Twelve Apostles of Thrift Meet in Bargain Classic

Bargain Bred Series Classic

Stakes

A mile and three sixteenths

Fast Dirt

$500,000

All horses, 3 years old and up

Aahh, the Classic.  The culmination of a whole season’s worth of hopes and dreams.   It’s what all the breeders and trainers are aiming for throughout the year.  Ok, so this is the BBRS version.  We bargain breeders still have this goal in mind when we press the button on that 49-pointer we just squeezed in with that interesting cheap sire and underpriced damsire.  While I have runners in the turf events on this bargain championship day, I don’t in the Classic, so let me introduce the contestants.  I’ll just have to dream that my next bargain boy will be good enough to join this group one day.

PP  Horse ID  Horse  Owner  Jockey  Odds  W / P / S

1 28566 JOIN’ EM  belsup  C Winter  3/1    

The top two jockeys will have the inside slots, and C Winter will be looking to find a comfortable tracking position behind the leaders as this 7-year-old starts from the rail.  An astute $5k claim a year ago by belsup, this guy busted out a big 107 speed while going up in claiming price two races later.  Since then he’s captured allowance contests and the Bargain Summer Classic.  In that race he defeated four of today’s returning opponents with a strong run in the stretch.  His regression in the Memphis Rule last out might be a concern, but that was a tougher bunch, and he is well rested since.

Breeding: CHICAGO SIX x SLEWVESCENT x BATES MOTEL

Chicago Six is a useful sire, and JOIN’ EM isn’t his only stakeswinner (see NIMROD’S FORTRESS).  He does usually tend to sprinters.  Slewvescent brings valuable Seattle Slew blood, and Bates Motel may be a source of this guy’s stamina.

2 85315 QUART LOW(TX)  sanatarium  J White  8/1    

Third in not only the Bargain Summer Classic and Death Valley Classic this year, but also in last year’s Bargain Bred Classic.  He’s down a bit from his top speeds of the winter and spring, but still fast enough to contend.  He’s been nicely campaigned by breeder/trainer sanatarium, and at only 4 he could have some improvement left in him.  He’s gotten in his share of speed duels, so we’ll have to see if excellent jockey J White can save enough to be in front at the wire.

Breeding: DESERT DARBY x SPEND A BUCK x KINGS LAKE

Texas-standing Desert Darby, a son of Sheikh Albadou, gets over 50% winners, but this is his best foal.  Derby winner Spend A Buck was a sim stalwart, with nearly 7% stakeswinners in his last five crops, but has not been a force as a damsire.  Still, that’s a classic winner at a reasonable price.  Kings Lake has some stakeswinners as a damsire and brings Nijinsky’s strength to the pedigree.

3 106649 DANCING BAREFOOT(AUS)  u2sister  W Chandler  54/1    

This longshot broke his maiden in August on his 14th try, then followed with a $25 claimer win in Michigan at the end of September.  Kudos to u2sister for sticking with the 4-year-old, and the horse’s newfound acceleration might surprise some.  Sure, those were much lesser opponents, but he won by daylight, and this group is not a graded stakes bunch.  He could be interesting on your trifecta ticket.

Breeding: DANCE DREAMER x DANCING AGAIN x CIRCLE

There’s a cheap Nureyev son and a cheap Nijinsky son, but the lone turf experiment didn’t work out for this bargain.  Dancing Again has been solid enough as a damsire.  Older damsire Circle has Round Table and Nasrullah close up in his pedigree.

4 71125 BARE WHIP  lgbost2yo  T McGriggs  4/1    

He tried to get to JOIN’ EM in the Bargain Summer Classic, but was a more distant runner-up than his narrow beat by SPARE KEY(FL) in the Death Valley back in March.  He’s gotten faster as a 5-year-old, posting many solid 100s in allowances all year.  He makes one run at them, and obviously there is no guarantee he will seal the deal for the winner’s circle given past failures.  He could also be spinning his wheels up the track as he did in his questionable-looking prep race in Missouri.

Breeding: SYNCLINE x BO JINSKY x NORTHERN BABY

3x4x4 inbred to Northern Dancer, with Danzig son Syncline on top.  Retiring as a sire this year, his runners have show versatility but not much quality.  Bo Jinsky has been better as a cheap Nijinsky damsire, and back end Northern Baby has many stakeswinners when used as a damsire.

5 153014 ST.HAWK(JPN)  prosportze  B Dickerson  25/1   

3-year-old had an eye-popping 104 in October after a modest 8-race career prior to that.  Still, he squandered a 7-length lead in the stretch to get beat in that N1X allowance, so he is in tough again with some big closers in his stakes debut.  The early pace may not be that easy either.  My hunch is just watch this time and hope for bigger things down the road – maybe next year’s BBRS sprint champion?

Breeding: BLACK HAWK (GB) x ST. HILARION x NASHWAN

Looks bred to go long on turf, and that’s where he started his career, but he hated the stuff.  Switched to dirt, he won first out.  Black Hawk is Nureyev/Silver Hawk; St. Hilarion is by the useful Sir Ivor; and Nashwan, a regular stakes horse producer as sire and damsire, is by Blushing Groom.  All of them have progeny who do tend to long races, so I’m not sure where ST. HAWK(JPN)’s speed is coming from.

6 58987 ANGEL’S PROSPECT  elamanamou  A Liggis  55/1    

The 7-year-old has struggled since a solid 2007 that featured a 4-race win streak.  He hasn’t finished better than 6th in 2008 while running in claimers and starter allowances.  Elamanamou picked him up for $5k back in March, and he hasn’t shown any likelihood to return to the 90s and 100s he was running last year.   He’s the longest shot by just a shade over DANCING BAREFOOT(AUS), but while that one seems to be worth a poke to pull off a shocker, this one simply looks up against it.

Breeding: SASHA’S PROSPECT x LOCAL TALENT x FROSTY THE SNOWMAN

No, Ela-Mana-Mou doesn’t show up in his pedigree, but then the current trainer didn’t breed him.  Sasha’s Prospect is an Oklahoma-based son of Mr. P who has a few quality stakes-placed runners.  Local Talent is a Northern Dancer damsire who has produced plodding winners.  Ol’ Frosty fits well with those dominant sirelines but is not a pedigree force.

7 115287 JET POWERED(SAF)  safimport  S Takahashi  10/1  

Seemed to just detest the turf in his early career, but enters this race following a decent 4th place showing in a turf allowance, garnering a 91 speed.  He likes this distance just fine on dirt, earning regular 90s and 100s since May 2007.  He tried the Bargain Summer Classic, but eased home only 5th with a slower speed than his par.  There’s not much more stakes experience, but with a clear run in the stretch and if he pops a big number again, he could be there.

Breeding: JET MASTER (SAF) x AVEROF(GB) x COASTAL

Part of the South African breeding program for this owner.  Jet Master is in the Northern Dancer line, but has been getting less than 25% winners.  At least his runners like dirt routes.  Averof and Coastal also provide dirt endurance, with Coastal being the better producer.

8 145287 SPARE KEY(FL)  bursar  S Munoz  7/2    

This year’s Death Valley Classic winner, and definitely one of the ones.  He tried the BBRS sprint race this time last year as a sophomore without success, but he’s since proven valuable as a route horse.  Since the Death Valley he’s posted a number of runs at the classic distance over 100 speed, including a 110 in an allowance loss.  His 4th in the Bargain Summer Classic was a disappointment of sorts, but there may have been traffic trouble with his midpack style.  No telling if that will happen again, but he wins this with his best.

Breeding: FRENCH ENVOY x ROBIN DES PINS x KEY TO THE KINGDOM

French Envoy has been producing some nice ones who like to run long.  Robin Des Pins, who is Nureyev/Key to the Mint, was bang-up as a sim sire and pretty good as a damsire.  Key to the Kingdom brings Bold Ruler and Princequillo quality to the pedigree at a reasonable price.

9 139941 COLONIAL GOLDS(IRE)  nerdbarn  T Silk  9/2    

It could be revenge of the nerds if this solid 4-year-old comes home the winner.  Comparatively lightly raced this year (8 starts), he has won only an N3L allowance on the season but has had solid runs all year.  He wasn’t ready for open stakes primetime in the COLONIAL LAND Challenge, even though he ran his race.  Much better to meet these BBRS classic contenders then.  He shows some versatility to his running style and he runs well over this track (including a win last December).  Odds aren’t really high enough for an overlay, but a reasonable chance.

Breeding: GOLDEN SNAKE x COLONIAL AFFAIR x HIGHEST HONOR(FR)

I like this pedigree: a Danzig sire on top, even if he’s been weak in the sire spot; a son of Pleasant Colony in the middle, and one with multiple stakeswinners in that position; and Kenmare/Riverman product Highest Honor to round it out.  He has never run quite this far and might like it.

10 10699 SPOOKUS SPOOKUM(ENG)  foxon  T Bay  24/1  

Purchased as a maiden in August for $480k, this 3-year-old gathered all of his career wins in September: his maiden breaker and an N2L allowance.  His low 90s in those races are respectable enough for those levels, but might be his ceiling: he ran the same speed in a followup allowance at the same Norway track two weeks ago.  Off the long plane ride from Scandinavia and needing either a collapse by all the top ones or a big step forward on his part, I’m inclined to rule him out.

Breeding: MINSTER SON(IRE) x PAST GLORIES(ENG) x SLIP ANCHOR(GB)

Euro stuff across the board. Niniski product Minster Son, who retires this year, gets routers on both surfaces but no stakes winners.  Past Glories is by the lesser known Hittite Glory.  This is his best damsire product.  Slip Anchor presents Shirley Heights/Birkhahn bloodlines and is a turf distance influence.

11 19742 VAINEST  hawkz1  O Sturman  16/1    

Eleventh in the last two runnings of this race, he returns after a nice season as a marathon man.  His resume this year includes multiple frontrunning wins from 11 to 14 furlongs on dirt in a mixture of claimers, starters, and allowances.  This distance is probably not too short for him to try to do that again, but he stumbled last year trying to do that at this level.  There may be some bettors taking a chance with a last-out winner by 6 lengths, even if it was only an N1X.  Ten wins for a 5-year-old is not too bad.

Breeding: WEST CORK x HELLO GORGEOUS x VAIN (AUS)

West Cork looks promising with Kris S. as a sire, but all his other sim progeny can’t outrun the starting gate tractor.  Mr. Prospector son Hello Gorgeous concludes his sire career in Brazil this year, and is a moderate speed influence.  If I remember correctly, Vain has had some important offspring in the Southern Hemisphere in real life, but hasn’t done much in the sim.

12 44100 RUNZOTTI(TX)  txbred  L McNeil  29/1    

He has been trying the BBRS races with regularity and has been experimenting with turf recently.  However, the bloom looks off the rose lately after some nice 90s over the winter, and recent tiring sprint failures don’t bode well for success at a longer distance.  His 4th in the Death Valley in March following a 98 in an allowance made him look like a 4-year-old on the move.  If he doesn’t show up in this race, maybe a long layoff and a restart as a 5-year-old is in order.  Jockey McNeil should help if the horse is ready.

Breeding: RUNNING STAG x MANZOTTI x TEXAS CITY

I enjoyed Running Stag as a racehorse; as a sim sire, his Cozzene blood has brought neither fame nor failure, with one stakeswinner, VEGAS CABBY(TX).  Manzotti is worth a look as a Nijinsky/Tom Rolfe, and is probably a bargain based on his stakes production in the damsire role.  Texas City is another Mr. Prospector sire retiring this year, with no notable success in the sire or damsire roles.

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