the 2005 whitney..how much.....
 

would st laim have one by if not for the high wt.....commentator 115..st laim 122....

I like the way you think! :)

comentator was never the same after that....

i also had commentator very heavy that day, but bias or not commentator is a very good horse, could still be great, i think he wins anyway you want to look at it, and its a shame that he cant stay healthy

I don't think weight matters, but that's just me and I suppose I could be wrong, but I never understood why people suggested after the race that Saint Liam was best. Commentator set an extremely honest pace and Saint Liam had the entire stretch to beat him and flat out lost.

If Dutrow was so confident he had the better horse why did he run, not one but, two rabbits in the Woodward?

And, yes, I am way biased about this one.

As Dutrow said, he didn't want Saint Liam all out to defeat Commentator as he had bigger and better races to win.

I agree with you about weight being overrated although perhaps Saint Liam wins by a nose with equal weights. A major reason that Dutrow used the rabbits in the Woodward wasn't because he thought his horse couldn't beat Commentator, it was because he thought he could beat Commentator more easily with the rabbits and didn't want the race to take too much out of him before the Classic. The prior year going neck and neck with Ghostzapper took so much out of the horse that he couldn't bring him back in the Classic and he knew he wouldn't have forgiven himself if he let that happen again. He talked about it on Capital OTB one morning, interesting interview.

Running two rabbits at a horse, in a Grade 1 race, with a five horse field, was about as unsporting a move as I've seen, in all the time I followed racing.

I have a feeling Dutrow isn't going to be up for any "Sportsman of the Year" Awards any time soon...

If one works well then two can only work better. Personally I'm not a big fan of horses that can get thrown off their game so much by a couple rabbits so I thought the situation was pretty funny. If Commentator comes back this year then Zito should pair him with Sun King. If anyone tries to put rabbits against Commentator it will set things up perfect for Sun King. If there is no other speed to duel then Commentator wins it on the front end.

Well I don't think Saint Liam needed the two rabbits to win at all. He could set the pace or come off it.

I'm guessing the way Prado pulled Saint Liam back around the first turn he really expected Commentator to come back to him.

http://www.calracing.com/replays.php

weight supposedly is the biggest difference between european and US handicappers. We think it does matter, and ye think it doesn't..

Good one.

Ye? I feel like we should be discussing this over mugs of meade.

Sorry....couldn't resist.

as long as you bring the drink!!

I can't bring it....but I'm always happy to buy.

you don't want me to start making it outside my back garden now, do ya?? need to get more honey, have some left over from pancake tuesday!

weight matters more for you guys cause you run in moss bogs while chasing foxes over 13 mile courses.

but its probably much better for the horses.

Seriously. I think weight takes a lot more out of a horse in the longer Euro undulating soft grass courses.

Thanks for getting me to watch that again. What a terrific race.

No doubt. It was a hot pace and Saint Liam chased him the whole way. Swingforthefences was not a bad horse....and he finished in Schylerville.

I don't think seven pounds matters as far as weight goes, particularly in a nine furlong race.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't speed very strong at Saratoga that weekend?

Why are we talking about a two year old race? Blah blah... :)


Seriously, he lost. It's over and done with. I will not speak badly of the dead. He was a good horse, but he did get beat sometimes... :p But in this case it was the ride they got. Doesn't necessarily mean he (SL) was the better of the two horses, but the ride helped.

Sorry HUGE Gary fan. :) MAYBE Gary just knew how to beat St. Liam? Hee hee.

I actually really like Commentator. It did take TWO rabbits to beat him in his next race.

I don't remember but you certainly may be right.