Hall Of Fame - El Pantera

Original article written by Danny Warren posted 12 years 2 weeks ago

The mixed breed horses within the SIM have only been given the opportunity to be eligible for the Hall Of Fame in very recent years, but still, it is an amazing achievement to be regarded so highly that you are given the accolade of becoming the first of your kind.
At present, just a single Arabian has earned their place in the Hall Of Fame and has that very special position in SIMHistory.

His story begins like many of the mixed breeds now in the Hall Of Fame, with a prospective owner being led into the mysterious secret surroundings of the Create-A-Horse organisation, whose ways are a mystery to all, but yet produce a steady stream of very profitable racehorses of all breeds.
This time though, there were just as many security guards with the new owner as there were at the Kentucky site of the company, a place so secret, even Google maps can‘t find it.
Los Vargas had his own aura of mystique and it was quite a scene just before the colt’s viewing to see both Mr. Vargas’ and the Create-A-Horse security men inspecting each other in order to protect their own interests.
If it hadn’t been for the tenseness of the situation, those privileged enough to have seen the closed circuit footage may have believed they were watching a Marx Bros. sketch.

Eventually the viewing took place and after the hastily arranged transfer of funds was made into the Create-A-Horse private account, Mr. Vargas’ had his people load the good looking bay to travel to his stables.
Now named El Pantera, after Mr. Vargas’ favourite television show about a wrongly accused man now secretly working for the police to catch his city’s criminals, the colt, whose registration papers revealed nothing of his parentage, instantly caught the attention of his trainer.
His official four furlong workout was incredible, nearly half a second under the best works of today, quite an anomaly for those who feel that later foals are always superior to who came before due to new training methods and the natural improvement of the breed.

El Pantera was ready to compete on the very first day of mixed breed racing, lining up in the listed Golden Desert Stakes over 4f at Los Angelitos, where he was to face future top Arabian stallions Rian, Uday and Haafiz.
In the early stages of the race, the enthusiasm of youth kept the runners together, but as always class began to prevail and the last furlong was all about four horses. Haafiz shifted slightly and bumped into Way, allowing El Pantera to make a run along the rail as Rian scouted deep. The extra ground saved along the fence proved important as El Pantera won by a length from the fast finishing Rian with Way fighting back for third.

Already a stakes winning colt, Mr.Vargas, whose son Marco was the jockey and only human which the feisty colt would allow on his back, saw the chance of a “free” win as he entered El Pantera in a NW2 against two fairly average opponents. While they ran themselves ragged, El Pantera simply slipped through the middle of the pair and shot away as if they were statues, winning by ten lengths and leaving no-one in doubt that they had just watched a very good young horse.

Returning to listed stakes company in the $50,000 Sand Hill Stakes, El Pantera had just four other runners to contend with and again he would meet a couple more who would later become stallions in Goshenite and Ghalib. These three easily outshone the other runners, with Goshenite and Ghalib leading the way. El Pantera ducked out from behind the pair and charged through the middle of them to record a one and half length win from Goshenite just in front of Ghalib.

Mr. Vargas now wanted to see if El Pantera could stretch his brilliance over bit further and entered him in the 6f On The Stretch Out Stakes. Rian and Way were also entered as well as Nar, a horse who was also capturing the public eye after three straight wins. This race would turn out to be a classic and moved Arabian racing into the limelight.
Way, Zamil and Bashir had the early lead, with Nar making a charge out very wide, with patrons along the fence feeling the breeze of his speed as he zoomed past them. El Pantera was in the middle of Rian and Sandz of Time, and fearlessly squeezed through the gap presented when the leaders began to wobble under pressure. Nar now had the lead along the outside rail as El Pantera lunged at him in the centre of the track a length clear of Sandz of Time who was running on well. A hushed crowd awaited the judges verdict, as on-course bookmakers scurried to take bets on the outcome. The suspense was terrific as the moments wore on, but finally the numbers went into the frame, showing that El Pantera had won by barely a nostril. The photo was so close that to this day there are many discussions whether it should have been a dead heat. Mr. Vargas was the coolest customer amongst a sea of intense faces, content that his colt had been given the nod.

The Gr.2 The Arabian Cup was worth $150,000 and regarded as the end of year pinnacle for the sprinting Arabians.
The media were in a frenzy as they described the race as the return bout between Nar and El Pantera, with many still writing about the previous meeting between the pair. Sandz of Time and Zamil were also entered as was future star Midnihte.
Wahoon, Zamil and Galal went straight to the lead as El Pantera and Shaper of Fire were both bumped badly and dropped off the pace. Midnihte surged to the lead, but lost it just as quickly as Nar and Sandz of Time ran past. El Pantera had meanwhile fought back from the early interference and in order to stay out of any more trouble, Marco Vargas had expertly made ground around the outside. Nar kicked clear of Sandz of Time, but as soon as his fans were calling him the winner, El Pantera pounced on him, like the panther of his name and cleared away for a memorable two length victory.
This win gave him six wins from six outings and $162,500 in prize money. Such was his dominance and appeal within the rapidly increasing Arabian fans, El Pantera was named both the Champion Three Year Old Arabian Male and Arabian Horse of the Year, much to the joy of Mr. Vargas who even managed to crack a smile at the awards ceremony. Such was his reputation at the time, Mr. Vargas’ response drew nearly as much media coverage as his horse’s awards.

With sprinters, there is always the fear, year after year, that they can lose their form rapidly and Mr. Vargas was worried as El Pantera seemed to be a lot more docile than usual on return to the stable after a brief rest.
He was entered in an Allowance against six others and for the first half of the race sat back second last. El Pantera started his run and ground down his rivals, winning by a half length.
Mr. Vargas refused to speak to the press and said an announcement would be made regarding El Pantera’s future in the morning. The front gate of Mr. Vargas’ mansion was surrounded from midnight on, with rock star like paparazzi eight deep awaiting his arrival.
Morning broke grey over the mansion and Mr. Vargas and his entourage made their way slowly towards the throng. In quiet tones he announced that El Pantera had been sold and any further enquiries should be made of his new owner. He then turned away, saying no more as a flurry of feet rushed to their cars, desperate to discover who El Pantera’s new owner was and how much they had paid.

The usually reliable grapevine of information, track riders and stable hands was silent, but without fanfare the SIMWorld knew soon enough, when El Pantera was entered in the listed Asir Stakes under the ownership of Nikki Sherman. Nikki, after being forced to keep her phone off the hook by literally thousands of calls, announced that she would speak to reporters after the race.
Midnihte stole many of the headlines though, leading all the way with El Pantera forced wide on the turn before flying home to face his first defeat by half a length. Nikki said that she had paid a million dollars for El Pantera and far from being disappointed in the loss, she said she’d be happy that the focus was now off his unbeaten streak and had bought him with his long term future in mind.

Nikki was quietly a little saddened that her new purchase would lose his unbeaten record while in her ownership, but felt a lot better when El Pantera’s name was called the winner in a very close listed June Weather Stakes, where he just stuck his head out at just the right time to defeat Zamil.
Zamil sought and got revenge at their next meeting, the listed Coma Stakes, where in a great spectacle, both El Pantera and Zamil made sweeping runs from the tail of the field to just reach and defeat courageous leader Mo Jo in a three way photo finish.

Facing just three horses, the Royal Gifts Stakes was run at a farcial early pace and El Pantera, used to making his run as the leaders began to fade, found it impossible to make use of his powerful, but steady acceleration when those in front still had the energy to fight back. Grinding out the finish, he bravely got to within a half length of the brilliantly ridden Rian.

With the public bemoaning the decline of their hero, Nikki acknowledged that El Pantera had lost some of his zip and announced that he would have one final run before going to stud. Realising that for him to remain in the minds of the early Arabian breeders, he needed a big performance, Nikki spent hours watching video footage of his runs, searching for just the slightest clue of what she could do to help. After consulting with veterinarians, jockey Zachary Woodruff and her own meticulous notes, Nikki decided to remove the hind bandages and for one throw of the dice, try a lasix shot, knowing that if her horse reacted badly, he would face an ignominious end to his career.

With many sleepless nights pacing the floor, Nikki awoke on the morning of the Gr.2 The Arabian Cup with a lot on her shoulders. El Pantera had cost her a lot of money and had since won just once. He was the defending champion and it had been her decision to radically change his usual equipment for his last race. Genius or Dunce, those were the only possible results and it worried her deeply. Her usual cheery mood was not in abundance as she arrived on course and she gently asked that reporters stay away from El Pantera’s stall until after the race.
The field was of the very best quality too. Rian, Nar, Midnihte, Zamil, Pollini, and Sandz of Time were no easybeats and the slightest weakness would be exploited by the others in what shaped to be an epic battle.

After three furlongs of the five furlong journey, Nar and Midnihte had kicked well clear of the others with a near three length lead, while El Pantera was another three further back, giving up a big headstart.
It was now or never and Woodruff shook the reins to ask El Pantera for the final burst that he’d ever need to make. At the furlong post, he had made some ground but not a lot and Nikki felt pangs of sadness as her hopes drifted away.
But things can change in a heartbeat sometimes and El Pantera started to streak home. Rian was right next to Nar with only a few stride to go, but then a third head rushed into view at the wire, that of El Pantera. Nikki’s heart was running in overdrive while waiting for the photo, and the huge crowd which were packed in to Los Angelitos were in hysterics at the finale of a race they would never forget while the judges were busy waiting for the photo to develop.
The numbers went into the frame with Nar holding on by a head from El Pantera, magnificent in defeat and Rian another head back.
Nikki was in tears. On one hand she was shattered that El Pantera had come so close, and yet ecstatic that he had done just that. The heartbreak of a swansong defeat was tempered by the manner in which it happened and while Nar was given the adulation of becoming the new champion, El Pantera was give a hero’s farewell as he was led back to the stalls for the final time.

El Pantera had run the race of his life to complete his career on the track, but now it was time for him to start the next phase of his life, trying to produce foals who would emulate his deeds and begin the blossoming of the family tree of Arabians as a near foundation Sire.
El Pantera retired with two SIMMY’s and seven wins from his eleven races, never finishing worse than second in earning $275,700 in only two years of racing.
Considering how few Arabian broodmares there were available at the time, he was inundated with 29 mares in his first year at stud and to this day is still highly sought after although his days are numbered before he can relax in his own pasture at his own leisure.
He currently has had 236 foals, with 53% of his runners proving to be winners including fine mares Espmira and Assiya and Simulacro who is now also at stud, amongst his seven stakes winners.

The panther of the racetrack always lived up to his name, and the memory of him sitting back in the pack, stalking unnoticed before pouncing on his prey and tearing up the track will be just as much a lasting legacy of the first great Arabian of the SIM as the fact that in future years, a little bit of him will still be there to be found in many Arabians who try to stake their own claim to greatness.

---

Back to Hall of Fame articles