Grasshopper ? ? ?
 

What has happened to him ? is it just a case of a horse losing it ? i thought he was sitting on a big year, and its been far from that. I just watched his replays of his saratoga races last year, and they are both about as good as it gets. Is this the perfect example of a horse not holding his form from 3-4, and the reasson why we see many of are good-great horses retired so early ?

Maybe he just loves Saratoga. . .

its not like he had a good/great three year old year. What exactly did he do at three that was so good?

He's the new Perfect Drift

i thought he had a good year, there was the big 3 last year, and then him...
second in the travers, second in the super derby... decent year, lots of this years 3 yr olds owners/trainers would be happy with that,
and what does your response have to do with my question, its a horse racing site, and i would much rather talk about the actual horses then some of the other things that get attention !

I dont know...maybe i expect too much. I expect a stake horse to have won a stake to consider it a good year. Call me demanding.

Your question supposes that Grasshopper was some kind of beast last year and mysteriously soured over the winter between his 3 and 4 year old seasons. I dont see that as the case thats all.

I saw him as a very average horse last year that made his rep finishing second to a less than cranked Street Sense in front of a bunch of proven nags. He then finished second at 3/10 to a horse named Going Ballistic that I have no idea who he was or who he is. outside of that???????????????? He is still eligible for nx2.

So what is so different this year? He didnt win a stake then and didnt win one this year either. Where is the form reversal?

maybe i am crazy, but i would have took grasshopper over a lot of 3 yr old stakes winners from last year.
his allowance win vs his elders at saratoga was a fine race.
and his second in a prestigous race like the travers was huge.

i guess we look at it different. i will say this, less then cranked street sense ? your totally wrong there, he was fully cranked that day, FULLY CRANKED, maybe he was less in the jim dandy, or the race before the breeders cup classic, but to say he was not cranked travers day is crazy

if he was the fourth best three year old last year, the only question i would have is what races were you watching? finishing second to street sense once doesn't make a horse good.

Yes, nafzger had him fully cranked to face...Hunting, cp west and the indomitable grasshopper. Im crazy i guess.

But lets forget the fact that for every other big race that Street Sense raced in fully cranked, he prepped on poly.

Im crazy.

His second in the Super Derby was nothing to be proud of- that field was atrocious.

He was well beyond the fourth best 3YO last year, Tiago would have eaten his lunch and still would now.

NT

who did he beat in that allowance and who did he finish in front of in that "prestigious" race?

ANYONE WOULD BE CRAZY TO SAY A HORSE WAS NOT CRANKED FOR THE TRAVERS, THE TRAVERS IS THE MAIN SUMMER GOAL FOR ANY GOOD HORSE, AND TO SAY HE WAS NOT CRANKED IS WRONG, AND IM SURE OTHER PPL WILL AGREE WITH ME ON THIS ONE.

i am a huge tiago fan, and always have been, but he continues to disapoint, kinda like grasshopper

I'd say any win at the Spa is prestigious but I understand your question about the allowance field.

Really? LOL. how old are you? Main summer goal for ANY good horse? And i guess that is why Street Sense was the first derby/travers winner since????

Okay, you are right. Nafzger made sure Street Sense was ready to lay down his life to beat CP West, hunting and grasshopper. You win.

hunting did not run in the travers, he could not have, and most good 3 yr olds do point to the travers, what else is there ?

i could be wrong, but hunting is something like a 6yr old gelding

sightseeing. sorry. equally naggish.

He wasnt helped by the ride that Gomez put on him in the Foster. If he runs 2nd in there instead of 4th, what is your opinion of him?

Sightseeing (mistook one nag for another).

The Travers isnt what it use to be. Really, how many top three year olds have run in the thing in recent years? Smarty jones? No. Funny cide? No. Empire Maker? No. Afleet Alex? No. Fusaichi Pegasus? No. Bernardini, Point Given and Street sense were the only ones and the fields were walkovers.

i like grasshopper and i bet him in the foster... its the other ppl who dont like him

ok listen this is again crazy.... smarty and alex were retired... empire and funny were both pointing there but if i remember correctly both became sick very close to the race, empire even prepped in the dandy...and the 3 that you named that did run were all amazing horses....

he's been good to those who dislike him this season

Gomez ride? Oh God do i hear more about Gomez rides on this site then anywhere else. If you only read this site you would think he was a bug rider on some dirt track in the sticks as opposed to being the top rider in the country.

The horse has never won a stake. He has only won a maiden and an allowance. So...my opinion of him is that he is an allowance horse.

Is there something i am missing?

as for gomez.... i recently stated that i think he's the most overrated rider out there, and i stand by that, he gives more bad rides then good ones....

True...but how many of those "injuries" were really that seroius? I guess that is another topic. My point is, that if the travers was that important (like it use to be!) im sure those horses could have run.

my point, and the ones who were still in training were all pointing to the travers until the injury or sickness

I like Gomez as much as anyone, if i had a horse in a $1,000,000 race Id probaly give Ron Anderson a call before anyone.
However, Just go watch the replay.

even if the travers is not what it used to be, its still a million doller grade 1, what is the alternative, and you cant say the monmouth race cause most use that as a prep for the travers....bluegrass cat, lion heart, and im sure there were more

Fair enough. But the second place finisher in that race was a turf horse. The third place finisher was a rat. Grasshopper finishing second really wouldnt have made much of a difference to me. Someone had to finish second. It was curlin and a bunch of nags.

i think your missing the point, is there any shame with second place in 1 million grade 1 races ?

No shame at all. But it doesnt mean anything these days really. I think you are missing the point.

And what is that point? These fields for these "grade 1" races are shallow. There isnt much quality in most of them especially the restricted three year old races in august.

What was in that Travers? Sightseeing (proven nag) and Cp west (proven nag) and grasshopper along with Street Sense. What did Grasshopper beat? Nothing. What did he beat before? Nothing. What has he beaten since? Nothing.

So you inferred that there was form reversal between three and four. I dont see it as i have said. He still hasnt won a stake in either year. He still hasnt beaten a decent horse in either year.

Where is the form reversal? You based his quality on a "grade 1" race devoid of quality outside of the winner and an allowance race devoid of quality altogether.

What am i missing?

everything in racing seems to be shallow... every division appears weak

i dont think im wrong, never ever do you get any price on him... but he's not that good. he does not deserve the attention he gets, he's no jd bailey

Dude, the deal with Grasshopper is that he's about the only stakes horse around that can out-Tiago Tiago.