The 2003 Sim Eclipse for   Horse Of The Year
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I SEEK U

Three Year Old Colt - GONE WEST x UNFUWAIN x MR. PROSPECTOR
Owner / Trainer - indy

RECORD: 2003: 14 / 7-3-1
2003 EARNINGS: $3,498,360

2003 Stakes:

    1st: Bluegrass Derby -G1, Middle Jewel Stakes -G1, The New Yorker -G1, Travelers Stakes -G1, Chicago Derby -G2
    2nd: Eddie Haskell Stakes -G1, Swamps Stakes -G1, Felipe Alou Cap -G2
    3rd: Breeders Bowl Classic -G1
By- Sharon Shimko

History. Over six years online. Countless total gameplay hours. Near 300 raceday Saturdays. Thousands upon thousands of game pieces -- those Sim horses. A bottomless well of racetime memories. Fantastic websites at present and in the past. Projects fulfilled or incomplete. So many players from all parts of the world. They played for a time, still play, have begun to play, or have yet to join.

And at last one phenomenal achievement realized. History was rewarded and it all started on the road to the first Saturday in May..........

“. . . A brilliant front running victory in the Gd.I, Chicago Derby in Illinois. That win set his timing to the Derby nicely but raised the problem of qualifying entry into the big dance. Indy’s colt was right on the cusp and . . .as luck would have it, I SEEK U was the last horse to draw into the 20-horse field . . .”
---Whirlwind, Champion 3YO Colt Sim Eclipse Article

Two other trainers each had a shot at the Triple Crown. In 2000, wahoo’s Down The Jazz swept both the Derby and Middle Jewel and the Sim caught on fire with the new experience of a potential Triple Crown winner. It was just the third annual renewal of those races.... could it be that easy for a horse to sweep what in real-life is so difficult to do? Was it just a lucky card or did the Sim finally tip its hand? At the time, Sim horses ran very en vogue vigorous schedules. Fantasy was a dirt word.

Wahoo’s colt didn’t capture the New Yorker though. A year later, capeside’s Buda With The Slew, the reigning juvenile champ, cleared the double Derby/Jewel hurdles as well. He too faltered as the series sweep seemed terribly elusive. Reality was a vindicating word.

Both Down The Jazz and Buda With The Slew were tremendous stories of success, yet inevitable grace in defeat. If there is such a thing as Sim Lore, then you’d find their names and stories told alongside many other champions’ trials and tribulations. Yet in the ongoing six-year journey of Sim History, we still find something new around every corner. It’s the next big thing. The next usurper of attention. A new standard...... we all knew what that had to be. And someone has achieved it finally........

“He went off in the Derby at odds of 11/1 and when the gates opened, he never looked back . . . He went to Maryland for the Middle Jewel . . . and once again smoked the field in wire-to-wire style with authority . . . ”
---Whirlwind, Champion 3YO Colt Sim Eclipse Article
Why is the Triple Crown so important? What does it mean to us? Could it be that the Triple Crown reminds us of real-life ambition and that we project that ambition, the love of the sport of kings, on the Sim? In our own cyber gameplay -- the strategy, the hunt for better stock, the trade in claim slips -- in our search for the next big horse, do the real-life and the fantasy mesh together in our mind’s eye?

It is, after all, a simulation. Could we say the Sim is at its best when it mirrors real-life the most? If that is true, providing the most satisfaction of why we play this game, then the Sim Triple Crown stands for something deeper. What is it that resonates with us so much?

“The buzz started and the world had a new superstar as he prepared for the "test of the champion" in New York . . . As race week approached, I SEEK U wasn’t sharp and the weather was not co-operating but Indy entered him and hoped for the best.”
---Whirlwind, Champion 3YO Colt Sim Eclipse Article
And even if you don’t follow the sport, it still rings true as the ultimate victory, the “series sweep,” the winning score, beating all competition. To see all gameplay obstacles of luck and error fall by the wayside in one triumphant achievement at last realized.

Perhaps I Seek U’s Triple Crown victory reminded us of these things. It’s not always slick and slim. To get to that point, it took a lot of luck..... and a lot of Simmer smarts too. Rough weather waits potentially around any corner, threatening to spoil plans. I Seek U’s victory reminded us that you can overcome a string of bad luck. You can put errors behind you and you can finally realize success. That chance and circumstance do come into play sometimes for the better.... and not the worse. That the standard exists out there and the ultimate achievement can be attained.

“Racing against a very strong field and pressed every step of the way, he won the New Yorker by less than a length and for the first time, we had a Triple Jewel Champion.”
---Whirlwind, Champion 3YO Colt Sim Eclipse Article
The task of the Triple Crown, the ultimate achievement, bonds us then to the simulation. It also bonds us to each other. The achievement reminds us that we make the Sim what it really is. In our mind’s eye, we project its truth: that together we march forward, rooted in real-life ambition, persisting in the growth of this fantasy community. Hard work, time, energy and patience are all that we need to see this project-in-the-making blossom into awesome reality. Obstacles, errors and old nasty lady luck do not detract from the overall experience -- they enhance it in a sense and make us hunger for more. I Seek U struck our deepest chords. Will there be another one like him?

“Who would have suspected the greatness in I SEEK U.”
---Whirlwind, Champion 3YO Colt Sim Eclipse Article
I Seek U joins the ranks of Horses of The Year. With Gatling Prospector’s “best campaign” to the monstrous graded guzzler of School Kris(GB). Alongside Joe Cayenne’s season of dreams and the near perfection of Storm Dog. I Seek U now joins this magical corps of great stories told and retold. In the surprising long march of Sim history, he adds yet another element: the ultimate achievement as the Sim’s first Triple Crown winner. Where were you when you first learned of his New Yorker victory? Did you watch the race prepared to be letdown (or surprised)? Did you hear about it in the chatroom, read it on the message board or in the SRF? If you are bonded to the simulation and the simulation to you, then you’ll remember how you felt and wish, “Maybe someday, that will be my horse.....”

It’s the long march of Sim History and on the first Saturday in June, 2003, history was rewarded in this Triple Crown hero son of Gone West. He reminded us of our bond to the game and re-set the standard of ultimate achievement. And in Sim History, he takes his place for as champions shall be crowned, and the champion of all champions shall be crowned.......

I Seek U: 2003 Sim Horse Of The Year



I Seek U's 2003 Horse Of The Year Campaign



PP
I SEEK U ID#   ( - - - - )
indy 4 Year Old Colt (GONE WEST x UNFUWAIN x MR. PROSPECTOR)

Divisional Ranking: 1                    Races Wins Places Shows Earnings
Low Tag/Year: N/A     Total 16 9 3 1 $3,551,580
Non M/C/O/S Wins: 8     Dirt 16 9 3 1 $3,551,580
        Turf 0 0 0 0 $0
        Routes 13 6 3 1 $3,479,340
        Sprints 3 3 0 0 $72,240




Past Performances:

Race ID Trk RST S D Race Time SP# # PP C1 C2 C3 FIN Jockey Odds
1971.2205 DE 3yo D 10 The Topicount Special -G1 2:00 2/5 102 14 10 2 1/4 2 1/4 5 3-1/2 6 18-1/2 indy H Ross 4.50
1922.0115 CA 3yo+ D 10 Breeders Bowl Classic -G1 2:00 2/5 111 14 9 1 3/4 1 3/4 1 1/2 3 1 indy B Renfroe 8.00
1908.0415 NY 3yo+ D 10 Jockey Guild Gold Cup -G1 2:01 1/5 111 14 3 1 hd 1 1/4 1 hd 7 4 indy S Israel 7.50
1894.0515 LA 3yo D 10 LA Derby -G1 2:01 102 10 9 2 hd 2 1 4 6 6 14-1/2 indy B Ryan 1.70
1859.0415 NY 3yo D 10 Travelers Stakes -G1 2:00 2/5 121 14 11 1 1/4 1 3/4 1 2 1 3-3/4 indy C Jamison 3.30
1845.0415 NY 3yo D 10 Eddie Haskell Stakes -G1 2:00 121 14 14 2 hd 2 1/4 2 1-1/4 2 2-1/2 indy B Child 4.00
1824.0115 CA 3yo D 9 Swamps Stakes -G1 1:48 1/5 112 11 9 1 3/4 1 1-3/4 1 3-1/2 2 hd indy V Feller 3.10
1782.0415 NY 3yo D 12 The New Yorker -G1 2:31 3/5 103 14 7 1 ns 1 hd 1 1/4 1 3/4 indy B Renfroe 4.20
1761.0815 MD 3yo D 9.5 Middle Jewel Stakes -G1 1:54 2/5 115 14 4 1 3/4 1 1-1/2 1 4 1 3-1/2 indy B Renfroe 5.30
1747.0315 KY 3yo D 10 Bluegrass Derby -G1 2:01 1/5 115 20 9 1 1/2 1 1 1 2-1/4 1 4-1/2 indy B Renfroe 11.70
1719.0715 IL 3yo D 9 Chicago Derby -G2 1:48 113 14 8 1 1/4 1 1-1/2 1 7-3/4 1 1-1/4 indy B Bryant 5.90
1691.6215 FR 3yo D 8.5 Felipe Alou Cap -G2 1:42 1/5 107 14 6 5 2 4 3-1/4 2 3 2 1-3/4 indy L Woodard  6.80
1663.6502 DM 3yo D 8 Alw-36400NW3x 1:35 3/5 103 6 2 2 1/4 2 1/4 1 1 1 3-1/2 indy T Haley  1.40
1642.4612 NF 3yo D 6.5 Alw-31700NW3s 1:16 3/5 99 10 6 2 1/2 2 ns 1 6-1/4 1 5-1/4 indy P Dennis 2.50
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