The Big Sham!

[DrugSalvastore]

Does anyone else love the concept of the Sham Stakes? Earlier in the year, a buddy of mine from my old message board dubbed the Sham Stakes as the DrugS Derby--because of my fondness for the race...and the type of horses who enter it!

The Sham Stakes is an ungraded 3yo stake race run in early Feb. at Santa Anita, at the distance of nine furlongs. It's by far the earliest nine furlong Derby Prep. It always attracts the most promising collection of unathletic 3-year-olds, with sensationally deep endurance pedigrees, and "always on the steel" grinding running styles. The kind of horses I totally love!! There is always one token horse in the Sham Stakes with athletic ability--and the lone talented horse always wins the race--but you can forget about him forever after he wins--because he's doubtful to ever face off with all plodders again.

The key to watching the Sham Stakes--is to look for the plodder who puts on the most dazzling exhibition behind the winner.

The very first running of the Sham Stakes was in 2003. Man Among Men won the race, but the 2nd place finisher Empire Maker stole the show. Despite having a wide trip, and running in spots, he managed to close from last place to finish 2nd. He earned a 98 beyer. Next time out he won the Florida Derby by nearly 10 lengths as the 2nd choice in the betting. He later scored his 3rd Grade 1 on the year in the 12 furlong Belmont Stakes.

The second running of the Sham Stakes was in 2004. Master David fought on the pace the whole way and won. Borrego, on the other hand, stole the show by racing wide on the far turn, and hanging late like the bum that he is. It was an exciting display of talentless hanging after a wide run. Borrego got a 98 Beyer.

The third and latest running of the Sham Stakes was in 2005. Going Wild won wire-to-wire--two maidens named Checkov and Papi Chullo looked okay, but the horse who stole the show was Giacomo. Giacomo was hung up four wide around both turns, reportedly lost one of his shoe's, and still fought on bravely to finish an impressive 3rd with a 98 beyer. He later won the Derby.

The secret to solving the Sham Stakes riddle is to look for a horse who losses, with a difficult wide trip, and runs exactly a 98 Beyer. It goes without saying that the horse will have a strong endurance pedigree, limited athletic ability, and a grinding running style. Three horses have fit this pattern in the 3-year history of the Sham Stakes. They are Belmont winner Empire Maker, Pac Classic and JCGC winner Borrego, and Derby winner Giacomo.

I'm E-mailing Santa Anita and requesting that they change the name of the Sham Stakes to the DrugS Derby! What a fun race to watch and analyize.

[Valuist]

Would the Jeff Mullins Derby be close enough for you? I would think that would suffice.

[toetoe]

DrugS,

Can't we use this method in general? I understand the point, hidden or misread form in improving three-year-olds, but isn't that what we seek in every type of race?

[DrugSalvastore]

Would the Jeff Mullins Derby be close enough for you? I would think that would suffice.

Yea, they should rename the Santa Anita Derby the Jeff Mullins Derby.

The Sham Stakes is two months before the SA Derby--and it's an ungraded stake--I think they should make it a Gr.3 and call it the DrugS Derby.

Seriously--the post wasn't all a joke--a nine furlong derby prep in early Feb is going to attract all the elite 3yo plodders on the ground. In the three year history of the race horses like Empire Maker, Borrego, and Giacomo have all lost the race with wide trips and all three earned exactly 98 Beyer's.

Believe me, That isn't a coincidence....that type of race is always going to be a great prep race to look for future stars of endurance races. It's also an ungraded stake---so people will overreact to horses who lose in that race. For example, Trust N Luck was favored over Empire Maker in the Florida Derby, mainly because EM lost in the Sham stakes.

[DrugSalvastore]

DrugS,

Can't we use this method in general? I understand the point, hidden or misread form in improving three-year-olds, but isn't that what we seek in every type of race?

I see this as more of a cause and effect than a method.

It's a real unique race because it's an UNGRADED stake in the first week of Feb at a distance (9f's) that early season 3yo's will find extremely grueling.

Because of that--the real raw talanted and elite 3yo's will never enter this kind of race. They want to accumulate Graded Stakes earnings for the Derby, and they don't want their horses running nine furlongs in early FEB for small purse money.

So what tends to happen, is that you end up with a field of very well bred and promising looking plodders--and you get the one token horse who has raw talent. Going Wild, for example, isn't a star. But he won the '05 Sham Stakes with a triple digit Beyer because he took advantage of the fact that he was the only real proven athlete in the race.

You want to make it a point to look and see which of the grinders impresses you the most. Over the last three year's, the top performing loser of this race has won top 10 furlong races like The Kentucky Derby, The Pacific Classic, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup as well as the 12 furlong Belmont Stakes. It's really a great showcase prep for endurance horses--simply because of the very unique circumstancs of the race (the date, distance, and it being an ungraded stake)