{"id":25990,"date":"2014-10-29T18:27:56","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T23:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=25990"},"modified":"2014-10-29T18:27:56","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T23:27:56","slug":"breeders-bowl-notebook-no-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=25990","title":{"rendered":"Breeders’ Bowl Notebook No. 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ITCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

There must be something about this game.<\/p>\n

Players are willing to keep at it year after year, sometimes waiting significant portions of their lives before they get a horse good enough to run in one of the Sim’s biggest races.<\/p>\n

Then comes that magic moment.<\/p>\n

For longtime Simmers Ivan and Claudio<\/em>, that moment is now: Breeders Bowl 2014<\/p>\n

This was the lead I wrote a few days ago for my last notebook of the season.<\/p>\n

Since then, our story has gone from heartwarming to heartbreaking.<\/p>\n

While the gig is still on for Claudio, aka Newmarket, a stunning cruel twist of fate has seen Ivan’s horse bumped from its race.<\/p>\n

When he sent me a PM, Ivan (put an accent over the A) had AYUNTAMIENTO<\/strong> entered in the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Turf. He was qualified No. 13 at the time.<\/p>\n

“I’m hoping I don’t get bumped from now until closing of entries,” Ivan so accurately foretold. “Definitely this will be the highlight of my training career in the Sim and also my first Grade 1 win if in fact Ayuntamiento wins it.”<\/p>\n

Alas, Ayuntamiento did get bumped. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Ivan had somewhere else important he could go with the horse. It just so happens there is a Grade 1 turf race for 2yos at Surrey this week. If Ivan can win his first Grade 1 this week, that would be a heck of a consolation prize for missing the Breeders’ Bowl.<\/p>\n

In fact, it just may be that getting bumped from the BB might turn out to be a blessing in disguise with this horse. While it’s hard to miss the Breeders’ Bowl with a horse that is a perfect 4-4, Ayuntamiento goes from an extremely difficult race in which he would have qualified near the bottom, to a much more likely spot for which he’s currently qualified first. The race in Surrey will pay the same Grade 1 points as the Breeders’ Bowl race, and be far more easily attained.<\/p>\n

Of course, Ivan does not need this writer to help with his Sim attitude. He’s already bounced back, as evidenced by his second PM.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately I have been bumped out of the race, so no BB for me … yet.”<\/p>\n

Yes!<\/p>\n

The man says “yet.”<\/p>\n

He’s not giving up!<\/p>\n

“I am a very humble trainer, not with the financial resources of other trainers,” Ivan had explained in his first PM, “but with a passion for the game and horseracing in general.”<\/p>\n

Truly inspirational, Ivan, and good luck in the Grade 1.<\/p>\n

Coincentally, Claudio’s story also revolves around the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Turf. His J.G. BALLARD<\/strong>, a 2yo bay son of the English sire Acclamation, has qualified for the race from which Ivan’s colt was bumped.<\/p>\n

J.G. Ballard has raced his way into the Breeders’ Bowl via two second-place runs in Grade I races going six furlongs. He’ll stretch all the way out to a mile in the BB, racing two turns for the first time in his brief career. Look for J.G. Ballard to be a pace factor in the Juvenile Turf. The horse has been showing speed at sprint distances in Grade I company.<\/p>\n

“Probably I will be stretching his stamina too much,” Claudio admitted, “but after two second places on strongly run Grade 1s, I will go for it.”<\/p>\n

It’s been a huge year for Claudio. Earlier in 2014, he also made some memories in Equinics.<\/p>\n

“This year I had my first runners in Equinics, and my first Equinics winner, DALHAM HALL<\/strong>. So, I’m looking for another first-time memory to tell my grandsons,” he said.<\/p>\n

Dalham Hall is a 3yo bay daughter of Galileo who has earned more than $1.5 million in winning six of her first 11 starts. She ran in four straight Grade 1 races from Equinics in February to the United Oaks in July. All three of her runs at a flat mile were outstanding, including her triumph in the Grade 1 Equinics-Nobody’s Perfect. Dalham Hall also backed that up with another score in the Grade 1 Irish 1000 Guineas. She’s No. 2 in the 3yo filly turf route division, and is entered to run on Nov. 9 in a Grade 2 in New Zealand at her favorite distance of a flat mile.<\/p>\n

Before then, Claudio will be cheering for J.G. Ballard in the Breeders’ Bowl. It’s his first Breeders’ Bowl runner since 2001!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ITCH There must be something about this game. Players are willing to keep at it year after year, sometimes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25990"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26017,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25990\/revisions\/26017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}