EWC Showcase Dirt 2yo Race, a tribute to Steve Buium

The EWC has had a Showcase Races that dates back more years than I have on one hand. The Showcase Races are a place for residents to showoff their newly bred 2 year olds as they make their first racing start. One race is set for the turf and the other for the dirt. This article focuses on the Dirt race. The EWC supports a number of race tracks in the sim and one of the conditions to enter the race is to breed a horse from a sire from one of the supported race tracks. This can be tricky as big tracks popular for breeding, like Kentucky, are not eligible for using. The horses have the opportunity to reunite in a stake race that will be held towards the end of 2023.

The races this year are held in memory of Steve Buium, a supporter of the residency and originator of these races. With first time starters, there is no race history to look back upon so the only data we have available is the breeding lines. Let’s take a look at dirt runners.

1.   5/1

IN STEVE’S MEMORY (owned by Kashbarn)

This horse is my horse (full disclosure here) and has Carpe Diem as sire, who has 51% of last years kids win a race and a decent 77% finding the dirt favorable.   The colt has nice pedigree of Awesome Again as DS and A.P. Indy in the rear as DDS.  Game mare Awesome Flop earned three wins over her 35 race career, with one win each on the dirt, turf and poly surfaces.  She has 7 previously bred children with most being allowance winners.   The colt is named in memory of Steve Buium and a win would be a nice boot in his memory.

2.    7/1

EWC LITE SIX (owned by Cuetec)

Cuetec continues to enter his beer-named line of contestants in the Showcase races.  This is a filly out of American Guru (40% winning 2yo’s in 2022 with 87% loving the dirt) and carries top names of More Than Ready as DS and Gone West as DDS.  Her mother, Knoebels T is a listed stake winner with 20 career wins over 37 races and over $500k in winnings.  She has bred two previous horses of which the first is a G2 winner and the one bred in 2021 (KC Iron Jaw) is a G1 winner as well as an Eclipse winner.   The game mare has had terrific success in breeding solid grade winning horses and may have just bred a future grade winner.

3.    6/1

FOR LIFE’S ECLIPSE (owned by Bobthehat)

This colt is a scratchbred runner who is supported by Majestic Warrior as the sire.   In 2022, the sire had impressive numbers out of his 2yo’s with over 61% earning wins already and a strong 83% favoring the dirt surface.   Lemon Drop Kid fills the DS role and this one leans more towards the turf than the dirt.   Wild Again is a nice addition as the DDS and favors the dirt.  A hopeful runner with a little turf ability bred into this fellow.  It’s possible he may be one of those horses who likes both grass and dirt.

4.    3/1

NADAL GONE WILD (owned by Sjmeola)

We have a gelding here, the only one in the field, and he is a scratchbred.   Nadal was used as the sire and had a respectable 43% of his 2022 bred children pick up victories with 78% showing that they are liking the dirt.   The rear side of his pedigree includes Wild Again (DS) and Sunday Silence (DDS) both of which tend to produce dirt runners.  And both of these have been used to breed their share of stake winners.   Potential is here and maybe being gelded will find a way to go “wild” on this field.

5.    6/1

TAKEN FOR A YETI (owned by Craterus)

This colt is out of game mare Taken For a Ride who took one win over 23 starts.   She has four other children who have all been struggling to find an allowance win.   The breeding line includes Almasty as the sire who was lightly used last season with only 16 horses bred and a winning percentage of 37%.  The kids do enjoy the dirt with 77% of them running on the surface over 2022.   While the sire is not a “high-in-demand” one, the backend is, with Street Cry slotted as DS and Unbridled fitted in as DDS.   Things don’t look so great on paper with the game mare and children not having terrific careers, however, the backend of the breeding line is nice and could come through.

6.    165/1

OLAF SPATS (owned by 11putts)

The longshot in the field is a scratchbred colt and is sired by Curlin’s Honor (a second year sire) that had last years bred horses win a low 26% of their starts, however, they strongly like the dirt with 78% favoring the soil.  The back side of the pedigree has Gold Spats in the DS spot and Olaf sits as the DDS.  The breeding line, on the top tier, is not impressive, but down below there are connections to Curlin, Smart Strike, Seeking the Gold and Mr. Prospector who could provide some soundness to this colt.

7.   5/1

DESIRED OUTCOME (owned by Neonshadow)

This filly will start her career competing with the boys in this race.   She has the pedigree of Eskendereya x Candy Ride x Blame.  Sire Eskendereya’s 2022 children has seen a nice 55% of them winning a race with a good 72% of them favoring the dirt.   Game mare Not In Town won only three races in her 29 starts and they all came on the dirt.  She has five other children and one of them has become a stakes winner.   Will that “Desired Outcome” follow with this horse?  We’ll see as 2023 rolls forward.

8.    10/1

SHOWCALCHRO (owned by Denovo)

Sire California Chrome has one of the better dirt percentages of last year’s 2yo’s who liked the dirt at 86%.   Of all of his kids, just over 45% have so far won a race.  The colt also has a backend in the breeding that likes the dirt with Vindiction filling the DS role and Fappiano as DDS.  His game mare, Flappage, is a stake winner with 8 victories in her 42 race starts.  She has 8 previous children that have fared nicely and include four that have become stake winners.  Showcalchro has a mission to make this five and could be there by the time the Showcase Dirt Stakes occurs later this season.

9.    7/1

HARD SQUEEZE (owned by Crawf68)

Hard Aces is the chosen sire for this colt and although his 2022 crop of children are lower than other sire-bred horses in this race with just under 35% winning a race, there is a higher 80% than other sires in that they enjoy the dirt surface even more.   Not a Single Doubt and Seeking the Gold fill the backend of the pedigree of Hard Squeeze.   Not A Single Haack is the game mare to this colt and while she won only once in her 28 race career (split evenly between dirt and grass), she did hit the board 17 times, roughly 2/3rds of her starts.   She has two previously bred children, of which one is an allowance winner.  The mare had a tough time winning races and hopefully this won’t “squeeze” this runner too “hard”.

10.    8/1

STICKY SLUSH (owned by Millerfarm)

This colt comes out of game mare Joan Baez, a winner of 7 races in 45 starts and also a listed stake winner.   Joan Baez has a stable of horses of her own with Stickly Slush being her 12^th child.  Many have been successful with allowance wins and one of her kids has over $500,000 in winnings.  As for Sticky Slush, he has the breeding line of Jess’s Dream x Dixie Union x A.P. Indy.   The sire’s 2022 kids have favored the dirt to a 73% ratio, with nearly 44% winning races.   Sticky looks to have a decent background in the breeding with the dirt which may work favorably in this event.

My Picks

I’m going with EWC Lite Six in this race.  The mare has produced solid grade winners in the past, as well as being a listed stake winner herself.  Hard to look away from a graded stake producer.

Showcalchro is my second choice, also based on the success of the game mare.  Despite being a listed stake winner, she also produced four other children that have earned stake wins.  Somethings going right with the breeding and may carry over to this runner.

In Steve’s Memory is my third choice.  Even though it is my horse, you have to honor Steve.