Results by Dodo mail this week

Race: The Bedford Stakes – Grade II – $250,000
Track: Ireland
4456.5914
We are at the Currragh for the Beresford Stakes this week. It is starting to get a better profile again in recent years. This is probably due to the high quality of horses in Ireland and the fact not so many of them are shipped to England so often to run as 2yo’s.
It is worth noting Aiden O’Brian has won this race 10 times since 1996. As for some of the past winners well we can go back to 1983 for a start.
Sadler’s Wells he has been the best sire over the past 20 years anywhere in the world only Danehill could run him close. There maybe is a new superstar to take their place now in the shape of Dubawi. He should be the best dam sire in the game and it is worrying that there are sires rated above him. Over the last 7 years he has sired 59 graded stakes winners and been the dam sire of 83 graded stakes winners. This puts him fourth on the sires list and second in the dam sire list (he will lead in a years time).
El Prado was only good as a 2yo and then sent to stud in America. He did well and now in his son Medaglia D’Oro has won of the best young sires in America. As a sire he has 20 graded stakes winner in the last 7 years and as dam sire he has 8 graded stakes winners.
Azamour has done well so far. His offspring are improving with age so he should do well with his older horses. He has four graded stakes winners from his first two crops and should get more. He should be capable of getting 4 winners per crop of 150 horses in the sim, as he has not covered massive books in real life. He will make a nice dam sire in time coming form a good Aga Khan family and having Night Shift as a sire.
Sea The Stars won this race in 2008 and Mike expressed his sim status. My personal view is Mike has over rated him slightly given the statistical evidence.
Casamento won this race this year and looks an interesting prospect the son of Shamardal seems bound to improve at three and could make up into a classic winner if not sent to Dubai. It is worth noting how well his sire has done and if it were not for Dubawi people would be going ape about him. It is worth saying Shamardal’s dam is a full sister to the best young sire in the USA Street Cry.

As for the pedigrees of the horses that ran in the race this year they are as follows: –

Shamardal-Always Fair-Sassafras
Azamour-Mujtahid-Caucasus
Galileo-Last Tycoon-Royal And Regal
Storm Cat-Rubiano-Forli
Medicean-Lake Coniston-Realm
Invincible Spirit-Mozart-Nordico
Singspiel-Danzig-Nashwan

As per usual a pretty divers group of stallions in the pedigree’s of the runners.

The make up for this field is interesting. It would suggest Mike has made considerable effort adjust how sires perform in the sim with regards to surface and how they develop. This has to be a good thing and deserves a lot of credit. It will be interesting to see how these Australian horses do at a mile my guess is many are now going to be speedsters which they excel at in real life.

My personal view is to make regional racing more exciting two and three year old races should be hemisphere restricted as they are in real life. It would make players consider they’re breeding strategies even more.

MRS. IACOCCA (AUS) SEBRING (AUS) x SKY MESA x DANZIG

First off strange name for a male horse! This horses sire was a good 2yo in Australia. He won the top 2yo the Golden Slipper and was trained by the English born Gai Waterhouse. I cannot find he ran past the age of two though. If that is the case then he offers not a lot at stud based on the records of many horses who retired with a similar racing profile. Think Vindication for an example (his real life record sucked). This horse is bred for speed and on paper would struggle to stay the mile. As with many Australian horses he is inbred to Danzig. His overall record is very good. He is graded placed three times. The evidence suggests he is more of a sprinter though. He has the class and ability to carry himself to the frame once again.

DISTINGUISHED TED (FL) WITH DISTINCTION x KINGMAMBO x BROTO

This horse has no place in a turf sprint of this class. The number of top class international turf horse bred in Florida in the last 20 years can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare. More importantly outside of the USA these horses in terms of top class can be counted on the fingers of no hands. That’s right a big fat zero. This horses race record suggest he is no better than a 25 point sire and in terms of siring top class turf runners he is a 5 point sire. He only one a grade 3 race and has to be rated below the likes of Boogie Street in terms of ability as a sire in the game. It is blatantly not the case. This though is a good horse that has won at graded level already on the turf. His worse run was over 7f and he looks a pure sprinter to be honest with you. He is more than capable of holding his own in graded races but it would appear that this trip is beyond his best and he will be over looked for selection here.

HAVOC ANGEL (IRE) HIGH CHAPARRAL (IRE) x GREAT PYRAMID (IRE) x STORM CAT

This horses sire has been doing well at stud. He interestingly is doing far better in Australia than in Europe. He ahs 7 graded winners in 2010 which puts him in the top 20 sires in the world in terms of graded winners. This horse improved on his last start with a maiden win over 8f. That is the good news he stays the trip. His speed figures are not massive and he needs considerable improvement here. He also is unknown in terms of class and that is a big negative but some horses do jump straight into graded races most do not. Overall he looks to have the odds stacked against him.

HARDIHOOD (AUS) SEBRING (AUS) x JOHANNESBURG x UNBRIDLED

Another horse by this sire it may be he is just the sire of early sorts as on the evidence at hand e does not strike as being a sire of top class horses that improve with age. This horse falls into the category even more with Johannesburg as his dam sire. This horse has done well so far. He was just beaten on an off track last time over 8f. It looks like he may have got out stayed that day. The firm turf should therefore help. He has obvious place claims the only doubt being the jump to graded class which can find some horses out.

ZUCCHINI (AUS) LONHRO (AUS) x MONTJEU (IRE) x DANEHILL DANCER (IRE)

This horse has all the right factors to be high class on turf. A great high quality back end with a sire that was a tough race horse and is doing well at stud. Lonhro has 6 graded winners in 2010 which puts him in the top 50 sires in the world. He should get progeny that progress like he did and stay beyond a mile he has a lot more to offer than Sebring. This horse has a good record so far and has proven his class at graded level. The drop back to 6f last time was against him. He looks like he will appreciate and appears to have an excellent chance in this race.

BLAST OFFF (AUS) NORTHERN METEOR (AUS) x AGNES TACHYON JPN) x FLYING SPUR (AUS)

This sire like Sebring seems to be one of those sires that is likely to get 2yo’s that do not really progress very well over time. He has done very well in the sim so far. How is progeny fair as they get older may tell a different story. That being said this horse has done very well so far. He has won his last three races including at grade 1 level last time. He looks like the extra distance will not be a problem for him either. He has all the right components in place to run another good race here.

SAN JACINTO (KY) GIANT’S CAUSEWAY x STREET CRY (IRE) x DANZIG

Giant’s Causeway has done very well at stud but there are plenty of negative vibes about him now. He has onlyhad 6 graded winners in 2010. Coolmore did not have 2yo’s by him with O’Brian this year. He also only managed 15th on the list of sires in terms of average at the recent Keeneland sales behind Mr Greeley! Nothing indicates the future is bright for this sire and he was and is overrated in the sim a reduction of around 33% in terms of ability is not unfair given all the statistical evidence. All that being said this horse is unbeaten. He is a graded winner as well so class is not an issue. The trip may well be though. The back end lacks stamina for European turf racing you would suspect the dam was a 7f horse a mile at best. Giant’s Causeway will add a little but his stamina index relies heavily on broodmare sires with laden stamina and most do not stay as well as would be expected. This being the sim I do not see an issue and this horse must have place claims here.

As for my selections:-

1 Zucchini
2 San Jacinto
3 Blast Offf