Gorgeous George
 

Anybody know if George Washington is still viable for the BC Mile or the turf? I know he disappointed in his first after the stud experiment. His wins were visually impressive in '06 and I seem to want to live in the past.

His next race is the QEII..... :)

http://www.derbytrail.com/forums/sho...t=16537&page=2

I guess we'll get a better sense of the plan after that.

His races this year have been a bit underwhelming. As of now, it doesn't sound like a US trip is in the cards according to O'Brien.

It may depend on what Ramonti does. Frankly, the 2nd tier Euro milers can usually handle our horses so I imagine that Goerge should have a shot. The problem is that he cannot handle the best of Europe, so if they come, he may as well stay home.

Can the Euro 2yos handle Big Brown, or Cherokee Triangle

Rio de la Plata can, if he comes. The filly Saoirse Abu could also. Don't forget to include Prussian in your list of nice North American based 2yo's.

No doubt about it Linny, those are the 3 American hopes for the 2yo turf.

Cherokee Triangle looked awesome in the morning and afternoon last weekend at LaDowns. He seems to be maturing beautifully and while he was clearly the best horse on paper in the Sunday Silence, a 10 3/4 length win on the turf is very impressive.

NT

Physically he seems to be top of the line, there arent many 2yo who look like that.

He did lay over them on the form, but the 10+ length win was pretty impressive, and professional

Saw Big Browns sister at Keeneland yesterday...hard to believe they are related...without his big win I'm thinking she brings like 5k.

Did Brown end up getting sold after that win? I can't remember

Have they decided on how horses are going to qualify for the 2 yo turf race yet? Because unless a horse like Big Brown runs again he is just a maidenbreaker who may not get preference over a horse who wins an allowance or places in a stake.

Supposedly to the IEAH dudes....

What did she bring Cannon?

Who knows how they are going to select the 2yo turf, should be a disaster! Mott and Maker will certainly get in, but who knows about Big Brown, who may be better than both

57 I believe. I guess McPeek's horse that won the River race would be in though I heard they may go in the dirt race which seems odd (or stupid)

DRF reported last week that the majority of Big Brown was purchased by IEAH. Dutrow now has him. He's supposed to run in the Pilgrim this weekend, according to the article.

Linny, Id say hes 85% to go to the Pilgram.

I guess we will see how this pans out in the future

I doubt any of the 2yo's we have got will go to the BC. Rio is a complete 2yo type in my opinion, so maybe they should give it a go. I don't think there will be much improvement in him next year...... that's just my opinion though.

Raven's Pass is another you should write down. He is owned by stonerside, so there is a possibility he could end up in America sometime, but not sure if he will as a 2yo.

My guess is that the Euro's who show up may well be second tier, but they may still be better than out best grass babies.

Not that beyers really matter on turf, but does anyone know what fig Cherokee Triangle earned?

85

NT

Thanks

Same as last year, George Washington should be entered in the Classic if he comes at all. Nothing to prove in the Mile.

85 and a 7 rag

george hasn't exactly set the world on fire this year. if he was able to ship and win the mile, he'd prove more than to ship and fail again. of course, no worries about stud fees, so maybe they'll chance bringing him.

That worked well the first time. What don't people understand about Danehill being useless as a dirt sire?

Same folks thought a Sadler's Wells could win a major dirt race. It ain't gonna happen.

I'm not saying that he's proven he's the best miler in the world. I didn't even think he was the best last year either. What he has proven is that he's a world class horse at a mile on the grass. A win in the Mile or a good showing is not going to change that. Neither will a loss. His accomplishments on the grass at 8f are set in stone at this point so I don't see anything to gain in as far as what Coolmore is looking for in him. If they are looking for the best chance for him to win, then I'd say that the Mile probably would be the best spot. But they are breeders first and the racing interest is secondary to them and with that in mind, they are trying to establish that GW can indeed be a top level dirt horse as well as grass. A good showing in the Classic would do that. In my opinion, this year looks like a very soft Classic field and a good chance to get a placing that would look good on paper.

Since he's proven sterile, I'd say the Mile is the option. It's not like they have a marketing issue. At this point, he's like a gelding, a money earning machine as a racehorse. He's not a dirt horse, why try him on dirt. If you want him on dirt, try the Mile(and 70y) Dirt. At least it's within his distance range.
The reason for trying him, seeing if you can open other doors, is to market a stallion as widely as possible. Proven form on dirt opens the door to US breeders, as Giant's Causeway proved. Now that the reason for such moves is off the table, run him where he can win.

hes not proven sterile, just "sub fertile" as I believe he got 6 mares in foal this summer. Id say they'll shoot for the classic again if he goes to the BC. Even something like a 3rd or 4th would look good on his CV!

I'm sorry but isn't there a difference between being sterile and having fertility problems?

Oh and it looks like No Chance is right..... he could be out of the QEII.

betting suggests that he wont be going. all this BC chat regarding George could be in vain.

I heard one bookmaker talking this morning and he said he had heard that he worked very well the other day, but then disappointed or something.

It's possible we have seen the last of him on the track for this year, maybe for good if they are able to sort his fertility out.

They won't go for the Classic again, as somebody said, Danehills just don't go on dirt.

I doubt he's even be able to win the mile, either. He isn't the force of old. He has been an enigma this season. I said at the start of the year (when they said he was coming back into training) that he'd never win another race, and i stand by that still.

After I wrote "infertile" I thought that maybe I was wrong on that. "Sub fertile" is correct. Needless to say, unless things change if he's only able to sire about 6 horses a year, his value as a breeding animal is nil. No one wants to waste a season with a good mare hoping that she's one of the 6 or so that season that catch.
Unless he's retested this season and has a better result, he's not viable as a stud, so again, why not treat hm as you would a gelding and maximize his on track earnings by running him where he's most likely to win.

Yeah makes sense... I just thought he'd been able to do it a few times.....

Poor George. :)

Lawyer Ron and Any Given Saturday make the BC Classic a tough race. If it was a weak group I could see trying George, but he is not going to beat good horses on the dirt.

The BC Mile though looks pretty weak. Crossing the Line is now out for the year so you would think George could come over and have his way, if he is the old George. A big if.

I agree. It will be like taking a lamb to slaughter in the classic in my opinion. The mile does look much easier, but as you say he looks a shadow of his former self.

He was never really gonna come anyway.... correct?