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Hall of Fame - Special Dynamite
Original article written by Nathan Klein posted 3 years 3 weeks agoBOOM as we get closer to getting all of year 57's inductees their Hall Of Fame articles let's talk about Special Dynamite one of the two that remain for me on my quest. Special Dynamite was a striking chestnut Appaloosa who was sired by Dynomatic and had Losethewings as her dam. For both her mother and father she was by far their best offspring being the only millionaire.
At the top of her game, she was hard to beat. As a two-year-old, she ran five times and won every single time. She would start mid-pack near the top three positions and then accelerate to win by a neck or less. Regardless of the slim margins, she would still win all day err day. By her third start she was a Grade 1 winner running in the Ruidoso Appaloosa Juvenile Fillies by an impressive 3/4 of a length. Her best margin mixed with her best performance. Her next start in Grade 1 company was a real battle. In the Steward's Cup Appaloosa Juvenile Fillies. She broke to the outside nearly costing her the race. With a quick recovery, she got her nose down on the line in a three-horse photo finish. All were noses apart but she was the winner.
It was an easy choice for Appaloosa Champion Two Year Old Female, a perfect 5-5 and two grade 1 wins is hard to beat. Ironically she lost her first start the following year. It was a good effort losing only a head to Dynomix but it shook up her image. Back to winning, she was powering home a winner by a neck in the Be Sorry Stakes and then half a length clear in the Dance Step Stakes. But then dead last in the Spotted Oaks. It was a tough pill to swallow, as in her first Grade 1 bid that year she was well beaten. All the other Appy's squabbled for placings inches from each other she was 1 and 3/4 lengths behind the nearest horse. But she was not disgraced as she ran in the Steward's Cup Appaloosa Distaff.
Despite a slow break-in seventh, she fired away with that ever-increasing speed she carried and by the finish line, she was a winner by a neck. No dead last this time, she was the boss this time around. And even with that off day her good days carried her far enough that she was awarded Appaloosa Champion Three Year Old Female. It would be a second straight year of Simmy Awards for Special Dynamite. But after that Steward's Cup win came the best two sim years of her life. Her older seasons gave her some of her greatest races.
She ran home in her first two starts as a four-year-old by half a length each. Her next three wins were by slimmer margins of a neck a piece but they included the Grade 1 Diversity Distaff. Her fourth career Grade 1. All that was left was a second win in the Steward's Cup Appaloosa Distaff and she would have a second spotless season (pun intended). She broke fast only a neck behind the leader and then just continued to accelerate. She was an easy winner saving her best race of the year for last as she ran home a 3/4 of a length winner. Six races six wins for Special Dynamite. It was more than enough for her to win Appaloosa Champion Older Female giving her a trilogy of Simmy's from a two-year-old to older female. But it also gave her a grand slam Appaloosa Horse Of The Year.
A year later she was only a step below losing her second start the Blue Man Group Stakes by a nose. Besides that small blemish, she won two stakes races along with repeat victories in the Grade 1 Diversity Distaff and a hattrick in the Steward's Cup Appaloosa Distaff. An unheard-of achievement at the time but she did it running home a strong neck victor. The only horse that would ever match her mark in that race was Purified By Flame. She coincidentally started and ended her hattrick exactly ten sim years after Special Dynamite did. That year she would be 4-5 and still Appaloosa Champion Older Female and even Appaloosa Horse of the Year once more. In two years she had earned four Grade 1's four Simmy's and two Steward's Cup races.
Back to back Appaloosa Horse Of The Year honors had not been achieved since A Good Irish seven Sim Years prior and it had never been done by a mare. At the time it was unheard and likely would've stayed that way if it weren't for Night Lion. Who not only equaled Special Dynamite's feat but then doubled it managing an astronomical four Appaloosa Horse Of The Years. But besides the greatest of all time in Night Lion, no one else has even come close to Special Dynamite's double. Not even Feigned Innocence another Appaloosa phenom. In total, she won 10 of 11 races or about half of her career victories in just those two seasons.
By her six-year-old season, she had done everything and unfortunately was run past her peak. She managed two more stakes wins at the start but after that, she only ran three more times. Only finishing on the board once in a second-place finish in an allowance race. It was the only season where she did not win a Steward's Cup or a Grade 1 race. However, her achievements in her first four sim years of racing show that at that point it didn't matter what she did. She was not just one of the best Appaloosa mares but also one of the greatest Appaloosa's of all time. Standing on par with even more recent greats as Feigned Innocence and closer than most in terms of skill compared to the absolute greatest of Appaloosa racing Night Lion. Special Dynamite was most definitely special and she was also certainly explosive when she ran.