The 3yo filly Siberian Empress is unwittingly the focal point of numerous Digital Downs investigations after the running of today's 6th race, a 1 1/2 mile Allowance Race on the main track. Despite many patrons seeing that Siberian Empress might have been a little "off" and pointing and trying to alert racing officials, the horse was allowed to compete while running 1 1/2 miles and predictably finishing last, earning a speed figure of 75 and being beaten 14 lengths by the previously unspectacular South St Seaport.
When contacted by this reporter, Digital Downs representatives would only offer a no comment, and the owners of Siberian Empress, Golden State Bloodstock would not answer repeated calls. The story continues to unfold. Updates when available.
Digital Downs is full of horses whose bloodlines harken back to the
days of the monsters of the track. Horses such as Jumpin\' Jack Flash,
Pension Plan, Zoom, etc. can be found in the pedigrees of many current
runners daily in the forms for each day, which makes what happened
yesterday, February 4th all the more rare. Obscure Golden State
Bloodstock stallion Fast Ride, who has no pedigree since he was created
with the press of a button and a 10k wish, got himself another winner
in yesterday\'s 5th race, a 5f sprint on turf. The winner
Tinacomegetsomeham (out of Vo Vo Von Trapp) broke like a shot from his
rail slot and ran the first 2f in 22.11 seconds. He then blazed the
second quarter mile in 22.78 around the turn, running a half mile in
44.89 seconds. He never looked back and won by a diminishing head,
earning a stout 96 speed figure. Who finished 2nd? Another Fast Ride
offspring of course, Golden Rail (out of Rail Position). Golden Rail
was outrun early, but settled nicely while two wide and unleashed a
powerful stretch move to pass four horses in the stretch and just miss
getting the money by a head. It\'s happened before with more
fashionable stallions, but for a stallion who is pretty much unknown,
hails from a low percentage barn, and only a winner in 3 of his 21
races lifetime? How he became a stallion in the first place is a
miracle, let alone sire the first two finishers of a race.
Where did Fast Ride come from?
Well,
consider him The Chosen One of stallions by Golden State Bloodstock.
He was claimed for 20k in April of \'09 and was one of the few
stallions who survived the break in action by GSB when they folded up
their tents and took a break of roughly six months to \"recharge the
batteries\". The entire barn was either sold or retired except for two
horses, Fast Ride and Splashed, another obscure stallion. Splashed was
used first when GSB came out of hiding and had a non-descript
offspring. Splashed was then retired to pasture, which left only one.
Fast Ride. GSB Barn Manager Stuey had this to say about Fast Ride:
\"He was always a trier, and got there a few times as well. With any
luck he could\'ve won a few more than he actually did, but he never got
embarrassed and always gave it a good effort. It was also pretty
evident he loved the grass, and performed much better on the grass than
the dirt.\" Indeed, Fast Ride was 0 for 9 on the dirt, but 3 for 12 on
the turf with 4 seconds, making the exacta in 7 of 12 races on the
sod. Stuey continued: \"When he dropped in for $20k, I let Ron the
owner know, and the rest is history.\"
What exact history is
that? Well, Fast Ride hasn\'t had a stakes winner yet, but Stuey is
high on Tinacomegetsomeham and Golden Rail, both of whom are showing
signs of being pretty darn good, and also carrying the family trait of
enjoying the turf a little more than the dirt. There are also a few
Fast Rides still figuring things out, including Jule Thief, who
finished 2nd by a head in his debut at 4f and earning the highest speed
figure of any Fast Ride so far, a 98. Only one Fast Ride has been
retired by GSB out of the 10 or so offspring they\'ve bred so far, The
Ride. \"Couldn\'t outrun me. It happens.\" Stuey says with a glare.
What
is next for Fast Ride as a stallion? Numerous barns have already tried
their luck with him and if works are any indication, Fast Ride might
not be obscure any longer, which will not sit well with Stuey. \"There
are four breeds going to the public for 5k apiece still sitting out
there. I hope Ron gets his act together and saves them for us. We
can\'t ever get them back.\"
Time will tell ultimately, but so
far, Fast Ride offspring have hit the track 82 times in all with 13
winners, 16 seconds and 13 thirds for a slightly above average 16%
winning percentage and a 51% ITM overall.
Due to the abundance of stock available on the breeder's page, I chose to pick a few from said page and give you my five, ten, twenty cents on their breeding potential. First, I set some guidelines as to make this a random sample of different barns:
1) I'd go by date, starting with the horse luckiest (or not) to be listed first. 2) From there, I'd count fifteen horses and that one would be next until the list is exhausted. 3) I would give opinions on my observations on what I've experienced here and offer them to anyone that wanted to read it.
Here goes:
1) Smoking Aces (Crash Course x Eruption) owned by Racing Downs, breeding fee 0 Lifetime Record 19 6 5 3 115690
By 5 time stake winner Crash Course out of 150k plus earner Eruption, Smoking Aces has had 6 foals so far, with only one hitting the track. That fact seems to have scared some stables off with regards to breeding to him. Smoking Aces himself was a high level claimer and Open Allowance winner who also carried 124 lbs. to victory in his second to last race of his career. The problem I see with Smoking Aces is there is not a whole lot of class on the dam's side of the pedigree. Eruption won 150k, but was beaten in a 30k claimer as well. She also won a 100k claimer, but the fact that she was beaten in a 30k race shows her to have class limitations. Smoking Aces won 6 races lifetime, and the other 9 foals to race by Eruption won a total of 8 races combined. Again, not a whole lot of class here in the pedigree on the female side. Taking that point further, Eruption's dam, Swirlie was beaten every time she stepped up in class to the upper tier of horses when she was racing.
In my opinion, Smoking Aces will get mid level claimers and will be a source of stamina. If you're playing the breeding game, you'll have to breed a couple of generations to get the class back into this line, but if it's right now, look for him to supply the claiming game with his progeny. At the price of 0 on the board, Smoking Aces will supply a few winners, making his price well worth it.
By multiple stakes winner Explosive out of the high level claimer ELASTICITY, this one was bred to be a runner, and didn't disappoint, winning a stake and terrorizing the Open Allowance level and high level claimers. The thing about Jake that I love is the fact that when racing in lower level claiming races at the beginning of his career, he won like he should have. He also won with 124lbs. later on showing that his numbers weren’t put up because he got in light in a race or two. Class-wise, ELASTICITY comes from the same dam as DUEL, PLASTERED, STRETCH, STRAPPED UP..ELASTICITY herself is a half sister to Bad Boy, a multiple stakes winner. Class is oozing from the female line. His sire Explosive is out of the mare Mystical Blue Eyes, who was a producer of horses who averaged nearly $4400 per race. Look for Jake to supply Digital Downs with runners for seasons to come who can race at the highest class DD can put out, and here’s the catch, WHEN BRED TO A HIGH CLASS MARE. Put it this way, if a Jake offspring does not produce a runner, don’t blame him. At $2500, this is akin to a free meal at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant.
3) Whiskey Bent (FU MAN CHOO x Sold Out Shea) Socal Racing 22 3 4 5 62238
By the speedy FU MAN CHOO and out of the mid level claimer Sold Out Shea, Whiskey Bent is on the breeding page for $500. FU MAN CHOO, was a speedball of the Nth dimension, and never stretched out with much success. A mid/high level claimer, FU MAN CHOO figured to pass those traits on to his offspring and here is Whiskey Bent. Breed a mid/high level claiming speedball to a mid level claiming speedball, and what happens? You guessed it..Whiskey Bent. He should keep producing what this line has been producing. Sprinters that sprint at levels they have sprinted at in the past. I’m not seeing the next major stakes winner coming from Whiskey Bent, but if you want one that can sprint, you could do a lot worse. Problem is, late in races, this one may produce progeny that back up in the stretch if a classier horse looks him in the eye. At $500, this one is fairly priced.
4) MEGANS VO VO (Created) GoldenState Bloodstock 66 13 8 13 87203
The created MEGANS VO VO is up for 0 on the breeding page. Megans was a low level claimer, with a nose for the finish line, winning 13 lifetime starts. He has passed the will to win onto his get, with his runners winning at a 16% clip. That said, Megans has been getting horses that do what he did, and that’s struggle at the higher levels. Only one horse, Camel Clutch has won vs. high level competition. Not much to go on pedigree-wise since Megans is created, so in my opinion, Megans will still produce sprinters that have a nose for the line, albeit vs. low level competition.
5) Vasectomy (Hunting With Blanks x Lovers Lane) Socratic Racing 34 6 3 5 85210
By the legendary Hunting With Blanks out of the honest mare Lovers Lane, Vasectomy is up on the breeding page for $800. Vasectomy never really reached his potential on the track, even getting beat at the $10k claiming level. His only win other than at 5f was at 6f, so there’s some distance limitations here at work. This is offset however with a 15% win rate in his progeny lines, so the fact that Vasectomy is well bred for the most part is showing up in his runners with a higher than normal win percentage. Horses normally average around 12%, so this one is exceeding that number easily. I would look for Vasectomy to continue to have runners that win at sprint distances, and wouldn’t be surprised to see one step up to high level competition once in awhile due to the fact that this one is bred very well. You could do a lot worse for $800.
That’s my first five, and again, it’s my opinion, so we’ll see how it turns out. I’ll update more when I get around to it or if this turns out to be useful for others. Drop a line on the message board if this seems helpful to you.
In regards to the article stating Vrooom eclipsed the previous track record set by Cause For Pain, this was not the case. Earlier the same day of Vrooom's record setting run, Golden State Bloodstock's Camel Clutch (MEGAN'S VO VO x Miss Lace Up), ridden by DJ Lopez, ran a 44.12 and earning a speed figure of 101, eclipsing Cause For Pain's existing track record. THIS was the first New Track Record of the 2009 season. Vrooom then lowered that mark even further, marking two times in the same day the track record for 4f on turf was set.
Shocktheworld Stables has opened some eyes with some new guarantees in the breeding shed this week.You don’t get guaranteed a champion or even a winner with their new breeding program, but you are guaranteed fees for their breeding stock will be a set price of either $2k for a mare and $1k for a sire.Stuey X, breeding manager for Shocktheworld Farms had these words of wisdom, some of them surprisingly profound.
“The big barns have us over the proverbial barrel.They have the Jumpin Jack Flashes, the Pension Plans, the good mares from those horses, and have bred up all the way to where they are going to get something if they breed enough horses through them.Then, when they do that, they keep those horses under their collective vests.Add to that, the mares they put up on the public board cost roughly 5 times what the cost to actually go inside the breeding shed to begin with is for some of them.Have you ever seen the crap that is on the public board?It’s a black hole of breeding where nothing is bred well and nothing makes sense. By putting their mares on the public page, they think they’re doing us a favor, when in actuality, it’s a slap in the face to the little guy to see that in addition to having to pay $8000 just to get through the doors, they have to pay another $20-$30k to breed to a sire or mare that is throwing a few winners.And when that happens, what do the big stables do?Probably put it right back into more breeding and more createds, and getting 10-15 horses down the road when we’re back here trying to make ends meet and debating on whether we should spend $20k on a mare that is productive.The littler stables such as us have to hold on for dear life when they get a mare that puts out winners.Would they ever put up a mare that puts out winners of stakes caliber at an affordable price?Hell no.So I’m here to at least help out the little guy.They may not be the best bred, but at least there’s some symmetry there.A ½ sister to a monster.A three quarter brother to a Hall of Famer.Plus, I’ll tell you not to breed to one of mine if I don’t think that they’ll do much, but it’s an option if you want it.All the rest on the list are out there if you want it too, but I guarantee they’re not at $1k for a sire or $2k for a mare that’s bred reasonably well.”
A modern day Peter Pan?A moral vigilante?Stuey left me with this thought.A thought of the future and a thought that says a lot with few words:
“Let them breed theirs and continue to put out stakes horse after stakes horse.Know what?Those horses will eventually run out of breeds like everything else.I hope they have a good backup.I know I do.The circle is very round.”
This morning in the auction tent here at Digital Downs there were the usual suspects.Carmona Farms, Amadave Farms, Lms Stables, Getting Lucky Lodge, Cowgirl Corral, Erb Stable, Goof Troop, Landon’s Racers, Lugnut Stables, Aquaman Stables all made their presence felt with at least one purchase.And over in the corner of the tent far from the others in their own section (they roped it off with CAUTION tape themselves) were the guys from the new Shocktheworld Farms.They too made some purchases (instead of a paddle with a number on it, they all had the paddles with the rubber ball tied to it with a rubberband), but upon getting an interview with Breeding Manager Stuey X (see, Introducing Shocktheworld Farms in the Forum), you’d have thought they were going out of business.From all I know, this could very well be the case.A few memorable quotes from Stuey, who also doubled as bidder:
“Every time we twitched, the bids were registered.How do you expect these guys to stay still with paddleballs in their hands?”
Upon a bid getting registered in error according to Stuey, “NOOOOOOOO!!!!I TAKE THAT BACK!!! NOOOOOO!!!”
Maybe it had something to do with the paddleball tournament that they were conducting during the auction, I don’t know.How do I know there was a paddleball tournament going on during the auction?The bracketing board was in plain view, showing publicist Sunday as the #1 seed followed by Ron the owner as #2 seed, who was eliminated when his paddleball paddle broke in the third round.One could see how a bid may be mis-interpreted as a missed backhand.
When the gavel fell on Huckleberry, you’d have thought that Stuey had just lost his inheritance when he dropped to his knees and let out a shriek….”THERE GOES MY INHERITANCE!!”Stuey didn’t make a bid on the horse and he had this to say, “No $**T.Ya think?How am I supposed to get a bid off when I’m down 2-0 in the third set thanks to the hippie making a bunch of bad calls?I’m pleading with the fast talking guy with the microphone who can’t talk anything but gibberish anyway to take a break and calm down a little and next thing I know, there goes Huckleberry to someone else.”I assumed Sunday was the hippie and asked him about the bad calls and he told me that he had a great time with the balls flying everywhere and the paddles and it all looked great after taking his “meds” this morning.He couldn’t remember any part of any game and said it’s better that way.
Add to this the beer consumed in mass quantities by the Shocktheworld Farm crew (setting a now untouchable record by roughly 5 kegs in the process), and I’m sure that the STW crew will be having a tough Sunday morning.They did get away from the tent after the auction though (forcibly being removed after a minor squatting protest by Sunday) with some horseflesh, most notably the Jacked Up filly Upwego, who is destined for the breeding shed along with the Maybe This Time filly Maybe This Bear.Also purchased by Shocktheworld was a 2yo colt called Explosive Hoppes whose purchase was described by Stuey as alcohol induced.
A normal day of posts on the Racing Forum was interrupted on October 30th with the brazen challenge of a $50,000 match race between Texaseast Thoroughbred's Big Pimpy and Getting Lucky Lodge's En Garde. Texaseast issued the challenge for a date that has since been agreed upon by both parties for November 12th of "old guard" vs. "new guard" at 6 furlongs. The challenge was quickly accepted on the same day by Getting Lucky Lodge, showing a steadfast denial of fear with regards to this new challenger, stating "unless he has been working with 130 lbs. and blown meters he cannot get within 3 lengths of ours". Also GLL ended the acceptance with the time tested French quote "En Garde mon ami", translated (after a quick trip to cyberworld and an online translator) "in guard my friend". Texaseast quickly responded with a quote from former 17 time NWA/WCW/WWE World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Ric Flair by saying "To be the man, you got to beat the man." and promising this won't be the last of his challenges.
Online responses have ranged from a picture posted of the tortoise and hare by Barycki Racing and a warning that 6f is not enough ground for Big Pimpy to show his true potential by Second To None.
Showing a true sporting soul, Getting Lucky Lodge has given Texaseast an out. As of this writing, Getting Lucky has offered to call off the match race citing "There is no shame in admitting it was a folly to challenge us.", and even offered Texaseast, should he not take the option to back out, the additional option of choosing the jockey for En Garde. Most telling of all however was the final quote from Getting Lucky Lodge, "We'll donate our winnings to your (Texaseast's) favorite charity "Cowboys Who Have Taken One Too Many Kicks to the Head Society".
The match race challenge is this reporter's first sighting of a new barn challenging an established barn to a match race. I haven't seen a show of fearlessness like this since Mighty Mouse stood strong and puffed his chest out claiming "Here I come to save the day." Although he was undersized and overmatched, Mighty Mouse indeed went on to back up what he said. He did save the day.
As of this writing, Texaseast has not responded to the offer of an out by Getting Lucky Lodge, so we're left with this question: Will Mighty Mouse's example repeat itself on November 12th?
The location of the farm plays right out of an old Christmas carol. Over the river and through the woods, to Shocktheworld Farms I go, but in this case, the horse did not know the way unless it had a degree in mapping and a compass. Fifteen minutes away from civilization, in a place where there are sure to have been things that happened there that no one needs to know about sits this....this....oasis of a horse farm?
I was met at the end of the driveway by Scooter the Groundskeeper. He welcomed me with a quizzical look and one question, "Who the hell are you?" I introduced myself and told him I'd like to ask him a few questions. He looked at me sideways again and said these fateful words, "I don't know nuthin' about nuthin'. Go away." With that, he took the bottle of what looked to be gin he was carrying and broke it against one of the posts that lined the driveway to the pink barns and held the strobe lights in place. He then raised his arm oh so slowly and showed me the weapon he had chosen to keep me off of the premises.
He didn't have to tell me twice.
Well, that was interesting.
From what I saw there, the barns were pink. That's about it. I didn't get to see anything else, horses, people, or anything that would actually explain what was going on there. This writer was completely shut out.
The entries for 10/30/08 here at Digital Downs show two horses carrying the Shocktheworld Farms banner. In the 13th race, Teufel's a Drunk runs 5f on dirt in an allowance race, and in the 21st, Flame Snapper runs 5f on turf in another allowance. Both of these horses were claimed last out for $2000, so Shocktheworld will attempt to confirm it's name with these two runners tomorrow.
Stay tuned racefans. If today's trip to the farm is any indication, things are about to get interesting.
full story
printer version
