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Alternate horses between jumps and flat.
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Stallions year entered for stud duties.
Automated assistant trainers - sorted, kind of!
European claiming circuit.
Ali Hedgestine
Ladonna King
Ashley Hunt
David Gray
Friedrich Barbarossa
Izzy Rafferty
T.D. Palm
Talia Ichinari
Danny Derby
Stephen Saratoga
Cathy Morris
Leo Beagle
Anna Leroux
Nena Olsen
Fanta Arcadia
Amy Springsteen
Ali Hedgestone
LaDonna King
Abe Froman
Scott Eiland
Glenn Escobar
Kenzie Larking
T.D. Palm
Scott Hortness
Danny Derby
Stephen Saratoga
Cathy Morris
Leonard Beagle
Anna Leroux
Nena Olsen
Fanta Arcadia
Amy Springsteen
Because Aloretta voted for my opponent, and also sniped me at the buzzer for a Sidney mare I wanted in an auction this evening, her votes do not count.
(Just kidding.)
‹Ali Hedgestone› Oh you get addicted to the crack after a while.
This spot reserved for my super-amazing TR stallion come Year 136.
I tried to do a breakdown of each matchup in the first round. I got through 7 of 57 matchups and said, “No way do I have another 50 of these in me.” But now that we're down to 35 silks remaining and 16 matchups, it's not as daunting.
NOTE: I will not vote for my own matchup, since I prefer my silks. Let the record show I voted for my opponent last round, and will vote for my opponent in the future if I think his/her silks warrant it.
HEDGESTONE VS. SMITH
I know Ali got the most nominations and is the top overall seed, and she wasn't really challenged last round, but I'm not a super-huge fan of her silks. They're just OK for me. There's nothing really wrong with them, it's just personal preference. I favor Laura's silks slightly here, and I also have a rule not to * off anyone who puts a kitchen knife on their silks. Seems prudent. VOTE: Laura Smith.
CLAUSER VS. KING
Tough one. I really like both of these silks. The only thing I don't like about Clauser's is the neon-green initials on the helmet. But the tux-bow tie look is snazzy (several other people went this route with their silks but Clauser's variation is the best IMO) and it stands out as a winner for me. I enjoy the “photo negative” effect King's silks have, but other than that it's more basic than Clauser's. I think I'll be on the wrong side of this one. VOTE: Jeffrey Clauser.
FROMAN VS. HUNT
There's elements of both of these silks that I like, and other things that I kind of reel away from. With Froman, I'm voting for a freaking hot dog wearing a crown with … what is that, a diamond-topped cane? I mean, really?!? I'd be embarassed to make my jockey wear that. And yet … it sort of works. The sleeves are nice, the hat is well-done (even if, once again, I'm not a huge fan of helmet initials) and the overall color scheme is solid. Ashley just threw a T-shirt into a vat of multicolored dye and came up with something that looks like my 2-year-old went nuts for a couple hours, except it also kind of works for my eye. It stands out, is unique and belongs in this round. At the end of the day, it turns out I have a slight preference for hot dogs wearing crowns. What that says about me, I'm scared to know. VOTE: Abe Froman.
EILAND VS. GRAY
Mr. Awesome just beat arch-nemesis Art Vandelay (as he should have IMO) last round, so that should be enough for this contest to make the HAT podcast, right? I like both of these silks better than the matchup above it. Scott's set of Jacks makes sense since he's a poker player among his other talents, and I don't know why but I enjoy the Houston Astros logo on the hat. Not sure what the “f” in “Sf” stands for, but whatever. Scott's run into a tough matchup though because David's silks are really nice. I've always been a fan of purple-and-gold getups (a local high school uses that color scheme and their uniforms are sweet), and the Lion-Lamb (I'm assuming that's a lamb) logo is superb. Like I said, I like Scott's kit, but this was not a hard choice for me. VOTE: David Gray.
BARBAROSSA VS. ESCOBAR VS. DOWNS
I'm thoroughly meh about all three of these. They're all fine, it's not like there's anything egregiously wrong with any of them, but none of them really make me think “title contender” or anything. Barbarossa's are the most appealing to my eye. Just not much to say here. VOTE: Friedrich Barbarossa.
RAFFERTY VS. LARKIN
This is a nice battle, and the winner will be my favorite to get out of the region. Rafferty's red-and-yellow design with a spiffy upright lion logo stands out, but I think the striped sleeves are a little too loud and take away from the overall appeal a bit. Larkin's kit is a much simpler purple-and-black design with a cool “flaming horse” logo that gets two thumbs up from me. In this case, I think simpler is better. VOTE: Kenzie Larkin.
DOOLITTLE VS. PALM
Picking the winner of this match is like shooting monkeys in a barrel. See what I did there? OK, stop groaning. Seriously, I feel confident in saying that you will NEVER see something as goofy as Doolittle's silks at an actual racetrack, but who cares? Judging his silks really comes down to, do you like the monkeys in a barrel, or do you think it's too over the top? I personally think it's too over the top to win the whole thing, but it's going to get the nod from me here. And I really like Palm's silks, they fit the owner perfectly. But the hat, for me, was a misplay and the overall appeal just doesn't have enough punch for me to vote for it here. VOTE: Bryan Doolittle.
PEAK VS. ICHINARI VS. HORTNESS
This is an absolutely brutal matchup, as I really like all three of these. That said, I moved Peak's leopard-print silks to the side rather quickly. It's just not original enough or good enough to prevail here. Ichinari's has a Chinese New Year feel to it with the red and yellow design and white dragon logo at the center. It's probably better from a pure artistic standpoint than Hortness' digs, but I love the horseshoe fireworks logo on Hortness' white silks with red sleeves, collar and hat. It's a good balance of simple and eye-popping. Tough decision. VOTE: Talia Ichinari.
DERBY VS. VIEANE
Derby's smiley-face silks may make me smile, but let's be real for a second: The purple polka dots make this kit super-gaudy and there's NO WAY they can win this contest. Please, stop the insanity. I'm not a super-huge fan of Vieane's silks either, as I think the red and black checkerboard sleeves are too busy, but he wins pretty easily here. VOTE: Fred Vieane.
SARATOGA VS. CANTERBURY
Rob, I'm a big fan of the New Orleans Saints logo and color scheme (but seriously, someone needs to explain to me the Sf in the circle logo, as I only now realized both Rob's and Scott's silks have it in the same place) and I have nothing bad to say about your silks (I probably would have gone with a black hat rather than gold, but whatever). However, you're up against one of three silks that I believe can win this contest. Saratoga's silks are the BOMB. I can't do them justice with words. I do think the hat is a little too busy, but other than that, I love these silks and hope they get to the final four. VOTE: Stephen Saratoga.
BEAGLE VS. GEUKENS
I want to like Leonard's silks. I have tried to talk myself into it several times. They're unique, they're not really overdone … I can't really find a flaw. I probably wouldn't have added another dog logo to the hat, but it doesn't kill the silks. I guess I just have a tough time taking something with dog biscuits going down the sleeves seriously. Also, the rust-red and black design isn't terribly exciting (it does fit the theme, however). As for Geukens' kit, my only real complaint is why is the button on the top of the hat cherry red?!? Is this an ice cream sundae I'm supposed to eat? Is Rudolph sponsoring these things? Are you trying to warn off airplane pilots from colliding with your jockey? I don't get it. And I just wrote multiple sentences about a hat button. I need a life. Whoever wins this should get smashed in the next round. I'm going for the dog biscuits. VOTE: Leonard Beagle.
LEROUX VS. NOWAK
Adela, you have really nice silks. They're simple in color scheme, yet elaborate in logo design … and again, I usually vote for those who have swords on their silks out of self-preservation. So let's make a treaty. We can even use the olive branch the bird is carrying and everything. Here's the thing: You're up against a championship contender. Look at what Anna brought to the table. She's taking you on with a flaming Phoenix logo, with more awesome multi-colored flames on the hat (seriously, Leroux's hat crushes this competition) to cap it off (pun intended). I know you'll understand, Adela. You did well. Sometimes you're just up against somebody better. We can still be friends, right? VOTE: Anna Leroux.
OLSON VS. MAIER
This is tough for me, but for not-so-great reasons. I'm just not a big fan of either of these. Nena's dark blue and black checkerboard sleeves and hat give me a migraine. Pam's color scheme, for whatever reason, just doesn't do it for me. But overall, I like Pam's kit more here. There's nothing as egregiously loud as Nena's sleeves, and on originality it's a little bit better, too. VOTE: Pam Maier.
ARCADIA VS. BOURNE
This is a pretty good matchup that I could see going either way. Fanta's design is simple (it might actually be a little too simple, as I would do something with the hat), but the logo is different enough to keep your attention and make it unique. Bourne's silks are busier, but not so busy that it's too much. Of course, the main feature (the gun-sight target on the left shoulder/chest) fits the owner to a T. VOTE: Jason Bourne.
OUTSILVER VS. SPRINGSTEEN VS. CHARTIER
I'm not going to say much about the Outsilver or Chartier silks here, other than that they're overmatched. Springsteen's silks are one of my three primary contenders to win this shebang, along with the other two I've swooned over already. They're just sweet: Well-balanced with lots of different colors and designs adding texture to the black base. Amy should cruise through the region. VOTE: Amy Springsteen.
‹Ali Hedgestone› Oh you get addicted to the crack after a while.
This spot reserved for my super-amazing TR stallion come Year 136.
Since you voted against me and didn't ask, two things:
1. this would get more votes if it wasn't a chore to vote.
2. The SF stands for "SIM Fellas" a pseudo syndicate from 2007 that died off when most of the involved men quit.
3. OK I lied three things. #1 again.
Host of the Hold All Tickets podcast on my own website. Your internet pal.
I agree with you, Scott, but the forum poll options were too limited and I don't have a lot of knowledge about making a voting poll some other way. Now that there's (far) less matchups I'm hoping the voting picks up.
Thanks for the Sf explanation.
‹Ali Hedgestone› Oh you get addicted to the crack after a while.
This spot reserved for my super-amazing TR stallion come Year 136.
Ali Hedgstone
LaDonan King
Ashley Hunt
Scott Eiland
Glenn Escobar
Te Aku Downs
Kenzie Larkin
TD Palm
Talia Ichinari
Danny Derby
Rob Canterbury
Cathie Morris
Leo Beagle
Adela Nowak
Nena Olson
Jason Bourne
Amy Springsteen
