| ArlJim78 |
08-06-2008 12:45 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunbar
Giacomo, and possibly others.
Would Street Sense or Hard Spun have had a problem? We can only guess, but probably not. I doubt either would have shown that explosive move that Big Brown demonstrated when he spurted away from the field, though.
Winning from the outside at Gulfstream was considered near impossible before this year's Florida Derby. Despite that, when Big Brown drew the outside at Churchill, many cappers (including some here) were ecstatic that they would be able to bet against him while the "clueless" would bet him regardless of post.
Here are some very good recent horses that didn't win the Derby from better post positions than Big Brown's: Cat Thief, Point Given, Medagia d'Oro, Came Home, Empire Maker, Afleet Alex. Granted, these horses faced more solid competition than Big Brown (though Point Given finished behind Invisible Ink and Thunder Blitz), but my point is that the Derby is not a 'gimme'.
There's no question that Curlin has run against significantly better horses than Big Brown. I, too, think he is the better horse and has by far the greater accomplishments. Dutrow's comments were idiotic. But Big Brown's 3 race run from the Florida Derby through the Preakness was impressive in its own right.
--Dunbar
|
in hindsight we now know how incredibly weak the fields were that Big Brown beat in the derbies. i went against him in the FD because of the post and expecting one of the others to step up. the thing about this year is that no one else has stepped up leaving it a one horse show so far in terms of 3yo's. How often does that happen? His moves are considered "explosive" because they were made against a backdrop of inferior horses who were backpedaling. put him in the 07 derby or Preakness or any previous year that had competition at the top end and I wonder how explosive his moves would look.
there was certainly nothing explosive about the last two races. He got the job down in the Haskell but I saw the whip come out before they had straightened for home. what the last races shows me is that its a different scenario when there is at least one other horse that can run on the front end with Big Brown that is capable of running in the 100 plus beyer range for 9 furlongs. He never faced that situation before and now that he has it doesn't look so easy anymore.
that 3 race run was impressive, I have said that over and over. what I will ask you and anyone else on the Big Brown bandwagon is, based on those 3 impressive races, would you say Big Brown is better than Curlin or that Big Brown is a great horse by historical standards. those are the types of claims being made and the ones I take exception to, not that he hasn't by far put in the most impressive races of any 3yo this year. Like I said previously I don't know how a knowledgeable person answers yes to either of those questions. |
