Re: Trials Day 3 Races Live 12pm UK Time
Since I did not have time to do a preview you can get it all as a review.
Flat out tired of it allRace 1 Brooklyn 1m 2F Dirt 3yo – The Living Legend 3yo C - 1st Delighted with this run, this recent addition to my ranks is one of those rare breeds where the foal progresses beyond the parents, in this case hitting the heady heights of 97% potential, the only horse I have that gets this high. Yet to get anything much out of him in a game I am retiring after this round of trials. Will look too the Kentucky Derby.
Race 3 Goodwood 1mile 3yo (Good) – Jealous 3yo F - 9thLittle disappointing this, but I do take a little from her being the 3rd fillie home, never really got going, though just as likely my 1m horses are no good.
Race 5 Goodwood 6f 2yo (Good) – Coffee And Biscuits 2yo C - 10thThis is the oldest 2yo in my export bin, indeed I actually had this horse when picking my last team and he was not up to snuff then, sort of shows how poor my flat game is, since he now stands alone as my best 2yo sprinter. O dear.
Race 7 Brooklyn 1m 4f 4UP Dirt – Belladona 4yo M - 9thThe poor old girl is going to struggle this year, though remains likely to be my only returning horse. Cannot cope with the older combined game flat types, sad to see.
Race 9 Goodwood 2m 2f (Good) – Stay For Another 4yo S - 8thThe potential in my flat game remains in decline, one fluke breed aside where the potential actually uplifted most of my horses now stop at about 90-92% and there are early signs that 88% is on the cards, will not matter as the game is a write off but frustrating as hell to play and is really taking my interest from the SO7 crap shoot in general. My stayers do not get beyond 80% and this chap really does not get much beyond 2m. Will be plotting for the big 2m handicap races.
Race 11 Brooklyn 1m 1f 2yo Turf Good) – Slambo 2yo C - 7thNeeds 1.2m really and was exposed today, my 2yo's are mostly rubbish anyway.
I was never all that interested in flat racing, but the changes made for SO7 have pretty much taken what little interest I have, I am even debating not bothering with entering a team, and every time I tell myself one more round of breeding maybe I'll hit gold, I keep getting further pissed off as I watch yet another round of horses in decline. Amusingly my cast offs which I now sell into the game as a rule win 20-30 G1's such is the lack of game talent produced. Handicaps if I can even be bothered.
Jump ing through hoopsRace 2 Cheltenham 2m 1f Hurdle 5UP (Soft) – Kingdom of Trouble 8yo G - 3rdNice enough performance. Up until my last trail was the king of my 2m hurdlers, and has bred hundreds of slightly worse versions of himself, two trails back he breed one who measured up and that horse has breed 3 or 4 who now take his crown. He rates 6th in my overall list now, but I figure you can split the difference with a cigarette paper. 2m hurdle glory does not look on the cards this season.
Race 4 Brooklyn 2m 1f Chase 5UP (Soft) – The Predator 8yo G - 1st Typical sort of run from him and very happy to steal a win. From last seasons sucessful 2m chasers came a couple of horses who defined my breeding for about 15 years, this was one of them and he has had his hand in some real stars over the years. One of those two still hangs onto a team slot right now, this chap does not rating 7th overall on my list. Still they are all basically clones of each other, look the same run the same etc so really he shows about the level of my 2m horses. Likely my strongest area.
Race 6 Cheltenham 2m 4F Hurdle (Soft) – Tally Ho Chaps 8yo G - 2ndNot a natural front runner, usually just hangs off the pace, but took this on as nothing else did and but for some slow final jumps could have taken the win. My 2.4m hurders are prety sound, hailing back to my sucesses last season, though I cannot breed it down into my 2m types for love nor money. But it is an area that has been stuck now for some time, since my two main breeding colts have never bred anything of note (this chap is one of them) there are 6/7 who consistently top the trials, and each cycle I just swap out the lower places. He rates 7th on the overall list, now but moves up and down from trial to trial.
Race 8 Cheltenham 2m 5f Chase (Soft) – The Courtesan 8yo M - 5th Respectable showing from this girl, I do not expect she will even be in the export bin by the time I pick my team though. She is new and was bred as a 3m horse, failed, as I have been gradually taking my 2m stock up the distances, I broken into the 3m tier quite recently with another from her generation. She ranks 8th on the trial list and is a long way off the top 6 at this distance.
Race 10 Cheltenham 3m 1f Hurdle (Soft) – Three White Feathers 8yo G - 5thDecent enough run, but never really looked too threaterning. New bred onto the lists and is part of an experimental programme to uplift my 3m hurdlers who have pretty much plateaued from last season. This guy ranks 6th again and in not in the team list right now, likely a stepping stone bred.
Race 12 Cheltenham 3m 5f (Soft) – Paradise Lost 8yo G - FellMeh, the one horse I wanted to see finish, just to get a measure of GI Joe. Rates 3rd of 4 on my 3.4m trials, but is close enough to the top two to have been interesting here, long since parted company with him and he has no chance of a league slot anyway.
All round the shine is well and truly off SO7 for me, though my jump game is an entirely different animal to my flat game, but I know deep down it is just about luck of the draw and I have not seen a decent injection of new blood for about 15+ seasons now, but am still dining off old breeds and basically squeezing every last drop out of my existing lines. Think it will be a hotly contested league season based on evidence so far, though I also expect the main players are keeping their powder dry
. Back to breeding my army of clones, but it is generally pointless, futile and not very enjoyable.
Thanks to Grey for the effort and great comms by both (but turn the volume down on the sound effects for the closing stages as you lose the voiceover a little)
Josh