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Rian
Original article written by Douglas Marley posted 2 years 2 weeks agoDuring my high school year’s, I was taken under the wings of my uncle, a dyed in the wool racetrack degenerate. Under his tutelage I learned the handicapper’s craft. By the end of my apprenticeship, I was able to pay for my senior prom with betting winnings from Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. One of the lessons I learned was that a handicapper tries to find sure losers not sure winners. I learned that a handicapper has so many factors to weigh that it is rare to find a sure winner. Moreover, once you find a likely winner, the racing god’s can upset your calculations, as your sure winner due to any number of factors can turn into an also ran. By finding losers you can focus on smaller number of entries allowing for a more educated bet.
Most handicapping books will tell you that class is a key factor to consider when finding sure losers. Class is the idea that a horse with superior class will dominate an animal of a lesser class. It is conventional wisdom that a claimer will not win against a stakes horse, even if their past performances list times are similar. It is believed that the claimer will “know” that he is from a lesser caste and will give the track to his superior. Generally, class is an effective tool to eliminate horses with little or no chance and focus on horses with a chance to win. Unfortunately, for handicappers there is “monkey in the wrench” that belief that horses run to their ability of the moment and class is not set in stone.
Fortunately, for fans who like to root for David over Goliath, there are many horses that forget their place and run their hearts out no matter who is in the starting gate next to them. Some of these horses will give their all in a single race and then return to their place never again to disrupt the calculations of handicappers. An even rarer horse is one who runs his heart out regularly against all comers. Rian is one of those horses.
In Y23 SIMRacing welcomed Arabians into its fold and horses without pedigree entered started running on its tracks. These horses were offered to daring pioneers that were willing to take a risk with the new breed. One of those pioneers was Landon Alexander who purchased Rian for the modest price of $5,000. At the time of this writing (Y61) Landon Alexander is still listed as the eleventh leading owner of lifetime Arabian trainers with 1,147 winners.
Rian entered the starting gate for first time in Y23 in the $40,000, Golden Desert Stakes at four-furlongs. Entering the starting gate with him was Arabian great El Pantera. In that race both, Rian, and El Pantera, broke well. Rian rushed to the front but was forced four wide on the turn. Down the stretch El Pantera toyed with Rian finishing a length ahead of Rian and the field in what was described as a “mild drive.”
Two weeks later, in a division of the Arabian Endurance, contested at six-furlongs, Rian showed what he could do against mortals by winning by two lengths against a more pedestrian field. After this victory, Rian was given a five-week vacation at Madrona Ridge Farms.
Rian’s next two race where in the Third Summaris stakes and the On the Stretch stakes, both contested at six-furlongs. He finished second, to fellow giant killer, Zamil, and fifth, against El Pantera, Nar and, Zamil, respectively. In the On the Stretch Rian could not find room to run down the stretch.
Rian won the last two races of his three-year-old campaign. These victories included a victory against allowance company and a stakes victory in the Desert Expanse. Rian’s three-year-old record of 6: 3-2-0 with $57,800 in purse winnings, including two stakes victories was solid even if it did not deserve a Simmy championship.
During his four-year-old campaign, Rian compiled much the same record as in his three-year-old campaign. All of Rian’s five starts were stakes. He was able to finish first twice. In his second start of the year, the $150,000 Week 5 stakes, Rian besting Nar, who was eventually voted three Simmys as Y25-Arabian Horse of the Year, Y25-Arabian Champion Older Male, Y24-Arabian Champion Older Male, and eventual Hall of Fame inductee, and Zamil. His second victory that year was in the Royal Gifts stake where he defeated El Pantera.The remainder of his starts he finished second behind Nar twice and third behind Nar and El Pantera.
In Y25, Rian started five times in what would be his last year on the track. These five starts, all in stakes races, produced a record of 5: 2-2-0 with $134,750 in winnings. Rian’s victories were in the $60,000 California Fire Stakes at six-furlongs and the $100,000, Love to Run Stakes at five-furlongs. These victories were against forgettable fields of stakes runners.
Rian’s pair of seconds came in the, $75,000, Fleeting Moment Stakes, at four-furlongs, and the $150,000, Arabian Cup, contested at five-furlongs. In the Arabian Cup, Rian’s swan song, he finished second to Nar. Rian also finished fourth, behind winner Nar, in the $75,000, Inaugural Stakes. When Rian left the track for the last time, he had compiled a record of 16: 7-6-1 with $352,550 in winnings. During Rian’s racing career he earned the respect of horsemen and fans, even if no Simmy awards.
Rian had a stud career that lasted ten years. During that career he sired 319 foals. Of those 213 were winners, and of those 34 were stakes winners. Rian produced one Simmy Champion, Abbas who was voted Y28 Arabian Three-Year-Old Male. Ironically, like royal weddings of old, Anai, a granddaughter of the House of Rian was mated with Nar, producing Qairan who was voted Y33-Arabian Champion Older Male, Y32-Arabian Champion Three-Year-Old Male, and eventually became a Hall of Fame inductee.
Rian was pensioned in Y43 and died of natural causes six years later.
While Rian’s record was not quite the stuff of legend, his heart forced Simmy Champions, El Pantera and Nar to give their all on the track when every he shared the track with him.