Hello and Welcome everybody to sunny Texas For what is sure to be one of the hottest races of the year when the great champion and future Hall of Fame inductee Seeking Sal takes on the Pride of Australia Sip of Saki not forgetting the greatest 3yo in sim history Mambo Wildcat or other Grade 1 winners such as K\u2019s Okkasion, and Kepler Bezerk add to that some great up and coming horses and a couple of 3yo\u2019s and you get what could be the most watched race on sim world cup day. Which of the 3 teams will take the points from this race on Saturday? Only time will tell, but let\u2019s look at the form guide to make a prediction.<\/p>\n
PP# 1
CRIMSON WARRIOR RED RANSOM x SADLER’S WELLS x GULCH
Swooper\/Closer (FENZA) dowelly W McClendon 15\/1
4yo with a massive 39 career starts, Crimson Warrior still looks as though he can still run career best times. Just 4 starts ago he came out and had his best ever run running a very good 105 sp over 8f in a stakes race in Queensland but today he is taking on some very fine horses who just look to be at the next level. However trainer Dowelly assures me he will be at his peak for the race and will be ready to give his all for team FENZA.
Tactics: He is a swooper\/closer but I think he is a little out of his depth at this stage let\u2019s hope he can pass a few in the stretch.<\/p>\n
PP# 2
WEENA’S MISSION(IRE) CENTURY CITY (IRE) x IN THE WINGS(GB)x SEATTLE SLEW Front Runner (FENZA) rharfo1 C Shoemaker 13\/1
Out of all the horses in this race this horse Weena\u2019s Mission could be the most important of them all. Good enough to run a magnificent sp of 109 Last start in the Grade 1 Jack The Man Stakes over 8f it will be interesting to see what tactics the FENZA team will use with this horse. Will he try to lead and set the race up for a horse like Sip of Saki or will he sit just off the leader and try to hold off the closers in the dying stages. Does trainer rharfo think he is a winning chance, I\u2019m not sure but Rumor has it that the trainers at team FENZA have been discussing strategy in a meeting yesterday in which I the captain was not invited to. So much for my scoop.
Tactics: I feel this could be the most interesting runner in the race, with Shoemaker in the saddle I have a felling he will go straight to the lead depending on how fast P Parazi goes and if the big horses get to far back could Weena\u2019s Mission steal the race.<\/p>\n
PP# 3
BAGORED(FR) BAGO (FR) x RED RANSOM x ROYAL AND REGAL Swooper\/Closer-Mid Pack (EURO) olwhisper E Sharp 28\/1
First of the 3yo\u2019s who has been in good but inconsistent form. Last start he failed to get 10.5f in a stakes race in Norway but before that he ran a nice race over 8.5f in Victoria. His selection though looks to be based on the run before that where he ran a huge sp of 109 also over 8.5 furlongs but that was only in allowance class. Today he is at a whole new level up against the top older horses in the sim and coming off a poor run last start it just looks like an impossible assignment for this Bago colt.
Tactics: While very impressive for a 3yo I don\u2019t expect him to be doing much at the end simply because he is not in the class yet. He will sit top 5 in running but will not be in the finish.<\/p>\n
PP# 4
P PARAZI(KY) PLEASANTLY PERFECT x ARAZI x MR. PROSPECTOR
Leader (EURO) willowisp P Haynes 21\/1
A very lightly raced 3yo who has won 5 out of his 10 career starts who is taking a huge step up in class to contest this race. He able to win 3 allowance races in pretty impressive fashion including a 107 sp just 2 starts back. But subsequently failed to make the step up to stakes company when he failed to fire a shot in an 8.5f race last start. But today he could be very important to those late closers because he is sure to be used as a rabbit out in front, but in terms of him being a winning chance I can\u2019t see him winning today.
Tactics: I would say the Euro team is going to use P Parazi as a rabbit but this move could just play into the hands of both FENZA and NASA who both have deep closers.<\/p>\n
Well, whatever happens it is going to be a fantastic dual between these 12 fantastic horses but I feel it could be a race between the champion Seeking Sal and what could be his Successor Sip of Saki. Good Luck to all trainers and congratulations for making your respective teams.<\/p>\n
PP# 5
ROCKS DON’T ROLL(IRE) GIANT’S CAUSEWAY (IRE) x GENEROUS(IRE) x PIA STAR Swooper\/Closer (NASA) balata B F Abman 10\/1
Interesting runner that is coming off a very poor performance in an 8f race that looked a bit short for him last start. Back to 9f today it will be interesting to see if he can find his form again. 2 starts back he had his breakthrough graded victory winning the grade 3 Capitol\u2019s Major Price defeating Tete of Oz by 3 lengths over 9.5 furlongs. But today he is going to another level against a field of closers which are slightly better than himself, so I think the best way to go would be to try and change his style to midfield so he could pinch a point or 2 for NASA.
Tactics: Could be a smoky, depending on how things play out at the front of the pack I could see Rocky making a significant move at some stage of the races, and with all the top liners sure to settle behind him Fabman will be looking for a clear run into the stretch and hopefully for Balata the others find a little trouble in traffic.<\/p>\n
PP# 6
BLACK COIN SADLER’S WELLS x KEY TO THE MINT x ROUND TABLE Front\/Leader (EURO) coolk J Stivers 8\/1
A very nice horse building up a very impressive record, Black Coin has had just 11 starts and has put 7 wins 2 2nds 1 3rd. His only grade 1 run to date was a very nice 3rd behind Sip o Saki who he will meet again today. He has been very impressive in winning 3 stakes races but he is still looking for his first graded success, however I don\u2019t think this is the race to break his duck but he could put some points on the board for the euro team. What I\u2019m very interested to know is the tactics he will play in the speed dual upfront with him being 1 of only 3 horses that could sit on the pace.
Tactics: Could Lead, could sit back it will be an interesting to see what Johnny Strivers will do. I would think that the less speed on the closer black coin will be to the lead.<\/p>\n
PP# 7
K’S OKKASION SEEKING THE GOLD x NIJINSKY II x SECRETARIAT Mid\/Front (NASA) ledwith S L Ledwith 6\/1
Gee what a great year K\u2019s Okkasion is having this year winning his first Grade 1 (NY ISLAND CAP) for the master trainer Ledwith. He has always been around stakes level ever since his early 3yo years but it is this year that he seems to have stepped up to the next level, winning 4 of his 6 races. Last Start he only got beat by 2 champions and future Hall of Famers Rapid Grey and Otto Oh No of which neither are running in this race today. Back to 9 furlongs is going to be interesting as he has not raced over the distance since his early 3yo days. One would suspect that he is racing the 9 furlong race instead of the 10 furlong race to boost the chances of getting more points for the NASA team.
Tactics: Could be a player in proceedings today sitting midfield Ledwith could sit K\u2019s Okkasion a little closer than normal trying to pinch enough bresk to steal a win, but he will need a leader biased track to do that.<\/p>\n
PP# 8
MAMBO WILDCAT(KY) FOREST WILDCAT x KINGMAMBO x DEPUTY MINISTER Mid\/Front (FENZA) jockeymax K Ledwith 14\/1
If this race was in March I would tell you that Mambo Wildcat the Sims best 2yo in my opinion would be a big chance to win this big race just as he has done many times before. A winner of 5 Grade 1 races and an Eclipse award Mambo wildcat took the sim world by storm winning 7 races in a row including 5 Grade 1\u2019s trying to make the big step from 9f to 12f when he tried to win the Sydney derby. Unfortunately something went amiss and he has not quite been the same since. Perhaps it may be the lure of serving a nice filly or 2 or perhaps he needs a change such as a shift back to dirt is what is needed to revitalize the champ whatever it is he needs to find it fast or it could be the end of the road for Mambo Wildcat.
Tactics: I would think Ledwith might have Mambo in the box seat behind the 2 that should lead, he will need a very slow pace though and try put on a sprint at the half way point. He may get to the front at some stage but I expect they will run over him in the stretch.<\/p>\n
PP# 9
KEPLER BERZERK WOODMAN x A.P. INDY x DANZIG Swooper\/Closer (EURO) marre M Day 11\/1
A top liner since the day he was born Kepler Bezerk has always been a bridesmaid when it came to the big races until this year when he finally had his first grade 1 victory wining on one of the sims biggest race days. He was able to take out the Sand Castle Fee duty beating Seeking Sal I what was one of the greatest runs ever to be seen on the Dubai track coming from 2nd last to fly down the outside and run away with victory. It was such an incredible run that it has since left Kepler Berzerk flat as he has not been able to fire since. If marre can get Kepler back to his best he would be in this up to his eyeballs but until he shows me something I would have to stay clear of picking him.
Tactics: Will be at the back of the pack passing tire horses in the stretch. I don\u2019t expect a lot today a top 3 finish is considered a bonus.<\/p>\n
PP# 10
SEEKING SAL SEEKING THE GOLD x KRIS S. x MAGESTERIAL Swooper\/Closer (NASA) topicount F Gossett 9\/2
9 time Grade 1 winner and future Hall of Fame inductee, how can you describe such a horse in just a few words class, heart, fighter or all of those mentioned with one more added Champion. Has there been a horse better between 8f and 10f on the grass ever in the sim I\u2019m not sure but if there was it was before my time in the sim. Seeking Sal Had a slow start to her career not doing much of anything in his first 6 starts but once he hit 8f on turf he showed his true colors winning at his last start as a 2yo then going on a great win streak which included a great and memorable win in the grade 1 Dur AJC Derby over 11f. He had a bit of a lean patch until he hit 4yo winning such races as the Sand castle fee duty, breeders bowl mile and 2 Eddie O Caps plus a host of other races. Surprisingly beaten last start by Dixie\u2019s Pappilla is this the beginning of the end or can he show everybody he is not past it I\u2019m not sure but he has to be a top 3 pick regardless.
Tactics: I would say Fred Gossett will be hoping for minimum speed up front while he would like to be sitting a couple of lengths in front of his main danger Sip of Saki so he can try to out sprint him in the end.<\/p>\n
PP# 11
ANSKAR(IRE) SINNDAR (IRE) x COZZENE x AFFIRMED Swooper\/Closer
(NASA) techranger M Russell 6\/1
Up and coming 4yo colt, who is still trying to get his first graded win on the board. His last 3 races all in graded company have produced 3 2nd places losing to Seeking Sal twice and Dixie\u2019s Pappillia on the other occasion. It is now time for Anskar to take the next step into super stardom on the world\u2019s biggest stage. His last 4 runs he has ran 107 sp every time which is his best but to be able to win he will need to go that little bit faster to win today I just don\u2019t quite think he has it in him but he is a great chance of picking up some points for team NASA.
Tactics: I would say he needs to be at least settle in front of Sip of Saki to have a shot at winning, Jockey Marty Russell could well have been instructed not to go for the win but to just follow others into the race and pick up a point or 2.<\/p>\n
PP# 12
SIP OF SAKI SAKHEE x FORTY NINER x BUCKPASSER
Swooper\/Closer (FENZA) bjbandit P Wright 3\/1
4 Time Grade 1 winner, who finally gets a shot at Seeking Sal, this is truly grand final day for this aussie star who has bean on fire this year. Winning 5 of his 7 races 4 of which were at grade 1 including the time honored Sydney Mile. Of all the horses in this race he is the one that has been around the 110sp mark on most occasions with his only failure of late being over 10 furlongs in the Grade 1 Doomben Cup where he could not quite run out the last furlong and faded to finish 5th. But his trainer bjbandit has assured me he is at the peak of his condition and will hopefully put a win on the board for team FENZA.
Tactics: Paul \u201cWRONG\u201d Wright will be sitting Sip of Saki at the back of the field ahead of maybe 1 or 2 horses just waiting till the half way point where he can sprint right around the field and power away to victory. However for this to happen he will need lot\u2019s of speed up front from the likes of Weena\u2019s Mission and P Parazi<\/p>\n
Well, whatever happens it is going to be a fantastic dual between these 12 fantastic horses but I feel it could be a race between the champion Seeking Sal and what could be his Successor Sip of Saki. Good Luck to all trainers and congratulations for making your respective teams <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saki is Seeking Sal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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-4754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4754","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\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}