D'OH! No Queen's Plate for Rocker..
 

Harlem Rocker, decisive winner of the Withers Stakes (gr. III) but fourth in the Plate Trial in his first Polytrack start, will not contest the Queen's Plate on June 22 at Woodbine... http://racing.bloodhorse.com/article/45745.htm

He's really done enough.

Is this the same horse that would of beat BB in the preakness? Oh I wish I had to time to repost all the threads of me bashing this POS and everybody attacking me for it. I feel all tingly inside.

Ya you've clearly been proven right. . .

he's not the first horse to show lots of promise, only to bomb on a surface switch. pryo never took a step wrong til he went to keeneland. put the rocker back on dirt, then we'll see.
one good showing isn't enough to make them good, and certainly one bad one isn't enough to make them bad!

I posted this earlier this morning, I guess it was missed. But I am happy to share it again...

A fast but "backwards" workout by Plate contender HARLEM ROCKER on the Polytrack today at Woodbine has left the Stronach Stables team in a quandary about whteher to start the grey colt in the June 22 Plate.

According to manager Mike Rogers, Harlem Rocker's workout featured the grey son of Macho Uno going fast in the early part of the 5 furlong prep ('22 and change') and then slowing down at the end (58 1/5 for 5 furlongs, out in 1:12 and change)

"It was kind of backwards, he went fast and then fell apart," said Rogers.
"It doesn't make our decision any easier,"

Rogers said Stronach wanted to view the workout tape himself before deciding the colt's status for new week.

I certainly never bashed you, but I do disagree. Anyway everyone is entitled to an opinion and you expressed yours. We will see down the line if you are indeed correct.

Did you just make that up? Have never heard that saying towards a horse ever....very creative

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll make sure to put you on my watch list of contributors here. You clearly have much to add. :rolleyes:

I'm trying to wrap myself around this conundrum.....in this thread you say this.....while in another thread you say this ( just minutes apart )....




So, which is it?

Neither. The guy's feelings got so hurt by someone suggesting that Big Brown could lose, he lost his ability to rationally think about Harlem Rocker.

The guy has a bunch of posts about how much he hates polytrack but when it suits him polytrack is completely dismissed as a possible excuse.

Close your eyes for a second and think of the internet if people wanted as much attention for their bad opinions as they seem to for their good ones.

Calling Lance Armstrong.

Needed: Incredibly silly comparisons between bikes and horses.

or bicyclists and jockeys...

No thats not the case. The same people that gave BB no respect at all and were looking for any other horse to tout to beat BB picked this rat and touted him as the next Secretariat. I just couldnt understand how the Kentucky Derby winner was soooo bad and this horse was soooo good?

I wish the people that touted this horse and said he would beat BB in the Preakness would please step up to the plate. The reason I say this is because the way people were portraying him on this sight as a superhorse. If he was that great dont you think he could of easily went up to canada and beat those horses up there on any surface? Horse didnt even finish in the money.

So if he went in the Preakness that race would of been his first around two turns and against BB. Nobody seemed to think that would of been an problem for him that day and he would of had to been a superhorse to win that race. I hope for the sake of racing that he turns out to be good but people were way off about this horse at the moment.

And thats for taking the time to read up on my prior posts im flattered.

This thread is really too much.

Nobody said Harlem Rocker was a superhorse, or was going to crush Big Brown, but merely pointed out that he was a good horse and might present a real challenge to Big Brown in the Preakness.

Some of us like to see a challenge in racing. Others are delusional. That's OK....it takes all kinds.

Yea I just went back to the threads about Rocker and the preakness, there were comparisons about Bernardini and Rocker, thats what got me riled up, but the person that was touting him as a Superhorse was Better Than Honour so take that for what its worth. But still there were some others saying he had a shot in the preakness but he got beat by nothing up in Canada. And yes I would think differently if he tried the turf and ran so-so because those would of been turf stake horses running on turf and these were dirt horses running on synthetics. He should of handled these horses if he was anything.

Oh, so because it fits your now disproven claim that people hailed him as a superstar to knock Harlem Rocker, you are now claiming synthetics are just like dirt courses, and not like turf courses.

I think you are the one who needs to reread your posts from the past year and a half.

I have news for you.....Big Brown got drowned in the Belmont. It happens. It doesn't mean you have to lash out irrationally. If they can get him back to the races he may very well get to take on Harlem Rocker. Wouldn't it be nice to see these horses decide the question on the racetrack....and not on the internet?

I believe BB would of won the Belmont if it hadnt been for the crack. You can't interrupt training for 3 days and pussyfoot around with the horse after that. He had to be at the top of his game the entire time and he wasnt. He came up short on training. And regardless who HR he raced against at Woodbine, it serves the connections right for going up there and trying to steal a couple of races all the while ducking BB. Now look instead of being defeated by BB he runs out of the money against nobody.

Dude relax, your always so negative. Im not lashing out at anybody im just having a conversation. I said I hope HR turns out to be good, its good for racing. The reason I knock HR and other horses is because people on this site are so quick to put other horses who have proved nothing in front of horses that have proved themselves, like winning the Derby out of post 20. First it was HR then it was CD all the while the Derby and Preakness winner was getting bashed for beating everyhorse that was put in front of him just because the crop was "weak".

Don't mean to be condescending, but this is an utterly indefensible comment...

The 'connections trying to steal a couple of races'..? What are you talking about? They were trying to win the Queen's Plate, the oldest stake in North America, Canadian Breeders' most important race, and one of the world's most prestigious events.

Stronach, who manages to offset his inept track operations by making few mistakes on the racing/breeding side, has a nice Ontario-bred and had every right to try and point for the QP. And given that the Plate was the goal, skipping a potential gutting in the Preakness to get a feel for the polytrack at Woodbine made some sense. (Though Pletcher wanted to run at Baltimore).

It didn't work out and they'll reboot his campaign on main tracks stateside, but to belittle Harlem Rocker and the connections for hoping to win a race like the Queen's Plate is just ridiculous.

If I was any more relaxed I would lapse into a coma....but thanks for considering my well being.

I'm always so negative? Um, I was one of Harlem Rocker's biggest ( realistic ) supporters around here. Is that negative? Maybe it is to you, because you had irrational expectations for Big Brown, and are now lashing out at others because of your disappointment. I have news for you, Harlem Rocker not handling polytrack, or maybe two turns, doesn't change the Belmont result.

Canadian horse racing is irrevelant. And I think actually you just proved my point a little bit more. Not only did he get "rocked" in Canada but by Canadian bred horses also? How many Champions from Canada come down to the US and get handled regularly.

Only the ones that have their training compromised and have about a weeks time to make up for it.

You have to stop. You're killing me.

Have you ever heard of Awesome Again?

It's irrevelant? That's funny.. You just made any time spent trying to explain anything to you pointless.

Then there's that bum Northern Dancer. He was clearly irrelevent.

Thats one. How many people can name 3 out of the last 5 HOY's out of Canada and name the last triple crown winner up there. You have 1 minute to answer, we all now how to use google here.

You got us there! You were right....Canadian racing and Canadian horses are irrelevent.

Quick....name the five posters here less knowledgable than you. Feel free to use google.

Oh yea I remember watching northern dancer race as a child. Brings back fond memories. Wait, didnt he race in the 60s, that just a little before my time. We all know there are a select few but for the most part they dont do much here in the states.

Wild Desert could run a little.

Dance Smartly really sucked, and Deputy Minister certainly was a failure.