I\u2019ve mentioned in a previous blog that this is my first time at the Breeders Bowl and my lovely wife and I are certainly trying to take in the entire atmosphere and experience not just the race itself. One of the mottos of Monmouth Park, this years home of the Breeders Bowl is \u201c”Eat your betting money, but never bet your eating money.” With that in mind, we went off once again in search of a fine meal in this lovely town. Granted we didn\u2019t expect to rival the meal we had a Bobby Flay\u2019s place but we had a great recommendation about a place called the Salt Creek Grill where I had a Mesquite Grilled Veal Chop and a Chocolate Mousse Souffle to die for. But even better than that was the company. We were privileged to run into Given, owner of the unbelievable horse CASTERLY ROCK<\/b>. He invited us over to his table for an after dinner drink and we happily accepted. <\/p>\n
Now I had a chance to pick the brains of one of the most successful trainers out there with one of the most incredible horses ever. On the way home after dinner I heard from my better half that I need to leave my work at home when we go out but the journalist in me came out in spades. Fortunately, I had my handy BTB mini recorder in my pocket that SnowChief always demands that we keep on our person when we are in the same zip code as a racetrack. (Or even a race horse, or maybe even a horse that is breathing!)<\/p>\n
We aren\u2019t talking about just any horse here, this is CASTERLY ROCK<\/b> who is going for a THREE-PEAT this year. No horse has ever done that in the history of the Sim. I was all ears and you get the benefit of the conversation. It went just like this:<\/p>\n
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PazJazz<\/b>-This will be Casterly Rock’s third start in the Breeders Bowl and he is trying for an unprecedented third win. How do you feel about his chances this year? Who are your biggest challengers?<\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-It’s always hard to predict how a horse will run, but I would say that I am about as confident as I could be in Casterly Rock at the moment. After winning the Sand Castle Sprint earlier this year he had a few mediocre races, so I gave him a break and three races ago he ran a career best SF in the Smackdown. He is at the age where he might start declining, but I am hoping that he has some good starts left. In terms of challengers, there is certainly no shortage of good horses trying to dethrone him! Ab Fab is obviously a very dangerous horse if he runs. Deligence is well rested and could run a big race. Polish Reality looks to have been injured last time out but would be dangerous if he ran. In A Simple Rhyme ran a great race last time out and is very scary. Smouldering Street just won the World Cup and must be respected. And those are just the older horses LOL. There are great 3yo’s like Tired Wings, Ketch, Power is Rising, Western Romp Ted, and Sestriere to worry about. In short, there are many great challengers! <\/p>\n
PazJazz<\/b>-He’s certainly had an incredible career. Are there one or two races or awards that meant the most to you as an owner?<\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-Winning the Eclipse Award last year was a definite thrill, especially since it’s voted on by my fellow Simmers. For them to honor the Rock meant a lot to me. In terms of races, winning two Smackdown races was quite a thrill. Those are some great fields and he’s one of only two horses, along with PadreBri’s Zanzabar, to win two of them. And last year’s Breeders Bowl was probably his most exciting victory. He usually stalks the pace, but last year in the BB he dropped off the screen! I almost turned off the race in disgust, and then he made an amazing rally to win. It was quite thrilling. I was watching in the business center at the Galt House in Louisville at around 9 PM after attending the Breeders Cup, and I made quite a scene with the exclamations! I was very happy. <\/p>\n
PazJazz<\/b>-Were you a little surprised when he turned out to be a dirt runner instead of a grass specialist?<\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-No question about it! Being by Giant’s Causeway, and with Sadler’s Wells as the DDS, I had thought he would be a turf runner. So his first three starts were in the grass before I ran him a mile on the dirt. But he didn’t like that either so I ran him even longer on the turf after that. It wasn’t until his 6th start that I sprinted him on the dirt, and even after he ran a massive race I still tried him on the turf one more time LOL. I was very stubborn with him at the start of his career.<\/p>\n
PazJazz<\/b>-Do your remember when you actually realized what a special horse you had?<\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-It was the first Smackdown victory he had as a 3yo. His first win didn’t come until February of his 3yo year, and his first stakes win came four months later in June. So he was a late developing horse. The fact that he looked to be really good dirt sprinting had me hopeful that he was something special, but I really didn’t know for sure. However, he took a major step up in the Smackdown, beating a great field with horses like Looking For More, Final Thoughts, and Hard to Handle. He ran a massive 111 SF in that race which was really good for a 3yo, and he sort of took off after that. It meant a lot to me that his breakout race came in a great residency challenge like that. <\/p>\n
PazJazz<\/b>-I guess you know how excited I am with my very first runners in the BB. Do you remember back to your first time? <\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-Yes, congratulations on having your first BB runners! It is certainly quite a thrill, and I wish you good luck with your horses. I started playing the Sim early in 2004, and was blessed to have two Breeders Bowl runners in 2005 (the Rock and Pub Crawl as a juvenile). In many ways the quest of trying to get horses to the big stage is more exciting than the stage itself. The great thing about this game is that there are so many different things that a trainer can shoot for. I’ve still never had a Bluegrass Derby runner or a 2000 Guineas runner and those are some of the things that keep me motivated to play the game. And I imagine even if those goals are achieved I will still find many other things to motivate me. <\/p>\n
PazJazz<\/b> – Any suggestions for new trainers?<\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-In terms of suggestions for new trainers, the one thing I would say is to be patient with your horses and give them breaks of a few months or more every once in a while. Let’s look at the Rock, for example. Early in his 4yo year (2006) he was having trouble running competitively. He went through a four-race winless streak that had me worried he might be over the top. So I gave him a three month break, and after a decent comeback race in a listed stakes, he went on to win six of his next seven races, and I really think that break can play into it. I’ve done the same thing with my 5yo turf horse Balerion, and it seems to have really extended his longevity. So I would say I am a very conservative trainer in that I give horses long breaks and try to take my time with them, but I think it has paid off with nice results. <\/p>\n
PazJazz<\/b>-Where do you and “The Rock” go from here? Do you think that he will have a chance at a fourth next year? What are your thoughts on retirement or a future breeding?<\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-Good question. It’s funny, after his first BB win I said to myself that was great, and maybe or maybe not he’d challenge for it next year. Then he won last year and I immediately began thinking about a threepeat LOL. And I imagine that if he wins this year I’ll start thinking about 2008. I’ll probably start thinking about it if he loses also. I assume his performance will tell me how long to keep running him. I look at a horse like Smouldering Street, who won the World Cup in his 43rd race, and think that perhaps the Rock can be successful that long. He’s only run 32 races so far, so he could have some more racing left in him. In terms of breeding him, I haven’t given it a lot of thought. I usually try to match up a sire with a horse’s running preferences, so for the Rock I’d look at sires who could produce dirt sprinters like Ghostzapper, Awesome Again, Unbridled’s Song. <\/p>\n
PazJazz<\/b>-Do you have anyone in your stables that you hope can fill even a small bit of this great horses ample shoes in the future<\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-I have a 3yo I am really excited about in Skullcrusher, a filly who likes routing on the turf. She’s won two straight G1’s and is still very lightly-raced with only 11 races. Another 3yo who looks really good is The Trident, a late developing dirt router that won a G1 at 12f in her last race. Those two fillies have the profile that they could be good for quite a while. When I say that I mean that they didn’t run in a lot of tough races as 2yo’s. While I enjoy having good 2yo’s, it does seem that the best horses in the long run are those that don’t have many graded races as 2yo’s. At least that has been my experience.<\/p>\n
PazJazz<\/b>-Anything else that you can think of that may be of interest to our readers?<\/p>\n
Given<\/b>-Nothing specifically that comes to mind. I’d just like to wish everyone good luck with any of their runners in the upcoming week!<\/p>\n
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In the end, the after dinner drink turned into a couple or three. The company was great and so was the inside thoughts on a great champion. You can bet that I\u2019ll be rooting for the ROCK and I think he will probably get the job done once again. I hope you\u2019ve enjoyed this as much as I have. I\u2019ll be watching to see who else shows up and add a few insights on our road to the Breeders Bowl!<\/p>\n
Good luck to all!<\/p>\n
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