Sun KIng
 

What a tough animal. He needs a rest badly. The race set up perfectly for him and he was trying so hard and just did not have it. Effort horses like this have got to be handled properly. What is Flower Alley's excuse now? He had nothing. This horse is clearly running very poorly. Something is not right. He may be training well, but that does not count. And can we please move Funny Cide to a lower level. He starts out from the outside position like a bat out of hell and just dies. I dont like watching that.

He ran the best race of any horse today IMO...he was closing well like always against the bias...his Rag fig will be good off that...just not sure if he is at his best going 1 1/4 miles if they point for the Classic which they are....

Sun King sucks!

Papi Chullo, after 2 weeks rest coming off a tough 2nd in the Longacres Mile, flies coast to coast and gets a big effort 4th in the Woodward. He's one tough cookie who someday may be spotted better.

Randy Moss said there was no speed bias today; he made a point of saying that because he probably knew people would be wondering how on earth this result could have happened? Frankly, too many horses ran poorly for me to think very highly of this race.

he regresses off top performances...give him a break, and bring him into the bcc. he'll be a threat. i'd use him underneath some horses, and it sure wouldn't break my heart to have charismatic as the sire of a classic winner.

Sumitas,
I'm with you on Papi Chullo. If he gets some time off, he'll do just fine.
Bet him big second off the lay off.
Funny Cide? Either they drop him, shorten up, or send him to a nice retirement farm.
Sun King? Ridden hard, used up...to the shed before he gets hurt and doesn't have stud value. Poly won't save him.
Just my two cents.
DTS

Maybe FC has an excuse. He was in perfect position until dropping sharply back. Hope he's ok.

Sun King ...

... the new, not-so-improved Perfect Drift.

blah blah blah

point 1: Flower Alley is done, is he hurt? Who knows...him taking 1/2 the year off and then spotting up in the Salvatore sold me off him permanently. Peaked in the Travers/BCC last year. Retire and be happy FA.

point 2: Sackatoga Stables should be ashamed of themselves. I suspect they made Tagg run Funny Cide in this spot where he was in over his head.
They wanted a little star rub at the Spa, blah, blah, blah. They need to realize that he is not a GI/GII horse anymore, and he really hasn't been since those three months or so from the Wood through the Belmont in 2003. I think the true RIGHT thing to do is to turn the old boy out and live a spirited retirement, but I doubt they will do that. So, if they do run him, let's hope they revert to form from earlier this year like racing him in the Kings Point or that race at Woodbine. It's a true shame to watch a dual classic champion run into the ground by a few high school buddies who know dick about racing.
Their story was fun during the Triple Crown, but guys...YOUR 15 MINUTES IS UP...and you are showing your novice state now. Do right by the animal.

Clearly, I just vented :cool:

feel better now??? good!! i agree on both counts btw.

Me either! He tries every single time he goes out there.

I love the line about Randy Moss saying there was no speed bias, as though he was the god of biases. There may have been no speed bias but If you look at the results of the 1 1/8th races today you wont see many closers faring well.

I guess we have to wait to see what kind of Rag sheet number Flower Alley gets before we can declare this as truly a bad race. Sorry Todd, couldn't resist.

The person that buys horses for Greg Norman does a remarkable job considering the results he gets despite his obvious lack of training or management skills.

Sun King is the definition of grinder.

Don't understand why people still get upset when Funny Cide runs up the track. He is a nice grade 3 horse that happens to be a gelding. As long as he is sound who cares how much he loses? Lots of not so great horses win triple crown races. Just most are retired before they can truly be exposed like FC.

If I was a jock on Funny Cide going against this level I would just pull him up after he starts to falter. Its not fair to do this to an animal that is bred and trained to run past or ahead of other horses. He actually might put an amount of effort that is too much for him, and then he wont stay sound. I love this horse and would love to read about or see him run at a lower level.

Sun King looked like a miler.A good race from him.That track is certainly not for everybody.

Wow ... unreal !!!

Here's the exact text of my post on the "Flower Alley & Funny Cide" thread ... I'd accuse you of plagiarizing from me ... except your post was a few hours before mine ...

"There's nothing 'funny' about what has been done with this poor horse ...

... he has been repeatedly humiliated by the egomaniacs of the Sack-O-Kaka syndicate ... who fell too much in love with the spotlight ... and who still don't realize that their fifteen minutes of fame have long passed.

I think no one has been more embarrassed by these boors than Barclay Tagg ... a real horseman who is surely aware of his horse's regressed ability.

A true trouper like Funny Cide is indeed to be pitied ... but thank goodness he isn't aware of what has been done to him ... or he would have kicked the kaka out of the entire sad sack."

Too close for comfort !!!

Sun King is having a great campaign this year, anybody can see that.

That was an awesome effort from him yesterday. Too bad the track seemed to be so geared against him.

Pais, please note this response to a friend!!!
Seattle, You are about as stupid when it comes to analyzing races as anyone alive.
Sun King was beaten a nose and a head in the two most prestigious races for older horses on the east Coast.
yesterday, while running in a paceless race and against a speed bias, he showed heart and determination while attempting to run down the leaders despite the fact that noone else in the race could even make a dent on them in the lane.
The horse has earned about 2 million bucks. Although he lacks speed and at times consistency, hes always been a threat when racing at the very highest level.
I suggest you stick to computers, because you don't know a damn thing about horses.

If randy moss actually said that there was no speed bias, they need to have him covering tiddly winks and womens volleyball.
Did he actually say that?

he did indeed.

What a ****ing imbecile he is then. He goes on the imbecile list.

lol

now, now...you know moss is no imbecile. everyone says something dumb once in a while. let him use his 'dumb' card for a free pass.

maybe there wasn't earlier on...i have no idea. i DO know after he said it, i sat and pondered...and figured, naaaah. he must have mis-spoken. that and bailey blasting premium tap, instead of congratulating him....he probably bet the chalk! yum yum jerry, eat it up!! lol

Sorry. Randy Moss is the one guy who does know what he is talking about on TV. Who else you got in mind to put in his spot? The guy knows his history, he knows the horses, he is well-spoken. All the track guys they have analyzing races at all the different tracks... no way in hell they could take his spot.
I think the Moss, Mayne, Bailey combination is working very, very well. I really like Bailey and his arrogant edge. And with Mayne to lighten things up. A very good bunch. ESPN must be given kudos with this group. It works in a sport that does not.

That about sums it up. Sun King tries his heart out every time and is having one hell of a year, if he would have had a little better racing luck he would have been a dual G1 winner in two of the most important races of the year and would be a live contender for horse of the year. If Zito is smart, he'll give him some time off and get him ready for the Classic with an easy prep.

It also appeared to me that Julien used him a little early before the final turn, Rafael may have been the difference in this race. But, considering how the track was on Saturday he still ran a great race and should be commended for how game he is no matter who he's facing. Love the guts and heart of this horse.

Look at the charts from Saturday -- on the main track, no winner was worse than second at the quarter pole. The stretch was a no-passing zone so I think Sun King ran a commendable race.

Amazing stuff. Sun King tried hard and ran a great race? If he's a really good horse, what does this make Premium Tap? U know Premium Tap has beaten him twice now. And what does this make Second of June? U know, the same Second of June that hasn't won a race since 2003? Give it up. Sun King is not a top class horse and all this race does is confirms that Invasor is extremely overrated.

KG,
Who is good? Lava Man ? Everyone else sucks???

Lava Man is good. Bernardini is good. I think Discreet Cat is in that class also (although admittedly, he's got to do more to prove it to everyone). Other than that, I don't think there are any other horses that route that are any good, 3yo's or older. Wait, I forgot about Bright One and Cindago. But the jury is still out on both of those two but they have potential to be good ones.

The rest? Yes, they all suck. U can put a blanket over them and they are all the same horse. The ones that win today will come in last in the next race and the ones that were nowhere to be found today will win the next race. The only consistency in the division is the inconsistency. Invasor has seemed like he is a step ahead of them but he's beaten absolutely nothing at all and was all out to barely beat Sun King, who is simply NOT a grade one winning horse. He had the perfect opportunity here and couldn't get it done again and hold's a losing record versus Premium Tap. Let's be real here. Premium Tap is not a world beater. He had 13 career starts before yesterday and no graded stakes wins and only $171k in earnings. Then Second of June also beat him, he of no wins since January of 2004. And he barely beats Papi Chullo, he of no career stakes wins and who was last seen losing the Longacres Mile. Meanwhile, not one but all of the supposed top stakes horses in the race (Flower Alley, Sun King, Suave, Andromeda's Hero, and Funny Cide) all flopped.

I hope Sun King keeps chugging along and filling out huge all/ all/ sunny triples

First thing is that how can it be possible that Sun King was the ONLY one that made a WINNING MOVE in a race in which he finished third? Did the first two finishers make losing moves? I don't understand that. There is a difference, at least to me, in being grade one caliber and a grade one horse. Going Wild was keeping grade one company last year. Did that make him grade one caliber? If EVERYTIME u step up to that level, u lose, that's saying something. EVERYTIME.

this reminds me of when smarty lost the belmont..
'SEE' they said, 'told you he couldn't get 12f!!! he lost by a length. came in second after winning every other race he ran in.....yep, they were right. 1 length is the difference between being able to get 12f or not, so i guess a nose is the difference between being/not being a gr 1 horse.
premium tap won, a lot on here said he isn't a true gr 1 horse--and he won the thing! so i guess sun king will just have to suck it up.


i also remember a certain 'bridesmaid' a couple years back...ended up winning a bunch when he finally figured it out. stands for a nice stud fee now too.

aldebaran anyone?

Its funny you mention Aldebaran, he is not talked about very much. This horse killed me. I was all over him one year with Bailey aboard at low odds and he could just never get up. I swore off of him. Gave up. Next year he comes up with mutliple gr1 wins!! And i don't make a penny!

oh well, still liked him.

see, never give up on a horse til the horse gives up!

dahoss, if i'm breathing, i'm usually being sarcastic! i almost lost my mind after that race, one of smartys best, when people suggested it was now proven he couldn't get 12f!!!! one lousy length. unbelievable.

no that is the point, you can't use a length or two loss to make a blanket statement about a horses class. Of course Smarty could get 12 furlongs.