“This methodology\u00a0allows that everyone knows the key races [that] they can win to gain entry into the sim’s biggest 3 year old event,” Billgulch said in a Sunday message board announcement.<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>The Derby field itself\u00a0is\u00a0limited to 20 horses.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>New Bluegrass Derby Draw-in Procedure<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/DIV>
- Winners of\u00a08 particular races receive automatic entry <\/FONT>
- Remaining 12 (or 12+) horses based on their accumulation of\u00a0stakes points\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/LI><\/UL>
If a horse(s) wins multiple Derby Lock Preps, then additional slots open up for horses based on their accumulation of stakes points.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>The old Derby draw-in procedure mirrored the Sim’s usual stakes points format.\u00a0 Those 20 horses drew in on their accumulation of stakes points.<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Tweaks To Triple Jewel Procedure<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Additionally, the top 3 finishers in both the Bluegrass Derby and\u00a0Middle Jewel receive automatic entry in the following Sim Triple Jewel race(s).<\/FONT><\/DIV>
- Bluegrass Derby 1st, 2nd, or 3rd = automatic entry in Middle Jewel & New Yorker <\/FONT>
- Middle Jewel 1st, 2nd, or 3rd = automatic entry in New Yorker<\/FONT><\/LI><\/UL>
The remaining entry spots in both Middle Jewel and New Yorker races will go to horses with the highest\u00a0accumulation of stakes points.\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Derby Lock Preps Highlights<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/DIV>
- Louisiana Derby renamed “All Saints Derby” <\/FONT><\/LI>
- Sand Castle Derby no longer part of Sand Castle Festival card\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/LI>
- Florida Derby moves from mid-March to late March\u00a0\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/LI>
- Chicago Derby returns to Derby trail after 2 year absence<\/FONT><\/LI>
- Arkansas Juvenile, Corkscrew Stakes\u00a0move from March to April<\/FONT><\/LI>
- California Derby, Wooden Indian\u00a0remain unchanged<\/FONT><\/LI><\/UL>
Scroll down page for complete schedule!\u00a0\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>A Brief History of the Sim Triple Jewel<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>The game itself began in late summer, 1998.\u00a0 The inaugural Breeders Bowl concluded this short season.\u00a0 The Sim Triple Jewel story then commenced\u00a0in the spring of 1999.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Forever known as the Sim’s Aristides, mpm12’s Pharrun Prospect<\/A><\/STRONG> won that first Bluegrass Derby.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Billg51’s Gatling Prospector<\/A><\/STRONG> and elnop’s Senior Dancer<\/A><\/STRONG> (who finished 2nd and 4th respectively in Pharrun Prospect’s Derby) provided a three-way Triple Jewel split when they went on to win the Middle Jewel and New Yorker.\u00a0\u00a0 The popular Gatling Prospector eventually took the 1999 3yo championship, winning the first-ever Sim Eclipse Award Horse of the Year title.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>An exciting duo of Triple Jewel contenders followed.\u00a0\u00a0 Fleurdelis’ former claimer and rags-to-riches Down The Jazz<\/A><\/STRONG> was the\u00a0first to win the\u00a0Derby-Middle Jewel double in 2000.\u00a0\u00a0 Capeside’s highly-regarded <\/FONT>Buda With The Slew<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/A> repeated the\u00a0sweep in 2001.\u00a0\u00a0 However, both went down to defeat in their New Yorkers.\u00a0 Mcjonny’s Fit Groom<\/A><\/STRONG> brought Down The Jazz’s Cinderella story to an end.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dirty Mat<\/A><\/STRONG> won a speedster’s duel over tired also-ran Buda With The Slew.\u00a0\u00a0 Dirty Mat set the New Yorker stakes record in 2:30 4\/5.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Buda With The Slew was a proverbial Sim superman in early 2001.\u00a0\u00a0 The colt had captured the previous year’s Sim Eclipse Award\u00a0for Champion 2yo Colt.\u00a0 In 2002, the next 2yo colt champ <\/FONT>Tower Storm<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/A> followed a near-similar path.\u00a0\u00a0 Lonespeed’s Tower Storm advanced naturally\u00a0from champion to prep trail sizzler and onward to Bluegrass Derby IV conqueror.\u00a0\u00a0 The colt ran the fastest\u00a0Bluegrass Derby ever too, completing the 10 furlongs in 2:01 flat.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Indeed, both Tower Storm and\u00a0Bluegrass Derby runner-up Unbridled Fury<\/A><\/STRONG> set a stakes record again two weeks later in the Middle Jewel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Saver’s Unbridled Fury though got the best of rival in 1:53 4\/5 for the 9.5 furlongs, vindicating his legions of fans.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With no Triple Jewel possible, lonespeed decided to\u00a0bench Tower Storm.\u00a0\u00a0 Unbridled Fury went on to finish a distant 3rd in the New Yorker.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Instead, a special\u00a0story completed the 2002 Triple Jewel when\u00a0brew’s <\/FONT>All Lit Up(AUS)<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/A> became the talk of the game’s Aussie and Kiwi community.\u00a0\u00a0 The colt came out of nowhere, enjoying the 12 furlongs at a huge $25+ price.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Despite their losses, Down The Jazz, Buda With The Slew and Tower Storm all won their 3yo championship titles.\u00a0 Only one more Triple Jewel colt would capture the Sim Eclipse Award for Champion 3yo Colt\u00a0prior to the Awards’ new format in 2006.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV>And he was the lucky charm too —\u00a0indy’s then-unknown I Seek U<\/A><\/STRONG> barely drew into the 2003 Bluegrass Derby.\u00a0\u00a0The late-bloomer’s legend though gained whirlwind steam after he crushed the Derby field, tacked on the Middle Jewel and postively inhaled the New Yorker.\u00a0\u00a0 The eventual Sim Hall\u00a0of Famer\u00a0is the game’s first and only Triple Jewel champion.\u00a0\u00a0 He was Sim Horse of the Year in 2003.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>2004 and 2005 saw plenty of drama in the 3yo dirt division, but the rise of the 3yo turf\u00a0monsters Sunnybank Memorial and Horseshoe Bay kept them from championship titles.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of the game’s most successful trainers, Theatrical, mildly surprised the 2004 Derby with Granhee<\/A><\/STRONG>.\u00a0\u00a0 Like Pharrun Prospect\u00a0five years prior, Granhee didn’t win a heckuva lot afterwards.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ladysierra’s much-beloved Tuff Enuff<\/A><\/STRONG> became the first to sweep the Middle Jewel and New Yorker.\u00a0\u00a0 Tuff Enuff also joined Gatling Prospector as the only Triple Jewel\u00a0race winners who went on to\u00a0capture the Breeders Bowl Classic.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>2005 saw the\u00a03rd three-way Triple Jewel split.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Anticosti<\/A><\/STRONG> translated his red-hot prep races into an impressive Derby trophy for champions4.\u00a0\u00a0However, the Derby hero\u00a0bypassed\u00a0the rest of the Triple Jewel in hopes to avoid wear & tear.\u00a0\u00a0 This was the biggest controversy since Down The Jazz used a turf marathon as his final prep race for the 2000 Derby.\u00a0\u00a0 Anticosti did win a race later on that summer, but never recovered his old springtime\u00a0form.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Instead,\u00a0gg’s Fly For Buda<\/A><\/STRONG> rebounded from his 3rd-place Derby finish to romp in the Middle Jewel, but got nipped at the wire by louisville’s fresh-faced\u00a0Macho Niner<\/A><\/STRONG> in the New Yorker.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Finally, super7’s Virtuoso<\/A><\/STRONG> made Triple Jewel history in 2006 when he became the first\u00a0to win the Derby-New Yorker double.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ydrbargain’s New Found Cyclone<\/A><\/STRONG> spoiled\u00a0Virtuoso’s Triple Jewel, winning\u00a0at Maryland.\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Victory, heartbreak,\u00a0controversy, and one penultimate legend.\u00a0\u00a0 For\u00a0eight wonderful\u00a0years,\u00a0the Sim Triple Jewel\u00a0dominates the game’s springtime.\u00a0\u00a0Who will join these 18 horses and\u00a0this ongoing tale in 2007?\u00a0\u00a0 As always, to be continued…….\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Good luck to all in the new year!\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Author’s Notes:<\/EM>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pharrun Prospect’s 1999 Bluegrass Derby field was limited to just 12 horses.\u00a0 This field limit continued the following year until it was permanently elevated to the current 20 horse field in 2001.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Additionally,\u00a0career earnings determined the\u00a0field\u00a0in 1999.\u00a0\u00a0 A stakes points system\u00a0did not yet exist.\u00a0\u00a0 A rudimentary ratings system that combined earnings and stakes level finishes was implemented and revised through the following years until the current stakes point format was perfected\u00a0a few years ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>IMO,\u00a0all bets are NOT off with the new 2007 format.\u00a0 You still must accumulate stakes points to grab one of the remaining 12 (or 12+)\u00a0spots.\u00a0\u00a0I wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket, relying\u00a0on winning one of those 8 races.\u00a0\u00a0Good luck!\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>\u00a0\u00a0<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Complete Derby Lock Preps Schedule<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT>\u00a0<\/DIV>Date: 3\/31\/2007 (Week 3154 )<\/B><\/FONT>
<\/FONT><\/SPAN>Race : All Saints Derby — Derby Lock Prep<\/B> – Grade II – $500,000
Track : Louisiana
Restrictions : All horses, 3 years old
Distance : A mile and one sixteenth on the Dirt<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>\u00a0<\/DIV><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT>Date: 3\/31\/2007 (Week 3175 )<\/B><\/FONT>
<\/FONT><\/SPAN>Race : Sand Castle Derby — Derby Lock Prep<\/B> – Grade I – $500,000
Track : Dubai
Restrictions : All horses, 3 years old
Distance : A mile and one eighth on the Dirt<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>