The exacta paid well.

Other than his stablemate there are very few milers out there and that one won the mile last year, I think Big Brown is better than that one so why doesn't he have a shot if they decided to change plans, if Curlin loses his next start, it isn't inconceivable Big Brown could win HOY with an impressive BC Mile. The europeans usually do not like travelling over to So Cal so it is anyone's guess how deep the Euro contingent will be.

Very.

1984
Won the Turf with Lashkari.

1986
Won the Mile with Last Tycoon and at least sent over Dancing Brave.

1987
1-3 in the Mile with Miesque and Sonic Lady. Trempolino a close second in the Turf.

1993
Didn't win either race but 5 of 13 in the Mile were Euros and 6 of 14 in the Turf.

1997
1-3 in the Mile and a close second in the Turf.

2003
Six Perfections won the Mile, they went 1-3 in the Turf and 1-2-3-4 in the F/M turf.

I always hear that the Euros don't like shipping to Southern Cali but they seem to always do so and always do well. They've won seven of the 13 grass races in Southern Cali.

I think they are more than "not that much horse anymore" -- both for the better part of a campaign will be competitive at a higher level than those horses at Monmouth. And -- if not -- they performed that day! It's easy to say that so and so didn't show up, ran off the board, etc. -- and that makes the entire case. It's just not so.

G1 races are on the calender and pointed to as part of a campaign -- this Monmouth race was put together, late in the game, and made with a checkbook. People show up, bring their A game to G1 races, and sometimes they don't show up for whatever reason. I am not knocking the horses at Monmouth -- I'd love to own any of them -- but that was not a G1 field and certainly not an accomplished field. What are we talking about here -- has been's vs. never was'?

Regardless, my point was that to say BB won on turf and Curlin didn't is not only a fallacious arguement, it's foolish.

Eric

RUMOR HAS IT had better action...LOL...Really, I don't know what has happened to BB's action. Compare the action he showed in the Toga 07 Turf race to this. I know you don't need great action to run good, but he once had a better way of moving than this. Look at the stretch run of the Sept. 07 Turf race. You know what that's like? It's almost like seeing a rock skip on top of a lake. He lost that somewhere along the line.

No kidding.

However - the conditions of the Man O' War made it a must avoid for a few horses. Dancing Forever and Einstein would have both had to give 8 pounds away to BOTH Red Rocks and Curlin - and thus both passed the race even though they were in sharp form coming off of Grade 1 wins.

The Monmouth race got a respectable field because of the big purse combined with the fact the favorite hadn't run on the lawn since his maiden race.

With male turf horses Graded Stake status isn't as big a deal as it is with dirt horses or female turf horses. They don't exactly make hot commercial stallion prospects.

I understand your point. I don't think the MO'W was a viable option -- I agree -- and I don't think it would be a good comparison. Comparisons in hypotheticals? I think comparisons in reality offer enough to argue about, LOL.

All I am saying -- and this is a circular discussion that is coming down to semantics -- is that while they were respectable horses, they certainly weren't what you find in a G1 calender'ed race. Again, I'd love to own any of those horses. It was a respectable field and they added big money to entice horses, and they still had to hustle. If you disagree, that's fine. As I said, I was really trying to point to the commentary that BB did this, Curlin didn't, Curlin got beat by a filly, BB didn't -- that to me is a non-starter.

I would certainly have a discussion about the quality of the two fields -- and those are great discussions; people bringing intelligent points to the table, etc. -- but for someone to argue about BB along these lines . . .

As far as the status, that's a different topic.

Good thread though.

Eric

I kinda agree with you here but a "WOW" does not sit here. It was a much better performance as compared to the Haskell. Desormaeux knew what he was doin setting the fast pace and BB had the GUTS to hold off the others.
The field was filled with G3 caliber horses but it wasnt BB's fault.

When Colonel John whips both Curlin and BB in the BCC he is going to be the HOY. The Travers win on dirt should solidify his legit status on both surfaces and will be further enhanced if Mambo in Seattle has a strong showing in the Classic.

if CJ wins the classic by a 31 lengths he still wont be horse of the year

At this point in the year, Red Rocks seems to have a lot going against him despite the solid list of past accomplishments.

First, IIRC he hasn't started since the Man O War and was held out of the Sword Dancer due to some sort of ailment, and so has a layoff and possibly physical issues to overcome. Secondly, he changed stables from solid Euro trainer with a history of success with international shippers to a US-based trainer who is not none for conditioning turf marathoners.

Third, and most important, he is owned by Paul Reddam, who rivals the dude from Everest Stable in terms of mismanaging his runners. I think I even read that Red Rocks was pointing for the Monmouth Stakes a couple of weeks ago.

For all we know, he may show up in the BC Classic, too.

All I know is that I cannot wait until Big Brown and Curlin retire. Then we can have 100 million new threads about 2 new horses in 09.

The only way you would get a call from him is by mistake, and he would probably be calling to order a case of cheesecakes.