A Complete History of the SIM - Year 5

Original article written by The Steward posted 14 years 2 weeks ago

Year 5 racing began on May 6th, 2000. The year was in the expanded 12 week format, which it would remain through the conclusion of the "Old SIM" at the end of Year 15. For the first time, races were run at different tracks (Arcadia Park and Louisville Downs rather than just a generic racetrack), and as stated in the previous story, everything was run by database, so that entries were no longer inputted by the Steward but rather by the players themselves.

The first important race of Year 5 was Week 1's sixth race. I genuinely believe that this four furlong maiden race remains the best maiden race of all time in the SIM. 11 horses went to the post, with three Steward-breds highlighting the field.

Over the break, the Steward bred 57 yearlings, and her first "select" had all 57 on the sales page for $25,000. 10 of them went on to win over $1 million, 27 won over $100,000, and 46 were winners. This list includes horses like Onwardsilvercharm, Forever Risk, Mischief Maker, and Tri Star, but we'll get to them later.

This maiden race pitted Sports Jersey against Farewell Friend and Graduation Year, as well as a Jennifer Stewart-bred colt named Apollogy Accepted. I hyped the race up big time with preview articles, wondering who would win. In the end, the tiny chestnut Farewell Friend outlasted Apollogy Accepted by a nose, with Sports Jersey a head back in second, a neck in front of Graduation Year. The four went on to make over $14 million between them, and the rivalry between Farewell Friend and Sports Jersey would resurface several times.

Early Derby preparation would baffle trainers of today. Jess Paquette's Soldier Girl took the six furlong Dearly Precious just a few race before Memorex Victory won the Gotham Stakes at a mile. A hulking 17.2 hand filly named War Song debuted in the 1 1/16 mile Battle Cry Stakes over males and won by a nose. Owner/breeder Ara Davies had left the massive filly sitting in her barn through all of Year 4, unnamed and unraced, and I threatened to delete her if Ara didn't do SOMETHING with her. As the dam of Banner, War Song is one of the most influential horses in SIM history.

Freebie's Girl defeated Hotodaychilitomaro and Derby Dancer in the Lone Star Derby, while Colourfast took the Holy Bull Stakes. He would go on to be a useless dirt horse, but win over $1 million on the grass.

The other two maiden breakers that week worth noting were Onwardsilvercharm, who debuted at 4 1/2 furlongs, and Forever Risk, who took a four furlong maiden dash. Both Steward-breds, they ran for Ali LaDuke and Jess Paquette, respectively. Interestingly, Paquette ran six of the twelve horses in Forever Risk's maiden, finishing third with Whirl Charmant ($2.2 million earned, but on the turf), and twelfth with Battle's Baby Girl (also earned $2.2 million, she just wanted a route of ground).

Week 2 brought big stakes wins for the goofy older male Yokoa Cat defeat Tickle Me Silly, Energy In Excess, and Checkered Flag in the Strub Stakes. Three Day Event defeated males at Sunshine Park.

For Derby preps, The Natural won the Fountain of Youth, Rivalry won the San Felipe Stakes, Memorex Victory took the Bay Shore, and the little Serena Sleet too the Lexington Stakes over Soldier Girl, fillies finishing 1 - 2 over the males.

Robin Tan saw her first stakes win with Affirmed Star, a chestnut half sister to Flanders by Affirmed, who took the one mile Fleet Lady Stakes over Walk in Time, a mare that later produced a $1.1 million earner Hurtful Words.

Maiden breakers included Flawless Forever, a nice filly who would win a handful of graded stakes over the years. Finishing third in that race was Cascade, Rain Dancer's first foal. Cascade made $2 million, but her racing career is moot, as she is the dam of two extremely notable mares. The first is Kayak, dam of Triple Crown winner Jet Ski, and the second is Traumatize, the dam of Steward's Cup Classic winner Kamikaze. A leggy bay named Ready for Apremont took a five furlong maiden race, and although his record stood at only four wins in twenty-two starts upon retirement, Ready for Apremont is an important member of a three-horse rivalry that took place in Year 6 and 7.

Astarabad, future winner of the Steward's Cup Turf and influential turf sire of Star Studded, Streamer, and Change the Stars, broke his maiden going long on the dirt, and next out won the 1 1/4 mile turf Chicago Million. No one said the old SIM made enough sense! Ironically, Star Studded's dam Apprehensive Star broke her maiden going four furlongs on the dirt in a claiming race just a few races later.

Sports Jersey broke his maiden Week 3, as did future Hall of Famer One for the Ages. Even I forget about neat horses, such as A.P. Timeline, son of A.P. Indy and Wait a Minute. That early win set him up for a huge career, and he was an early favorite for the Year 6 Derby. He never won again, and in fact only hit the board twice more in his entire career. Yokoa Cat faced off with Shepickedupadance in the Arcadia Handicap, and he bounced away from the worn filly, who finished second.

Rivalry won the Arcadia Derby, The Natural won the Bluegrass, Hotel de Coronado outlasted the future Steward's Cup Sprint winner Awesome Storm in the Wood Memorial, A.P. Extreme won the Florida Derby, and Derby Dancer took the Arkansas Derby.

The Dubai races were run for the very first time Week 4. Energy In Excess won the Sprint, Littlebitotrouble took the turf route, Future Hero won the Duty Free, and Three Day Event defeated Proskoa, Shepickedupadance, and Yokoa Cat in the World Cup.

A handsome dark bay named Five Circles broke his maiden Week 4. He would go on to be a superhero in years to come, and a spectacular sire, but we will get to him later. A neat dark bay colt broke his maiden in the Grade 2 Affirmed Handicap, his second start, for Robin Tan. The Wild Again colt became a SIM fan favorite - The People's Champion - and won $4 million in fourteen starts. He sired only 28 foals, but four of them were millionaires. Future Steward's Cup Turf Mile winner Duskinthemeadow took a seven furlong dirt maiden race in New York, and then it was time for the two big ones.

The year was destined to be one for fillies. They simply kept beating up on the colts, taking many of the Derby preps and running faster and longer. Three fillies skipped the Oaks in favor of the Derby, leaving Awesome Dancer to overtake a badly fading speedster Serena Sleet to win the $800,000 event.

That left a field of fourteen to go to post in the fifth Derby. The Natural was favored, followed by Rivalry, then Soldier Girl, Memorex Victory, and Derby Dancer. Soldier Girl powered through the stretch to win by 3/4 over Memorex Victory, who was a length ahead of Derby Dancer. Longshot Colourfast was fourth, followed by Rivalry and The Natural, then the two fillies Freebie's Girl and War Song. Finishing tenth was good ol' Hotodaychilitomaro.

Awesome Dancer also took the Black Eyed Susan Stakes Week 5, but Memorex Victory turned the tables on his rivals, winning the Baltimore Crown by a neck over Derby Dancer and Soldier Girl, with The Natural fourth and Rivalry fifth. That set them up for the Long Island Classic, which Soldier Girl did not enter in an attempt to save her for the next week. It became essentially a match for Rivalry and The Natural, as Memorex Victory couldn't go that long if he tried. Rivalry won, The Natural was second, and Hotodaychilitomaro clunked up to be fourth. Soldier Girl went on to finish second to the very fast Awesome Storm in the Jim Dandy, then returned yet another week later to be fourth in the Alabama Stakes. The tired filly returned injured, and was out for the rest of the year, missing the Steward's Cup.

Week 5 saw a funny filly named Won'tlaughifyoutry break her maiden going six furlongs on the turf. The daughter of Desert Stormer took three years to win a stakes race, but it was a Grade 1 when she finally did, and her foals became coveted in Steward auctions down the line. Tri Star took his maiden this week as well, and Shepickedupadance's full brother Hepickedupagallop won as well. He proved to be pretty useless, Tri Star, on the other hand, did not.

Jennifer Stewart unveiled Serena Slew in the Bashford Manor Stakes, taking the path of 3/4 brother Priceless Forever (Serena Slew is by Seattle Slew, sire of Event of the Year, sire of Priceless Forever) and debuting in a stakes race. Serena Slew won by six lengths, and he remains one of my all time favorite SIM horses. He won the Tilt a Whirl Stakes next by seven lengths, and the Breeders' Futurity by eight. He would go on to win the Steward's Cup Juvenile at the end of the year by five lengths, whooping Farewell Friend and Sports Jersey in the process. He was injured in that race, vanned off, retired, and is the sire of another all time favorite, the white faced Kleine Romanze. He never gets his due, but Serena Slew was a serious, real runner, and if he hadn't been hurt, the Year 6 Triple Crown could have been a much different story.

A fun Ara Davies horse at the time was Guilty Treasure. He took on older horses as a sophomore to win the Stephen Foster, and won $1.3 million over the next three years, mostly by running second or third to better horses. A terrible sire, he has long since been forgotten, but was a handsome, compact chestnut. Another cleverly named horse was Brunchlunchdehere, who won the Hisbiscus Stakes week 5 for his first stakes victory. I remember that he was a burly little bay that ran in a white shadow roll, think Quality Road.

Silver Valor broke his maiden week 7, defeating poor Graduation Year who couldn't get out of his own way and kept finishing second. He finally got up Week 8, ironically defeating Mischief Maker, a future superstar himself.

I can easily remember when Onwardsilvercharm won the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes. He won easily, in hand, defeating the neat bay colt Lanis Augustus, a definitely forgotten $689,000 earner. I loved his incredible burly figure, taken from his sire Siphon.

Jon Xett had quite a weekend at The Spa. He won the Skip a Stream Stakes with Future Hero, the Whitney Handicap with Yokoa Cat, and the Alabama Stakes with Awesome Dancer. Little did he know that a major threat to his year, Duskinthemeadow, was winning an allowance race in New Jersey an hour earlier. Xett's Derby Dancer finished second to The Natural in the Midsummer Classic, with Rivalry a surprising and disappointing fourth.

Mischief Maker won the Inglewood Futurity during Week 10, as Really Excellent won the Inglewood Starlet. The pretty bay filly won her first four starts, and earned $1.6 million in her career. She became the dam of Long Island Classic winner Lighting a Candle, and produced six millionaire from ten foals.

A neat filly named Whirl Charmant won the Favorite Trick Stakes over boys. The half sister to Sports Jersey by Tilt a Whirl won $2.2 million in her career, eventually taking a Steward's Cup race. She lost the second leg of the Two Year Old Turf Triple to Commitment, her stablemate, who won the third and final leg, the Magellan Stakes.

Week 12, Steward's Cup week. Rapid Bay won the JC Gonzalez. The little-known Classical Charm took the La Brea. The cute gray filly won five stakes races during the year. One in a Million won the Malibu over Oasis Bliksem.

After Serena Slew took the Juvenile, One for the Ages won the Juvenile Fillies, defeating a star studded field that included Battle's Baby Girl (2nd, $2.2 million), Really Excellent (3rd), Cascade (4th), and Surely Special (5th, $2 million).

Affirmed Star gave Robin Tan her first Steward's Cup win in the Filly and Mare Turf, defeating Escena the Hunted and Honor Bright. Jennifer Stewart swept the top three spots in the Sprint, an incredible feat, as Energy in Excess won, Serena Sleet was second, and Infinite Fury finished third.

Then came the Mile, a race headlined by defending champion Future Hero. Instead, the mighty hero fell just short to longshot Duskinthemeadow, who entered the race off of three straight allowance wins and was dismissed in the betting. One race later, Xett's Awesome Dancer won the Steward's Cup Distaff, defeating the likes of Blanket of Roses, Shepickedupadance, Smokemifyagotem, Tickle Me Silly, and War Song. Astarabad took the Turf, and then it was time for the Classic.

To be honest, I can't quite remember how this race went. It's the only race in the SIM's history that is blurred in my mind. Three Day Event was coming off an epic year, having won five straight stakes including the Desert World Cup and Pacific Classic. The mighty mare would be facing Derby Dancer, who had run seven times already. The exhausting colt staggered down the stretch, interfering continuously with Three Day Event on the rail. I remember calling that he was "leaning" on her, but I genuinely can't remember if he won and was DQ'd, or if she outlasted him. At the end, Three Day Event was the official winner, and she retired with eleven wins in fifteen starts and $7.8 million earned. After getting the SIMMY for Horse of the Year, she would be named into the Hall of Fame.

That wasn't the final big race of Year 5, however. The heated relationship between Jennifer Stewart and Kellie Whitehead continued, and they agreed to pit their runners Rivalry and The Natural in a 1 1/4 mile match race, the SIM's first major match. It wasn't much of a match, The Natural, with more tactical speed, defeated his challenger.

Year 5 closed to great drama in the SIMMY voting. Many of the categories were obvious, such as One for the Ages and Serena Slew winning the juvenile divisions, and Yokoa Cat taking Older Male. Champion Three Year Old Male came down to The Natural and People's Champion, with the latter winning in a surprise victory. Jess Paquette won Champion Owner, and for the first time, the SIMMY Award of Merit was given out. Brandy Carter and Ali LaDuke were the recipients, with the latter still participating actively in the SIM today (as of Year 26).

It was the Three Year Old Female championship that grew heated. Soldier Girl, winner of the Louisville Derby, seemed an obvious choice, but Awesome Dancer, who had won the Oaks and the Distaff, and five Grade 1's total on the year. The only time they met on the track, Awesome Dancer was victorious, and so the award went to her. These two rivals would not face each other on the track again until the Year 6 Distaff.

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