By- Sharon Shimko

The best sprinter. That statement might seem pretty darn trite and obvious at this point, but it needs to be re-interated. Tfv’s six year old son of Pleasant Colony, Blue Ant was the best sprinter in 2000. In a razor-thin photo finish, the race for Champion Sprinter honors was just as electrifying as the 2000 Breeders Bowl Sprint. Two heavyweight fighters of opposing styles -- one a supreme gut-wrenching closer, from near last storming down the stretch, while the other, a burning hot pacesetter, whiplashing the field off of its feet, setting a pace and giving no quarter in an all-out quest for the finish line. The former is none other than the 1999 Sim Eclipse Champion sprinter, cencall’s Lever Sparky, while the latter, of course, is the new hero, Blue Ant. The Sim’s 2000 BB Sprint produced a 119 speed figure for Blue Ant, a length and three-quarters the best over Lever Sparky’s furious runner-up endazzlement.

One hundred-plus speed figures are far from rare in the sprint division -- matter of fact, it’s more of the common norm as these horses compete blazingly in the arguably toughest division in the Sim. There aren’t many top graded events for horses under a mile and consistent horses who can throw those top numbers each and every time are few and far between. Blue Ant and Lever Sparky were 2000’s elite -- they only met once and Blue Ant came away with the gold on a day for championship performances. He also stunned even his own fans with some remarkably fast and over-the-top victories -- his 124 SP# in the Tri-City Sprint left us gasping and his 120 SP# in the Premier Racing Stakes left us in awe. He started the year in allowances and was interestingly in and out of the stakes ranks, taking two events sandwiched in between supreme speed building allowance scores. When he won the Just A Swangin Stakes in Week 704 with a 117 SP#, tfv stable kept Blue Ant in top company for good -- this horse had the makings of a primed and polished star -- consistency and speed, speed, and more speed are the names of the game after all in the tough-and-trying sprint division.

From the summertime onward, Blue Ant developed into a top-tier sprinter who escalated into the championship role in the fall and his defining moment was when he met and bested Lever Sparky. The re-match between the two will undoubtedly be one heckuva show, but for now, the two heroes shall be linked at the Kentucky finish line as only one hit the wire first....... and he is the champion, Blue Ant. Congrats, tfv stable.