Post by Ripley on Mar 10, 2015 12:25:07 GMT -5
THE RETURN OF THE WITCH ??It has been no secret that Witch Creek Stable, formerly the Murderer's Row of Year Thirteen and Fourteen, has been seeing struggles of late. With one to two wins a week, the defeat of Sun King and no clear cut older horse, Witch Creek seemed as though it was well passed its Hey Day in the face of new barns on the scene. Or at least that was how it appeared until February Week Four.
February Week Four brought sterling victories from Casualty of War, Vagabond and The Devil's Hourglass. Casualty of War has been knocking at the door for some time, but word has it the crew at Witch Creek are not quite clear on an early goal for him. He knocked down the Hiolio Derby, his second win of the season, for his grade three victory. Will he be a Triple Crown horse? It would seem unlikely with Saintly Touch, a grandson of Touch Up, as the favorite for the big race. And Witch Creek is more than likely willing to prove that Touch Up is capable of siring a winner of a Triple Crown race as well as a Turf Triple Crown race. If Casualty of War wants a berth in the Turf Triple Crown he will have to fight for the honors with Vagabond, who notched his sixth win in the Spring Cup Grade Four Turf, and Spotlight Pride, who came back with a scintillating victory in the Unicorn Horn Turf.
Perhaps Witch Creek is not in such a painful situation after all.
Witch Creek saw the curtain close on Bella Luna's career with two stunning defeats in the Breeders' Cup Turf and Dubai World Championship. The first loss came to then three year old In The Spotlight, the second to Y12's Juvenile of the Year Nightshade. The first was excessively painful because that was supposed to be Bella Luna's swan song. She performed too bravely in the Dubai World Championship over a surface much more favorable to dirt runners than turf runners. The Dubai World Championship was a last ditch effort to get the Year Fourteen Turf Horse of the Year her final victory. It never happened. Even titans can be taken down.
While Bella Luna is retired now, Witch Creek had one goal in mind: Revenge. The big stable finally avenged the loss to In The Spotlight not with Bella Luna, but with a filly born and raised at Witch Creek Stable. The Devil's Hourglass has returned. She is the heart and soul of the witch, a fierce descendant of Touch Up looking for her old fame and fortune. The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner of Year Thirteen has returned with two stirring wins in the Unicorn Horn Turf Classic and in the Spring Cup Grade One Turf, the race where she beat In the Spotlight.
Could The Devil's Hourglass step up when hope is what the big barn needs?
