{"id":44260,"date":"2018-02-21T19:54:25","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T00:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=44260"},"modified":"2018-02-21T19:54:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T00:54:25","slug":"i-wont-look-back-forward-to-the-wire-equinics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=44260","title":{"rendered":"I Won’t Look Back (forward to the wire!) Equinics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we take a look at one of the premier races of Equinics, the 10 furlong classic distance on the dirt named this year for I Won\u2019t Look Back<\/strong>. A son of Malibu Moon, I Won\u2019t Look Back won over $10 million in earnings while taking trophies from some of the most prestigious races in the World including the Breeder\u2019s Bowl Classic, the Sand Castle Classic and the New Yorker. An Equinics win in this race will be a career highlight for any one of these 14 runners showering both the owner and residency in prestige that will last for years. Don’t look back now, the wire is coming up,\u00a0 you’re tired, just a furlong to go, who is that coming on your flank, just keep driving, a couple more strides, don’t look back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Universal Racing Club sends out Carl\u2019s Shameless<\/strong>, last years Bluegrass Derby winner. A son of Shamardal with a draft sexy back end of Unbridled x AP Indy, Carl has $5.4 million in earnings and six wins from eighteen starts. The bad news is that Carl has not won a race since the Bluegrass Derby. The good news is that it is the start of a new year so he might have a chance to get started again. His fastest SF is the 111 he ran in the Travers which was good enough for a 2nd place finish. Since the Travers he has finished 6th, 9th and 5th in stakes then was dropped to allowance company where he has run 3rd and 2nd. He prepped at a nice distance for this race running at 9.5f prior to the I Won\u2019t Look Back and should be prepped to run his best. That best is unlikely to be good enough however considering he will need to run a 115+ to win this race and it seems unlikely he will break his losing streak against this group. Nevertheless, he is a Bluegrass Derby winner and you never know what he could do. Win or lose trainer plugger still has a Derby winner and a chance to represent his residency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blazing Saddles enters the 6 yo veteran son of Deep Impact, Biggest Impact<\/strong>. Biggest Impact has nine wins from twenty-five starts and has career earnings just under $6 million. Biggest Impact won the Breeders Bowl Classic last season which was his first (and only) G1 win. A G1 win against a field of 20 however cannot be taken lightly. Biggest Impact is certainly capable of posting huge SF putting up a pair of 118s, a 117, a couple 116s and so on. He ran 7th in the Jockey Club Gold Cup prior to winning the BB Classic so we can\u2019t judge a lot from his prior race coming into here which like Carl was also an allowance, which he also lost. Biggest Impact hit the notorious 25 race mark last time out and I wonder whether he has the juice left to win a race of this calibre. Trainer lsicrew has the horse who can do it on the right day. Bettors and supporters will have big race wins on the side of both Carl\u2019s Shameless and Biggest Impact and will have to hope the allowance prep losses were not an indication of performance Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Empire State Racing sends out The Electric City<\/strong>, a 5 yo son of Tapit who, like the previous two horses, has also earned over $5 million dollars on the track. He has only 6 wins from 24 starts but two of those were huge wins in the Sand Castle Classic and the Big Cap, both G1s at this distance. He posted a Ghostzapper like 123 SF in Dubai and has hit 118 twice which means he is plenty fast. Two races back Electric City ran a 117 closing at 9f so he can certainly rise up and throw a big number. His back end is Dynaformer x Storm Cat which gives him the perfect combination of speed and stamina. The downside is that he hasn\u2019t won in 9 months, his last win coming in that Sand Castle Classic. Trainer ticketman will hope to get one last monster race from him. All three of our initial entries carry the same promise and risks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elite racing sends out Tactical Task<\/strong> a lightly raced 4yo son of City Zip who has won half of his 12 career starts. Unlike the first three colts, Tactical is a scratch bred being bred out of an Encosta de lago x Unbridled\u2019s Song mare. Tactical Task has never won a graded race but he looks like he is peaking and primed to run a big race. He has won 6 of his last 8 races including a 3+ length blow out in an open 10f stakes prior to this event. That race took place on 12\/03 of last year so this will be lengthy layoff without a prep race which can go either way. Tactical Task has tried graded company once and finished 2nd in a G2 at 10f. Has run four straight times at 10f. I would have liked to see him prep for this race at 9, 9.5 or 11 but trainer claimerz3 has had success following his formula and you can see the results.<\/span><\/p>\n

EWC send out the tyedye colt Off the Sheet Bulb<\/strong>, a son of Dalakhani who has scored 5 wins in 17 starts over his four years. He is a stakes winner at 10f on the dirt in open company where he posted a 115 SF, a number he equaled last time out in a 2nd place finish at 11.5f. Losing on a 115 at 11.5 (in a 6 horse field) will drive anyone crazy but I think it was a great distance to prep this horse at. He should be set up for a big race this weekend. The red flag (a theme with all the runners in this race) to be wary of is the 7th place finish Off the Sheet registered in his only try at graded company. That 7th (and 100 SF) was sandwiched between a 3 of 4 winning streak so I tend to think it was the class instead of a bad break. Nevertheless the horse has run 115 twice and has been prepped well so he will give the best effort he can in the race.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lenny and the GR Simsters have chosen Nuka Deathmarch<\/strong> to compete in this race. Nuka is a late blooming Hussonet colt who had won 3 of his last 4 races prior to running 5th in the Pegasus Cup. Included in those victories was a G1 score in the 9f Japan Dirt Cup where he recorded a career high 117 SF. Nuka has shown admirable consistency running 110+ in his last six races. With 5 wins in only 10 career starts (and only one off the board finish) Nuke looks like a colt on the rise and must be considered a tremendous threat in this race. He has never run at 10f, having run at 9 in his last six races. He was closing in the Pegasus Cup and has given every indication that he will relish 10 furlongs. Nuka is the second scratch bred in this race being out of a Deputy Minister mare.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shamoline Rock<\/strong> will represent All-Stars Racing and trainer simroscoe. The five your old son of Shamoline Warrior is the first non-millionaire in the field we have examined. This is not to say the horse doesn\u2019t have talent. He has won two straight in impressive fashion – a perfect prep at 11f in which he crushed the field by 4 and prior to that an open stakes win at 10 with a career high 118 SF. In fact Shamoline Rock has won 5 of 6 races three of them being stakes. His only defeat during this stretch was a commendable 3rd place finish in the G1 Monster Mash at 14f. So the horse is hot, he is fast, he can handle graded company and he looks to have been prepped very well for this race? A serious threat in this race. Shamoline Rock will also be the betting favorite of all those looking for an underdog as he has made the most of a pedigree, Shamoline Warrior x Red Bullet, which few would have predicted would be this successful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Midas and almaarad sends out Long White Snow<\/strong> who really intrigues me for a couple of reasons. First he is out of the the G1 winning mare Priestess of Helm and I am a big fan of the Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons and Dragons setting. Helm you may have guessed is a god. Priestess of Helm has thrown mostly claimers in her career being relatively unsuccessful as a broodmare until she produced Long White Snow, her 9th runner and only black type winner. The sire of Long White Snow, Sydney\u2019s Candy, had success where big name stallions such as El Prado, Curlin, Arch and Galileo did not. Priestess of Helm has a gorgeous pedigree of Seattle Slew x Nureyev, why did it work with Sydney\u2019s Candy and no one else? It is these type of questions that fascinate me as a student of pedigrees. The only thing that stands out to me in the pedigree that I don\u2019t see often is a 5×5 inbreeding to the mare Alanesian. She is by Polynesian out of a Blue Larkspur mare (who is a a huge deal in breeding circles). For unsolicited advice I would suggest a More Than ready breeding for her 20th, and final, next season. Long White Snow has some excellent close but not quite winner circle performances in his last three G1 efforts including a 3rd in the Breeders Bowl Classic and a 2nd in the Jockey Gold Cup. It would not be surprising to see it all come together Saturday for the win. With 8 wins from 18 starts a win in this race would be a career highlight for Long White Snow.<\/span><\/p>\n

The entry for Sim Hispano is Principito<\/strong> a scratch bred 6yo colt by Street Cry out of an Unbridled x Halo mare. He has 8 wins from 18 starts and is a stakes winner at this distance where he posted his career high SF with a 117. Principito ran in the last Equinics in 2016 competing at 12f that day and finishing a respectable 6th out of 17 runners. As such, he one of only two horses in this field with previous Equinics experience so he knows what it takes to represent his residency. Trainer argentino used a HOT race to prep for this which has often proved a springboard to fast times. Going from 13 furlongs two back to a HOT prep 10 (and an easy win) to a G1 10 seems like the SIM will like it and I expect a good race from Principito. He has never won a graded race although he has been competitive at this distance in G3 company. He will be in the mix and may surprise if he runs huge which is possible considering his only has 18 career starts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ydracing sends out what, on paper, looks to be the longest shot in the field in lightly raced 4yo gelding (the only one in the field) Fighting Naitanui.<\/strong> Racing HQ will hope the son of Fighting Sun can rely on his stout back end of Malibu Moon x Sadler\u2019s Wells to pick up some points in this race. Fighting N has the distinction of being claimed twice in his brief career and it is a tremendous accomplishment for this horse to make it to this race. After three lackluster starts on the turf, he was claimed for 20K (a MC race he won). His new owner then dropped him down into a 3K race where he lost but posted a 93 SF which was a jump of 21 over his previous high of 71. This was also his first route and first dirt race. For some reason, the new trainer ignored the positive signs and entered him in another 3K race where to no surprise he was claimed for a second time. Argentino then gelded the horse and put him into allowance company where has a thrived running five straight 100+ SF winning three times and finishing second twice. This will be his first stakes race and the first time he will run 10 f. He has gotten better with distance and it is certainly possible he is best at 9 to 10 furlongs. The horses he will be facing today may be well over his head but that takes nothing away from this horse who has turned his SIM career around through a good claim and good training. Great story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Minnesota Testbarn has entered the fastracing trained five year old Charisseisawesome<\/strong> who I am just going to call C. The son of Awesome Again is out of the SW mare Charisse\u2019s Hope who has only one runner, C, which is a bit odd since C is a G3 winner and Charisse\u2019s Hope has not been bred since 2015. C scored his G3 at 9f last year in the National Rider Cup where he posted a 116 SF. Like Principito, C represented his residency in the 2016 Equinics, running in the 10f Classic race that year as well. He finished a closing 5th out of 19 runners that day so he too has shown some moxy and ability to compete on this stage with residency pride on the line. Further sweetening the pot is the fact that C has won his last three races including the Minnesota Testbarn Residency Classic where he posted a 117 SF at 10f. A blue blood pedigree, a three race winning streak, fast SFs, and prior experience in the Equinics all add up to a very attractive horse to bet on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ever idyllic sounding Pastures of Green have entered Dynamic Majesty<\/strong>. The mightyforego has done something I have failed miserably at in the SIM and that is getting a G1 winner from AP Indy son Majestic Warrior. With an imposing name and an imposing size (one would assume being from a Curlin x Dynaformer mare) Dynamic Majesty has won 7 of his 15 career starts and has plenty of graded experience. He won the G1 Westward at this distance as a 3yo then followed that up with a 2nd also in G1 at 10 showing the sort of consistency you want out of top end runner. He didn\u2019t fare great in the Breeder\u2019s Bowl Classic running 13th but that was his first try against older so he likely learned a lot from the race. Putting that experience to good use he went out and defeated older horses next time out in the G3 9.5f Queen of the County. He finished a closing 8th in a G2 in his season debut also at 9.5f so he should be ready and willing to go 10 this Saturday which seems his preferred distance. The only question one might have is that he hasn\u2019t show the top end SF of some of the others here. His best time is a 112 SF which won\u2019t get it done here but we have every reason to believe he could progress going into his 4yo old season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maternal Ghost<\/strong> trained by tisgold will be wearing the colors of NWRC. Out of a G2 winning Kingmambo mare, the son of Materiality has 4 wins from his 13 races. He has finished 10th and 8th leading into this race so he faces an enormous challenge. However, Materiality is a son of Afleet Alex and there are very few horses who had more grit than Alex. It will be a real long shot for Maternal Ghost to pick up a paycheck but he has the lineage where on any any given saturday you can never be sure what will happen.<\/span>
\n Megalopolis will be sending out the 5yo Uncle Mo son Space Traveller<\/strong> and like NWRC they will be hoping for a huge upset. With 3 wins from 17 starts Space Traveller (cool name) will likely be the longest odds on the board (I am writing this before the odds are out). Scratch bred by cvbear and trained by typecast this horse actually won by 7 lengths at 16 furlongs and I think that long 2 mile zone might be where he could make some cash. He will be up against it here but it\u2019s nice to see an Uncle Mo representing. Has run a 114 before so if you think lighting will strike\u2026..<\/span><\/p>\n

Pedigree check – to recap Stallions represented in this field are broken down into all four categories Expensive, Mid-Range, Low Range, Bargain. Note this is not a reflection on stallion ability but on price points for breeding. <\/span><\/p>\n

Expensive: Street Cry, Uncle Mo, Deep Impact, Tapit, Awesome Again<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Mid-Range:\u00a0City Zip, Shamardal<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Low-Range:\u00a0Hussonet, Dalakhani, Sydney’s Candy, Majestic Warrior<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Bargain:\u00a0Shamoline Warrior, Materiality, Fighting Sun<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pretty consistent mix between all four categories isn’t there? It shows you can get a horse from a variety of ways and are really only limited by your imagination and dreams (and perhaps a bit of luck but what is horse racing without luck?)<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a fascinating field with so many horses who are capable of putting together the winning race. I don\u2019t like picking winners here because I feel that it slights the other horses in the field and I feel just getting a chance to represent your residency in an event like this is a huge deal. I like the pedigree background and name of Long White Snow, I am thrilled there is a Breeder\u2019s Bowl and Bluegrass winner in here and of course I want Lenny to win for the GRS. There are some potentially inspiring Hollywood style 50:1 type of stories in where which could be written. Best of luck to everyone this should be one heck of a race, have fun out there and no matter how things end this will be a significant entry on your horses PP sheet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we take a look at one of the premier races of Equinics, the 10 furlong classic distance on the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"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":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44260","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\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44260"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44270,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44260\/revisions\/44270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}