The Sim Eclipse Awards @ Sim Hall of Fame

 

Meet Our Champs


View the 2009 Champions

2009 awards home

Champion 3yo Turf Filly

VENGEANCE OF PAIN

3yo Filly - Generous x Sadler's Wells x A.P. Indy

OWNER/TRAINER – Texaceace00 (Texasace)

RECORD: 2009: 13 / 9-1-0
LIFETIME EARNINGS: $1,997,165

2009 Stakes:

WON: Breeders Bowl F&M Turf (G1), Dell Webb Oaks (G1), The Leavenworth Special, The Italian Ice Special

2ND: Oaks De English (G1)

 

Texasace Produces Another Turf Champion

By- Given

 

For horses in the Texasace stable grouping, winning is not an option, it is the only option. And in an operation that churns out champions at an astonishing rate, the star that shined brightest in 2009 was Vengeance of Pain, the Champion 3yo Filly on Turf. She ran an ambitious 13-race campaign that included six Grade 1 races, highlighted by a sensational victory against older mares in the Grade 1, Breeders Bowl Filly & Mare Turf. But this story begins well before that day...

If you look through the six main stables that constitute Texasace's group, it reads like a whose who of the top sires out there. A.P. Indy, Pivotal, Distorted Humor, Giant's Causeway, Storm Cat, just to name a handful. Don't let that fool you, though. Texasace has won two Trainer of the Year Awards (and is up for another this year) and sports an overall win percentage close to 27 percent not because he just breeds the best sires, but because he knows which lesser known sires to use.

Horseshoe Bay, in this humble writer's opinion the best horse to ever grace the Sim, was a combination of sires (Red Ransom x Woodman x Raise a Native) that can generally be had for credits on a Thursday. He won 16 Grade 1 races and four Eclipses, including 2005 Horse of the Year.

From his last three Sim crops, Generous has produced one graded winner. Her name is Vengeance of Pain. Generous was a brilliant runner, capturing the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby, and 1991 Irish Horse of the Year honors. But in the Sim, he certainly won't be confused with Storm Cat. That didn't deter Texasace from giving him a shot, and he picked a proven back end to go with: Sadler's Wells x A.P. Indy.

It's the perfect type of pedigree to breed late in the year, as you're not hoping for a precocious dirt horse to get ready for the Bluegrass Derby or the Bluegrass Oaks, but rather a long turfer that can find its groove towards the end of the spring.

Texasace unveiled Vengeance of Pain on December 6, 2008. The spot was carefully chosen, a mile MSW on the turf. Leading South Korean jockey Khani Hellestrae was on board for the trip, and despite not winning (she finished 2nd , beaten less than a length), he was very impressed.

"Even though we didn't win, I knew this filly was something special." Hellestrae said. "She broke a bit awkwardly, but when you're on a horse that can run, it's a totally different feeling. When I asked her to run in the stretch, she responded like a Ferrari, albeit one that was a bit green."

She was anything but green when Texasace sent her back to the races a month later on January 3 in a race with the same conditions.

"I tell you what," Hellestrae said, "for that second race, Texasace had all of the issues sorted out. She acted like a pro and it was one of the easiest wins I've ever had in a maiden race."

Vengeance of Pain won that MSW by an easy 1-3/4 lengths, and in the next three months, she won three more allowances, progressing from 9f to 9.5f to 11f, with the final race of the sequence resulting in a seven length runaway victory. For a potential graded turf runner, it was about as good a start to a career as one could ask.

After those four victories in a row, it was time to test the stakes waters. Texasace could have gone straight to a graded stakes, but continuing to bring her along patiently, he entered her in a listed stakes, the Italian Ice Special, run at 11f on the Italian turf. The result was not unexpected, an easy 5-1/2 length triumph that brought out more superlatives from a jockey, this time N Labreche.

"You could have put my grandmamma on Vengeance of Pain that day and she still would have won by open lengths," Labreche said. "I tell you what, I was just a passenger that day. We broke on top and if I wanted to I could have eaten a bowl of Tagliatelle down the stretch, although I might not have made weight for the next race!"

Five straight easy wins gave Texasace all the information that he needed. It was time to see what he had, and that meant a trip to Surrey for the Grade 1, Oaks de English. It was a major step up going from listed to Grade 1 competition while also going a furlong longer than she had ever been, but if you don't try, you never find out.

Her lack of graded experience was probably why the bettors sent Vengeance of Pain off as the 9-1 sixth choice in the race, but those who had followed this fine filly knew that was a massive overlay. Jockey R Harzheim, one of the best in the world, had the mount that day.

"We broke perfectly in the race and she settled into a great rhythm early on just behind the leader," Harzheim said. "I asked her as we hit the top of the stretch, and she inhaled the filly in front of her in a few strides. I looked behind me and thought we were home free, but my filly got a bit tired in the final furlong, and just couldn't quite hold on."

Vengeance of Pain finished 2nd that day, one length behind the winner, Cocktail Hour, who had come from out of the clouds. It was a very encouraging race, however, as the dashing Generous filly had improved her career best speed figure by 10 points to a 102. The future was certainly bright indeed.

The logical next step for Texacace's newly Grade 1-placed filly was the Irish Oaks, another 12f test. Unfortunately, Vengeance of Pain came up empty that day in the stretch, fading to 5 th and losing by ten lengths.

This was now the moment in this filly's 3-year-old campaign where the brilliant training of Texasace came into play. Many people would have looked at the Irish Oaks as an inevitable bounce. They probably would have run a few more times at 12f in top grade competition.

Not Texasace.

He saw something in her past performances, despite the fact that her two best speed figures were at 12f, that made him think she might be even more effective with a cutback in distance. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where a champion was born.

Vengeance of Pain re-surfaced in a 10f allowance in early August, easily dispatching a completely overmatched field by nearly five lengths.

That was just a prep race, as two weeks later she entered into the Grade 1, Dell Web Oaks, run at 9f on the turf in California. This might seem odd, given the fact that she had run 2 nd in the 12f Oaks de English. The bettors sent her off, incredibly enough, as the 10 th off 11 choices at 12-1. Jockey S Webb was on board that day and describes the ride.

"Texasace told me that she was used to running longer and might not be up as close to the early pace as usual, but to just let her settle into her stride," Webb said. "He told me that when I called on her, I'd find a whole lot of horse, and gosh darned if he wasn't speaking the gods honest truth. We were sitting about 4 th or so and when we turned for home and I tapped her, that race was all over but the crying."

Vengeance of Pain had captured her first Grade 1 victory, and she made it look easy, galloping away to win by nearly two lengths with a career best 112 speed figure.

At that point, with her distance proficiencies figured out, Texasace set out to mapping a road to the Breeders' Bowl, and it was an added bonus that it would be in California, a track over which she had just proven her love.

Four weeks later, she ran in another big race in California, the Grade 2, Leavenworth Special at 10f. The bettors wouldn't make the same mistake twice, and this time she went off as the 5-2 favorite in a field of seven. This time she stumbled ever so slightly at the break, ending up about four lengths off in the early goings. It was the furthest back she had ever been in a race going into the first turn.

"Yeah she had some trouble at the break," said jockey F Gossett. "But you know what, I think it ended up being for the best, because it forced her to relax a bit. I settled her down, and around the far turn I gave her the cue, and she left those other fillies behind like Mario Andretti."

It was an incredibly easy looking victory with a final margin of 2-1/4 lengths.

The next step on the path to the Breeders' Bowl was to take on older fillies and mares. In another brilliant stroke of training, Texasace wanted to make sure that his girl experienced racing against older at least once before the Breeders' Bowl. So he shipped her to Ontario for the Grade 1, Liz Taylor at 10f.

It would be a very tough task, as she was taking on an accomplished group of runners headlined by K's Masterpiece, a then 5-year-old mare that was winning big races and putting up big speed figures.

"Was my filly intimidated?" asked N Linville, who rode Vengeance of Pain that day. "You know what, she might have been a little intimidated. That's why it was so important that she ran against older before the Breeders' Bowl. She needed to get a taste of what it was like."

Vengeance of Pain ran a lackluster 4th that day, but Texasace had done what he needed to, given her a chance against older before the Breeders' Bowl.

Four weeks later it was the race for all the marbles. The Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Bowl Filly & Mare Turf, run at 10f on the turf. A stellar field, including K's Masterpiece and five-time Grade 1 winner Skullcrusher assembled for the race. Jockey B Schardein had the mount.

"When those gates opened, I knew exactly where I wanted to be," Schardein said. "I had watched the Leavenworth and decided that I wanted her back off the early pace a bit. She settled nicely in fourth place about two off the rail, and as we approached the far turn I guided her out for clear sailing and set sight on the leaders. I know she would run them down, but on the outside I saw that other mare [Skullcrusher] moving up as well. But when we hit the final furlong, I knew she wasn't going to be able to catch me, and we crossed the wire as champions!"

Vengeance of Pain had just won the most prestigious race for turf fillies and mares in the world, and she had done it by more than two lengths! Her coronation was complete.

It had been a long year already for the filly, with 12 starts, but Texasace believed he owed it to the fans to race her on Del Penn Champions Day, always a great Sim event. She looked like a tired filly that day, finishing 4th , but it did nothing to damper the brilliant campaign that she had.

Vengeance of Pain, the 3-year-old Champion Filly on Turf!