Indian Blessing - Sets record
 

really awesome filly and by no means do I mean to discredit her win in anyway, but... Not sure of what to make of these splits in on Santa Anita's track. 1/2 in 43, seven furlongs in 1:07:eek: then proceeds to break the record by a full two seconds... I mean I realize she could very well be quite capable of doing this on perhaps any track, but was wondering how much we should give credit to here being how things have been over the past week with the tracks problems.. I must be like concrete to be having horses run in the times that they are.

What do ya'll think? Legit or not?

"Indian Blessing maintained a comfortable lead through seven furlongs in a lightning-fast 1:07.14 and was fully extended under jockey Garrett Gomez to fend off fast-closing runner-up Golden Doc A by a head. She completed seven furlongs in 1:19.89, which obliterated the previous stakes record of 1:21.11 set by Yearly Report in 2004 and even bettered the dirt main track record of 1:20 set by Spectacular Bid on January 5, 1980."

Im sure that you mean 6 furlongs in 1:07.
And to answer your question, I believe she is legit. Would love to see her go on to big things this year.

Her having a NTR set in California is like Bonds having the homerun record.

No its not legit, and the horse that almost ran her down never switched leads or would have went right past her. Not an impressive run for a champion filly

I think today's win sets her up perfectly for the Derby. To be perfectly honest, I think the Preakness is her only possible stumbling block to become the first filly to win the Triple Crown, as she will absolutely relish the 1 1/2 miles of the Belmont. Just imagine someone trying to catch her when she opens up 87 lengths on the final turn.

she wont win the triple crown dude, she's going to europe to run in the english darby.

Funny stuff.

The next Ruffian?

She couldnt pony Ruffian

You think it's easy? The bar has been set pretty high by someone on this site who actually believes that she's a top contender for the Derby.

Personally I think Baffert would be crazy to ship her to Thistledown....but what do I know.

Ok, tell you what. I'll rate her below every 3yo that has won two grade ones and is undefeated and has won around two turns. Is that a little bit more logical?

It's all craziness and you should know better.

Accomplishment doesn't supercede performance, either in ability, or in it's predictive power.

I can't believe this is something that even needs to be explained....and frankly if that is the argument that you are holding on to then your entire premise is even weaker than I thought. But, then again, that's impossible.

Simply put, she has absolutely no chance in the KY Derby and just as much of a chance of even being pointed for the race ( forget about running in it ). Frankly, if she were to run Derby weekend it's probably more likely she shows up in the La Troienne than the KY Oaks.

I have no premise. I'm not making any predictions that she will be in the Derby, that she could win the Derby, or anything else. The only thing that I did was rate the three year olds on how I see them right now. Right now, I haven't seen those that have done more than her and are more deserving of the ranking that I gave her than she is. Speculation and predictions for the future are great but they are also worthless. In sports, you've got to beat the champion in order to take their title away. It's not just handed to you. Until I see more that PROVE they can do more than her, I'm leaving her up there. If that's funny to you, I'm happy to entertain. If it bothers you, I'm sorry you take it so personal.

One last thing. As I've always said, I don't rate the 3yo's only based on Derby potential. There are plenty of other races in which to make a name for yourself besides the Derby.

Then I'm confused. I thought you posted the other day that she was one of the top four contenders for the Derby. I apologize for my confusion.

I do think she's talented, perhaps even as far as a mile, but even at a time of pretty mild accomplishment I have trouble considering her in the top ten of 3YOs I have seen. However, that's just an opinion.

The confusion is probably my fault. I think it was on a Derby contender thread instead of a top 3yo thread. Usually, those lists are one and the same though at this time of year.

In all honesty, I'd still have her listed pretty high if it was a Derby list. Maybe not #3 but probably still in my top five although I think it's very unlikely that Baffert's thinking that route with her at this time. Fortunately for us, she's in the hands of someone that, if she keeps progressing and looks worthy of a shot, will take one.

I like Golden Doc A for the Belmont.

"Fortunately for us, she's in the hands of someone that, if she keeps progressing and looks worthy of a shot, will take one"

Unfortunately, she's in the hands of someone that will have her broken down before the 1st Saturday in May... we will see. Be lucky if she makes the Oaks.

Why are races run on poly considered "new" stakes records ? Shouldnt it be a stakes record for poly and be considered seperate from the existing track record? Not that it really matters ...

You are probably confused because you are remembering what he actually did write in the thread, instead of what he is now strangely claiming he wrote/meant.

That's the way the game works. The strong survive, the rest don't.

Wow that was fast.
At least she looked solid doing it.

Thank God you weren't a golfing buddy of Tim Smith.

And, frankly, thank God racing is a lot more subtle than that.

No record is legit on that track right now. Personally, I was underwhelmed by her performance. Gomez had to all but drag her across the wire that final furlong.

This is apples and oranges of course but the filly from that card that we should be talking about is Zenyatta. There is a potential monster.

You completely missed the, intended I'm sure, irony.....


This person is happy that, according to her, she is trained by someone willing to take a shot in the KY Derby with Indian Blessing while castigating Mr. Baffert for supposedly breaking down horses.

Kidding aside, for only a minute ( I promise ), why is Zenyatta more worthy of conversation than Indian Blessing? I mean, don't get me wrong, Zenyatta was a thing of beauty yesterday, but Indian Blessing is an undefeated winner of the BC Juvenile Fillies who, unlike Zenyatta, has also taken her game on the road ( winning on four different racetracks ) and, more importantly, has won on two different surfaces.

Zenyatta is exciting....but so is Indian Blessing....and the latter has accomplished far more.

I think she's got a legitimate shot to enter The Hambletonian and win it.

Fair enough. They are both obviously worthy of discussion and Indian Blessing of course is the much more accomplished horse. Perhaps it is because Zenyatta was much more visually impressive yesterday that I brought her up. Both have very bright futures.

king is the one who made the point that baffert will take a shot with her, cowgirl was quoting his statement, while showing she disagreed.

You are using way too much logic, for this sport.

Thank you.

Got a 91 Beyer, per Illman.

oh, sorry.

as for the rep certain trainers get, i'm not sure how much is based on fact, and how much on perception-or how much is due to dislike of the trainer.

Baffert does break down a large number of horses. You never hear too much about them cuz for the most part they happen during training hours (What A Song, Cavonnier, and Inexcessivelygood are the only "high profile" ones I can think of).

In 2002, Baffert finished 1-2-3-4-6 in the Del Mar Futurity with Icecoldbeeratreds, Kafwain, Chief Planner, Friendly Mike, and Bull Market. By May 15 the following year, the winner was dead, the 2nd thru 4th were laid up/retired with suspensory injuries, and Bull Market had knee surgery from which he never truly recovered. Not to mention his best juvenile that year, Vindication, was toast (another suspensory) by the following March.

I know a guy that exercised horses for Baffert for a few years and they stories he would tell me about what a waste it was for owners to send their horses to him because so many really, really nice horses that had either a lot of potential or were proven to be a stake horse only to have them break down because of the unneccesary way of having them breeze so fast just about every time they went out.. What is the reason besides a good tightner every so often to have a horse time after time work in 1:10 or 58 etc.? I mean if ya know you have a good one, why risk the injuries that come along with all those too fast works? Do we see other trainers like Pletcher, or Sherrifs, or Drysdale breezing their horses that way? How many good 4 or 5 yr olds does Baffert have? He gets a few good 2 yr olds that somehow stand up to it however they do, then by the time the Triple Crown trail is finished most likey so are they.
Of course Baffert only has over 100+ horses in training so whats a few good ones falling thru the cracks right? They'll send him more just because he is Bob Baffert.
I love the sport an of course have loved some of the horses that have made it thru his barn over the years. Sometimes I just wished they were in someone elses hands so we could see them longer or if even at all.