to take advantage of this inside post just like when your room is near the Bingo Hall at the old folks home!

2 – PRESTO(GB) ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED AVG SPEEDEARNINGS
99/1ErnieMan9 YRS 64 14 96.67 10 Back$277,628
This ancient magician gave up a bit of his lead in the Sun Dial portion of the series with a finish third to the end last time out. That is a pretty high finish for him and probably tired him enough that he will get back to his customary caboose spot this week. Trainer ErnieMan would like to see him pad his last place lead and promises to feed him plenty this week to anchor him down.!

3 – UTAH COLONY ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED AVG SPEEDEARNINGS
6/1jfisher8 YRS 38 7 103.90 5 Back$137,252
It’s always nice to welcome a new geezer to our series and that is the case here. Who in the heck invited this guy though? He is a young 8 year old that ran in a Stakes race a few back and had a triple figure SPF and actually won a couple of races! Is that even fair in this series? We will see if he runs with the crowd and slows it down or runs to the front at the end like some ancient teenager!

4 – SERPENTINE INVADER ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
99/1DarkFaerie10 YRS 47 5 99.93 4 Back$ 34,809
Always a threat to finish near the back, this old guy has a habit of running back and forth throughout the race and actually runs a lot further than everyone else. He is trained by DarkFaerie who has quite a hand with these old Senior Citizens. The Invader has been slow but not quite slow enough to crack the Sun Dial points recently. Perhaps he can run a bit more crooked to finish further back!

5 – WHISPER ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
9/2Be1stFarms9 YRS 81 24 113.41 2 Back$844,728
One of my favorites in the series is this old Gal that has been giving the guys fits by actually beating them in a race in the series. They sure don’t like to lose to a woman at this age! She finished just out of the points last time and would like to get back to her alluring form of the previous two races she ran. Never count this girl out, she is tough as nails.

6 – FURIOUS ODYSSEUS ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
7/1Redrum8 YRS 59 13 101.03 12 Back$234,811
This guy is more furious than ever after just missing out on the points again. That is the third time in the series that old grumpy had a near miss and he is getting more agitated all the time. Nothing would fix that like getting into the points so that he can move up the list. Hopefully he can get past his attitude and compete in this race.

7 – USA ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
11/1RiverDance8 YRS 76 20 117.19 4 Back$ 702,269
Our host was a real enigma last race with an amazingly slow 6 SPF and a last place finish. He came back without and injury and seemed to just take a race off. It would have been nice if he had let trainer RiverDance know that before the race instead of after but sometimes these old guys have a mind of their own. Anyway, at this point he stands third in both the Championship AND the Sun Dial standings so he had better decide which way he wants to go.

8 – CELTIC LEGEND ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
9/2Correction9 YRS 47 17 121.44 6 Back $740,980
This old Irishman has been playing it just right by ending up in the top three but not winning so that he continues to gather points without worrying about being disqualified for the conditions of the race. He probably needs to win one and he would still stay in it though. That is a lot to ask an old nine year old that thinks more about collecting Social Security than he does how many points he needs.

9 – MARIO MOMENT ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
28/1Tsunami38 YRS 32 7 102.31 6 Back$ 100,692

Our most active elder usually runs a race between the races in the series but took some time off and relaxed on the porch back at the old folks home. Perhaps that will revitalize him and he can gather some points in the series this time. Hopefully he spent a few “Moments” trying to remember back to that last win which has been a while back!

10 – ROBOT PIMPLES ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED AVG SPEEDEARNINGS
14/1Lime10 YRS 45 9 102.65 9 Back$135,419
This oldster has quite an interesting name and you have to wonder what his original owner was thinking back then. Especially when it was just the beginning of the robot age it was so long ago! He is a newcomer to our series and will most certainly be welcomed with the usual abuse that these grumpy old men tend to give the “rookies”. I’m sure as a teenager, he would like to throw it back in their faces in his first start.

11 – BRATTICUS ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED AVG SPEEDEARNINGS
39/1TheFred9 YRS 45 7 102.66 10 Back$274,287
This old gent just missed out on Sun Dial points last time out with an 11th place finish. With just a bit of a slow down he could have made it. That has been the norm for this guy, it is as if he is focused at the beginning of the race but kind of forgets everything about half way through. That is a recurring problem with many of these contestants, most of them cant’ remember where they put their bridles or saddles. You should check out the hilarity before the race as they all stumble around looking for them!

12 – LYNCHBURG LEMONADE ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
99/1Ravin10 YRS 66 5 102.53 27 Back$73,868
One of the contenders for the Sun Dial in our last series, this Southern Gent is making his first start this time around and should contend for the end. As a matter of fact, they regularly timed him with a Sun Dial in the last series, hence the name of our bottom standings. We will see if the shorter distance and the turf is better for him but I’m betting that he will be back in the back fighting for the caboose in this race.

13 – LEGADILLO ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
5/2LuvsTheKey8 YRS 46 14 103.90 Last Out $259,015
Our winner of the last race and the leader in the clubhouse of the standings, this old geezer is looking pretty spry and can still win another race without being disqualified for conditions. He has been trotting around the Senior Citizens center with his chest puffed out and performing for the old widows. You can bet he likes that feeling of being on top and should do everything that it takes to stay there. He will be guzzling the Geritol this week getting ready for the race!

14 – COROKEYPRIN ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
9/1IrishMan28 YRS 67 12 104.30 8 Back$ 207,345
He gained his first points in the series last time out when he hooked his walker to the rail from his number one post and kind of rode all the way around. That will be a bit tougher this time as his post is way out in the handicapped lot of the race track. He’ll be lucky to get his walker around all of the other horses and get anyewhere near the lead! Where there is a will there is a way and hopefully all of these old guys have there “will” filled out at this age!

Morning Line = 13-5-8-3-6
Paz Picks = 13-5-8-3-6

In this series it is actually prestigious to finish at the way back of the pack. The back of this pack is more hotly contested than ever with a lot of “anchor” horses competing. I believe that PRESTO may get some points and pad his lead but with LYNCHBURG LEMONADE finally finding his way here from the last series, I think he might hit the back end. Until I know that he is done chasing butterflies, I can’t put any credence in our host USA finishing near the front although he had a great rest last race! It looks to me to be a three horse race for the front. I have put CELTIC LEGEND. in the three spot and the Grand Dame WHISPER to get back in the top three. I think that LEGADILLO likes the top spot too much and will use plenty of linament on the old muscles and get the win and continue to hold the overall lead in the OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN standings.

Good luck to all runners!

Email your comments to pazjazz.btb@gmail.comI love to hear from you!

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