Two Year Old Filly- TOUCH GOLD x EASY GOER x PRIVATE ACCOUNT
Owner / Trainer: silkworm

2003 Record: 6/ 5-0-0
Earnings: $714,840

2003 Stakes:

WON: Movieland Starlet -G1, Frickazee Stakes -G1, Buckeye Debutante -G3

GREEN APPLES EXPLODING NOW - 2 YEAR OLD DIRT FILLY FOR 2003

By- Winterheart

January 26, 2004-

Is it hard to get excited when you're number 1 and the accolades keep rolling in? Not for Silkworm and Green Apples! This humble duo is ranked number 7 overall in the sim with a number 1 ranking for classic distances, but they never wore out their bragging rights. Now the Eclipse for best 2 year old dirt filly of the year goes to Green Apples and owner/trainer Silkworm! Will this honor swell their heads? We think not!

Silkworm is about as humble as they come. He puts the emphasis for Green Apples' success squarely on the filly herself. "I haven't really done much different with this horse than with others. I keep stepping her up and she keeps responding," he says. And boy, has she responded! In six races, this filly ran her way to the top of the sim.

This meteoric rise all started as an experiment. Silkworm explains, "Green Apples' breeding is a hodge-podge of twisted ideas and experimentation. She represents one of many different breeding experiments from 2003. My initial goal was to breed a classic distance horse; a horse that could answer my dreams for the first Saturday in May. The basic breeding concept was to inbreed for distance using the Buckpasser line. I was impressed by the runners that Touch Gold has thrown as well as his bloodlines being so close to Buckpasser with a deep inbreed to Nearctic. From there, I continued the desire for distance along with the Buckpasser line by using Easy Goer. To round it out, I threw Private Account on the end. I decided to name the horse Green Apples as a reference to unripe knowledge as well as it being a line from a White Stripes song." For those of you who may not be familiar with The White Stripes, the song is called Jimmy the Exploder.

Green Apples exploded onto the sim scene in week 1733 in Kentucky. She broke her maiden going 6 furlongs against a full field and started off her career with a 74.4 speed figure. Her next race was in week 1775, the 5.5 furlong Vermont BB Juvenile Grade II, which Silkworm admits was his biggest mistake with Green Apples. "I bred for distance so I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time, putting her in such a short race." Predictably, she did not like the distance and finished 9th in a field of 14, running a 70.4.

The loss did not keep Green Apples and Silkworm down though. They rebounded in week 1824 where a cautious Silkworm entered the filly in a 2L allowance race in Eastern Kentucky. Green Apples went wire to wire to win with a speed figure of 88.5! At this point in Green Apples' career, Silkworm thought hard about training. "As a trainer, I attempted to space her races out to keep her as fresh as possible," he says. With such a nice jump in speed for a 2 year old, Silkworm brought the filly back in week 1866 for the Buckeye Debutante, a Grade III in Ohio at 6 furlongs. Again, Green Apples went wire to wire, winning by three and a quarter lengths with a speed figure of 89.

As the year drew to a close, unbeknownst to Silkworm, the work he put into Green Apples' breeding was about to pay off. He sent her out in week 1908 in the 8.5 furlong Grade I Frickazee Stakes in New Jersey. This would be the filly's first true test of her breeding. With over a mile to run, Green Apples sat a half length off the lead until just after the second call when she kicked it up a notch and took over a commanding lead, winning by three lengths with a posted speed of 92.2.

Now Silkworm was faced with the toughest decision a trainer can have. With a possible 2 year old champion in his stable, where does he place her in her final race of the year? A discussion with fellow trainer Photo41st gave him his answer. Photo41st encouraged Silkworm to place Green Apples in the week 1964 Grade I Movieland Starlet Stakes in California. Silkworm was sceptical because of the tough field slated for that race, a field that included Du Drop Bai, Blessed Realm and Bottle Rockett. However, Photo41st's arguments won him over.

In her last race of 2003, Green Apples faced her biggest challenge yet, the finest fillies in the sim covering a distance of eight and a half furlongs at a track notorious for the high level of its competition. The sun was out, as it almost always is in California, and 14 fillies took to the track for the Movieland Starlet Stakes. Green Apples had drawn an outside post position, number 12. Silkworm could only hope that in the crowded field the outside position would allow Green Apples to break fast and away from the majority of the runners. And that's exactly what happened. Green Apples broke first and the rest of the field just never caught up. The filly pulled away and kept increasing her lead until she swept under the wire four and a half lengths ahead of a hard charging Blessed Realm who never stood a chance at catching her.

When the speeds were posted, an already flabbergasted Silkworm realized that his filly posted the top 2 year old speed in the sim - an amazing 110.3! In the winner's circle, with tears in his eyes, Silkworm told reporters, "This race really surprised me. The Movieland Starlet field was one of the toughest of the year and I'm most proud of the 110 speed figure she put in. It's tops for any 2 year old filly or colt in 2003. I am so proud to have a horse of this caliber."

When the Eclipse nominees came out, Silkworm's reported comment was, " I think all the candidates are very deserving of 2 year old honors. I feel very lucky to be included in such a fine group as the one assembled." Fellow nominees were equally complimentary about Green Apples. Keely Bowen, trainer of Hollywood Catfight, said, "Green Apples is a monster! I pray that when Hollywood Catfight meets up with her that there are a couple more front runners in the race to help wear her down! If not, I may have to sacrifice one of my own as a rabbit!" Dixielandfan owner RCD Logan commented, "They are all very nice fillies. I would think Green Apples is the front runner in the category because of her 110 speed figure." And Rich Ginsberg, owner/trainer of Du Drop Bai, admitted, " I voted for Green Apples, who to me is a standout and should win hands down. Silkworm has done a great job with her." After the voting revealed Green Apples to be the winner, Silkworm gave all due credit to his filly, with one exception. "I would like to thank Photo41st for convincing me to run her in the Movieland Starlet G1. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't even be here."

Now that Green Apples has won the Eclipse 2 Year Old Filly award, what does Silkworm have in store for her? A quick chat with the trainer reveals not a trip to Disneyland, but to Kentucky. "My intentions for now are to run her in two preps before the first Saturday in May. I may test the waters against the boys in either the Fountain of Utes or the Wooden Indian. Either way she goes, her ultimate goal for now is the Bluegrass Oaks with an outside possibility of hitting the Derby." If any filly can beat the boys it will be Green Apples, your Simulated Sports 2003 Eclipse 2 Year Old Filly winner!