Where To Next?

Forum rules
Do not to post anything abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, or sexually-orientated.
Do not post anything negative about any player.
No advertising other games.
The management reserves the right to delete or lock threads and messages at any time.
Read the complete SIM rules and legal information.
Post Reply
User avatar
Paul Sellers
Eclipse Champion
Posts: 1262
Joined: 16 years ago

Where To Next?

Post by Paul Sellers »

Image

So... This beautiful girl has been an absolute delight to have in my barn. In 9 races she's never finished worse than second, including a runner-up finish in the SC Bunburette where she rallied from 9th to just miss running down Kris Bobby's With Daydreams and then most recently, losing by a nose trying to track down another loose on the lead horse in the Portugese Oaks.

Things I'm pretty sure I know:

1. Like every other offspring of Little Imagination, she doesn't seem to want to go past 1 1/8 miles.
2. She's a closer who runs best when there is a fast pace ahead of her.
3. She's probably a cut below the very best of what looks to be a VERY strong 3yo TR filly division.

Now what? I think my choices are the following:

A. Stick with the original plan, run her in the SC F&M Turf at 1 1/4m. She's never actually tried 1 1/4m and has won pretty easily at 1 1/8m. The slightest cutback in distance, combined with the likely fast pace will give her a chance to win.

B. Acknowledge she's a cut below the very best, and either send her to South Africa to run in the Champion's Vase or Italy to run in the Roma Stakes. They're at 1 1/8m against older horses and males.

C. Choose the most conservative option and send her to California to run against her own gender in The Matriarch at 1 1/8m, facing older for the first time.

D. Try to outsmart the SIM. Emily obviously had a plan breeding this horse who seems to prefer 1 1/16m over all the other distances, and realized that her dam's babies just don't want to go long at all. One and Only has Turf Mile ability and with the way this girl crushes at 1 1/16, wouldn't she be just as effective with a half panel less? Especially because the SC Turf Mile should have a very fast pace for her to close into.

E. Something else.
"I am still under the impression that there is nothing alive quite so beautiful as a thoroughbred horse."

-- John Galsworthy
User avatar
Stormy Peak
Hall of Fame
Posts: 6743
Joined: 17 years ago
Location: Idaho

Re: Where To Next?

Post by Stormy Peak »

E. Something Else. Just look for races that have any of my fillies in and enter her into another race.

lol.

She's a wonderful filly...loved watching her from the time she was 2 years old. And was kind of hoping for a rivalry to start with her and my filly Extreme Ways But, Extreme Ways turned into a twerp...seems to only want to win or finish off the board.
Volcanologist -- She finished 2nd in a Grade One 1 1/2 mile race...so I think she's shown she can handle longer distances....even if she is more comfortable at 1 1/8 miles, still, as you stated, she's never Won at a longer distance. So I think it comes down to whether or not you want to see her pile up the money...finishing 2nd in a Big race sometimes brings in more than finishing 1st in a lesser G1 race where the purse is much smaller. I like my potential stallions to rack up the G1's because it looks better on their pages when people are looking to send broodmare to them.

But for me, with the mares...while I like to see G1 wins of course, I mostly like to see them make a ton of money. : )
Roughian probably could have had a ton of G1 wins under her belt if I had stuck to female only races with her...but she would have never earned so much money by avoiding the Big open races...which she rarely won.

Volcanologist is still 3...and if you plan on racing her at age 4...maybe you can always go back to shorter races that she has a much better chance of winning. I guess it comes down to if you like the chance of getting a win more than the chance of finishing 2nd or 3rd but making more or about equal amount of money.

I hope she continues to do well for you. : )

Stormy

Correction... I stated Extreme Ways loves mud...had her mixed up with another filly of mine, (Fire On High). :P
She's is actually a "no preference'
SIRES: Turf Routers - Each multiple G1 winners

Tuck Everlasting
Fee $30,500

Wolfman Jack
Fee $18,000
User avatar
Lily Wilkins
Eclipse Champion
Posts: 1482
Joined: 12 years ago

Re: Where To Next?

Post by Lily Wilkins »

Are you planning to run her at 4?
If so, I would go super conservative and do something like the Stardust Stakes (W15 D5 restricted to 3 year old fillies, 1 1/16 miles, Grade 3 with a $100,000 purse) to give her the opportunity to end the season on a win and come back as a four year old ready to rumble right off the bat.
Also, just a quick note looking at the entries for the Stardust... You already have an entrant who likes to be in the lead, and an entrant who likes to push the pace, so your filly could end up with a nice pace to close into there.

But I also kinda like the sound of your Turf Mile idea, you could be on to something there!
𝐴𝑧𝑢𝑙 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑒
Since Year 30
Proudly Standing

Equinox | TR/AWR | Leased Out Y66
Quinny | DR/DM | $20,000
✾ Visit our Nursery to view our floofy little future stars!
User avatar
Leigh Ann Anderson
Hall of Fame
Posts: 2117
Joined: 17 years ago

Re: Where To Next?

Post by Leigh Ann Anderson »

She’s a lovely filly, kind of reminds me of None Other to be honest. My mare could stretch out to 1 1/8 but was a 1 1/16 specialist. I think your filly can handle distance better, but she may not be at her very best at a true route of ground. You can absolutely put together a nice schedule aiming for those shorter routes, just look at the races I sent my mare to.

Personally, I think your girl would be competitive in the SC, but might not pick up the win. It all depends on how much a loss might irk you vs an easier win elsewhere.
Windborn turf router $20000; Nite Skyturf router $18000; Black Tears turf router $5,000; Dream Goodnite turf router $5000; Accend turf router $5000; Independence Hall dirt miler $40000
Post Reply