Nell Gwyn Stakes

Having a weekend of 30 degrees that followed a weekend when one needed to work (i.e., gee the weather looks great out there, too bad I need to be in front of this computer and not enjoying it)  that was 80 degrees can put one in a sour and warped state of mind.  The sourness can be cured with a fire in the fireplace and a big bowl of ice cream (or a few shots of bourbon – pick your poison).  The warped mind, however, requires a little more effort and luck.  You understand, a twisted sense of reality isn’t always a bad thing, but it isn’t always a good thing either (especially when you are trying to explain say a simulated horse racing game to someone that doesn’t believe in computers, or racing horses.  ‘No, no, no, man – you don’t get it – I was up until 4 am this morning because I NEEDED to secure Curlin’s credit breeding rights for this week!!!  Wait! Where are you going?’).  So I turned to an old friend today instead of these so called ‘real’ people I deal with to get the weirdness out – I speak of course of the Black Type Bugler.

So here I find myself in drizzling (just can’t seem to find the good weather this weekend can I?) Newmarket, England to cover the running of the Grade III Nell Gwyn Stakes.  The race is for three year old fillies only ran seven furlongs in length over the green stuff (grass? turf?).  This misty weather has the track rated ‘good’ and a field of six runners is looking for sim glory and a piece of the 150,000 sim dollar purse.  Without much more ado, here are the posters (as in, those that shall be posting).

PP #1      PITSPALOO (KY)                                             haddock                                A. Craig                 6/1

Trainer haddock has done an admirable job of finding the short fields for this daughter of North Light (IRE).  PITSPALOO has not yet run against a full field and will continue this trend today starting from the first post of the six horse field.  Small fields aside, this brown filly has been showing some nice improvement in speeds recently including a win (over three other runners) in the FORTY SHOTS Special which was seven furlongs on turf with an off track (sound familiar?).  PITSPALOO will need to show that her last run over 7.5 furlongs was an aberration and continue improving on her best speed of 93 two races back.  What may be a help is this runner looks to be the only deep closer in the field and would certainly be the beneficiary of a pace collapse.

PP#2       BOSGREENRAINBOW (ENG)                      boble21                 Bo Edwards          6/1

From the trainer that brought us ‘SimMagic’ in years past, boble21 hopes his Green Desert daughter imparts some of her own magic today.  BOSGREENRAINBOW (which doesn’t make much sense to me – doesn’t this ‘Bo’ realize that a rainbow requires all colors of the spectrum in order to be a rainbow?  Only green defeats the ‘rainbowiness’ of it – and yes I invented a word, and am rambling) is one of three fillies that will most likely be racing for the front the instant the gates open.  And with most of our beloved sim runs, the front runner holding the lead at the half mark is normally the runner that has a shot at the win.  BOSGREENRAINBOW will need to at least replicate her last start (7f AWL win with a 91 speed) if not improve it if she is to place in this one.  This will be her first run in stakes company.

PP#3       RYUJIN (KY)                                                      jonsnow                 L. Anderson          5/2

RYUJIN’s sim-dam (or is she actually just the dam as both entities are simulated?), MOTHER OF DRAGONS, should actually be renamed Mother of Bad-Ass Sim Runners as her five babies include three grade winners, a stakes winner, and stakes placing RYUJIN.  With siblings like this and a super horse breeding line of Awesome Again x Storm Cat x Mr. Prospector, a win today would be considered expected in the DRAGON family.  To avoid being a sim-Fredo, trainer jonsnow’s  brown filly will look to break to the front and hold the lead to the wire.  A tactic that has been successful in two of her three lifetime turf starts.  This is RYUJIN’s second attempt at a stakes win with her last time out being a placing in The MOMMA DONE GOOD Special over 8f on the turf.  RYUJIN has yet to lose in a turf sprinting race.

PP#4       DESPIE’S GIFT (KY)                                       aa                           T. Cooper              4/1

What is this!?!?  Silverny hands out stakes placing horses and I am not aware of this because I have never received a stakes placing horse from silverny, nor have I received a maiden claiming also ran from dear silver.  Apparently desperado’s (aka aa, aka sheep) charm in the chat room is paying off with his entry of DESPIE’S GIFT.  This brown filly continues to improve her speed ratings (up to 93 her last time out) and will need for that to continue if she wants to hit the board.  A drop back to sprinting along with the off track may also be of assistance (besides the obvious of needing to only beat three other runners) in hitting said board.  DESPIE’S GIFT appears to be a lurker hanging just off of the lead and looking to secure the lead on win when the running really starts along the stretch.  This tactic almost worked two starts back in The STRAY BALL Special where she was passed by a hard closer (reading this PITSPALOO?) and ended up second.

PP #5      AWESOME DEPTH (JPN)                             seedly2                  A. Tuscha              7/2

Lurker number two in this race and a stakes winner (The REDSTORM ROCKET Special, 7f turf, 94 speed), AWESOME DEPTH looks to be a player for the win.  Of course with all that good (and I suspect being a runner closing in this race is good), there are some questions.  First, was that beating last race out, a ninth place 8.5 lengths back run in the GIII – Alec and Stephen Stakes, a sign of more to come (no), or because she was running against the boys (yes)?  Second, is trainer seedly2 even part of this planet (seriously, check out the master stable and the silks and you tell me), or possibly trapped in a warehouse in Area 51 with only a laptop and a wireless connection?  I believe.

PP #6      TOTUS TUUS (AUS)                                         lenny25                 J. Bradley              2/1

Hey look kids – it’s a lenny runner in a grades stakes race – and look again – the runner is the favorite.  In a sim rarity (read: sarcasm), TOTUS TUUS looks to continue the Evil Empire’s reign of terror over graded races far and wide (or face the wrath of lenny which I suspect for sim-runners is not getting a race bid for her, or worse yet, not getting a $10 sire to breed with upon retirement).  Alas, the pains and expectations of some of our sim runners may lead to some serious sim-animal-counseling (don’t laugh, I’m sure that’s the next step in our world of commerce – how many credits for my Theatrical runner to talk to a sim-counselor about insecurities regarding the runner’s dad and the hatred towards him on the message board lately?).  Whoa boy – now we’re just getting out of hand.  Anyhow, TOTUS TUSS is fast and will be leading the race at the half point.  The real question is whether the battle for the half point lead with BOSGREENRAINBOW and RYUJIN will take too much out of her when she hits the stretch.  If not, expect another romp ala The TURF CUTTER Stakes (7f turf, 99 speed).  For this brown filly’s metal well being, lets hope that will be the case.

If you’ve made it this far, save your sim-bucks and ignore everything that is to follow.  BOSGREENRAINBOW, RYUJIN, and TOTUS TUUS will three break for the front with DESPIE’S GIFT and AWESOME DEPTH watching the battle a few lengths behind.  TOTUS TUUS will be leading at the half point while her two friends will hit the wall and fall out of contention.  PITSPALOO will make a strong surge during the stretch, but will not be able to catch the top three of DEPIE’S GIFT (3^rd), TOTUS TUUS (2^nd), and AWESOME DEPTH (1^st) who will just catch TOTUS TUUS at the wire for the dramatic win (and years of sim-counseling for both TOTUS TUUS and RYUJIN – for the whole Fredo thing we talked about a while back.