bellamy road was retired
 

this horse has been retired.

Thanks for the offical news Rev.
I think most of us have thought this for a long time now. Too bad. Its always the fast ones who go bad, the slow ones don't run fast enough to get injured.

That is a legitimate observation imo. But the breeding plays a part in soundness too. Bellamy Road has 4 Native Dancers which is not a sire known for soundness.

In this case, it wasn't the horse's fault. It was the connection's fault. They should have never run that horse in the Travers last year. That horse's splint was not healed yet. A friend of mine who is one of the best horsemen in the business was at Saratoga on Travers day last year. He told me the horse's ankle was still a mess and that the horse should not be running. He told me the horse would never run again. He said that you could see the splint was starting to push in on the suspensory. He said that the horse probably needed about 3-4 months at the farm after the Derby and the horse would have probably been fine. They only gave him about two months because they were so desperate to make the late-summer and Fall races. They started back too soon with him before the splint had healed and they have nobody to blame but themselves.

disappointed, but not surprised.

Agreed,
he was pushed hard to make a race he had no right to be in. Despite not having the proper foundation for that race, he ran an amazing second place.
And it wasn't Nick's idea either.

:(

He was one of my favorites and had lots of potential, but once the entry slip was filled out in the Travers I was worried it would be his last race. Darn.

He would have obviously been better off running in the King's Bishop than the Travers, but the truth of the matter is that he shouldn't have run in either. He should have still been at the farm letting the splint heal. They were working on that ankle right up to the Travers. My friend told me that on Travers day you could see that the ankle was all shaved and they had been working on it.

If they would have given him all the time he needed, he wouldn't have been ready to run until December. If you give a horse 3-4 months at the farm, they're not going to be ready to run for 6-7 months. They would have missed all the big races in the Fall and they didn't want to do that. They should have done that because he could have made all the big races this year. Instead he ran once and that was it.

I knew he was retired. Why does this come as "news" or a surprise. Did anybody actually think they were going to bring this poor horse back for more suffering...again? They're evil and greedy but not that bad!

They were trying to bring him back. He actually had a 4 furlong work in July.

Poor horse. Could have been great as a 4 year old. But greed got in the way.
Maybe they learn from this.

Somebody started a thread about this a few weeks ago and I said he had been retired, at that time, over a month. They refused to publicly confirm the story. Perhaps they were working on a syndication deal.

Too bad...he was a very good horse. I don't understand how there is no backlash against Ed Sexton. This horse should have been given to a real trainer.

There is no backlash against Ed Sexton becaue he is a delusional amatuer that no one expected anything from.

The "they" everyone is referring to is George Steinbrenner's Kinsman Stable. They are the owners.

Blackthroat,
The backlash against him should not be for his "attempt" at training.
The true tragedy of this horses demise lies with him. But as you also know the same guy as me I'm sure you have the details.
This is a horse whose true talent will never be known or appreciated.

You are being way too kind cannon Shell.
Gosh what a screen name. I remember that old boy from the days of my youth. Sprinter and quite fast!!!

Name his trainer for a special prize

Steinbrenner bought Bellamy Road for $87,000 on the recommendation of his farm manager, the Irish born trainer Ed Sexton, who had worked with Bellamy Road when he was a yearling at Ocala Stud Farm.

I would have called sexton a dirtbag but that would be insulting to all the dirtbags I know.

Chester....


emm-effing

Ross.....

Moodwalker wins the Edward Sexton "I can train in Ocala better than Mott and Zito" T shirt!!!!

yeah, hes a prince alright. This is one of those times I wish I could blow my stack and break a trust, but I can't. better log off soon before I really blow my stack.

Chester was a good trainer. days of my youth here.

This is what I couldn't say two weeks ago when I posted the news to-be for BR....they've been working on a syndication deal for a few weeks now and have entertained many stud farm reps who had been flying into Ocala....

The horse has MANY small problems and always has from what I hear from VERY close sources....obviously, his nagging and primarily issues were the splint problems on both legs that are basically chronic....he's a big horse which magnified his problems when it came to the stress of training...

He seems to be well-priced at $10K, although he is a little too big and his pedigree is certainly subpar - but he could really run when right.....

At least he figures to get solid support from soem of Kinsman's second string mares.....hopefully, he'll make it although my forecast wouldn't be for anything spectacular....

So ...

... the Rockport Harbor/Bellamy Road Lifetime Starts Under/Over Pool ... which began in April 2005 ... with 9.5 being the under/over for total combined lifetime starts after that date ...

... has finally concluded ... with "Under" being the decisive winner.

Whew! What a nail-biting 16 months this has been!

They cared because of the Under/Over pool ... that's why.

Probably because he was one of the best horses in the country last year talent wise. He didn't accomplish as much as he could have if he would have stayed sound, but he still had a good year. He won a Grade I race(The Wood Memorial) by about 18 lengths. He ran 2nd in another Grade I race(The Travers). If he would have been sound enough to make it back this year, he would have been one of the early favorites to win the BC Classic. That is why people care. If you don't care about a horse like him, then what are you doing on a horseracing message board?

Get your facts straight, Rupe ...

Mayan King is my horse ... and no one else's. You'll be choking on those words when he's 2007 Horse-Of-The-Year.

He who horselaughs last ...

And Dixie is the world's second most knowledgeable thoroughbred racing expert ... and you AREN'T the first.

I don't even need to talk about my credentials. Anyone who reads our posts can figure out who is more knowledgable.

Exactly .

In races of 3- 6 F. it is more difficult to prevent this travesty. At 9 F it is simply unexcuseable

I want to see a 3F race where a horse wins by 18 lengths. LOL!

Boss, Boss, Boss-

Why do you continue to throw pearls to swine? I'll save you the trouble of having to condescend to explain this to an inferior mind.

I am surprised this guy hasnt seen it happen a million times with all of the 3F races that are carded around the country these days.

Gander, I'll put this plainly so that even YOU can understand. When horses run 3f, often times they are whipped right out of the gate. Once that momentum gets going, very quickly the creme rises to the top. After the first furlong, if the horse isnt up by at least 10 lengths, the horse is a GOAT and should be pulling cart instead of racing. Well, when he is up by ten lengths, the jockey has got to hold the horse back. Simple as that.

At 9 furlongs, you better believe the trainer is instructing them to hold back when they get up by 15 lengths. You better believe it Pal.

I agree with you there. There is no reason for a jock to ask a horse if he doesn't have to. Most jocks don't understand this. These horses ae very fragile. If they can win under a strangle-hold without being asked, the race won't take much out of the horse and it is much more likely that the horse will come out of the race in one piece.

A great one? Does that make Flower Alley immortal then?

Of course it does. ;)

And it makes Pleasant Tap and Second Of June basically demi-gods.

Flower Alley, while a very good horse, never showed the kind of raw talent that Bellamy Road showed. That horse was awesome when he wasn't hurting.

what's the over/under on you shutting the F up and being a decent human being for once?

Just wait 'til Flower Alley goes to stud ...

... he'll show a lot more raw then.

Can't make a pool on my decency and character ...

... because no matter how high the bar is set ... "Over" wins every time.