Trainers Love the New Track at Hollywood
 

I haven't heard a single bad word about the new cushiontrack at Hollywood. Everybody absolutely loves it. They all think it's great to train on. However, there is no guarantee that they will love it once once they start racing over it. Horses may get over the surface fine when they're just galloping slowly over it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will get a good grip of it when they are running their hardest in a race. I'm hopeful that all the horses will like it, but I realize that it's still too early to tell.

Anyway, the good news is that so far I haven't heard any complaints. As of right now, things couldn't look any better. Hopefully things will look just as good once they start racing over it.

I heard that some of the rubber is getting stuck in the horses shoes and needs to be sifted:confused:

Any new surface will have some adjustments that are necessary.

Sounds like a good thing. Anything that cuts down on injuries and deaths to the horses gets my approval.
I hope the run as well over it as they train on it.
We'll know soon enough.

The trainers say that training over it is incredible. When the horses come back from their gallops every day, they look great. You don't see any puffy ankles or anything like that. Not only that, but horses who normally travel really bad are moving fine over this track.

That's good to hear. Thanks for the info.

Yes thanks much for the first hand reports. It sounds real good and I hope the horses just love to run over it in the real deal.

WHen does Holywood start?

yeah,
im sure they are going to love it 20 years from now when everyone within 20 miles of HolyPark is wasting away due to various respiratory diseases.

totally ridiculous.

dirt was good eough for Man O War, but somehow a bunch of Swiss Yoedler horses requiere a special artificial surface.
total bs.

f*ck you socal racing commision and f*ck everyone who supports the implementation of that crap at North American racetracks.

and dont give me that line about the safety of the horses.
if anyone gave 2 sh*ts about the safety of the horses, we would be running exclusively on turf.
Im not advocating that b/c personally, i really dont care about the safety of the horses.
But they dont give a damn about the safety of the horses either.
its just a politically correct excuse they are giving the public so they can install this crap without be scrutinized.

f*ck the track of lakes and flowers or whatever they call themselves.
this is crap.
they took the one legitimate track in socal and ruined it.
Los Al better not install that crap or I am going to have nothing to play at night.

Repent

f*ck you go somewhere else.

I like horse racing.
I really dont feel one way or the other about horses themselves.

I'll give an example.
one of my favorite racehorses of all time was Barbaro.
everyone from the ESPN board knows I was on him from day 1 as a 2YO.
made a ton of money on him.

but the minute his racing career was over, I lost any and all intrest in him aside from his possible stud career.
the one and only thing that saddened me about his injury in the Preakness was the fact that I had a huge win bet on him and I obviously did not cash.


Repent

LOL...Repent is back. Good to see you bro.

Kev

Never take anything Repent says seriously. He just likes to get people riled up. He says things that are so absurd that there is no rhyme or reason to most of it. He had a beautiful quote just yesterday. He said that The Tin Man has no chance in the BC turf because the horse ran lousy in the BC Turf back in 2003 and he was a better horse back then. In 2003, he went into the race off a 7th place finish in the Arlington Million and a 6th place finish in the Jim Murray. This year the horse goes into the race off a win in the Arlington Million and a win in the American Handicap. The horse has made $2 million this year. In 2003, the horse made about $200,000. Yet Repent says the horse was better in 2003. LOL.

If you are looking for logic in his posts, you are out of luck.

hey what up Kev.


good to see you.

who is this DaHoss guy?
wanting to run up and feed a horse carrot is not an essential desire one must have to like and appreciate the sport of horse racing.
whatever..

hey Kev,
this is as good of place as any to tell you that you were completely right and I totally wrong about English Channel.
what a racehorse.
he is America's best turf horse.

Repent

Well....I am normally good for being right about one or two things a year.:D

He has turned into a very good racehorse...

I trust things are well for you?

WRONG

you are misquoting me dude.

I never mentioned the year 2003.

I said he had been better in the past and been beaten in the BC Turf.
anyone with any historical knowledge of US turf racing knows the he was in better form in 2002.
won the American Handicap and the Hirsch Memorial that year.
was allowed to set slow fractions in the BC Turf at Arlington and still could only manage a 4th place finish in a somewhat weak running of the race.

and now you think he is going to run with horses like Hurrican Run, Cacique and English Channel?

you are out of your mind.

if you are going to quote me, at least be accurate.


Repent

yeah,
things are good.
back in TX now.

working a lot but at least I closer to friends and family than I was before.
besides the Astros sucking, things are pretty good.


Repent

Good to hear. Glad to have you on board. Will talk again soon....bed time for me.

Not sure if you caught the QEII today, but GW looked awfully good

I dont care about their health or well being.
i did not say I dont care about them.
I certainly care about how fast they run and their pari-mutuel wagering price.

another analogy.
i like film.
i like watching Ed Norton or Natalie Portman act on film.
But I dont give a damn about their health, happiness, or general well being in real life.
they can live or die. makes no difference to me.



Repent

Kev, You and I are both fans of English Channel. As you know, I tried to buy him before anyone had heard of him. I tried to buy him back when he was only an allowance horse. Even though we are both fans of the horse, you know as well as I do that he's not the best turf horse in the country. He just ran 4th in two of his last three races. He didn't have any real excuse in either race. He would have obviously liked a little more pace in his last race but you can't use that as an excuse because he was actually losing ground in the stretch. As big a fan as youa re of the horse, I'm sure you would be the first to admit that he's not the best turf horse in the country right now.

yeah,
i know he did.
I was wrong again.
Librettist is a favorite of mine.
Although I do have respect for GW, if they meet again in the BCM, I think we get the better of him.
but thats just me very biased opinion.

Repent

oh,
so you throw out the Woodforf Reserve and UN?
wtf are you thinking?
on firm ground, he is the best 12f US turf horse.
Cacique is a really nice horse and might be better on both of Belmont's turf courses, but EC has the better chance to win at 12f at CD.


Repent

I thought you were talking about the last time he ran in the BC Turf which was in 2003. Now I realize you were talking about 2002. Fair enough.

I still don't think it's logical to handicap the horse based on what he did 4 year ago. I think what he's done this year is a little more relevant. He's run 5 times this year and he's won 4 out of 5. His only lost was his 2nd place finish in the $5 million Dubai race to David Junior. I think he is coming into the race this year with pretty good credentials running 2nd in that $5 million race and winning the Arlington Million.

I'm not saying he's going to win the race this year, but he is ceratinly a legitimate contender. He's the best turf horse in the country right now. I do think he's probably a little better horse at 1 1/4 miles.

Im not saying what he did 3 or 4 years ago is a handicapping tool,
Im just saying he was a better horse in the past and lost in what was a weaker field with easier circumstances than what he will face on Nov 4 at CD.

hes not all that great at 12 and the race in Dubai was barely over a mile.

if you are impressed by that Arl Million race, then good luck to you.
those were just plain stupid fractions.



Repent

that's true...but i can never forget war emblems preakness. everyone knew what he had done to win the derby...and then they watched him go out and do it again in md. ooops.

thing is, tin man could easily do it again. run him down early, wear him out, and you might find yourself backing up as well late.

I'm not throwing out those races but if he's so great he wouldn't be running 4th every other race. You can hardly use the excuse about firm ground. EC's record is better when the turf is not firm. His win in that $400,000 race at Churchill in May was on turf labeled "soft". His win in the stakes race at Gulfstream this year was on turf labeled "soft". Last year, he won three races on tracks labeled either "good" or "yielding". His record on turf courses labeled "firm" is not nearly as good.

but weren't both of english channels losses at 10f? remember sulamani in the arl million a couple years back? class of the field, but the distance was far from his best. three horses finished ahead of him i believe.

you misunderstand me again.
I did not say he needed or was better on firm.

I said, in those conditions, he is America's best turf horse.
freaking read what I type w/out reading into it what you want.

and that 4th in the Manhattan was a very good effort.
all 4 finished together.

Repent

yeah,
but this kind of goes back to my 2002 point.

he set those slow fractions at Arlington.
and still lost to horses that are not near as good as what he will face on Nov 4 at CD.

High Chaparral was the only real international Grade 1 horse in that field.
With Anticipation was just the best of a bad US bunch.

Repent

Does English Channel own a victory at 12 furlongs?

no,
barely lost to Shakes at Belmont last year in the Turf Invite at 12f and ran the best race out of US horses in the BCT.

won at 11f at Monmouth.

Repent

How was his 4th place finish in New york a good effort? He lost to Silver Whistle and Sabre d' Argent that day. I don't think that effort would get the job done in the BC Turf.

By the way, the race in Dubai was 1 1/4 miles.

With regard to the Arlington Million, The Tin Man was obviously the best horse. Cacique was within a neck of him at the quarter pole and then Tin Man blew his away. It would be one thing if The Tin Man was out there with a 3 length lead and then barely held off the closers. That's not what happened. He pulled away from them in the stretch. He had a better late kick than the closers. He would have won the race no matter what the pace scenario was.

So the best american horse at 12 furlongs has never actually won at the distance?
Doesn't say much about the American Turf Horses.

He's not as good as The Tin Man right now. Look at what The Tin Man has done this year. He's 4 for 5 with a win in the Arlingto Million and a 2nd to David Junior in a $5 million race. You can't even compare EC to the The Tin Man right now.

well,
Aragorn is awesome.
not going to run against EC in the BC, but yes, oif they met at a midde distance of 9f, Aragorn would win.

Cacique is a really nice horse who I really thought was the best middle distance turf horse..
Kev will tell you I always said he was better than EC even after the Woodford Reserve.
but EC's Manhattan was impressive to me (even in defeat) and the UN was awesome.
that made me a believer.


Repent