Newsletter: Racing! And the best mudder is …

Hello, my name is John Cherwa, and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as I thank all you readers for writing the newsletter today.

As I mentioned, thanks to all of you who sent in your thoughts on who was the best mudder you’ve ever seen. I couldn’t use all your comments, so I apologize, and I tended to use the first ones in with their thoughts. So let’s get right to it.

And the winner is …

I certainly didn’t think there would be a landslide winner, and even more so that the horse would be a former claimer, but that’s who many of you brought up as the best mudder. He ran 72 times, winning 22 of them. I couldn’t find out how many of those were in the slop, but your memories indicate a lot of them were on off tracks.

Here’s what some of you said about River Buoy:

“During the early 1970s there was a horse called River Buoy. He was a $6,250 claiming horse on dry dirt, but moved into allowance or overnight stakes in the mud/slop. He’d win by open air and it was truly amazing.”

-- Annie Lambert

“The best mudder I’ve ever seen was a former claiming horse named River Buoy (aptly named as he virtually floated over a muddy track), who raced in the early ’70s. An off surface turned him into a stakes-caliber runner, long before there were overnight and conditioned stakes races, winning one race at Santa Anita by Secretariat-like margins.”

-- Bill Kolberg

“Reaching back 45 years, I recall River Buoy (son of the obscure stallion Wetok-Indian Hemp-Nasrullah) who seemed to move up significantly from lower-class levels on both dirt and turf, later winning wire-to-wire in stakes competition circa 1973. From research performed more than 30 years ago when we had many more off-tracks, I also recall that Fleet Nasrullah (son of Nasrullah) was superior as a sire of off-track runners. This was likely passed on to his son Gummo, who sired Flying Paster and Out of the East (second in the SA Handicap in the mud against Stardust Mel).”

-- Paul Rubke

“That’s easy. River Buoy was claimed in 1972 by trainer Jack Look for $6,500, and at age 8 went on the win the Arcadia, San Luis Obispo and San Bernardino Handicaps in the mud. All Grade 2 and Grade 3 races at the time. Gummo, Deputy Commander and Desert Code were all excellent mud sires.”

-- Gil Luna

“River Buoy (the old-timers will remember him well ). Mid-level claimer until it rained, then he was stakes caliber, especially when they had real mud. Back in those days they had three marks in the Racing Form for good off-track ability. An asterisk (*) for good, an X for excellent, and an X with a circle around it for superior. River Buoy had the circled X.”

-- Jay Osterberg

And in second place …

OK, I’ll use executive privilege and name this horse in second place, even though, well, he never existed. Now, I know I put many links in here that you almost always ignore. But this one is worth watching. I promise you a laugh. Just click here.

Here are a couple comments.

“It has to be Pappanick, who won the race I called on the Seinfeld episode ‘The Subway.’ #HisMuddaWasAMudda”

-- Michael Wrona

(Cherwa note: Thanks, Michael. I know I speak for myself and many, many readers in wishing you well. And it’s great to hear your call on this race.)

“I have to go with ‘Pappanick.’ That’s the horse that Kramer got a tip on and played in a hilarious episode on Seinfeld. ‘His father was a mudder, his mother was a mudder, he loves the slop, he eats the slop.’”

-- Dennis McGarry

And Triple Crown winners …

“I’d pick Seattle Slew as my top mudder. Won the Belmont Stakes on a muddy track. Won two allowance races on sloppy tracks. But maybe his best off-track race was his only defeat on an off track in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup (mile and one-half back then). After breaking through the gate before the race, he was reloaded, then got hung up inside a head-and-head duel with Affirmed (whose saddle slipped so he got very rank) and Affirmed’s ‘rabbit,’ Life’s Hope. They went six furlongs in 109 and change (way, way too fast), but Seattle Slew put away the two Laz Barrera horses then fought back when Exceller came up inside him and Slew was beaten only a neck.”

-- Jeff Tufts

“Seattle Slew (runner and sire). Second is Bates Motel.”

-- Robert Fleming

“Anything in the Slew family line. If I see any connection to Seattle Slew, it is an automatic to be included on tickets.”

-- Rob Tuel

“My husband, Ken, and I attended the Kentucky Derby and were lucky enough to do the walk over with My Boy Jack. I did the walk in my bare feet, so I can attest to how muddy the track was before the Derby was run! Given Justify’s front-running win in the Derby on one of the wettest Derby Days on record, Justify qualifies as my favorite mudder.”

-- Barbara Meserve

“I’d have to say Justify. After all, he did win two legs of the Triple Crown on a wet track.”

-- Karen Manner

“Come on, anyone who ever watches horse racing has seen what Secretariat did in the Belmont.”

-- Jeff Prupis

And some other thoughts …

“Gummo without a doubt … had the ‘X’ (with a circle around it).”

-- Paul O’Reilly

“Mud Route. Hold on, I know where the exit is.”

-- Andy Mosely

“Saw a lot of good mudders, but one I remember was a come-from-way-behind horse, I think maybe Silky Sullivan. Horse had to have extra 50 pounds of mud on him at end. Jockey said he had four or five pairs of glasses and it wasn’t near enough. We all cheered when he started his run. Old days.”

-- Gary D. Gress

“Bayakoa, a.k.a. ‘parrot face’ trained by Ron McAnally. Back before the Tomlinson ratings, the DRF used to put in mud marks to indicate mud ability, it was either an asterisk, an X or the X in a circle which was called a ‘wagon wheel.’ They rarely gave out the wagon wheel, but she was a wagon wheel.

“Also, a guy named Drouilly trained by Jerry Fanning back in the early ’80s. French-bred, he loved the mud, especially at Pomona. Ridden by Christina Blacker’s Dad, Frank Olivares.”

-- Curt Larson

“In the early 1980s, Mr. Reactor (a $20-$25K claimer) was one that I made a few dollars investing upon. He loved the stuff wet at SA or Hollywood Park during a spring-summer rain.”

-- Greg Badovinac

“I am reasonably sure that I saw Skywalker break his maiden by 5+ lengths in the mud at Hollywood Park in the early ’80’s. I would guess that his sire ‘Relaunch’ would have sired some other mudders.”

-- Mark Forster

“Best mudder I saw was Rokeyby Stables’ Key to the Mint during the 1972 season. He swept all the fall championship races at Belmont that year as it seemed to conveniently rain every Saturday. He couldn’t beat Riva Ridge on a dry track, but was dominant on a wet track.”

-- Randy Gabbo

“I will go with the most recent favorite, Super Saver. If there was no rain at Churchill Downs that day, then no Derby.”

-- Steve Stange

“Superb Moment* An asterisk horse!”

-- Barry Poynter

“In NorCal there was a horse named Leos Aussie (sic) that was unbelievable in the mud. He was mediocre on a fast track but would romp on a wet one.” (Cherwa note: He won 25 of 85 races)

-- Martin Alexander

“Spinney has a superior mud mark on the Form. A S in a circle.”

-- Pete Calvi

“BOZINA (Wing Out)-(Semprebene) Petrone 1981. At Santa Anita from 2/02/86-3/26/86, six races all in slop 2-3-1 Lifetime 76-9-13-12 $420,760.”

-- Lynn Kirkorian (Cherwa note: She was the breeder of Bozina.)

“The most impressive I ever saw was Forego. He carried weights we never see anymore — 130 to 137 pounds — and won on off tracks on his notoriously bad ankles. A true iron horse.”

-- Carolyn Sherry

“I’m not an old-timer, so only Arrogate comes to mind.”

-- Zizi Howell

“Cee’s Tizzy in California; Deputy Minister nationally.”

-- Donald Brodt

“Exaggerator.”

— Nikki Samolovitch

“It was a rainy day at Santa Anita in the late ’60s and it was my first time at the races and my first bet and the horse won and paid $12.00. I thought, ‘I’m gonna be rich, just read the program and bet.’ Oh yeah, the horse’s name was the Fabulous Mudder.”

-- William Casper

Los Alamitos thoroughbred review

Originally, I thought the feature was the fourth race, an allowance for fillies and mares going a mile. But two scratches turned it into a four-horse race. It was a close finish with Lightning Dove winning the bob over Queen Bee to You. Lightning Dove paid $6.80 to win for trainer Hector Palma and jockey Geovanni Franco.

So, the other $45,000 race was the eighth, a six-furlong allowance. Coil Me Home rallied on the outside and won easily by three lengths for Richard Baltas and Flavien Prat. Coil Me Home paid $8.40, $4.20 and $3.20. Minoso was second and Leroy finished third.

Big races review

A look at graded stakes or races worth more $100,000 or more on Sunday.

Woodbine (6): $125,000 Ontario Lassie Stakes, Ont-bred fillies 2 years old, 1 1/16 miles. Winner: Artilena ($19.80)

Woodbine (8): Grade 3 $125,000 Valedictory Stakes, 3 and up, 1 3/4 miles. Winner: Pumpkin Rumble ($3.10)

Final thought

Always looking to add more subscribers to this newsletter. Can’t beat the price. If you like it, tell someone. If you don’t like it, then you’re probably not reading this. Either way, send to a friend and just have them click here and sign up. Remember, it’s free, and all we need is your email, nothing more.

Any thoughts, you can reach me at johnacherwa@gmail.com. You can also feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa

Now, here is the star of the show, Sunday’s results. Back on Thursday.