THanks for info

To me, I can see Animal Kingdom with his running style going in the Belmont, Shackleford is a more difficult question, on the one hand I don't see him getting 12 furlongs, on the other hand I think Woody Stevens, who knew a bit about winning the Belmont, use to say it was a speed horse's race. Mucho Macho Man is a younger horse and should not run in the Belmont, he will be much more a factor later in the year. I will look long and hard at Master of Hounds again but his connections are idiots in my opinion...

Didn't Woody Stephens used to say, "If you can get a mile, you can go a mile and a half" or something similar to that..?

Alot of folks are under the impression that closers should dominate the Belmont. Tis not the case.

Funny - same discussion I had with the owner of Shack yesterday. The bottom line, they think he is getting better every day and if healthy it is worth a shot. Although...I know they are looking at specific plans for later in the year which would be fun if it worked out.

Unless some real speed signs up here Shackleford is going to be really tough. Animal Kingdom will be forced to go too fast too early and have nothing left. After a half in the Preakness I said to my wife the the leaders will finish at the back.. 2 of them did but Shackleford just kept going.

Tony Black had a great quote Monday about front-running routers with which Rich Migliore heartily agreed:

"It's not how fast you're going. It's how you're going fast."

Stayers in a comfortable rythym that aren't draining the red blood cell/oxygen reserves stored in the spleen because they haven't been stressed, can keep going a long time... longer than their pedigrees 'say' they can. In the process, they've put those behind them in a difficult position of having to chase, and many times panic. It's part of the dynamic of why horses on/near the lead fare as well as they do in the Belmont.

On top of this, is the myopia of those who seem insistent on refusing to notice that Shackleford's dam Oatsee has repeatedly produced steadfast route-goers including Orientate daughter Lady Joanne, an Alabama (10f) winner.

If Commendable can win the Belmont, any horse can.

No kidding about Oatsee SB - I am upset they sold Oatsee in foal to an AP Indy last year.....talk about someone getting a good deal (even at around ~$1.5M)!!!!!!!!!!

It's actually the spleen that stores red blood cells in the horse. As for the stress component, remember that Shackleford was a handful going to the gate at Pimlico and from what I've read is typically a "hot-blooded" horse.

Can you give horses beta blockers to calm them down?

Great Hunter ring a bell?:rolleyes:

He probably went faster early than most people think in the Kentucky Derby. The Preakness seemed like a moderate pace. I feel AK will adapt to any style.

i figured that both would skip after the preakness...that was based on horses like street sense, who's trainer said 'what's the point?' when asked if he was going to belmont after losing to curlin.
however, i hope they both go...and in the current climate, i expect to see more racing rather than less. horses aren't commanding the stud fees they used to for one..and these horses don't have much separating them at this point. winning another classic, should animal kingdom or shackleford manage it, would be a huge boost for them when it comes time for them to retire. typically, when the breeding business takes a hit, like it has been recently, horses run longer. real quiet, silver charm and the like ran at four. then, when business boomed, they couldn't get them to the shed quickly enough. any time you see more racing rather than less, it's a good thing. these horses can handle it, it's the trainers who shy away.

also, shackleford evidently flourished after the derby-he apparently needed the race. he didn't quite hang in there in fla, or in ky-but look at how he ran in baltimore.

Excuse me. Spleen. Thx RT.. Fascinating topic regarding pre-race v. in-race 'anxiety'... Not sure pre-race eagerness/tension necessarily precludes a 'run-off' mentality or lactic acid build-up. I sent Allday an article regarding stamina/blood cell distribution in advance of next week because I love this question as a discussion point.

This will be a very interesting segment. There is so much made of pre-race antics it would be great to have Allday's perspective.

Paul

I said to a friend before the race that Shackleford looked like DaTara, a sweaty mess before his Belmont win. It doesn't help I said this 30 seconds before the race. Point being, this same person turned to me as the horses loaded in for the 2008 Belmont and said "DaTara looks like a longshot to get five furlongs."

That was when I learned that prerace appearances don't always tell the story.

don't know but heard there was another horse that used to get worked up before races... think his name was Seattle Slew

Don't Storm Cats gets notoriously lathered up before races? Forestry's by Storm Cat.

"you ever see a spleen that large?"