Showing Up doubtful for BC
 

From Bloodhorse:

Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Showing Up, who finished a solid third the Sept. 9 Man o'War Stakes (gr. IT) , will make his next start in Saturday's $200,000 Jamaica Handicap (gr. IIT) for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park, and likely will skip the Breeders' Cup World Championships, trainer Barclay Tagg said Monday.

"I just think the Breeders' Cup is too tough right now," Tagg said. "Of course, if he wins the Jamaica impressively, the owners could change their mind and go the Breeders' Cup, but they usually leave those decisions up to me.

"He's just a 3-year-old, and I don't want to get greedy. If he had won the Man o'War, we would have considered the Breeders' Cup, but finishing third is not going to do him any good. And if we ran in the mile and a half race (John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf -- gr. IT) it could knock him out for a while. My experience tells me that it's not the right thing to do. If he wins the Jamaica, we could run him in the Hollywood Derby (gr. IT), and then have a strong horse for next year."

Good for Tagg. (I bet he wishes Sackatoga would leave more decisions up to him, too.)

Good call by the connections.

Yep good call.

tagg defines class...he always wants to do right by his horse. Good decision probably...they plan to run him next year right?

Too bad you cant say the same for Sackatoga

who? the pubilicity whores on the bus?

Didn't the short fat one dance while holding an umbrella at the Belmont? Or am I mistaking him for one of the parade goers down at mardi gras?

Yes, them.

Judging by the nominations the Jamaica looks like it might be a very nice race. Although I hope Tagg prevails should Showing Up win; I can't see how a good effort at a mile and an eighth against 3 year olds will do anything to prove he can be even slightly competitive in the BC at a mile and a half...

Yeah, it sounded from the article like they absolutely plan to run him next year and that's one of the reasons Tagg doesn't want to run him in the BC as a three-year-old. Fingers crossed we can look forward to seeing him there in 2007!

As it stands right now... he's won some nice ones, but not a big big big one that could really drive up his stud fee. So barring injury, we should be confident he'll be back '07. Then again, the Jackson are breeders, so maybe they don't need the patience. I think Tagg is making a good move here.

It is kinda ironic that a lot of us think in terms of the Sackatoga boys, is the one decision we think they should make is getting rid of Tagg. Not necessarily because he's a bad trainer (I think he's a good trainer, and he holds his own in NY which says something), but just to try a different direction, a diffent way of training Funny Cide since they refuse to retire him.

So Tagg is definately making the right move here with Showing Up, and I hope he does well on Sat... as for Sackatoga, if they wanna drag out a career on a horse, they should retire FC and buy Perfect Drift lol. That horse will be running in alowance races, still mixin it up at age 12 lol.

I dont think they need to get rid of Tagg. Tagg and Funny Cide need to get rid of Sacktoga.

I'm just sayin... a lot of people are thinking (seriously we've talked about this a million times over at ESPN in the past)... what's the only thing, if you're Sackatoga, that you haven't changed? If you're refusing to retire him- The last thing you haven't done is a trainer switch. Give the horse to Pletcher... that seems to be the En Vogue thing to do among owners these days anyway lol.

FC is a competitive horse that likes to run. Why should he retire ? ANd the Showing Up strategy is right on. Why ruin a 3 yr old just to pad his resume for stud ?

i really like Tagg and if i could ever get a horse esp a grass one i honestly think he is the one i would want to train them. Im happy to see this and look fwd to seeing the horse next year might be a good one next year

Sumitas,
I agree with Tagg's strategy for Showing Up. Some people earlier in this thread were ripping Sackatogas, so I was just putting in my 2 cents on that. As far as Showing Up goes, I agree with holding him out. Read my previous replies in this thread for my reasoning.

Wac,
Good point about Tagg being a good turf trainer. I 'spose you could go with Pletcher too. Your horse might get tons of TLC from his 6th asst lol.

What a classy guy! It's reasons like these that make him my favorite trainer.

He is not really ever going to be very valuable as a stallion. American turf horses rarely are and even a breeders cup win would not help that much.

The Hollywood Derby has been the target for Showing Up all along. He is not a 12f horse and he is not nearly fast enough to compete with the top milers in the world.

Showing Up is a very nice horse but as you can tell from Ivan's last race, Showing Up is a notch below the top horses in the world.

Glad to see you've come down to reality after challenging me earlier this year that he was better than English Channel, and you DID say that.
I guess that means you concede I was right and that he isn't. Thats cool. Good luck to him in his next start.

Before you knock Sakatoga, and I agree they have been a little aggressive, there is a strong possibility without their aggressiveness, Funny Cide might never have even been entered in the Wood and then the Derby. Tagg can be too conservative at times. That ownership and Tagg made a nice combo for that horse.

What have you done for me lately other than run the horse into the ground? The goodwill that might have engendered is surely gone.

Oracle, you know a significant amount about the business, but I know a little more about this horse than you. He is actually almost identical to English Channel in terms of talent, but EC is better suited for 12f. Showing Up won the Secretariat too, which EC couldn't do as a 3yr old. EC has the pedigree, which makes him a better commercial stallion, but he is not more talented than Showing Up. Barclay probably could run this horse in the BC Mile and get a 5th place finish like EC had in last years BCT, but what would be the point?

This could all change too if George Washington runs in the Classic. The Jacksons would probably nudge Barclay into running in the BC Mile and then the Hollywood Derby if all goes well. They do not want Showing Up in a race though with George.

SU looked good in his work over the weekend, which I was fortunate to watch. He should run well this weekend.

I just saw Funny Cide and he is a happy horse. They took some interesting shots with him and I think the Empire Classic is a good spot for him.

A happy horse who gets his head handed to him b/c the human owners are jackasses. I'd be happy to get oats all day and run around in circles also.

He has done ok this year. Barclay would prefer not to run him in grade 1's at Saratoga, but the owners have been good to him. Barclay is a great horseman but he had some tough years in the business. The people that own Funny Cide helped him build the barn and clients he has now. Being a horse trainer is a really tough business. The 2yr old Tagg has now though is unbelievable and he is huge. He might be 17h when it is all said and done.

and that 2 yr old is ?

Nobiz like Showbiz? Is that who you mean?

Barclay Tagg was a well kept secret long before he made the full time switch to NY. He was always a tremendous trainer who showed good judgement and obviously gets horses ready to run very nicely.
The prudence he is showing with Showing Up is just one more example of this.
He sees a horse with tremendous talent who will race at 4. He obviously sees no need to throw the horse into the fire and risk a meltdown. The Jamica should be his for the taking and I would hazard a guess that the Hollywood Derby with its lucrative purse would be onhis dancecard as well.

As a 4 year old he should be in a good position to take some important races. Barclay has been very unfairly criticized for his job with Funny Cide. Most horses his age have long been retired, and I doubt he would have managed him the way he has been managed if he had been left to his own devices. You'll never heard a bad word about him out of this corner.