Black Type Bugler

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Black Type Bugler

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Old Man Series – Vermont Version!

pazjazz

The Old Man of the Mountains Series IV – Race 2 Part 2
A mile on the Firm Turf Course
$50,000
All horses, 8 years old and up, Non-Winners of TWO within the last year

Okay, my week started with my assignments back at the BTB office, I was going to do a Graded race and pop on over to New Hampshire to watch the last race on the card, the OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN race, the second race in the fourth OMOTM Series. It was in New Hampshire for the first time because the VERMONT IS FOR LOVERS series was taking all of the slots in that card where it is usually run. LilBitFarms had informed me a while ago that there were going to be twenty horses in the race for the first time because of the big turnout last time but I figured I could probably handle that.

Then my editor mentioned that there had been some sort of computer error, (imagine that!!) and the Old Man race was actually carded in both Vermont AND New Hampshire!! Oh that shouldn’t be a problem I told her, “I WILL JUST CLONE MYSELF!!”

After she got me settled down a bit, we discussed this problem in a non-confrontational manner. (That’s what my counselor calls it anyway!) Of course we discussed it for hours and hours and finally called in some technological wonders that allowed me to watch one race in person while the other was jetting across my computer screen. In the end, the first race was just about over with only a couple of stragglers to finish before the second started so it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought. Anyway, I was able to do coverage of both races although I couldn’t possible do all 40 horses and I had to completely forget about the Graded race. I hope you enjoy the coverage and the series as much as I do!

If you don’t know about this great series, it started three 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 always proves to be great fun with grand old horses and usually the final race deciding the winner of the series. This year our host will be trainer Kelsobarn and the LilBitFarms Stables and their grand old horse, THREE WISE MEN 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 ( Well at least technically in Vermont!! ) , for a wonderful and truly fun series. This week we are running an eight year old NW of Two in the last year but that could change for the next race with either a win by our host. We have enough experience gathered in this race to probably eclipse the rest of the card at New Hampshire this weekend. It is always a fun series and a great opportunity for some of our elder statesmen. Amazingly, our host is the only returning horse with points in both categories so this series is wide open!

    The Leader Standings in the series:

  • P J LORD NELSON (Plunk5) 6 Points
  • DIABOLICAL PRINCE (Ruffino) 3 Points
  • THREE WISE MEN (Kelsobarn) 1 Point

    Sun Dial Standings in the series:

  • THE ARMS OF ORION (CMD2001) 6 Points
  • SON OF RABBIT (WnrsCircle) 3 Points
  • SKY WAHBIT II (Nineteen) 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!:

Usually I run down the entire field but with 40 horses entered across two States I am going to give you my idea of the Winners and the SunDial Winners for the race. Lets start with the top of the pack in order of finish:

12 – STRANGEDAYS INDEED ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
4/1Ruffino8 YRS 51 14 109 7 Back $328,248
Somebody forgot to tell this eight year old that you are supposed to slow down with age! He just ran off a streak of triple digit SPFs for the first time in his life and is looking like he found the fountain of youth sometime the beginning of 2007. He’s been running like a young pup ever since and trainer Ruffino just keeps him oiled up and ready to go. He shouldn’t be long for this series as another win will toss him out of the parameters but if he can stay on the board for a couple before winning he could run away and hide.

18 – STRIKE A BOUNDRY ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
5/1ARSPrize8 YRS 60 15 117 Last Out$1,085,216
It seems like every trainer ARSPrize is ready to figure that this old guy is ready to slow down he gets another spurt of 100+ SPFs. He has had three in a row in his past three outings and it looks like there is no stopping the million dollar winning geezer. He just isn’t ready to head out to pasture quite yet when he can kick up his heels and pal around with the young folks. There are no young folks here so he may just put his head down and head for the finish. Bad news for the rest of this field but there big hope is that he won’t really kick it in gear until after he hits the wire as he is used to running a mile or more and sometimes they forget when to kick it in gear at this age.

15 – OR NOT TWO PUNCH ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
7/1Decker9 YRS 54 20 115 4 Back$568,169
This grand old guy appears to have turned gray at a young age but is still frolicking around like a youngster. He reached the coveted twenty win mark a few back and should be ready to head back to the old horse home for lots of bingo and Wii Bowling but he keeps getting the old bones out here and showing the youngsters how to run. Now he may be showing a few oldsters how to get the job done. Trainer Decker watched him win Stake races late in his career and he would like to see it capped off by a win in this series. He’s had a long layoff to rest those bones and may be ready.

11 – ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
5/1SherwoodPK8 YRS 50 12 117 6 Back$491,581
We will see if there is enough Rocky Mountain High left in this guy to get out and run a quick sprint. He is much more used to a mile or more and sometimes these old guys can forget how far they are running and actually have a hard time putting it in gear in time. He has the legs to win this race but I’m just not sure he can get them going in time. Trainer SherwoodPK will have to wind him up and get him going. He will hit the finish line and just be getting ready to take off! He should do a great job catching the winner on the way to the circle!

10 – PRIVATE CAT TWO ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
8/1Redbullet58 YRS 42 11 115 7 Back$263,641
This will be the second race in the series for this cat like old guy. He finished fifth last time and looks to be somewhere in the same vicinity this race too. At this age, you don’t like to change your routine much so trainer Redbullet5 will have to convince him to run a bit faster a bit earlier if he wants to take a trophy back to the stable and impress the young fillies. He’s another one that takes a bit more real estate before he can get the old bones really moving. He might remember earlier this time after last race jogged his senile old memory last time out though.

Now we move on to the bottom of the pack, which in this series is almost as important as finishing in the front. There is a separate contest for the trailers and by the end of the series we have some horses that are really dragging. I’ve seen where the jockeys have to call on their cell phones to see how much farther it is the finish!! . Lets start with the back of the pack in reverse order of finish, so the the first shall be the last:

2 – DAKOTA CLAM ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED AVG SPEEDEARNINGS 99/1BKMagnum312 YRS 6 1 85 6 Back$12,985Clam is actually a good name for this old geezer as that is about how fast he runs! He apparently takes a while to recover too as amazingly, this is just his seventh race in a long twelve year old career. Now I can understand pacing yourself but six races in twelve years?!? Trainer BKMagnum3 will have his work cut out if he wants to motivate the old guy to run again in this series in four weeks. Maybe he could just run once each OMOTM series and get a lifetime award or something! He may finish a state and half behind the field so get your Sun Dials ready!

1 – CENTERFOLD SPARK ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
99/1Millview2011 YRS 37 5 100 20 Back$ 83,300
Here is an experienced lady that won a race back in the summer of Oh-three and has been looking for the winners circle again ever since. It doesn’t look like she will find it here even if she buys a GPS and a ticket because her past six races she’s finished a combined measure of over 200 lengths behind the winners. Those were sprint races too, if she ran a bunch of marathons they would have to use a computer to calculate her distance back! Trainer Millview20 has watched this old centerfold stumble around in all types of races though so he should be used to it if she pulls the caboose in this series.

20 – BEEF TOOTH ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
99/1Faeriebad10 YRS 53 2 97 21 Back$ 48,445
A glutton for punishment, this old guy is running in his third straight Old Man series and he was just a year too young for the first one or he would probably have shown his slowness in that series too! Trainer Faeriebad is practically famous for combing the Senior Citizen homes for an entry in this fine series and he has found a keeper in this grizzled old vet. He just keeps going and going but unfortunately he is more like “slowing and slowing”! They had better watch out though, his last race was one of his best… he ONLY finished a little over ten lengths back!

5 – BRATTICUS ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
99/1TheFred10 YRS 50 8 102 2 Back$ 304,727

Another old geezer that is in his third consecutive OMOTM series. It would be interesting to find out if there are any holdovers from the very first series four years ago as they would have to be twelve years old by now. This old roman actually contended in his first OMOTM race with a fourth place finish but that was two years and almost twenty races ago and a lot of water has run under the old bridge since then. Trainer TheFred actually watched this old guy win a race a couple back but that may be his quota for this year so he can keep those Social Security checks coming.

4 – WESTWIND II ODDS OWNER AGE RACES WINS TOP SPEED LAST WINEARNINGS
99/1Deeprock179 YRS 18 3 77 12 Back $9,227
Here is another ancient vet that seems to be pacing himself. He won three of five back in the end of 2002 then decided that if he was going to draw out his career he had better take it easy for a while. He has run a grand total of 18 races in 9 years so he really isn’t over extending himself. He is still looking for that next win some six years later and it doesn’t look like it is going to happen any time soon. Of course maybe he has been saving himself up and trainer Deeprock17 is ready to unlock all of that pent up energy. He ought to have enough left to carry him right through the Breeders Bowl!! There had better be a very strong west wind behind him all the way around the track for that to happen!

Morning Line = 12-11-18-15-10
Paz Picks = 12-18-15-11-10

It will certainly be interesting to see how this all works out with races at two tracks. Hopefully it will go back to just one next time as I can only split myself so far!! I might age myself a little with all of the running around I did this week. Anyway, it is always fun with these wheezers and geezers so I hope you enjoy it. Just bring a SunDial along with your stopwatch!

Good luck to all runners!

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

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