:wf

I like in the article how Bob Baffert got Jones all riled up by saying that Plum Pretty will get 10lbs from Havre De Grace in the Apple Blossom.

Jones then goes on to say that the next option, the Ogden Phipps (also a handicap), will be some race with Awesome Maria and Awesome Feather also pointing for it.

Does he think that he won't be giving weight to those two horses (neither with more than 2 Grade 1 wins)?

BTW is probably correct with the Obeah being the next start. The Molly Pitcher will probably be the follow-up.

Nail on the head with this comment!! Amen.

Why bother having handicaps? I hope Oaklawn assigns her a proper weight. They won't, but I can hope. She will run and probably win and be proclaimed the best horse in training. I wish she didn't get HOTY. Her connections didn't deserve it.

Did she really deserve it? I dont think so, not at all. She was not the best horse I saw run last year.

There's really no point in bemoaning the comments many trainers and owners, perhaps with the intent of influencing weight assignments, make in the public media. Putting on pressure through the media is de rigueur in this day and age. Whatever his motivations, Jones is just using the tools that are available to effectuate the goal of his client -- to create the best possible conditions in which to win. With the state of racing as it is, and the high level of comptetition among tracks for publicity, it's a buyer's market for an owner with a big horse. Gone are the days when horses the likes of Dr. Fager seemingly shrugged off high weights and ran to victory anyway (although I can't believe that John Nerud liked the weight assignments any better back then than Larry Jones likes them now).

Zenyatta wasn't eligible for her morning pasture romps.

She wasn't??!?! :eek: :zz: There goes my faith in the Eclipse Awards.

They passed. :mad:

where did you see the announcement? not on bhorse or drf.

Has Bobby Frankel been reincarnated????

Just said on TVG: Next race for Havre is the LaTroienne at CD

Charles Cella must be hating Fair Grounds right now.

I'd love to hear Jones' gripe with the weights for the Apple Blossom.

The spread is going to be the same in the La Troienne. She will have to carry 123 lbs, missing the 3 lb allowance by one day (she won the Beldame on Oct. 1, you get 3 lbs if you haven't won a Grade 1 since Sep. 30).

In fact, if Awesome Maria skips the Apple Blossom, too (likely as she just ran 3/31), she will get more weight if she reappears in the La Troienne.

But I suppose it's the mighty Plum Pretty that Jones is really worried about. A filly who hasn't been in the same zip code as the winner in any Grade 1 starts since her desperate Kentucky Oaks victory over a first condition horse. Or perhaps it's the 4 lbs given to It's Tricky that has him calling the audible. She's never won a Grade 1 race around two turns.

the fox hill farm FB rant... one for the ages
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fox-H...49399288440985

Larry and I really wanted to defend our title in the Apple Blossom. We were expecting fair weights and when they were released today, Larry called me and we were flabbergasted at the weights. Plum Pretty was the most unexpected but a lot of them were very unfair. Tiz Miz Sue was getting 8 pounds after just running over a hundred beyer and winning the graded Azeri Stakes. Absinthe Minded was getting 9. No one can say that we have ducked any one in racing. Hard Spun took on every tough race there was as did Round Pond and the immortal Eight Belles. We love the competition. Havre de Grace took on Blind Luck six times and ran against the boys in the prestigious Woodward and we didn't bat an eye at running in the granddaddy of them all, the Classic. We have decided one thing though, we will take on any horse and take our defeats when we get them but we won't let the racing secretaries decide who is going to win the races. That is why we took this stand on the Apple Blossom. The weights are unfair and I have asked all the journalists to demand that Pope explain how he came up with the numbers for the weights. He owes it to the fans that were going to pack the house for the Apple Blossom. He just didn't invent these weights, his duty as racing secretary is to analyse each horse and their races and come up with fair weights. Since he had to do it, he should make it public so we can see his thinking and reasoning. I hope he takes on his responsibility. We will run in The La Troienne at Churchill Downs on May 4th. This is exactly what I said we would do if Pope came out with unfair weights. I hope you all understand. We have decisions to make in running a racing operation and today was one of those tough ones.

What a p*ssy. Race the horse, for crying out loud.

He blames pope? The weights are far from unfair. I would rather he just retire her and spare us this bs the rest of the year.

Isn't Pat Pope the racing secretary at Delaware too?

I do not think that word means what he thinks it means.

CLASSIC !!!!!!!!!!!



Porter should be embarassed by publishing such a ridiculous diatribe.