Hall of Fame - If Looks Could

Original article written by Nathan Klein posted 3 years 0 weeks ago

Satelite is considered by many to be the greatest dirt sprinter in all of SIM history. Still, over 40 SIM years later, he holds the world record at 5 furlongs and 6 furlongs and never lost. But if there was any horse that came close to equaling him it was If Looks Could. If Looks Could definitely did have great looks for a racehorse. He was tall standing 16'2 hands. His coat was shiny and jet black with a small white snip over his nose. Everyone knew the horse was special but no one knew how special. In his first start, he ran in the non-graded Serena Slew Stakes. Although race is a strong word as he broke out of the gate super fast and did nothing but lengthen his lead for those 900 meters. At the wire, he won by 5 lengths. He seemed invincible as he won his first 3 races by a combined 18 lengths. He added 2 more wins, including a Grade 1, to that streak in preparation for his biggest test at 2. It was the 2-year-old Sprint Championship. In the race, he would face off against Agoodmangoestowar. Agoodmangoestowar was also unbeaten in 5 starts, 2 youthful unbeaten champs were gonna fight in the 2-year-old Sprint Championship.

If Looks Could broke fast going to the lead then Agoodmangoestowar and with Charge close behind in third. The trio left the remaining 3 horses far behind, at their peak they were 7 1/4 lengths in front. But the real battle was between If Looks Could and Agoodmangoestowar. The 2 led the race with If Looks Could only 3/4 of a length in front as the two went into the far turn. Agoodmangoestowar was at war fighting to not let If Looks Could get too far ahead. But If Looks Could slowly expanded the lead to 1 length while being entirely hand ridden. 1 length was the slimmest margin If Looks Could ever won by in his career. Despite winning 6 races at the age of 2 with 2 Grade 1's he was robbed of Simmy by Spectre who only won the Steward's Cup Juvenile and a maiden race.

The following year the great horse was back winning his first race back by 7 lengths. In his 4 preps toward the Steward's Cup Sprint, he would win by a combined 16 1/4 lengths. He was at the peak of his abilities and had won 10 straight races with no errors. He broke well in the Steward's Cup but he had Kaos to worry about. Kaos stayed right at If Looks Could's neck staying half a length behind him at the start. She was not easy to shake off but If Looks Could outlasted her as Kaos faded in the far turn. As Looks Could was confidently hand ridden to an 11th win by 2 1/4 lengths. This time he would not be robbed at the Simmy's winning North American Champion Sprinter in a landslide.

His 4-year-old season didn't last long as he only raced twice. But those 2 races would be important as he would be trying to win the last 2 big sprint races he had yet to take. First up was a new big sprint race never run before. The Pegasus Sprint was a great new race with tons of money on the line. He had scared off nearly all competition at this point with only 3 horses challenging him for the inaugural running. He went to the front and battled early with Kaos but yet again proved too good under a hand ride. Lastly, he went to Dubai for the Desert Golden Sprint where he added an extra 1 million to his total purse earnings. It was an easy win as he led the whole way as usual and only needed a mild drive to win by 1 3/4 lengths. After that, he had won every huge dirt sprint race and was quickly retired to focus on being a sire rather than go for a repeat win in the Steward's Cup Sprint. As a sire, he would prove to be immensely successful having nearly 64 million in progeny earnings 673 winners and 106 stakes winners in counting even after he was pensioned in year 55. Although he doesn't race anymore he lives a simple life being a stable pony and leading the next generation into the starting the gate.

---

Back to Hall of Fame articles