Presious Passion - Best Race in Defeat
 

I know the turf probably helped him along, but how can you not root for Presious Passion down the stretch? He gave his all... very game, great race...

I was rushing here to post the same thing. Very gritty in defeat. Great race.

Game try. Conduit's jockey had to work extra hard to run past

When he was coming back in the stretch,I thought he was gonna win.What a racehorse!!!! Best American grass horse this year,IMO.

i really enjoyed that race. cloudy's knight is another that i thought looked really good albeit without winning.

PP showed a ton of heart and guts. Kudos to him, gains my respect and a bunch of other fans. I totally dismissed him as garbage, but what a 2nd place.

2nd only to Zenyata in performance of cup

Courageous Cat ran his EYEBALLS OUT.

Been a big fan since the Mac Diarmida at Gulfstream last Feb. :tro: that was a race!

yup, he was the only speed to even come close to making an impact.

Wasn't he 6 lengths back before the 1/2 mile pole?

LOL... He totally tripped out.. But still really improved, Im guess he improved 6-8 points off his career top.

He definitely ran huge. Should be tough right back in the Hollywood Derby, not to mention next year.

Not sure about his speed figures, but he ran 1:45+ for 9f at Saratoga this summer. With his billion dollar pedigree, I don't think its any surprise he can run quite a bit.

Nonetheless, given his most recent start, he was getting some action early in the betting (around 14-1 early). I realize it drifted up to 22-1 by race time though.

I thought that he was going to back up quickly on the turn and end up last. He really showed a ton of guts. Makes you think what would the outcome have been if Elvis tried to control some of that early (LONE) speed in the first 3/4 of a mile. But still a very impressive game performance, by PP.

And neutralize his tactical edge?

I never said that he shouldn't have been on the lead. My only question (and it's kind of a second guess), was what do you think would have happened if Elvis was able to slow him down a hair on the front end. He was a little quick for the first 3/4 (I think he was .22 and change for the 2nd with an 8 length lead). I understand that starting on the hill affected to that time. But considering by how much he lost by, if Elvis was able to keep a little more in the tank maybe he could of held on. Reguardless it was still a tremendous performance.

By the way hock, congrats on your comeback victory. Both you guys did a great job, it was fun to watch.

Thanks. . .

In my opinion what makes Presious Passion such a danger (and such a cool horse) is that he can build up a huge lead on horses who are much more talented in the traditional sense (i.e. Conduit). If he were to slow down on the lead he would let horses with a better closing kick catch up.

He ran the most impressive race in the BC, IMO...

Anybody remember Buck's Boy?

"A wire to wire tour de force"

http://www.breederscup.com/greatestm...isionname=turf

i thought Gio Ponti ran lights out and actually ran better than Zenyata

Jerry Bailey was quick to point out right after the race that Mike Smith gave a flawless ride

The same cannot bee said for Ramon's ride

if the horse is a closer why is he not outside of smith? why is he inside getting into traffic trouble and close to the dead rail where there was not 1 winner the whole day.... if smith rides gio ponti and ramon rides zenyatta we have a different winner in my opnion after watching the replays , the wider you were yesterday the better the 7 should never have been inside the 4

What? Ramon gave Gio Ponti an absolutely perfect ride and his trip was ideal.

NT

where was the best part of the track ? why wasn't he outside?

LOL. Is this a joke?

i want you to tell me how many winners were there near or on the rail yesterday and friday?

did ramon not get in traffic trouble and why is he inside of smith?

The situation dictated him sitting on the rail from the 7/8ths pole. When GP was in full stride RD only had one choice and it was to stay towards the inside and poke through.

The winner of the first was never more than a few paths off the rail. Vale of York raced on the inside for quite a while before angling out. Gayego nearly won the BC Sprint while racing on the rail the entire way. Furthest Land stalked on the inside the whole way.

Was the rail that bad? And even if it was, Dominguez never put Gio Ponti on the rail.

Gio Ponti lost to a better horse yesterday, and this is coming from someone who bet Gio Ponti.

NT

where was the best part of the track?

gayego is a winner if he was off the dead rail also

Furthest Land took relatively the same path(1 off the rail) and won, I thought the inside was fine and a good place to be, it didn't hurt any horse all day Sat nor all day Fri as the Marathon was won by a horse that got up on the rail also. I wouldn't take too much stock at Zenyatta's winning margin, clearly she is a horse that does just what is required to win, as Smith said he didn't even scratch the bottom of her. When QR scratched, she lost a pace prescence that should have hurt her, however in the end it didn't matter one iota. She was much the best yesterday, the figs and numbers are not an accurate measure to her in my opinion, she's a horse that runs to her competition.

Zenyatta was on the rail for most of the race. Veil of York was on the rail till the 1/8th pole. That guy should stay in the US and ride. Furthest Land was another.

Gio Ponti is a nice horse but better on turf. He doesnt have that explosive kick on poly. He wouldnt have won the race being on any part of the track unless Zenyatta fell down. I thought Ramon got 100% of him yesterday and earned that placing. Of the two rides, I actually thought Ramon's was better and had the riders swapped mounts, Zenyatta would have probably won by a bigger margin. Ramon is the far better jock imo. Wait until this BC comes back East next year and see how many mounts Ramon picks up.

On the topic of jockeys, I am wondering why Joe Talamo had only 1 mount when this thing was in his backyard?

i guess if you say so

maybe i was watching a different track yesterday and friday but i hardly saw any horses winning on or near the rail

the best part of the track was the outside smith was 8-9 wide , ramon hugged the rail on the far turn then got to the 3 path , then back to the 2 path and finally back to the 3 path , his horse never even saw zen. because he was so far inside of her

Joe was busy doing photo shoots for Jockeys on Animal Channel.

He showed great heart and gameness yes, but best race in defeat? No if I had a vote. He actually had a very good trip, ran his race isolated on the lead with no pressure whatsoever, Hartman couldn't have written better pace scenario than this year's BC turf.

Oh sure, I mean it's not like going the opening six furlongs in 1:09.24 in a 12 furlong race is taxing or anything.

Did you happen to see that when it looked like Conduit was going to absolutely inhale him PP came back and fought the whole way. It was a TREMENDOUS race in defeat. Far, far better than any other horse who lost during the entire weekend.

NT

But that's always been his style, I'm sure the rider felt he was comfortable and well within himself, if he looked up that 1:09.24 (which sounds fishy to me at 1st glance) probably felt like a 1:10 and change. The point I am making is he did it alone without anyone pressuring him, he had things to himself which no doubt aided him. I give him all the credit for not packing it in when Conduit came to him.

We could talk circles around each other but he's never been a horse who had contested leads. When he's struggled going long it's because he's just gone a little too fast. That's what happened yesterday but it in no way should be contstrued as a perfect trip.

The best trip of a horse who lost title belongs to Bridgetown.

NT

That I would agree on though the winner was given a perfect ride also, you knew Interactif would get just an ok trip from the wide draw.

Did you not see Goldikova's race?