Picking The Brain Of Our Beloved Steward: Turf Route Edition

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

We have arrived at the last third of our journey through the mind of The Steward; we have made it all the way to the ranks of the Turf and Dirt route divisions. This edition will feature the Turf aspect of the route division, and those of us familiar with The Steward know how much she loves “He Who Has No Name”, or Sidney, as we like to call him and knowing this I had to make The Steward wait until the very end to tell us how much he really means to the SIM world. Enough rambling by me, let’s see what was on The Steward’s mind when it comes to Turf Routers, well, other than Sidney…

At the time I came into the SIM horses like Richard Parker and Jabberwocky were tearing up the turf in the route division. I also remember Stalingrad and Vladimir blazing their way into the hearts of SIM nation. I remember The Opera Ghost and James Halliday, and how their time to shine was very bright with many fond memories.

All of those horses were around over the last 5 SIM years and I wanted to know if The Steward considers them as the best of that time period, “You basically just wrote this question so that I had a place to talk about the big horse. I think by now everyone knows I think Sidney was the best grass horse to grace the track, although several others (Atlas, Everest, Magician) come close. He’s just in a different league (cue jokes about winning awards he’s not eligible for). Other than him, in the last five years you have to throw in $4.5 million earner Jabberwocky.” I guess I should have waited for that question until last since I knew Sidney would be the first to come out of The Steward’s mouth….more on him later.

I am a huge fan of Thrash Metal and I like the aspect of the “big four” of that genre, for those who like that music you will know who I’m talking about, I wanted to use that analogy in the Turf Route division. When I look through the SIM I see a lot of Tattered, Trafalgar, Feat, and July, these four seem to be in just about every pedigree that means anything in the SIM which is why I consider them the “big four” of the turf route division and I wanted to know if The Steward agreed.

“They are all pretty great - Tattered sired 867!!! Winners and his stallion numbers are still higher than anything we’ve got out there now. He also sired 16 millionaires and another two who should become millionaires in their first starts this season. That’s INSANITY. Trafalgar’s 652 winners and 24!!! Millionaires are even better. In comparison, July had “only” 573 winners and ten millionaires, which makes him a “slacker” compared to the other two.”

She continued, “If I had to say there was a “Big Four” however, it would be the brothers Feature Attraction, Feat, Atlantis and Frayed. They all came from the same mare, Kismet, and between them produced 44 millionaires. Feature Attraction’s average earnings per runner was $190k!!! He had 91% winners from runners. Feat’s average earnings also top six figures, with 72% winners.” That is just crazy, an average earnings of 190K, to see 75K is insane. Em had a little more to talk about on the subject, “Of course, I haven’t even mentioned Black Condor yet. Stallion wise, he was in a class of his own. He had an extremely restricted book and still got 335 winners, average earnings of over $225,000 per runner, 32% stakes winners and 82% winners, and he sired 21 millionaires which without looking I believe is the record.”

I wanted to start talking about current races and noticed Nick Gilmore's now 3YO sensation Electric Blue dazzled in his first two starts posting 90+ SF's before bouncing a bit in the Magellan Stakes, his main rival The Lord Of Time scorched Earnest and company in the Steward's Cup Bunbury to the tune of a 93 SF, having faced each other one time resulting in a dead heat these two seem to be on a collision course once again, I asked The Steward if they were the two best colts and how good they were.

“These two are definitely the best three-year-olds. The thing I love about Electric Blue is that he’s bred to be amazing at four, five and six. The fact that he’s this good now is scary. The Lord of Time could be a little bit better next year at three; he strikes me as a top class three-year-old. It’s a great, great division.” If Electric Blue is supposed to get even better as he gets older that is very scary for the rest of the division, 3 to 4 more years of that can be a looonnng time.

On to the 3YO fillies, Anne Marie kind of got a late start last year making her debut week 13 while her rivals have one more race under their belt, this didn't seem to faze her in the Steward's Cup Bunburette when she took out the talented Peace On Earth whose 88 SF in her debut was no joking matter. With these two battling back and forth, add into the mix Louise Bayou's Long Slow Kiss who skipped the Bunburette in favor of Getildonna Stakes and you have a trio of ladies putting a hurting on their division, I asked Em her thoughts on these two and is there were a couple flying under the radar. “I think on one hand you can make a case for Peace On Earth just being a better horse that got upset in a weird race, or you can look at the division as being wide open. As for Long Slow Kiss, I’ve been doing my darnedest to buy her. Come on, Bay! Take my $10 million!”

Next up was the older males, I told Em I’d get to Sidney in a bit. The older division seems to have runners dropping like flies, with Sidney gone, Ben Browder seeing his share of mares, and Anorak taking care of business on the sidelines, it leaves the division thin. I know Imagineer, D's Breeder's Cup, Yasiel, and Kingdom of Rust are returning to help out as well as the aforementioned Electric Blue and The Lord Of Time, I asked Em is the division would suffer with these losses.

“The thing about the turf division is that it never suffers. It is worldwide, with major grade 1 races in all countries and so much money out there to conquer. For every 10 horses that retire, 10 more are right there to take their place. Everyone is probably glad to see the back of Sidney as he heads to the shed!” I’m glad I can actually get a share of Sidney, that is as soon as I find a mare worthy of that hefty price.

The next section of the Turf Route Division, the younger ladies, has me very excited. The younger fillies have a star in their midst in Madeline Smith, I have no idea what happened to her in Prix Banner in her 2YO finale. Her win in the Steward's Cup Filly and Mare Turf as a 3YO was unreal, she took down some serious talent in that race, I heard directly from one of her fiercest rivals that they will try and avoid her as much as possible until the end of the year, I asked Em her thoughts on Madeline Smith’s hiccup as a 2YO and if she is as much of a freak as she looks.

“Sometimes, good horses run bad races. It’s true, it really happens. The game is meant to mimic real life, and while no one wants their good horse to run a bad race, you have to remember it happens all the time (unless you’re Zenyatta. Yes, I went there!). Big Brown should have won the Triple Crown for fun, and he was pulled up when it was clear he just wasn’t running that day. You never know, so don’t go all retirement-button-guns-blazing if you don’t like one race. It happens. They recover. As for Madeline Smith, yes, she is as good as she looks - she’s crazy fast.”

I’m sure there are some SIMsters that want one of those “retirement-button-guns-blazing” buttons, I’ve wanted one, but patience is a virtue, even with fake horses.

Now onto the older fillies and mares, the loss of Ghost Stories hurts a little, but the fact is the division will see the likes of Dansu, Renewed In Spirit, Bedside Manner, Forethought, and Beloved back to push Madeline Smith this coming year, this division looks very strong.

I asked The Steward her thoughts on this division and the impact these ladies will have on it, “To be honest I was surprised that both Bedside Manner and Forethought decided to come back. They’ve been so good for so long that I thought for sure it would be time to get babies from them. Instead, their rivalry will continue. I know I just said Madeline Smith was a freak, and she is, but Beloved and Renewed in Spirit have been just waiting to be four, and I’m particularly fond of Dansu myself. One horse who has been kind of weirdly managed but should be a huge deal this year is See Around Corners - watch out, boys!”

Alright! The time has come; Em’s wait to discuss Sidney is over. I knew she had to be chomping at the bit to finally be able to put me in my place about who the greatest Turf Horse of all time is. Sidney, I don't know what else I can say about him, he won short, mid, and long, he shattered records and is sporting a hefty 125K Stud Fee for those who want to use him, I just let Em have the floor at this time.

“I was on board with his trainer’s plan from the start. Tackle the win record, and slowly compile an insane resume as you do it. I didn’t actually think that the Arc - Steward’s Cup double was possible, and he might have gotten lucky with the field - King’s Guard didn’t run his race, Ben Browder was definitely done, and the horse absolutely rolling at him in the final strides was D’s Breeders’ Cup, whose best speed figure was an 82 lifetime. But after he did that, as much as I wanted him to retire so I could send him *all the mares*, I actually suggested the possibility of conquering the one place he hadn’t gone - Dubai. Why not give him two more starts and see if he could add that one last thing to his resume? Dubai is tough though, so many horses lose there because I think it’s an even more intense, and because it comes so early in the year, more difficult thing to win than the Steward’s Cup. And that’s the only thing missing from his record, but I know it upset a lot of people that he skipped Dubai twice.”

Okay, this is one thing I didn’t know so I must have been one of those people who didn’t realize he planned on skipping Dubai not once, but twice. I know people wanted him gone so their freaks had a chance, but I would really have loved to see him try and win in Dubai, to see him try and capture the one thing he avoided his entire career, and to do it in his last race would have been wonderful.

I see the legend of Sidney will go on for a very long time, it is like a force and is showing no signs of slowing down. I know there are people who aren’t too fond of him but you can’t take away what he did, it doesn’t matter how he did it, he still did it, and that’s what legends are formed out of, doing something that others try and fail, but that Dubai win sure would have sealed the deal…What If!!!



Jack Meyer

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