<a href='http://www.simhorseracing.com/horse.php?HorseID=27411' target='_blank'>Secret Crush</a>.
I picked her up for a song during last year's TBSSYrl sale, and I cannot figure her out for the life of me. It's getting to the point where I am considering selling her as I can't seem to crack her. I kind of suspect that she's racing too short, even at 1 1/8, but I can't say for certain, as the best foal from her dam is clearly a sprinter.
Any insight would be muchly appreciated!
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Laura Ferguson
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First, she's been running mostly over her head against winners (and stakes caliber horses at that). She needs to go back to maiden company in Week 7 or 8 and stay there until she's won a race and built up some confidence. If you're eligible for Junior High and there is a race that fits that description, run her there. If not, look for a maiden that somewhere on the West Coast.
Second, she's only tried a route against stakes caliber fillies. It may be far different if she faces nonwinners. I'm guessing she's a router, although her dam side is somewhat long sprint/miler. She's never tried 1 1/8 miles, so I'm not sure how you know that is too short.
Third, equipment change may be in order, although I'd probably run her once in a maiden without changing the equipment to see how the class drop, at the proper distance, helps. If that doesn't, I'd go with either blinkers or ear muffs, but not both, and if the first one doesn't help, try the other one in the next race.
Second, she's only tried a route against stakes caliber fillies. It may be far different if she faces nonwinners. I'm guessing she's a router, although her dam side is somewhat long sprint/miler. She's never tried 1 1/8 miles, so I'm not sure how you know that is too short.
Third, equipment change may be in order, although I'd probably run her once in a maiden without changing the equipment to see how the class drop, at the proper distance, helps. If that doesn't, I'd go with either blinkers or ear muffs, but not both, and if the first one doesn't help, try the other one in the next race.
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Charles Bunbury
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This has always intrigued me. Does the SIM account for confidence?Laura F. wrote:stay there until she's won a race and built up some confidence.
If so, Finger Painting's next race will be a match against me!
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Eric Nalbone
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Always, always, always, always run maidens in maiden races. The ONLY exceptions (ever) should be precocious sprinters with brilliant pedigrees early in the year (since otherwise nobody would win the 2yo stakes in Weeks 1-4) and fillers, who you don't care about ruining.
Its a mistake we all make once, but hopefully, you'll only make it once. Running a horse over its head again and again teaches you nothing about the horse, wastes races that you could be using for productive purposes, and doesn't produce any positive results. Drop her into a maiden going 8-10f, on the dirt, and see how she does. If that doesn't work, drop her into a maiden claimer.
Hopefully, a return to appropriate competition will get her moving along the right track, but at the very least, it'll at least lend some legitimacy to her running lines. Too often when horses are run over their heads, the running line doesn't mean anything other than "This horse isn't good enough to run in this race," without giving you any useful clues into her actual equipment needs. Use the Premier Debutante as an example: your horse might have decent early speed and a strong closing kick, but running against stakes horses, she went backwards through the stretch anyway, rather than demonstrating that kick that she might against appropriate competition. Does it mean she needs blinkers, a tongue tie, or lasix, which I might try with horses who legitimately belong in stakes competition to fix that kind of a running line? Who knows.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that you'll ultimately have a lot more success with your horses if you have the patience to let them find their own level. If a horse quickly gets out of its maiden, you get a little experience and some feedback on its equipment needs in its first start. If it hangs in the maiden ranks for 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 races, running well but not winning, at least its doing something useful and earning money rather than being STOMPED in stakes competition. Sure, run enough horses in enough stakes and you'll eventually find one that does well, but the rest will just be ruined. If you start them all from the bottom and build up, only a select few will ever really make it to compete at the stakes level, but those that do will belong there, and those that stall out before reaching that highest level can go on to have long, productive careers in the allowance/claiming ranks rather than fading into oblivion as one more promising allowance horse ruined by being asked for too much, too soon.
So, thats a long post, but hopefully it was informative. I know I've certainly made that mistake with more than one of my horses, and its led to my current policy of starting almost everything in maiden races. Like I said, if they make it to the top level, there's plenty of time for earning your money and getting your stakes wins later in what is hopefully a long, fruitful career.
Its a mistake we all make once, but hopefully, you'll only make it once. Running a horse over its head again and again teaches you nothing about the horse, wastes races that you could be using for productive purposes, and doesn't produce any positive results. Drop her into a maiden going 8-10f, on the dirt, and see how she does. If that doesn't work, drop her into a maiden claimer.
Hopefully, a return to appropriate competition will get her moving along the right track, but at the very least, it'll at least lend some legitimacy to her running lines. Too often when horses are run over their heads, the running line doesn't mean anything other than "This horse isn't good enough to run in this race," without giving you any useful clues into her actual equipment needs. Use the Premier Debutante as an example: your horse might have decent early speed and a strong closing kick, but running against stakes horses, she went backwards through the stretch anyway, rather than demonstrating that kick that she might against appropriate competition. Does it mean she needs blinkers, a tongue tie, or lasix, which I might try with horses who legitimately belong in stakes competition to fix that kind of a running line? Who knows.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that you'll ultimately have a lot more success with your horses if you have the patience to let them find their own level. If a horse quickly gets out of its maiden, you get a little experience and some feedback on its equipment needs in its first start. If it hangs in the maiden ranks for 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 races, running well but not winning, at least its doing something useful and earning money rather than being STOMPED in stakes competition. Sure, run enough horses in enough stakes and you'll eventually find one that does well, but the rest will just be ruined. If you start them all from the bottom and build up, only a select few will ever really make it to compete at the stakes level, but those that do will belong there, and those that stall out before reaching that highest level can go on to have long, productive careers in the allowance/claiming ranks rather than fading into oblivion as one more promising allowance horse ruined by being asked for too much, too soon.
So, thats a long post, but hopefully it was informative. I know I've certainly made that mistake with more than one of my horses, and its led to my current policy of starting almost everything in maiden races. Like I said, if they make it to the top level, there's plenty of time for earning your money and getting your stakes wins later in what is hopefully a long, fruitful career.
