#alsvid

Alsvid Has Been Retired

The multiple graded stakes winning millionaire Alsvid has been retired, following a bout of fatigue. The bay gelding was targeting the Hot Springs Stakes, a race in which he was likely to face Ivan Fullanovalot and Whitmore.

The eight year old son of Officer, out of Reagle Mary (by Afternoon Deelites) won 11 stakes races throughout his career, and several Allowances. His graded stakes wins include the Gr.III Count Fleet Sprint and Gr.III Aristides Stakes (twice). He ran third in the Gr.I Bing Crosby Stakes, and contested the 2015 Gr.I Breeders’ Cup Sprint. 

His biggest win was the 2015 Aristides Stakes, where he beat Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner and Eclipse Champion Work All Week. 

Alsvid will now reside at owner James Rogers’s (Black Hawk Stable) ranch in Oklahoma. 

He retires with a lifetime record of 47: 16-11-8 with earnings of $1,352,815. 

Polyalsvid AU where theyre happily married and Jupiter is (probably) not hurting anyone!!! The doctor had a hard day at work... (Also, you get to see what's under Alsvid's eyepatch !)

Below is like, a billion hcs I made...

rest of comic below⤵

I'm currently starting Act II and having a grand old time. I came into the game with little knowledge of its plot or characters, though I was familiar with Faerun due to having played in two D&D 3.5e Forgotten Realms campaigns in college.

I made a wood elf Ranger named Alsvid with the intent of having him be a reincarnation of my Ranger from my Ragnarok Online days, which were about 15 years ago (!!!) but things went... very differently.  

Speed was a prevalent factor for Gulfstream's opening weekend, featuring the "Blue Collar Breeders' Cup" aka the Claiming Crown to kick the meet off on a good, raucous note. The race of the week, the Zia Park Derby, was a bit of a bust as Ol Winedrinker Who won and soundly defeated my 3rd choice Master Rick, with 1st choice Alsvid back in third. Alsvid and my 2nd choice Motown Men decided to be dueling pacesetters together for some reason (why why whyyyy!), and Motown Men tired the worst to finish last. Bah. That was an odd race to say the least, but congrats to those who had the local horse to win.

Best race of the weekend goes to Smiling Tiger's Vernon O. Underwood (III) win, which is the first win for the horse since he traded hands over a year ago at auction. He could have easily been retired, but nope! The warrior snuffed out the returning Smash and my Breeders' Cup Sprint choice Capital Account (who I like even more after this race running a brave 3rd) while overtaking a very sharp Comma To The Top. Good going, Tiger!

Also, I thought I would share with readers some interesting betting lingo I learned over the weekend: tic-tac terminology is used predominantly in the UK, but I'm keen to learn and someday use some of these when I go to the track...

As I've mentioned in past posts, the toteboard can be the difference between an awesome day of betting and one that allowed you to just barely break even. Taking risks that can be explained rationally are necessary to getting a decent overall return. Unfortunately for the lazy ones, this can take time and a good practiced eye, particularly in the case of lower-rank races like Saturday's 7th race at Aqueduct, a maiden special weight event that featured ten 2-year-old fillies running 1 1/16 miles on the turf. It was won by a bomber in Lemon Song, at astonishing, Pick 6-ruining 57-1 odds. Let's take a look at the race:

The two favorites War Relic and Rose Petunia were reasonably likeable. War Relic, a daughter of Pulpit trained by Bill Mott, was tempting with 2 starts including a fast-closing place last out on Delaware's grass. Meanwhile, Rose Petunia by More Than Ready had 1 prior start in a 3rd place effort on dirt, also trained by Mott with some respectable dirt breezes.

First giveaway of a pending upset: these are all maiden horses without much of an established race record or consistency. Anything can go, and I don't see why Rose Petunia wound up being the heavy favorite...?

Second giveaway of a pending upset: the turf was rated "good" instead of firm, automatically giving horses closer to the pace a better shot since they would not have to dig at the grass so hard in making a late gunning move in the stretch.

Third giveaway: many of these horses were untried on turf or even at a route.

Honestly, this race is very weird to recap from an odds perspective. Why was Rose Petunia so favored at 9-5, which is nearly even money? If I had wagered on this race, I would have placed something on the 5-race experienced Hit Squad, also by More Than Ready, who narrowly lost a mile-long turf race ON A "GOOD" TURF COURSE 2 starts back. Hit Squad, at 12-1 odds, wound up 2nd again here but c'mon! Who was betting this race? Did they read the PPs?

Rose Petunia's only prior start placed her off slow and going wide but by no means a front runner. War Relic was shown to be a horse that like to close in fast at the end. While Rose Petunia made it to the front early on in a quick first quarter, she did not like it and tired after facing bids from the others. War Relic couldn't get it in gear, and neither one was anywhere near the board at the finish.

Winner Lemon Song and 3rd place Switcheroo both sat just off the pace. Hit Squad stormed in from the back with a good late move and experience clearly backing her.

Lemon Song's pedigree speaks for itself: Lemon Drop Kid has been a good sire of young turf horses (hello, Somali Lemonade anyone?) out of a Lasting Approval (a graded turf champ) daughter. Her connections aren't too bad either: owned by Leroy Jolley Jr (the son of Foolish Pleasure's trainer!) and trained by Leo O'Brien (trainer of iron horse and BC Mile competitor Fourstars All Star).