THE ASPIRING HORSEPLAYER

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

- Charles Dickens

Once again we have mixed emotions swirling throughout the landscape of thoroughbred horse racing.  One piece of news reminding us of the dangers that still exist, the other reminding us of the glory of what has been and what may be again.

Curlin, the 2007 Horse of the Year, is officially finished.  No more rumors about a potential “last race.”  He’s standing stud at Lane’s End for $75,000.  He’ll take his class, speed, and stamina and attempt to become a champion stud now rather than a champion runner.  If he’s half the stud he was a racehorse, the breed will do well to get the infusion of his talents and abilities.

I’m no breeding expert by far, but my personal hope is that perhaps he is paired with a Giant’s Causeway or A.P. Indy mare.  What little I know (or at least I think I know) about breeding makes me think those pairings might be intriguing.  The part I’m somewhat uncertain about is how the ubiquitous Mr. Prospector lineage might limit his ability to breed successfully with many of the bigger named mares?  Oh well, we’ll let all of that play out on it’s own.

In perhaps his final “competition”, Curlin nudged out “rival” (I say that with quotes as it’s hard to consider two colts who never faced one another “rivals” in the true sense of the word, however I’ll submit that the drama filled exchanges between each colt’s camp was enough to warrant special rivalry consideration for the purposes of the point I’m making) Big Brown by $10,000 in terms of his stud fee.  That’s just one more notch on his belt, I suppose.  Although I suppose that says more about me than it does about Curlin that I actually take pride in that fact.

Ironically though, his $75,000 fee is decidedly less (roughly half) of what his father, the super sire Smart Strike, now commands at stud.  Like father like son.  You know what they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Hopefully that holds true for Curlin’s offspring as well.

I still think his story is one of the most amazing in recent memory.  A $57,000 purchase in 2004 who went on to win 11 of 16 races and become thoroughbred racing’s first “$10 million man.”  It’s the stuff of legends.  It may be quite some time, especially at the rate the top thoroughbreds are presently retired once they achieve greatness, before we see another career like his. 

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In totally unrelated news, the two time winner of the Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga, Shakis, had to be euthanized yesterday.  Apparently  he was injured during a workout and had to be put down. 

Those who have followed this blog may remember my long standing strained emotions with respect to Shakis.  Like many horseplayers, I probably held too much of a grudge against him for my own foolish handicapping.  During Preakness Day 2008,  Shakis was upset by longshot Pays to Dream in the Dixie Stakes.  This was the only race in the Pick 6 sequence that I lost.  My emotions are forever captured in the Cindy Pierson Dulay photograph below, as Pays to Dream crosses the line and I flash Shakis a look of strong disapproval for his performance (I’m the guy in the yellow hat/blue shirt in the left of the image – and I’m glaring right at Shakis). Like I said though, that was my fault for doing shoddy handicapping and not the fault of Shakis.  Like all thoroughbreds, all he did was go out and give his all every time he ran.  Can’t knock a guy for giving his best.  I actually feel quite shameful now for ever having been upset with him.

Pays to Dream upsets Shakis in the 2008 Dixie Stakes at Pimlico. Photo by Cindy Pierson Dulay. www.horseracing.about.com

Obviously that one race was not the entire story for Shakis’ career. Not only was he a two-time winner of the Bernard Baruch, but trainer Kiaran Mclaughlin called him a “barn favorite” and a “neat horse.’  It’s never a appropriate to joke about one of our horses going down, and despite my shaky relationship as a bettor with him, I’d like to take this moment to officially state my condolences to all associated with Shakis.

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Lastly, just wanted to point out that the “why horse racing must tell its own story” column is now up on Bloodhorse and getting all kinds of feedback.  Some good, some bad.  One thing you know going into such an effort is that many (if not most) folks will resist, resist, resist, and will do nothing but criticize without offering anything constructive in retort.  The thing to remember is that even those people are committed fans who deep down want to see the sport succeed.  The way I look at it, if they are resisting, that just means we have an opportunity to do a better job of explaining.  Plus, you have to walk a mile in someone’s shoes, and no doubt they’ve been before where I am now  – young, dumb, and full of hope (ha! Thought that one might go a different way, didn’t ya?).  I know it failed miserably in Vietnam, but at some point we’ve just got to win their hearts and minds.  I’m convinced that our desires are the same. It’s our experiences, concerns, and expectations that are unique.