Obviously. But in that scenario, Game on Dude wouldn't have been reduced to a traffic cone by the time they hit the far turn.

Both things can be true: (a.) Shared Belief is awesome and was an impressive winner of the Pacific Classic AND (b.) the race couldn't have unfolded more perfectly for him with his chief rival essentially eliminated as a win contender 1/4 mile into the race.

I still think SB runs by him, GOD does not have the turn of foot to jump away from a horse who is all over him, he has done it on few occasions, he usually increases his lead by just running them off their feet and he tried that in this race but could not sustain.

Horses like Game on Dude run better when running fast. If he'd been 'allowed' to set a slower pace, he likely would have lost by even more.

I agree. It's a shame that GoD's effort is being diminished as he ran a HUGE race. I truly don't understand Baffert's remarks - he has been pressed by horses (long and short priced) in the past and lost too. Sunday wasn't anything new.

Shared Belief wasn't being beaten regardless that day. GoD's figure is going to be more than respectable. He is still one of the most imposing horses on the West Coast.

I wrote this in the playalong thread when I got home last night, but that's the running style of the horse in Argentina. The horse is as one-dimensional as Game on Dude, so why should things change here? He's not a rabbit; he wasn't setting it up for anything else. He just ran his race, and in fact I applaud the connections (I know he was bought) for not being timid and trying to win in the same manner in which he has been doing. It's easy to say he could/would have run better if he rated, but then you're asking him to take up a new style in the biggest race of his life. The same way Game on Dude usually fails when he doesn't get it easy and/or his own way up front, Mystery Train did too. He just stopped much more emphatically so it looks worse. If Game on Dude was brought to Argentina and was rated behind a loose leader, people here would be going bonkers at those race tactics.

No clue why Baffert is whining. They are racing for a $1 mil . After watching Mystery Train's races on You tube I knew there was no way Baffert was getting to slow it down or have an easy lead and figured he was a toss. Couldn't bet Shared Belief going 1 1/4 vs elders at those low odds so I hammered Toast of NY. Greedy me didn't even reverse the exacta and blew a great betting opportunity.

While ridiculous, I don't think Bob's comments are in the same category as Coburn's at all. Coburn's were beyond unsportsmanlike. Bob's grousing about longshot speed horses like people are out to get him or something. It's just being willfully oblivious to the obligations of other connections to their horse to set him up the best they could--a bit like Mine That Bird's in the Preakness where they clearly thought it was unfair to have to deal with un-nominated Rachel, to the point of trying to get another horse to enter to keep her out. They weren't shy about their frustration with her being in the race. There isn't a rule that there can only be one speed horse and who says they gotta be one of the favorites to warrant entering them? You don't get to have the race your way and anybody trying to keep you from that isn't just a big stupidhead. Mystery Train's connections knew what their horse was good at and had him do it. If Bob'd done his research he'd know that this horse's running style was a threat. Like GoD is the only horse that needs to be up there.

Mystery Train wasn't 'going after' GoD. He was trying to win. Didn't obviously, but he's not nobody. A MG1W in Argentina isn't a bum. He ran 2000m in 1:58.31 which was a NTR there. And Shared Belief's the one who took the chance away. Deal with it, Bob. Nobody let you get away with being loose on the lead. Boo hoo.

Coburn- fresh horses shouldn't be allowed in The Belmont
Baffert- fast horses shouldn't be allowed to race against my fast horse

same BS to me, but yeah Coburn just wouldn't stop

Pretty shitty comparison.
One guy is a living legend. The other is some piece of trash who has one good horse and made a fool out of himself on national tv.

The piece of trash might be a bit harsh, but I was watching some old WWF Rock promos on youtube......

Does bafferts stature make him any less of a baby in this circumstance?

I thought he was speaking the truth. An impossible horse went after him, like other people in this thread said the pace was very fast. I think GOD was primed for a big race yesterday, a bounce back effort and Bob knew it. He was upset, can you blame him??

Go back and look at previous races from the Argentinian horse. Always runs the same race fast up front. Baffert should have not been surprised.

Baffert was probably listening to the DRF reporters who kept writing that there was no speed in the race to challenge him.

Maybe Baffert said these things in a matter of fact way and people are taking it out of context.

Yes, it sucks to have a speed horse get taken out in a speed duel, but that's how it is, sort of thing.

I think it's also nice there is no breeding shed for Shared Belief to head to quickly. They can run this guy for as long as they wish.

And CC won't be some hot stallion no matter what he does on the track with that breeding, which is good.