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Sim Trainer Stats Sim Race Stats |
SEEKING SAL Owner/Trainer: keryn Record: 50-19-6-9, $6,098,207
Win: Breeders Bowl Mile-G1, Sand Castle Fee Duty-G1, All Comers Stakes-G1, Eddie O Cap-G1(2x), Battle For Oldtown-G1, Whirlaway Tavern Stakes-G1, DUR AJC Derby-G1, I'm Back Again For Good-G1, Idle Hour Stakes-G2, Strange Brew Turf Handicap-G3(2x), Prize Winner Stakes-G3(2x), Jennifer Connley BC Turf Cap-G3 Place: Sand Castle Fee Duty-G1, World Cup Turf Nine-G1, Simulated Sports Horse Racing Hall of Fame Stakes-G1, Coalmine Mile Cup-G2, DPCD Mile (owner restricted) Show: Equinics' Dick Francis-G1, Hallelujah Turf Cup-G2, DUR QLD Derby-G2 Seeking Sal was one of the best horses to never win a championship. His journey to the top of the 2006 classic turf division is a classic study of patience and reward. He had everything -- superbly masterful training, monstrous heart, and the remarkable goods to win on racing's biggest days. What he did not achieve at the ballot box, he more than made up for in the pure drama of his powerhouse career. But sometimes even future all-time greats fail to grab the bit out of the gate. Reminiscent of fellow Hall of Famer Cecil Roo taking several starts to break her maiden, Seeking Sal spent his entire freshman season trying to find the winner's circle. Trainer Topicount (a.k.a. Keryn) sent the son of Seeking the Gold out of the stakes-placed Kris S. mare Mac's Courage to the barrens of North Dakota for his lifetime debut in late February 2004. The colt finished 5th over the dirt, rallying slightly to pass tiring horses. The guessing game continued until Seeking Sal finally broke his maiden in December over a grassy mile-and-a-sixteenth. Now assured of her prized charge's preferred surface, Topicount wasted no time in testing Seeking Sal's distance capabilities. The 3yo colt spent the rest of the winter stretching out ever so slightly. Seeking Sal passed allowance company with flying colors and even upset the DUR AJC Derby-G1 over eleven furlongs as a considerable longshot. He met Horseshoe Bay for the only time in his career in his next start: finishing 4th in the Adelaide Derby-G1. A few forgettable turf routes at or around ten furlongs followed during the spring and summer. By mid-September 2005, Seeking Sal was a modest 4-for-14 lifetime. He had yet to break the 100 speed figure barrier. He was a Grade 1 winner, albeit in slow time. Sensing the need for a confidence-boosting victory, Topicount returned Seeking Sal to the allowance ranks. It was a perfect call. The colt responded with a crushing 104 SP# romp around nine panels. He further concluded his sophomore year with a pair of promising placings at the Grade 2 level as well as in DelPenn restricted company. With the minor ranks and classroom instruction behind him, now it was time to steal the limelight and take his foes to school. Seeking Sal made his 4yo debut in January's Strange Brew Turf Handicap-G3. The resulting four-length romp kicked off what was to be his spectacular 9-for-12 season. After finishing 3rd over a yielding surface in the Equinics, Seeking Sal took the Jennifer Connelly Handicap-G3 and all-important Sand Castle Fee Duty-G1, both over nine furlongs in 1:47 and 1:47 1/5 respectively. He stumbled when asked to go an extra sixteenth in April's Hallelujah Turf Cup-G2, but quickly recovered to reel off an impressive three-race win streak that extended through the summertime -- one of which was the first of two straight Eddieo Caps-G1. He split a pair of sponsored graded victories prior to the Breeders Bowl (one of which was ironically called the Hall Of Fame Stakes). The 2006 Breeders Bowl Mile was stocked full of premier talent: Manifest Destiny, Spare T, Urko's Danzig, Congo, and more lined up for the makings of an epic battle-royale. While others acted up in the Kentucky post parade, Seeking Sal was the picture of professionalism. Jockey F Gossett had so much horse by the far turn. Seeking Sal swept by Congo enroute to a strong 1 3/4 length victory in 1:34 1/5. Despite six Grade 1 victories for the year, Seeking Sal lost the turf horse Sim Eclipse Award to Horseshoe Bay. Topicount aimed to win Seeking Sal that honor in 2007. The then-5yo horse followed the script almost to the letter too. He won five graded races that season, inclding the Strange Brew, Eddieo, and celebrated turf miler contest called the All Comers Stakes-G1. Seeking Sal just missed a successful defense of his Sand Castle Fee Duty crown, with Kepler Berzerk passing out of nowhere late. Later on in early autumn, he'd finish ahead of Kepler Berzerk in the short-lived World Cup Turf Nine-G1, but couldn't hold off a feisty Black Coin. The final time of that race was 1:46 4/5, an ethereal number. Everything appeared on target for the Breeders Bowl Mile. However, it just wasn't meant to be since 'Sal wasn't himself that day, finishing well up the track behind winner Culinary Cutie. Perhaps in hindsight Seeking Sal had peaked a race too early. Seeking Sal competed at age six, but was nowhere near his heyday form. He retired in 2009 with a 19 for 50 lifetime record and over $6-million in earnings. He won a whopping 15 graded stakes lifetime too which puts him on the all-time leading graded stats lists. His legacy also lives on in his talented Giant's Causeway son Seeking A Cause, already a Grade 3 turf winner at age 2. Like fellow Hall of Famers Dusty Dance and Huge Tale, Seeking Sal managed to capture a campaign-crowning Breeders Bowl trophy. However, he even went beyond those two all-time greats, putting together a near flawless season that actually outshined most Sim Eclipse Award winners in 2006. For two years, he took on the absolute best in the short turf route division. Seeking Sal had the talent, remarkable speed, patient training, and courage of a reliable star. He had everything, except for a championship title. But who needs those anyways, now that 'Sal has the greatest title of all: Hall Of Famer, one of the immortals of the game. May his journey continue as his legacy lives on in the romance of the Sim turf. |
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