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Destiny, Fate, Greatness: The Road That Follows Sidney
Original article written by Jack Meyer posted 9 years 3 weeks agoI believe that there are certain horses in the SIM that are destined for greatness. Conduit to me was destined to shine above everyone else in his run here in the SIM, he shined brightest among many bright stars in the SIM that year. Priceless Forever was truly priceless when it came to the talent he held, he was so good when he ran, you had to figure it was fate that drove him to be where he wound up.
More recent greatness saw You Are I Am destroy the field in last year’s Steward’s Cup placing him among one of the greats. Maelstrom had only 2 races where he didn’t cross the finish line first, and he won the Triple Crown. These are defined as great horses. The question that arises after such masters showing the SIM racing world what it takes to be the best is who is the best of the best, and how do we come to that conclusion.
The horses mentioned above have all had their time on the track, they did what they were going to do; it’s time to look into the here and now. Susie Rydell’s sensational colt Sidney is on the path to break the SIM’s all-time undefeated on turf mark of 21 and 0 set by Solstice in year 6-9. With 21 wins in 21 starts, she mastered every obstacle in her way, took on all challenges and proving to any doubters (hard to believe there was any), that she was the best of her time.
Sidney has amassed 13 wins, nearly 1.9 million dollars, and now owns the SIM’s biggest target which is placed squarely on his back each and every start. He has to earn each victory with more and more resistance is every start, the four year old colt by Quite The Feat has an uphill climb to get where he wants to be, and he knows it won’t be a walk in the park.
The SIM is quite different today than it was back when Solstice ran, so Sidney’s road to perfection won’t look the same on paper. To really be able to tell how good Sidney is, we have to delve deeper into what he’s done so far, who he has beaten, what does he have to do to be the best, and so on.
Sidney has run at all distances: he won at 6 ½ furlongs in the Favorite Trick Stakes, beating a colt by the name of Karate, whose 5 million dollar price tag shows us he was supposed to be among the elite that year. Sidney has won at a mile twice in the Grade 1 Commitisize Stakes and the Grade 1 English Two Thousand Guineas Stakes beating the likes of Dubai Millennium Mile winner Aleksander and Steward’s Cup Turf Mile winner Rilian. Let me put what I just said into more perspective, Sidney is bred for route races, that’s what he specializes in, he took down two of the best Turf Miler runners of all-time in the English Two Thousand Guineas. That defines greatness, not many horses can do what he did against the quality and class that he did it to.
Now to Sidney’s chosen division, turf route races: he won the Magellan Stakes over Laura Ferguson’s 6 million dollar Steward bred Anorak who has won over $1.3 million so far. He took out Anorak again as well as LaDonna King’s Wizarding War in the London Derby at 3, then beat Iorek Byrnison, winner of over 3 million on the track, in the English Champion Stakes to finish out his 3YO year. As a 4YO so far, he won the Australian Cup over Josh Lamp’s high priced Tiger Heart, then took out reigning Steward's Cup winner Two Toned and Tiger Heart again in the Caulfield Trophy posting an 87 Speed Figure after a 5 week layoff. In his final race to date, he put a hurting on Two Toned and Tiger Heart yet again posting a 3 ¾ length victory in the Sydney Trophy Week 12. It seems even long layoffs won’t hinder a horse of destiny, a horse of pure greatness that has fate on their side.
I see a few things that Sidney has to do to be the best and get to where he needs to be. First, he has to run in the Steward’s Cup - Solstice did this and won - and Sidney has to prove he can beat the best of his generation as well as the ones that came before and after him. The Steward’s Cup attracts the very best of all ages, and he has to have that race on his resume in order for him to even be considered the greatest of all-time.
Having missed a start this year, he will be racing against declining ability once he reaches race number 17 and above meaning he will likely have to race into his 6YO season to catch Solstice. If this is his true goal, and it is a great goal, he really needs to stay healthy and avoid the inevitable decline that finds every horse in the SIM at one point or another.
Having only run 3 times so far this year, it isn’t out of the question for him to have 3 more races this year. It is a known fact for a horse to bounce after a big run, his back to back 87 Speed Figure qualifies as big runs, place that with the fact that he was off for 5 weeks recently and that could spell disaster. I see in his Past Performances that he has taken 4 weeks off a couple of times and did fine, but hasn’t done the 5 week break thing, I hope Susie has him in top form when the gate flies open.
Without knowing his goals beforehand, I can’t finalize what his future plans are so I can just speculate. He has held his own against two of the very best older Turf Route specialist in the SIM in Tiger Heart and Two Toned, I’d say his future will likely include races against Kingdom Of Rust, Clopin, and possibly Homeland Security, all of which are the SIM’s top 3YO Turf Routers.
It’s hard to compare horses from different eras because of the technology that has evolved, we have Speed Figures now that we didn’t have when horses like Conduit and Solstice ran, so we have to judge accordingly to the best of our ability. To be considered the best of all-time, you first have to meet some criteria, he has to be dominate, which he is. He has to beat the best of the best at his chosen distance and surface, he has won races against the best milers and sprinters making him a very three dimensional, that alone sets him apart from nearly every horse that was, is, and is to come. I believe in order for him to even be in the discussion as the greatest of all-time, he has to catch Solstices’ record, he has to win the Steward’s Cup, and he has to finish undefeated. Once we get there, we can debate for the next 10 years whether or not he is the best, we just have to get there first.
Jack Meyer