Wesley Ward's Strike the Tiger wins at 33-1

[NTamm1215]

Strike the Tiger won the Windsor Castle Stakes at 33-1 at Ascot. Certainly an accomplishment few expected.

http://drf.com/news/article/104699.html

NT

[Gauchos0522]

Very suprising and very cool for Wesley/Johnny

[Indian Charlie]

Cal breds that win their debut for a tag have historically done well in European stakes races.

[Pedigree Ann]

Some South African breeder must be counting his/her blessings. Strike that Tiger is from Tiger Ridge's last US crop before he was exported.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

Some South African breeder must be counting his/her blessings. Strike that Tiger is from Tiger Ridge's last US crop before he was exported.

Let's not get too excited. It was a $70k listed Stake, not a Group 1.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Bigsmc

Let's not get too excited. It was a $70k listed Stake, not a Group 1.

It's a pretty amazing achievement.

[docicu3]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

Strike the Tiger won the Windsor Castle Stakes at 33-1 at Ascot. Certainly an accomplishment few expected.

http://drf.com/news/article/104699.html

NT

Were there any ADW's that were offering this 5 day meet on there menu. I looked at Youbet and Twin Spires and didn't see them.

Ward still has 3 horses running during this meet that may still offer value and I was trying to see if you could get a few bucks down

[hockey2315]

TVG I think

[Linny]

Obviously as an early 2yo race, it was short but two of the biggest races of the meeting are the Kings Stand (won today by Sonic Blast) and the Golden Jubilee. Both are sprints. Many of the horses from today will be back on Sat for the Jubilee. Sprinting is huge internationally.

The better 2yo's at Ascot went in the Coventry (G2) today but this was not a bad race. It's the equivalent of a nice allowance. It IS telling that the Coventry went with 14 and the Windsor Castle went with 22. None of these babies was a firster, meaning that all of them has at least a race and some had 2-3. The runner up to Wards horse had 7 prior starts and another had 6. Here in the US you can't fill and allowance for babies and trainers ar all waiting for Saratoga or Del Mar or later. Ward was right, there is no place for him to run all his maiden winners so he might as well ship.
They ran 36 2yo's today at one of the most prestigious meets in Europe. they have more tomorrow (fillies in the G2 Queen Mary) and in NY they have run 2 (maybe 3) baby races all season. What the...????

[hockey2315]

Originally Posted by Linny

Obviously as an early 2yo race, it was short but two of the biggest races of the meeting are the Kings Stand (won today by Sonic Blast) and the Golden Jubilee. Both are sprints. Many of the horses from today will be back on Sat for the Jubilee. Sprinting is huge internationally.

The better 2yo's at Ascot went in the Coventry (G2) today but this was not a bad race. It's the equivalent of a nice allowance. It IS telling that the Coventry went with 14 and the Windsor Castle went with 22. None of these babies was a firster, meaning that all of them has at least a race and some had 2-3. The runner up to Wards horse had 7 prior starts and another had 6. Here in the US you can't fill and allowance for babies and trainers ar all waiting for Saratoga or Del Mar or later. Ward was right, there is no place for him to run all his maiden winners so he might as well ship.
They ran 36 2yo's today at one of the most prestigious meets in Europe. they have more tomorrow (fillies in the G2 Queen Mary) and in NY they have run 2 (maybe 3) baby races all season. What the...????

Mike Watchmaker wrote a semi-interesting piece about the lack of baby races in NY so far this year - came out on DRF plus yesterday. But he called Seattle Smooth a "dirt freak" in the same article, so take it with a grain of salt.

[hockey2315]

This story is pretty cool, but Shuback's final line in his DRF story is laughable:

"Given the humble beginnings of the California-bred Strike the Tiger, his Windsor Castle victory rates as one of the happiest surprises in the history of American racing."

His Eurocentricity is really out of hand.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

This story is pretty cool, but Shuback's final line in his DRF story is laughable:

"Given the humble beginnings of the California-bred Strike the Tiger, his Windsor Castle victory rates as one of the happiest surprises in the history of American racing."

His Eurocentricity is really out of hand.

"history of American racing"

see you have to see it from a Brit's point of view, to them we have little if no history.

What a stupid statement.

Originally Posted by hockey2315

This story is pretty cool, but Shuback's final line in his DRF story is laughable:

"Given the humble beginnings of the California-bred Strike the Tiger, his Windsor Castle victory rates as one of the happiest surprises in the history of American racing."

I must look up exactly what a happy surprise means.

[Linny]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

Mike Watchmaker wrote a semi-interesting piece about the lack of baby races in NY so far this year - came out on DRF plus yesterday. But he called Seattle Smooth a "dirt freak" in the same article, so take it with a grain of salt.

I went and read the article, when Watchmaker writes an article I agree with (the 2yo part) I take it as one of the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse. Beware, locusts are next.

[dagolfer33]

Originally Posted by docicu3

Were there any ADW's that were offering this 5 day meet on there menu. I looked at Youbet and Twin Spires and didn't see them.

Ward still has 3 horses running during this meet that may still offer value and I was trying to see if you could get a few bucks down

TVG only, I believe.

[smuthg]

Originally Posted by docicu3

Were there any ADW's that were offering this 5 day meet on there menu. I looked at Youbet and Twin Spires and didn't see them.

Ward still has 3 horses running during this meet that may still offer value and I was trying to see if you could get a few bucks down

What about DiamondSports or some other "off-shore" account?

[brockguy]

Ward sounded like a really cool guy in interviews. Fair play to him for coming over. His success today will hopefully bring a few more over in the next few years. I'm just disappointed I didnt have some cash on him today, and Im sure all the value will be gone for his other runners. Plus Cannonball ran a nice enough race and will be sure to improve for the step back up to 6f. If only JJ The Jet Plane and Sacred Kingdom werent running, I'd fancy him.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by brockguy

Ward sounded like a really cool guy in interviews. Fair play to him for coming over. His success today will hopefully bring a few more over in the next few years. I'm just disappointed I didnt have some cash on him today, and Im sure all the value will be gone for his other runners. Plus Cannonball ran a nice enough race and will be sure to improve for the step back up to 6f. If only JJ The Jet Plane and Sacred Kingdom werent running, I'd fancy him.

Ward was rather funny in his visit on ATR tonight if you didn't hear it... Also had the namesake owner of Yogaroo who runs Thursday, and then Mitch Durko who is one of the breeder-partners of Strike the Tiger and part owner of Jealous Again who runs Wednesday. He was wonderful. Beautifully summarized what the experience meant to him. TOBA should use what he said as a recruitment tool for prospective owners. If you missed the segment, I'd urge you to listen... It's a rather joyful 20 minutes.

[PatCummings]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Ward was rather funny in his visit on ATR tonight if you didn't hear it... Also had the namesake owner of Yogaroo who runs Thursday, and then Mitch Durko who is one of the breeder-partners of Strike the Tiger and part owner of Jealous Again who runs Wednesday. He was wonderful. Beautifully summarized what the experience meant to him. TOBA should use what he said as a recruitment tool for prospective owners. If you missed the segment, I'd urge you to listen... It's a rather joyful 20 minutes.

Did they order another round DURING the interview? Ha. Too funny. I loved the third question which you'd have thought required more than a one word answer...but that's what you got.

Too funny...HA! Good stuff.