Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS
His one doubter on Earth left I assume......
In my final post here before the Kentucky Derby---I wrote about Calvin Borel's otherworldly success from an ROI standpoint. If you simply bet $100 on every Borel mount at CD over the last 12 months, you would have made a $37,827 profit.
I ended the post with the following....
"In a 20 horse field, with all the other riders aware of his dedication to riding the rail, we should now finally get to find out what Street Sense is capable of, when he doesn't get a magical rail-skimming ride from Calvin."
We found out no such thing! I had a feeling Borel might have been insane enough to attempt a daring last-to-first rail run---but, obviously he would get stopped, and we'd be hearing his Derby backers complain about his ride up until the Preakness.
Not only has Street Sense never run a really good figure when he's not had a dream trip, unmolested rail-run...but he shows many of the same bad habits through the final furlong of those races, that his sire was famous for.
In this decade, the spectacular Street Cry was arguably as brilliant in route races as any horse not named Ghostzapper. However, he had a very serious hanging problem.
He put on dazzling displays of hanging in both the Del Mar Futurity and Norfolk Stakes.
In the Del Mar Futurity, pacesetter Flame Thrower was involved in a 4 way head-to-head pace battle with three other VERY FAST horses. They being Arabian Light (who worked 20 and change at Barretts March and later set the pace in the BC Juvie after winning a Grade 1) Squirtle Squirt (who later won a Breeders Cup Sprint) and High Cascade (who buried Point Given in a wire-to-wire MSW win in his previous start)
Meanwhile, Street Cry rated well off this 4-way head-to-head battle up front, racing in 6th place after a half mile, he made an eye-catching move to confront Flame Thrower at the 1/8th pole. But, he hung like rotten salami through the last furlong. Turning a certain victory into a puzzling defeat.
The "ultra gutsy" Flame Thrower also fought him off in an epic stretch battle in the 105 Beyer Norfolk Stakes.
Street Cry ran 3rd to Macho Uno and Point Given in the Juvenile, according to the chart he "loomed a solid threat for the last eighth but gained only slightly." Street Cry made eight American starts, and had a 8-2-5-1 record. His lone stake win coming in a 118 Beyer Stephen Foster tour de force at Churchill Downs.
However, Street Cry's finest moment of hanging never came in America. In the 2002 UAE Derby, he made an eye-catching move to sieze a lead in deep stretch, seemingly mowing down Lido Palace and Express Tour, and headed for certain victory. However, after passing Express Tour and taking a half length lead on him, he went about his stretch antics, and was beaten. It was truly a legendary piece of hanging.
Street Cry blew horses off the track and ran gigantic figures when he won. When he won, he won spectacularly, when he lost, he hung spectacularly. He was the anti-John Henry. He's the last horse you'd want in a dog fight.
Very quietly, in his last two starts, his son Street Sense has bore in late through the stretch. He's shown signs of hang in his races when he doesn't get his preferred dream trip, and until he shows he can both run a good figure and win a race, without getting his trip....I will stubbornly continue to use him underneath in all exotics, and hope his impossiblestreak of perfect trips finally comes to an end.
There is no way the other jockeys let him skate up the rail this time---and I doubt his one explosive move will be enough to circle and drowned this field---he's going to have to win the Preakness in the final furlong, and without his trip....and when he does that....he'll shut me up for good...and this lunacy will cease.
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