Full Field to Battle in the Grade 1 Western Ocean CA Classic

A full field of 14 sim horses will meet the starter in the Grade 1 Western Ocean CA Classic at the California track.  Many of the horses in today’s race have met each other in previous races.  It is a tangled web of races in which these horses have met in the past.  The touchstone might be the Movieland Shiny Cup where second place finisher Sweet Treasures finished the best of the others that ran in that race and will be running in this race. 

This is also a field of very accomplished older horses as no three year olds are entered in today’s race.  There are multiple grade one victories amongst the entries today.  The race favorite is Sielewi but his odds are a tepid 6-1.  Given the odds for the horses in this race it is a wide open contest.

Below is some information about each of the participants in post position order with the odds and jockey also listed.

Slew Mischief

10-1

P Syduck

This 4 year old colt comes into the Western Ocean on an eight race win streak.  This win streak started with his maiden win in March 2024.  Owner harrylan1 raises the bar in terms of class for Slew Mischief.  His last win, the Flightline Stakes was at the California track at today’s distance. Those are positives but the class question remains.  This is the first graded stakes try for Slew Mischief.  His speed figures (118) in his last two races certainly show like he belongs in this company.  Maintaining that level of performance will be tough with the upgrade in competition.

This son of Into Mischief has an interesting pedigree.  His dam-sire is Seattle Slew, a horse that was born in 1974.  Slew Mischief was a scratch breeding and having Into Mischief as his sire is a plus.  That sire has progeny with multiple Grade 1 wins to his credit. 

Time Healer

8-1

R Hansen

This son of Gun Runner, a sire to multiple Grade 1 winners, holds the distinction as the elder statesman among this group.  The six year old horse has mostly tussled in allowance company but is in the middle of a 4 race win streak.  This win streak includes a win in the Grade 2 Out of the City Handicap in New York his last time on the track.  That win for the frontrunning Time Healer shows that he has the ability to handle graded company, even if he doesn’t have as much experience as others in this race at the graded stakes level. 

Time Healer returns to the California track after a second place allowance race in June 2024.  Despite that second place finish he has won at this track prior to that last race at this track.  Owner zyx has Time Healer well placed for this race as he should be able to get to the lead early in the race.

Movie Starr

9-1

R Wilkinsonboro

Owner and breeder dragster chose sim favorite Medaglia D’Oro as the sire for this 5 year old horse. With sim mare Hollywood Starr (Empire Maker x Deputy Minister) completing the pedigree this horse certainly has the high end breeding to have success on the track.  However, Movie Starr is the only stakes winner from this sim mare.

Movie Starr is a veteran of Grade 1 races, this is his eighth Grade 1 race in his career.  He is a two time winner at this level.  His last race was a fourth place finish in the Grade 1 Movieland Shiny Cup, beaten by 2 lengths.  This is a race he won in 2024.  He will again be meeting several rivals from that race today.  Another common race was the Grade 1 Sand Castle Classic at the UAE track.  Today’s rival Bro Bro won that race while Movie Starr finished 12th in the 18 horse field. 

Mullioned Window

29-1

B McMurray

The lone filly in today’s race also has the longest odds.  Mullioned Window is the four year old daughter of sire Mandaloun.  Owner badenbaden tries this filly against open company for the second time in her career.  The other time was the worst race of her career, finishing 18th.  Though it is noteworthy that the race was on turf and that is clearly not a preferred surface.  Mullioned Window will try to keep close to the pace.  That was her strategy in her last race, the Grade 2 First State Distaff.  Mullioned Window made a mid-race move but could not catch the front running winner in the stretch.

Mullioned Window has a successful sim mare to complete her pedigree.  Kevorkian Calling (Ghostzapper x Malibu Moon) had a positive racing career that included a Grade 2 victory.  She is the sim mare to another Grade 2 winner, Kevorkian’s Blade.  This is Mullioned Window’s first try at the Grade 1 level.

Lorne Alibi

9-1

M Scott

Sim owner ygeldings04 brings the Grade 2 winning Lorne Alibi to another try at a Grade 1 victory.  This is Lorne Alibi’s third try at this level and first since a 12th place finish in the Sand Castle Classic, a race that saw Lorne Alibi face several others in today’s race.  Lorne Alibi has a tendency to fall far back and then rally at the end.  However, that style has not proved to be always successful.  Though he won the Grade 3 Premier after falling behind by over 14 lengths most of his success had been when staying closer to the pace. 

Sired by Authentic and from sim mare Outback Alibi (Curlin x Unbridled’s Song), Lorne Alibi looks to add another Grade 1 victory for offspring of Authentic.  The sim mare was lightly raced, only five races and she did not find the winners circle.  Lorne Alibi is the most successful of Outback Alibi’s offspring though there is another stakes winner from that sim mare.

Bro Bro

8-1

C Mecklenburg

Bro Bro enters the Western Ocean with the highest career earnings with over $4 million so far.  The Grade 1 winner will look to add to that total while taking on several rivals that he beat in the Sand Castle Classic at the UAE track.  That race started Bro Bro’s current two race win streak, and a streak of 4 wins in his last 5 starts.  The lone defeat was a fourth place finish in the Grade 1 California Handicap.  That race was his first try in a graded stakes race.  Expect Bro Bro to come from off the pace in this race.

Bro Bro, a five year old gelding, was bred by owner dixielcl2.  The son of Orb is from the sim mare Desert Cowgirl.  That horse had a successful career on the track before coming a sim mare.  She is a grade 2 winner and earned over one million dollars during her career.  She is the mom for eight sim racers and Bro Bro is the most successful of his half brothers and sisters. 

Before You Knew

12-1

J Wilson

This four year old colt, a scratch breeding with the pedigree Curlin x Danzig x AP Indy, enters the Western Ocean a winner in 7 of 13 career starts.  He has been running in longer races including the a go in the 2024 Breeders Bowl Dirt Marathon at 14 furlongs in 2024.  He was in the Sand Castle Derby with several rivals from that race appearing again today.  In the Sand Castle the front running  colt did not fire in the stretch to finish fourth.  Before You Knew also won a sim triple crown race, the New Yorker, in 2024.  Owner asrcurlin shortens distance in this race after fading in the stretch the last time out.  In that race, the Razorback Route at 14 furlongs, Before You Knew led from the start until faltering in the stretch to finish third.  The shorter distance and frontrunning style should suit Before You Knew in this field.

A P Indy Pharaoh

11-1

F Gossett

Owner and breeder dkstables30 enters A P Indy Pharaoh, a royally bred son of American Pharoah, into today’s race as his fifth straight try in graded stakes company.  With a pedigree of American Pharoah x AP Indy x Storm Cat A P Indy Pharaoh was destined for success on the track.  The first 14 races of his career were limited to races at the New York track.  Those races were at the maiden and allowance level of competition.  Then A P Indy Pharaoh began his journey in the graded stakes world,  which has been successful.  He boasts a win and two thirds in his graded race tries.  His last race was a third place finish in the Grade 2 Out of the City Handicap in New York, where he lost to todays rival Time Healer.  A P Indy Pharaoh’s graded stakes win was in the Grade 3 Waterloo Classic.  In that race he fell over 15 lengths behind before a furious charge led to a victory.  He beat another of today’s rivals, Lorne Alibi who finished second.  A P Indy Pharoah gets the California track’s top jockey, F Gossett, for today’s race.

Madikwe

15-1

A Jolly

Tribeca enters Madikwe to try Grade 1 company for the second time.  The first time at this level was the Movieland Shiny Cup where Madikwe finished eighth.  That was his most recent race but before that he won the Grade 3 Peach State Classic at ten furlongs, proving that he can handle today’s distance.  In his career, Madikwe has not started a race in which the distance was less than eight furlongs.  He has shown his best success by not falling too far off the pace, which is a strategy he should be able to employ in today’s race. 

The scratch breeding, Quality Road x Street Cry x Nijinsky II, has been running in stakes races since his two year old campaign.  He raced in three Bluegrass Hopeful stakes but was unable to win.  He then went on to allowance company, with a brief single race try in the Grade 2 Trial by Night Stakes, and had success which has led to the current series of graded stakes tries.

Burst of Bass

22-1

J Caves

Burst of Bass has had quite a year, from an ownership perspective.  Current owner, alibilane26, enters Burst of Bass for only the second time.  His previous owner ran Burst of Bass for two races and the original owner and breeder solitude had a successful run of several Grade 1 races including a win in last year’s Western Ocean race.  Burst of Bass’s form has declined in the changes of ownership.  His last race, a HOT allowance race, saw him finish second with a speed figure of 94.  He hasn’t run that low of an SP since 2023. 

Burst of Bass is sired by Maclean’s Music, a sire of several Grade 1 winners.  His sim mare, The Soulburst (Nureyev x Forty A Niner), was a Grade 2 winner in her racing career.  In her sim mare career she is the mom of four sim horses including two Grade 1 winners. 

Sweet Treasures

7-1

R Culp

Five year old Sweet Treasures began his career with a case of seconditis.  His two year old season saw three second place finishes until a maiden win in his first race as a three year old.  The stakes winner is still looking for his first grades stakes victory.  His last race was in the Movieland Shiny Cup where he led in the stretch before losing in the last few strides to finish second.  He finished ahead of several of today’s rivals in that race.  His two stakes win have been at 10 furlongs so he is able to win at today’s distance.

Owner Joker44 enters the son of Curlin in today’s race with hopes that he is able to hold a lead in the stretch.  The full pedigree of this horse is Curlin x Unbridled x Halo.  This breeding and his stakes victories suggest that he can hold on in grades stakes races too.

Sielewi

6-1

J Bradley

Betting favorite in today’s race, Sielewi, is another royally bred runner.  His pedigree, Into Mischief x AP Indy x Deputy Minister is about as good a sim pedigree as owner plano10 could want.  The sim mare, Lala Salama, had a successful racing career as a stakes winner in 23 career races.  She was even more successful as a sim mare with 3 graded stakes winners.  She has been a sim mare every year since 2013 and all of her offspring have won at least one race including 2025 two year old Haki.

Sielewi is a regular on the grades stakes circuit and this is his third try at the Grade 1 level.  He has met some of today’s rivals in previous races.  He lost to A P Indy Pharoah in the Grade 3 Waterloo, faced Shriveled Blue and winner Lorne Alibi in the Khartoum Challenge III at UAE.  He also lost to Final Otto (first) and A P Indy Pharoah (third) while finishing seventh and beating Lorne Alibi (ninth) in the Grade 1 Euro Dirt Classic Final.  He likes to come off the pace but stayed relatively close in his last race.  That race, the Grade 3 Day of Dominion, was a win for Sielewi.

Final Otto

10-1

F Oxon

Owner and breeder kaner12 sends Final Otto for another Grade 1 victory.  The son of War Front is from sim mare legend Otto Jones.  Otto Jones, a sim hall of famer (Storm Cat x Kingmambo), is a 23 year old mare who is ending her sim mare career with the aptly named Final Otto.  As a sim mare her progeny includes four Grade 1 winners and one End of Year sim champion. 

Otto Jones has won nine of his eighteen starts including the Euro Dirt Classic in 2024.  So far this year he has run only three times with a win in local allowance race in Kentucky.  His last race was a sixth place finish in the Grade 1 Movieland Shiny Cup.  His other 2025 start was the Grade 1 Sand Castle Classic where he finished 18th.  Though his speed figures have been good this year the five year old horse will look to come from off the pace.

Shriveled Blue

9-1

Q Cassell

Shriveled Blue, a four year old gelding from owner/breeder givendimestore, is another horse in this race that was sired by Into Mischief.  Blue Raisin (Bluegrass Cat x Smart Strike) is the sim mare.  In her racing career Blue Raisin was a stakes winner and placed in graded stakes.  Her only progeny is Shriveled Blue.

Shriveled Blue last raced in the Movieland Shiny Cup and finished ninth in the Grade 1 event.  He likes to be at the lead but was not fast enough to get an early lead in that race.  That race broke a three race winning streak for Shriveled Blue.  In his other graded stakes try, the Grade 2 Khartoum Challenge III, he was able to get a six length lead but could not hold on and finished fifth.  There is other speed in this race, such as Movieland speedster Sweet Treasures, in this race.  It will be a challenge for Shriveled Blue to get an unchallenged lead in today’s race.