Y14 February Week 4

[S u N f r O s t ~]

SPRING CUP GRADE FIVE DIRT
win Radiant Silver
place Mourning Passion
show Gallant Knight
fourth Coco Cabana
fifth Dancing Fool
sixth Black Magic

Note to Sammy and Lucy - NEVER enter your two year olds against older horses during their juvenile seasons, especially in the highly competitive seasonal cup series! They will not win and it will harm their records. The only benefit those two got out there today was going up against older horses. That's good experience, but they won't do well

Radiant Silver - He's had a good race coming for a long time. I think he was due for a win after two strong starts so far this year. He has a great closing kick and could prove to be a nice upsetter in the Triple Crown. This win definitely boosted him up a bit. Continue to guide him along the TC trail and we'll see what happens!

Mourning Passion - He was the strongest horse going into the race and I like him. Definitely a great horse for the Kentucky Derby and the Red Mile series after that. He's building a great resume and lost nothing in defeat today. Keep on chugging with him, you're doing a great job.

Gallant Knight - I've always liked this horse. There was a time during his three year old season when I wanted to ask Sarah if I could campaign him for the Triple Crown or something xD All this colt lacks, similarly to some others, is experience. However, he's really growing into it, and I feel that with more racing and training he will grow into a deadly force. Best of luck in your next couple of starts!

Coco Cabana - He's a nice quirky horse! There's really nothing I could tell you to improve with him. He learns with every start he makes and has plenty of promise. The others just caught my eye more today. I look forward to seeing him develop! He has a pretty unique pedigree.

[S u N f r O s t ~]

SPRING CUP GRADE THREE DIRT SPRINT
win Midnight Sun
place Sweetness Unlimited
show Crowned Queen
fourth Flashpoint

Midnight Sun - I've always liked this mare. She's a great horse to watch race and I've hated seeing her switched from home to home so much, because without all of those switches she would have probably been a higher grade by now. I think that this mare's talents lie in the dirt sprints this season and you should concentrate there with her. She's a promising mare and I think we'll see cool things from her this season.

Sweetness Unlimited - She improved a lot last season and will continue to do so this season! With her, there is nothing to improve, I just liked Midnight Sun a bit more today. I think she is only improving with age and could very well run another season for you if you wanted her too. She's a fine mare and also has a really interesting pedigree (not a factor used in judging, just a random comment!). I like her and she'll grade one for you in no time.

Crowned Queen - After flunking last time out, this was a filly not willing to take no for an answer. Against older horses she was no match just yet, but by the end of the season she'll be a killer and she beat Flashpoint very clearly to the wire today. I think you should find some restricted age races for her and build her up for the Triple Sprinter Crown that way, unless you're considering the Tiara, but she could easily appear in both.She's had a rough start to the season but so have a lot of other great horses from last year. She will get there.

Flashpoint - He's been developing into a fine horse for you Kenny! With some promising starts to the season, Flashpoint found himself not up to the task of defeating two older mares very experienced in the major leagues nor his agemate Crowned Queen who was out for revenge. However I do see very promising things in the future for this colt as he remains with you and I do hope to see him in the Red Mile and the Triple Sprinter Crown series this season.

[Snowflake]

Grade Two Turf Sprint

WIN Tears Of Blood
Place Royal Assassin
Show Prideful Limits

Grade One Turf Sprint

WIN Cross My Heart
Place Sugar Jayde

Grade One Dir Sprint

WIN Forbidden To Fly
Place Arachne

[Sussy]

Grade 4 Turf Sprint
Win. Ignite
Place. Mighty News
Show. Manhattan Royalty

Neither of your two had any works for this year, Snowy? That just made Ignite appeal that little bit more to me than Mighty News.


Grade 4 Dirt Sprint
Win. Reflected In Water
Place. Alucard
Show. Sugar Rush


Grade 3 Turf Sprint
Win. Flying Solo
Place. Speed Rush
Show. Attractive Flight

Wrong surface for Matty, Snowy. Also I'm sorry yours all seemed to be towards the bottom, I am not huge on Work Out's but I felt like they needed some for this year especially when their competitors all had recent Works and this was a 'bigger' race. If it's not right of me to judge based on works or lack there of (That was not all I judged on, haha), please don't be afraid to tell me as you know I am still learning. 

[Snowflake]

Yeah Sussy I did plan on doing works but they just didn't end up happening Since they were in small fields I didn't worry too much because they'd still get top three and that looks good on their records lol. Do you have feedback on Sugar Rush though? She does have a recent workout and I hoped for better.

[Sussy]

I wouldn't have placed Sugar Rush any lower than 3rd had there been more horses. I really like her, but Reflected In Water managed to beat her in The Unicorn Horn and has had a 'stronger' start to the year, likely with a repeated technique. Alucard jumped out at me a bit more with his more in depth personality and quirks and was just one of those moments when he caught my eye. He also seems to have had a good start to the season, and was perhaps a little more ready to reach for the win; but it took some serious thinking trying to separate the two, I just wish it wasn't such a small field so that her 3rd didn't quite look like a 'last'. You know what it's like though, sometimes some horses jump out more and it's hard to say exactly why.

[Snowflake]

Okay thanks

[Cruisey]

Meg can I have feedback on both devils blessing and inferno? and yay thanks Sussy for the win!

[Sussy]

Grade One Turf
Win. Blue Me Away
Place. Infinite Warcry
Show. Bella Luna

[S u N f r O s t ~]

SPRING CUP GRADE FIVE DIRT SPRINT
win Mainspring
place Allouette Divine
show Wired Loose

Mainspring was crying out for the win after several missed starts and nabbed this one right at the wire by a nose. Allouette Divine is truly developing into a strong horse and will be tough. Wired Loose is settling in with you Sussy. She's always had personality. I look forward to seeing all three go far, as there's nothing I can recommend to improve with them. Keep going!

[*Ripley*]

Grade Four Dirt
Win. A Royal Legacy
Place. Beyond Perfection
Show. Everyday Smile
Fourth. Headstrong

There was a ton of speed in this race and it allowed A Royal Legacy to finally notch that win that he has just missed because of a compromised running style. He got up by a nose over Beyond Perfection. It was truly a blanket finish as all the horses were running at the end. Everyday Smile and Headstrong were outfinished today by a pair of strong stallions. Both will be extremely effective when entered against their own age.

[*Ripley*]

Grade Four Turf
Win. Bowen Arrow
Place. Night Goddess
Show. Daddy's Overdraft
Fourth. Naturally A Flyer

[*Ripley*]

Grade Three Turf
Win. Fleet Majesty
Place. Princetta
Show. Passionate Flyer
Fourth. Midnight Dreamer
Fifth. Immortal Flight
Sixth. Nature's Dream

[Kirsten Jade]

GRADE THREE DIRT
win. Ramirez
place. Dirty Diana
show. Van Guard
forth. Dysphoria
fifth. Jazzaway

I really liked the top three in this race.  Well I like them all but the top four all had wins already this year so it was hard to place them. Sammy I suggest putting Jazzaway in some smaller races for now to build up his record. Congrats.

[Kirsten Jade]

GRADE TWO TURF
win. Calamity Queen
place. Stalker's Fury
show. Bellefire
forth. Ode to Glory

great horses. i felt like Calamity Queen was the most prepared and ready for this race today. Next was Stalker's Fury and Bellefire. I didn't really get a feel for Ode to Glory in this one. The others seem to be in more bigger races. Sorry Frosty.

[Snowflake]

Just the grade two dirt and grade one dirt to go!

[Snowflake]

Grade Two Dirt - Only Ripley, Kirsten, myself and Sunfrost are entered.
Grade One Dirt - Only Ripley, Meg, me, Cav and Sunfrost are entered.

That leaves several members who can judge these races. I understand that everyone is busy but if you could please take five minutes to judge when you're on, it would be much appreciated. It's often the same few of us that judge every week

[Cruisey]

GRADE TWO DIRT

WIN Sweet Inferno [neck]
PLACE Lustiana's Soldier 
SHOW GS Royal Crown
fourth Silver Secret
fifth Wish Upon A Star

Great race and great effort put in by all horses. Today Sweet Inferno stuck out to me the most, coming off a great win, and having a great consistency. He pretty much took the field wire to wire, almost losing his lead coming off the final turn to GS Royal Crown and Lustiana's Soldier. Wish Upon A Star stayed mid-pack throughout the race but she got caught in the last couple of furlongs. Silver Secret put in a good closing effort as well but was shut out by the 3 leaders. If GS Royal Crown had been on the track before this race, he would have definitely placed higher and won. Good job everyone!

[Lucy]

Spring Cup Grade One Dirt
WIN: Eternal Phantom
PLACE: Nightshade
SHOW: Paradise Island
4th: Red Herring
5th: Born To Impress
6th: Italian Ice

All of these horses deserved this win! Everybody has their bad days. It was a photo finish for all of the places. They were all carrying on demanding runs and every single one wanted that win. They were all in about four lengths from win to sixth place. Amazing race! Let's just say, the ladies truly dominated!

Eternal Phantom: This mare is absolutely amazing. Great job Frosty! She held back early, but she flew four wide past the others. She was determined to win this race. She really caught my eye this time around.

Nightshade: What a great mare! She moved along with Eternal Phantom the entire way. She missed out on the win by a nose. She seemed to have gotten a slight bump from Paradise Island which probably kept her from the win.

Paradise Island: I adore this mare. She just notched out one of her greatest competitors, Red Herring, to capture third by a nostril. She held the lead with Italian Ice. They were edged on by Born To Impress. This mare still has a long way to go but her season will be incredible.

Red Herring: He wanted this win so bad, especially after coming off of a win in Week 3. He was fired up and ready to go. The field had just come clashing together and he got edged out after a close dual with Paradise Island.

Born To Impress: This boy was certainly the freshest set of legs in the field. He had a chance to capture the lead, but lost it going down the stretch, with the field coming together. Was just a disappointing run for him, but he will have his shot at a win.

Italian Ice: Gosh, this mare has it all. The field was big and intimidating. She just fell short, ending up four lengths behind the winner. She will get there this season.

Such a big field. Fantastic G1 horses! Hope I didn't upset anyone. Was a great race! Congrats to all of you for owning such amazing champions. I hope to have some G1 horses, someday, myself.

[Snowflake]

Thanks to all judges!