Arthur's Tale out
 

According to www.bloodhorse.com he has a splint.

I have come to a sad realization, I think that it's unlikey I will ever get to see a horse win the triple crown.
Not that Arthur's Tale was the horse, but it just seems many of the three year olds (at least as of late) can't stay healthy enough to endure the entire Derby trail/TC series.

Is this an over reaction, or does anyone else feel the same way?

Depends how old you are?:)

or how young you are ( if you are old enough, you would have already witnessed it ).

I was alive, but very young.
The first horse/derby I remember was when Pleasant Colony won.

It's been going on for a lot longer than just a few years.

I saw horses from 20 years ago that might have been able to win the TC, get knocked out. Actually, more like 25 years.

Depending upon your age, I still think one might surface.................but it's highly doubtful that we'll ever see a decade like the 70's.

I think we'll catch one good animal that will be able to take advantage of a mediocre crop year.

It's not simply soundness issues that keep horses from winning the Triple Crown. There have been at least a half dozen horses that arguably could have won the Triple Crown in the last 20 years that were felled by other factors.

I'm rather certain there were Triple Crowns to be found in the 2000's if not for rider error.

Obviously it's not all about soundness, but my point has to do with the overall soundness of the breed. You hear talk and see threads about how horses today aren't what they were say 20 years ago. Is there a credence to this talk? Or maybe it's as easy as running your horse on some sort of consistent basis.

Possibly it's just a knee jerk reaction after seeing the probable favorite (with one of them looking like a legitimate threat for the TC) pull out the last two years and several horses this year have been scratched from races and pulled off the derby trail in all.

You would think (or at least I do), that if all this talk about the breeding weakness is true, wouldn't the issues just get worse as the years pass by?

Maybe, but are high profile horses getting knocked from the Derby a new phenomenon? I would guess the Derby trail has been derailing horses for more than just the last 20 years.

Just the other day, DrugS pointed out two from yesteryear in Sir Gaylord and Gen. Duke. Graustark and Buckpasser (from the same year--same rider, too) were also pretty high profile horses that didn't make it back in the day. I'm sure that's just the tip of the iceberg.

not true.... i've had the privilege of mushing ALL 4 attempts of the accomplishment in person in the 2000's. I make streaks end!!!

-bt-

Do you have the same affect on Hockey? If so, could I offer you tickets for the first two home games in Washington? :D

Hoist the Flag and Devil's Bag are two others that come to mind as well.

Agree...

AP Indy.

Dinard.

I'm not even counting horses that never raced past 2 due to death or injury, like Grand Canyon, Swear, maybe Saratoga Six.

A. P. Indy was '92

Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide, Smarty J, Big Brown. All Derby-Preakness winners within the past 15 years. Plenty of shots at it.

if we can get out of the first round i'll test my streak for round 2

wish that was even an option for football

-bt-

If Jess Jackson doesn't buy RA after the KY Oaks - even Mine That Bird would have had a good chance at a sweep.

Funny that the two of the closest Triple Crown misses of recent vintage were Preakness-Belmont winners. A lot of the Derby-Preakness winners never had a chance in the Belmont in hindsight.

Yep.

What's your point?

That's crazy talk.

Speaking of which, I think Rags to Riches might have been able to do it.

"I would guess the Derby trail has been derailing horses for more than just the last 20 years"

What's your point?

By the way, 1992 is 19 years ago.

Not crazy at all, but that was the best grouping of TC races and horses in a while. She would have had her hands full in KY.

Too bad as I liked the horse, but he probably wasn't going to get in the Derby anyway. I would say it's minor, but a Zito horse I like popped a splint twice and has been taken out of training, so who knows.

She wouldn't have won the Triple Crown.

Had she tried - she would have ended up with a goose egg instead of an Oaks-Belmont double.

Probably, KY would have gutted her, that race was brutal on everyone but SS and Hard Spun, Curlin came out OK obviously too.

Right.

I forgot how much you love Street Sense.

I'm a few years short of "old codger" status, but I am old enough to remember when major preps were held two weeks (or less) before the Derby. Go back even a few years before my time, and you're hard-pressed to find a Derby starter whose last pre-Derby run was more than two weeks beforehand.

Today, few horses running the Derby-Preakness double have had previous experience running two demanding races at two-week intervals. I have to wonder if that is a major factor.

Prior to last year though, strong Derby horses had been running excellent Preakness races. They seem to relish the chance.

Yes, but what of the third race, three weeks later?

That one has been a little bit spottier, though a few have run well. Despite the best efforts of their passengers.