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Pepper Carol: She Lives And Breathes The SIM

Original article written by Jack Meyer posted 9 years 0 weeks ago


It’s nice to have one dominant Thoroughbred in the SIM, but to have two dominant Thoroughbreds is what I call magical. Pepper Carol is a long time SIM player who has put in the hard work, and is now seeing the benefits of that hard work, I was able to catch up with Pepper and discuss the two beasts that are roaring to and fro through the SIM, Koi Pond and Asiliveandbreathe. Here is Pepper’s story, and the story of her magnificent colts.

Having been in the SIM since 2008, I wanted to know what the highlight of Pepper’s SIM career thus far is, with 2 Steward’s Cup’s already in the bag, is it one of those in particular, or something else that puts a smile on Pepper’s face. “Jack - it’s quite an honor to be noticed. I AM having a great couple of years lately. I am very proud of my Steward Cup winners, but I may have to say my biggest highlight so far was a second in the year 31 Steward Cup juvenile turf sprint with ‘Sea Sponge’ – my first super homebred who galloped ‘OK/needs to improve’ as a yearling and went on to earn over a million dollars by beating some of the best horses owned by trainers I never felt I would be competitive against."

Having had this happen to me, I can totally see where Pepper is coming from, though my filly didn’t get close in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Fillies, and doesn’t seem to want anything to do with the likes of Rekindle The Flame and company.

Me being a newer player, I love to get to know other players personalities, Pepper seems to be a very straight-forward player. I love reading her posts in the forum; I wanted to know how she views the SIM, and what makes her tick.

“You know, ‘what makes me tick’ would fill a book, and I tried desperately to get it into a paragraph and failed. I love horseracing, there is little interest where I live, and the SIM fills the void. I like finding the right race for a horse and WINNING, whether it’s an Alaskan claimer or better. I had years of only having claimers and am enjoying my recent success, but I’ll still be in the game with the claimers once the big ones retire….About the forum – well, I really should stay out of there."

Pepper….I’d give a few pennies for your thoughts on the forum. Another great thing about the SIM, we know when to talk and when to glue our fingers to our sides and not type our feelings on the forum.

On to the fake horses that we all know and love, as I stated earlier, Pepper has 2 super colts out there, Koi Pond and Asiliveandbreathe. I’ll give you a history lesson on both of them before we see what Pepper thinks of her prized possessions. Koi Pond didn’t waste his time in Maiden Special Weight classes, he rattled the cage of his 4 rivals in the Green Gras Stakes in his debut scoring an 82 SF for his 1 ½ length win. Wins in the Stormy Sky Stakes, the Big Ben Stakes, the Bling Bling Stakes, and the Bronze Horseshoe Stakes, he was riding a 5 race win streak all the way to Garden State Racetrack for the Steward’s Cup Turf Dash. His 6th place finish was a head-scratcher for Pepper and the rest of the SIM, he seems to be the best of the group, but the lackluster performance was a little mind boggling. He bounced back nicely in week 3 this year in the Stonehenge Stakes over Man Hunt getting him back on track, he seems to have righted the ship, but what of that SC race…?

Asiliveandbreathe reeled off three straight wins to start his career including two Stakes races before tasting defeat in the Garden State Juvenile to Chicago Bull, his 2nd place finish there was heartbreaking for him and Pepper, but he handled it like a champion. He stole the show again in the Loki Flame Stakes next time out, then caught the red hot Battle Forge in the Road To Glory Stakes finishing 2nd yet again. He made the trip to Garden State Racecourse for the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Sprint, with no Chicago Bull or Battle Forge in the post parade, he soared home to victory beating the likes of Black Hennessey and Fourzen. His 3YO debut was very solid, he took the Reraise Stakes by 2 over Inebriation making his 3YO campaign even more exciting than his freshmen run, and that was as good as it gets.

History lesson over, everyone gets an “A”, let’s get to the real deal, Pepper and the way she feels about these two magnificent fake animals. I started with Koi Pond, his Steward’s Cup race just looked odd, I wanted to know what happened there, “Koi Pond – my super random slide by a super random slide. A good example of luck times two! Poor boy suffered from trainer error in the SC I’m afraid. He was racing great, and had three weeks to rest before the big race. Vet said he was at his peak a week before the race, so I decided to jog him. I should have left him alone, and I can’t wait to try the big boys again, because I think he’s better than them! (Watch out – here we come)."

Trainer error….I live and breathe those a lot, don’t we all!

With the SC in the past for Koi Pond, I wanted to know about his future, he beat a talented field in the Stonehenge that included Man Hunt, I wanted to know what Pepper has planned for Koi Pond. “Man Hunt almost had him! He passed KP in the stretch but KP came on back – never saw that happen on the simulations before. He is off to Singapore and Australia because that seems to be where the big turf sprinters have gone. I feel if you don’t take on the competition, then you never know whose best, definitely going to the SC Sprint if he maintains his form”. Well, if you don’t want to see Koi Pond when you look at the entries for your horses, stay away from Singapore and Australia…you’ve been warned.

On to Asiliveandbreathe, I really love this colts name, I had to get to know this guy through the eyes of his owner. His win in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Sprint was amazing, though there was no Chicago Bull or Battle Forge, it did have the likes of Fourzen and Black Hennessey, I wanted to know how the win felt since it was with a homebred. “There is no other thrill in the game as winning the big race with a homebred and Asiliveandbreathe tends to win by small margins which made it even more heart stopping. I’m sure Fourzen wishes there was another half furlong to the race!”

Just like Koi Pond, Asiliveandbreathe came back strong in his debut this year, the field was much softer than that of his Steward’s Cup win, but a win is a win, I wanted to know what Pepper had in store for Asiliveandbreathe. “Asiliveandbreathe will likely stay in the US and look for his nemesis Chicago Bull to hook up with. Another SC run is certainly in the book if he is competitive against older horses later in the year”. I love rivalries, I really hope these two, as well as Battle Forge cross paths again, should be an excellent race.

There was just one more thing I wanted to cover, I wanted to know what goals Pepper has set for herself moving forward, and what she wishes to accomplish from here on out. “I am happy where I am, I hopefully will have a few more stakes horses in the future. I’m financially comfortable so I can support my horses if I have a dry spell and have a claiming stable again. I do remember those newbie days when I was scared stiff to lose my horses by going bankrupt. I get so attached to fake horses. It’s also nice to have the bankroll to pay for the vet or whisperer whenever you want. I’d like to get a nice Stew bred filly and break into dirt routers but my keyboard finger isn’t fast enough to win one at auction yet”. There is that talk about Steward breds again, I think everyone is trying to tell us that Em knows what she’s doing….hint hint!!

Both articles I wrote this week hit close to home for me because both topics spotlighted SIMsters that have been where I’m at, they see the growing pains, and they’ve lived it. If you are a new player reading the two writings that I turned in, know that dreams can come true, and success comes to those who want it…Love those fake horses like Pepper says, run those claimers in those claiming races, eventually that special horse will come strolling down the path in your barn wanting a home, you just have to be patient.


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