Hall Of Fame - Whileaworldsleeps

Original article written by Danny Warren posted 13 years 4 weeks ago

For quite a few years now, Week 14 of the SIM year has been a day for Susie Raisher to pause and reminisce as she watches a smallish old grey lead the runners onto the track in Paris for the running of the Gr.1 Prix Longchamp.

The name of the race has changed, but the memory of her gentle horse tearing down the straight as the crowds all rose as one and cheered his name always brings a tear to her eye.
The grey, now trotting back along the straight in front of an adoring crowd is Whileaworldsleeps and his rise to inclusion in the Hall Of Fame is one of the great tales of the turf.

His racing statistics are mind boggling on their own.
Whileaworldsleeps enters the Hall Of Fame holding the record for most overall points earned with an incredible 1101 points and being a turf sprinter, this also means he holds the record for overall turf points too. Only one other horse has ever broken the 1000 point mark to date.

He had 33 starts for 24 wins, 5 seconds and 2 thirds, with the two times he missed the board being a 4th in the Steward’s Cup Turf Sprint and an unfortunate 7th in the Gr.2 Sunshine Park Handicap on his non preferred dirt surface.

His 24 wins are the second highest ever in the Sim and amongst his 19 graded Stakes wins are 12 Gr.1’s, 6 Gr.2’s and a single Gr.3. Those 19 graded wins have him fourth on the all time list.

He won 8 SIMMY’s during his career including a remarkable five consecutive wins in the European Champion Sprinter category. He also won the European Champion Older Male and the European Horse Of The Year and after a successful holiday in Asia, also picked up the SIMMY for Asian Champion Sprinter.

The following is a brief summary of Whileaworldsleeps’s wins:

5 times winner of the Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbeye de Longchamp/ Longchamp Stakes (Prix Longchamp now)
Gr.1 Stewards Cup Turf Sprint (1st ever running of the race)
Gr.1 Golden Jubilee Stakes
Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup
Gr.1 Cape Flying Championship
Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup
Gr.1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize
Gr.1 Takomatsunomiya Stakes
3 times winner of the Gr.2 Prix Maurice de Gheest
2 times winner of the Gr.2 WPOTA Diadem Stakes
Gr.2 Runaway Stakes
Gr.3 Cathedral Stakes
4 Allowances
Maiden

Those are the cold hard facts about this incredible horse, who won $3,651,700 and was victorious at distances from five furlongs to a mile and a quarter. But two other things about Whileaworldsleeps make him stand out amongst the Triple Crown winners, the Derby winners, the unbeaten horses and the various other legends among the 84 current Hall Of Famers. Whileaworldsleeps becomes the first ever gelding to be inducted to the Hall Of Fame and he had more wins than any other horse in the Hall Of Fame had starts. That’s right, his longevity and ability was such that no other horse in the Hall Of Fame had even as many starts as this grey flash had wins.

Those are the statistics, the clinical summary of a small, grey gelding who could run like the night breeze, but behind all of that is his story.

Even before he was born, Whileaworldsleeps was destined for greatness…..

Towards the end of Year 8, one of the great fillies of the time by the name of Riddle Me This won the final race of her 17 start career and was immediately sent to the breeding barn by owner Susie Raisher. Riddle Me This, the daughter of Louisville Derby and Baltimore Crown winner Tilt A Whirl, was indeed an amazing horse. She was one of the earliest dual surface stars and her overall record of 11 wins and 6 placings were split up as 10 starts for 5-2-3 on turf and 7 starts for 6-1-0 on the dirt, this being long before the introduction of all weather races. Those efforts brought home $2,661,000 in prizemoney and she won 8 Gr.1 races while racing against a brilliant crop of fillies including Sim Goddess, Silver Foil and Serena Sound. As a two year old she won the Oceanside Debutant and the Inglewood Starlet. At three, the Mother Goose Stakes, Ballston Star Handicap and Breeders Stakes trophies were placed in her private cabinet and she finished her racing days with four wins in a row. Riddle Me This won the Gr.3 Fiji Stakes, then finished on a high with wins in three Gr.1’s in the Ramona Handicap, Yellow Ribbon Stakes and on that glorious day in California, the Matriarch Handicap and earning the SIMMY for Champion Female Turf Horse.

Susie sent Riddle Me This to her first breeding with Giant’s Causeway, which produced two time Gr.2 winner, From The Heart. Then Susie temporarily left the SIMHorse world and she passed Riddle along to Jess Paquette who bred her twice more, getting millionaires Enigma and Reveille. Brianna McKenzie was thrilled to obtain Riddle and had Bring On The Rain and Dontturnoffdalite before the pivotal moment when Brianna paid a then record of $30,000,000 to Gerry Hardie for superstar colt Midnightconfession for stud duties.

At the time of the sale, Midnightconfession already had two SIMMY’s, having won the Champion Two Year Old Colt and then winning the Champion Three Year Old Colt the following year. He retired shortly after the sale with $3,742,000 in prizemoney earned from his 11 wins and 3 placings from his 15 races, six of those wins being at Gr.1 level. Midnightconfession had also won on both surfaces, as well as being a son of the unbeaten Serena Success, and the prospect of matching the young stallion with Riddle Me This was one that Brianna could not ignore.

The resulting grey colt, born on a pitch black, frosty evening was Whileaworldsleeps.

Sleeps, as he became affectionately known, spent a happy time as a foal under the loving, watchful eyes of Brianna and Riddle until it was time for him to learn the basics as a yearling. Right from the first day he stepped foot on the track, he showed a turn of foot that staggered the early morning clockers and despite the temptation to rush him straight into the early two year old maidens, Brianna showed admirable patience and waited for what she felt was the right race at the right time.

Futurity Park in Florida in Week 6 had a 6 ½ furlong maiden race and Brianna was understandably a little nervous to see how Sleeps matched up. Her nerves turned to jubilation as Sleeps spreadeagled his seven opponents and won by three and a half lengths. Deciding to tread carefully with him, Brianna waited four weeks before entering Sleeps in an Allowance race at Lakeway Park in Maryland, this time though, the distance was 1 1/16 miles. It made no difference and Sleeps again won very easily, defeating the handy Question The Stars and future millionaire Thestarsajetsetter. Brianna chose to put her obviously talented youngster into the spelling paddock after the race in preparation for his three year old season.

After enjoying a well earned rest, the colt muscled up appreciably and he travelled over to Pennsylvania Downs to kick off his three year old campaign with the addition of a shadow roll to the protective bandages on his legs. He won the mile Allowance race with ease and Brianna decided that it was time to test Sleeps at a higher grade and chose the Gr.3 California Derby over 1 1/8 miles and the crowds came to see two unbeaten colts run the others into the ground. You can’t win them all and on this occasion Sleeps just missed out by a half length to Bring Back The Fun. The next two gaps in the field were a scary 10 and 15 ½ lengths which signalled that although beaten, he was still a very serious racehorse.
Sleeps then went on a trip to Canada and tackled a 1 ¼ mile Allowance where he easily defeated future Irish Champion Stakes winner Round Tuit without all the extra equipment. Brianna then made the bold decision to finish his three year old campaign off by sending Sleeps all the way to Tokyo and dramatically dropping him in distance for his first run in a Gr.1 race. The 6 furlong Gr.1 Takomatsunomiya Stakes was worth $550,000 and with eleven in opposition including future millionaire Prestigious, it really seemed a radical move. Prestigious and Sleeps were neck and neck throughout the race but in the end Whileaworldsleeps won his first Gr.1 by a half length. However, the joy and excitement were soon subdued by the news that the SIM was going into temporary recess.

After what was seemed an eternity to all involved, the SIM happily resumed right where it stopped, but with some changes. Existing trainers were only allowed to retain a small amount of their existing horses and many, many horses were put up for sale. Sleeps had been gelded during this time away and this is where Sleeps’ tale takes a twist.

He was one of the many that went to the saleyards and Susie Raisher, who was herself returning to the SIM after some time away, couldn’t believe her eyes when the son of her mighty mare appeared in front of her. Not only did she grab the opportunity to buy Sleeps, she was also able around this time to obtain Riddle Me This back as well. Riddle produced six more foals for Susie before being pensioned, producing Whileaworldsleeps full brother, the millionaire and five time Gr.1 winning stallion A World Awakened, who is currently standing for $7,500 in Great Britain. Midnightconfession had also become a marvellous stallion and the now 20 year old finished his career with his foals winning 454 times, earning over $25 million with a 79.2% winners to runners and 28 Stakes winners on all surfaces, with three millionaires. He is quite rightfully in the Hall Of Fame.

Susie put Sleeps back up again in distance for his return to racing in the Gr.3 Texas Turf Challenge and ran a game 3rd behind the outstanding filly Whenithurtstosmile and top gelding Sir William. Then disaster struck when Sleeps was experimented with on dirt and he well and truly proved he was grass only, tailing off in the Gr.2 Sunshine Park Handicap.

On went a figure eight bridle and Susie tested Sleeps back to a mile at Inglewood in the Gr.3 American Handicap where after getting back early, he unleashed a powerful run in the straight to split top liners Angels Help Angels and Unconquered. Susie added blinkers to see if this would help Sleeps show a bit more interest early in his races and ran him in an 6 furlong Allowance in Toronto to see if he could still sprint. Whilst being up against only fair opposition, Sleeps showed that sprinting was where his heart was with a blistering front running performance that left reporters staring agog. His closest victim was nine lengths back with a further five and a half and then ten lengths back to the others, meaning that Sleeps defeated the 4th placegetter by an astonishing 24 ½ lengths !

Susie watched from the stands, just as gob smacked as everyone else, but her mind was already working on a plan, a plan that eventually led to Whileaworldsleeps’ legendary status in France and throughout the SIMWorld.

Sleeps was immediately sent to Paris to see if he could match it in Europe and his first run was to be the 6 ½ furlong Gr.2 Prix Maurice de Gheest. Sleeps was simply too fast for them, winning easily with millionaire Four Of Rivals a full ten lengths behind him.

After that run, Susie made the call that created perhaps Sleeps’ greatest legacy, by entering him in the Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbeye de Longchamp. Sleeps toyed with his rivals and beat future sprinting superstar Right Hand Man by three lengths in another bold front running effort. Then the news was announced that a new race was to be added to the Steward’s Cup program, the Steward’s Cup Turf Sprint. With Whileaworldsleeps in this sort of form, Susie did not hesitate to give him a shot at greatness. However once Susie saw the field, which included such stars as Y Are U Here, Fleet Afoot and Link, she wondered whether Sleeps could handle them. She must have had her doubts when a complete change of tactics saw Sleeps sitting back early, but then he peeled out and simply blew them away with an explosion of pure speed to win as he liked by 4 ½ lengths for a $1,200,000 payday in what Susie believes is his most brilliant performance.

After a short break, Whileaworldsleeps went to South Africa where he again locked horns with Y Are U Here and Four Of Rivals in the Gr.2 WPOTA Diadem Stakes and after a sluggish start he steamed home to win. This was followed with another win, this time in the Gr.1 Cape Flying Championship with Y Are U Here and Link in his wake once again.

With time moving on, he moved to England to tackle the flying Adjust The Lens who had been carving a quite significant reputation of his own. The Gr.1 Golden Jubilee Stakes crowd saw these two great sprinters attack each other all the way around their 6 furlong journey before Adjust The Lens just got home by ¾ of a length. Not in the least disappointed, Susie sent Whileaworldsleeps across the English Channel to France for another attempt at the Gr.2 Prix Maurice de Gheest. Sleeps showed utter contempt for his four opponents to win by 11 lengths in a scintillating display of speed. This tuned the grey up perfectly and confidence was sky high for his attempt to go back to back in the Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbeye de Longchamp. Again four others faced him and again they could not keep up, as in front of a roaring crowd, Sleeps won by 6 lengths. With history beckoning, Susie took Sleeps to Florida for another crack at the Gr.1 Steward’s Cup Turf Sprint. Here he faced an amazing field and he did incredibly well to run 4th behind Adjust The Lens, Right Hand Man and Y Are U Here with horses of the quality of Snuggle and Link behind. This proved to be the only time he missed the board on the turf.

Many top class horses are at least nearing retiring at six, but being a gelding does have it’s advantages. Hong Kong finally finished building their magnificent racecourse and a series of three sprint races were put on by the club to entice the world to Hong Kong. Susie took the bait and Whileaworldsleeps travelled first class to Hong Kong. First up was the 5 furlong Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup and Sleeps showed that he had lost nothing by defeating Unconquered. Next came the 6 furlong Gr.1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize and after settling with the rest of the field, he strode straight past Nice And Cozzy, Bryzgalov and Unconquered to win by 5 lengths. With the triple certainly on the cards, just three runners faced Sleeps in the 7 furlong Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup and although the handy Dreamhimbacktolife tried hard, Whileaworldsleeps became the hero of Hong Kong, winning the final race of the sprint series by 6 lengths.

Back to France again and could Sleeps be good enough to score three straight wins in the Gr.2 Prix Maurice de Gheest. Again he terrified the locals away and despite being bumped at the start, he tore away to win by 7 ¼ lengths. The question on everyone’s lips was could Sleeps now win his third Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbeye de Longchamp as well and the French poured through the gates to find out. No one could get anywhere near him in this sort of form and he utterly destroyed the field by 9 lengths with his jockey sitting statuesque on his back. Susie remembers this season with Whileaworldsleeps as, “A blast……..really – every time I entered him was a new revelation in what horses can accomplish. To have that feeling of confidence every time you enter and to so rarely be proven wrong is such a gift.”

Now seven, Sleeps began to appear more white than grey, but loved nothing more than racing and he travels back to South Africa for a first up tilt at the Gr.2 WPOTA Diadem Stakes. After swinging a bit wide, Sleeps powered his way to another easy win by 6 lengths. A fortnight later he split the talented pair of Right Hand Man and Spirited in the Gr.1 Cape Flying Championship. With a little unfinished business to tend to, Susie then sent Sleeps to London for the Gr.1 Golden Jubilee Stakes and he made no mistake this time, winning by 6 ½ lengths in front of the Royal Family. Susie Raisher is presented with the trophy by the Queen herself. A slight change of his usual French routine saw Sleeps get a well earned short break before another attempt at the Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbeye de Longchamp. With the French crowd cheering themselves hoarse, Whileaworldsleeps again thundered down the straight with daylight filling out a long gap before the rest of the field finally arrived with a super impressive 7 ¼ length win. To finish his campaign, Susie sent Sleeps back to London to run in the Gr.2 Runaway Stakes, named after another of Susie’s great horses who is also in the Hall Of Fame. Sleeps kept the stable honour by overcoming some early trouble to win comfortably.

After many sleepless nights of tossing and turning and agonising over what to do, Susie decided that Whileaworldsleeps deserved one final season of racing, so his many fans have the opportunity of seeing him and saying goodbye. Throughout this final season, the crowds swarmed wherever he appeared. Banners, pins, t-shirts, DVD’s and posters were all made available to his adoring public. He began in Barbados where he ran a tired 3rd in the Gr.2 Barbados Trophy. He then turned his attention to London where Sleeps showed some fight to win the Gr.3 Cathedral Stakes. On to Cyprus for a first ever run in the Greek Isles and it became obvious that the old boy was showing signs of having had enough by struggling into 2nd in a rather poor field. A press conference was called and a teary Susie Raisher announced that Whileaworldsleeps would be retiring after his fifth consecutive start in the Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbeye de Longchamp which had just been renamed the Gr.1 Longchamp Stakes. Arrangements were made for the French fans to come to a special day where they could have their photographs taken with him and these photographs were even embossed by Sleeps own hoof print as a thank you for their loyalty. Whileaworldsleeps was on the front of every French newspaper for the entire week leading up to his final race amid varying reports about whether he could go out a winner or not.

People flew in their thousands from all around the world for the big day and the jockey club were forced to lock the gates as the course could hold no more. Four runners arrived to oppose Sleeps and their owners knew that win, lose or draw, they would be involved in something special. The gates rocked back in a clean line and about halfway down the straight, the little grey head of Whileaworldsleeps started to move towards the lead as the crowd began to find their voices. Sleeps was challenged by Guitar Hero, but to an entire racecourse full of tear streaked faces, Sleeps put in one final effort and pulled away to win an unprecedented 5th running of the now Gr.1 Longchamp Stakes by 2 lengths. Absolute pandemonium broke loose as the crowd all desperately tried to find spots near the winners enclosure for the presentation of a specially made trophy fashioned after the famed windmill at the side of the racetrack. The presentation ceremony was so emotional, even the French President was forced to wipe away a tear as he led the crowd in three cheers.

Susie’s mind comes back to the present as the runners of the latest Gr.1 Prix Longchamp return to a new hero’s welcome and a local reporter asks her about Sleeps final race. “With any of my horses, I always want them to be able to go out on a good note. When you have a horse like that though, the desire is incredibly heightened and there’s some pressure to put an exclamation point on his career. But to go out as he did, with a G1 victory and his fifth straight score in that race, was absolutely unbelievable. He had lost a step by then, but I tried to manage that and point him to that moment. I don’t know that it’s possible to have a better swan song than he had that day. Consistency and durability are wonderful things, but they only take you so far if you’re not that fast. When I look at his record, I’m constantly amazed by how incredibly he illustrated every trait you would want to see in a racehorse.” She replies.

She then turns and contentedly strolls through the crowd to fetch the old grey boy and heads to the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. After the flight home to New York and a short drive to Fox Lair, Whileaworldsleeps announces his return with a whinny and trots happily back into the paddock just across from the one that Riddle Me This now shares with Faith Unwavering. Sleeps now spends his days with Royal Tsunami and half-brother Luck until his next trip to Paris.

An apple, a mint and a loving pat later, Susie leaves Sleeps with his pals and heads back, wandering past a cabinet full of gleaming trophies and down a hall full of his winning photographs to her office to concern herself with hopefully finding the next superstar.

---

Back to Racing articles