Greinton
 

Died recently at the age of 29.

His rivalry with Precisionist hooked me into this sport.

Truly one of the great under appreciated horses of our time.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...m-the-80s-dies

For anyone interested. Here are his last 12 races. His 13th race back was the Strub, my all time favorite race (the 1985 running).




I think his 1985 campaign up till summer knocked him out for the rest of that year.

He was pretty good on the grass after coming to the U.S.. Second in the Arlington Million, second in the Sunset (which cost him a huge bonus from Hollywood Park), and a decent effort in the BC turf when he was still in contention at the top of the stretch.

Unfortunately, I can only find replays of two of these races.

Santa Anita 4/13/86 Race 8 San Bernardino Handicap - Gr.2
Santa Anita 3/02/86 Race 8 Santa Anita Handicap - Gr.1
Aqueduct 11/02/85 Race 6 Breeders' Cup Turf - Gr.1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD9EaZrbjdE
Belmont Park 10/05/85 Race 8 Jockey Club Gold Cup - Gr.1
Belmont Park 9/14/85 Race 8 Marlboro Cup - Gr.1
Arlington Park 8/25/85 Race 6 Budweiser-Arlington Million - Gr.1
Hollywood Park 7/22/85 Race 8 Sunset Handicap - Gr.1
Hollywood Park 6/23/85 Race 8 Hollywood Gold Cup - Gr.1
Hollywood Park 6/09/85 Race 10 Californian Stakes - Gr.1
Hollywood Park 5/19/85 Race 8 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap - Gr.2
Santa Anita 4/13/85 Race 8 San Bernardino Handicap - Gr.2
Santa Anita 3/03/85 Race 8 Santa Anita Handicap - Gr.1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhPzalt01j8
Santa Anita 2/03/85 Race 8 Charles H Strub Stakes - Gr.1
Santa Anita 1/19/85 Race 8 San Fernando Stakes - Gr.1
Hollywood Park 12/24/84 Race 8 Princequillo Handicap
Hollywood Park 12/07/84 Race 8 Handicap
Hollywood Park 11/16/84 Race 8 Allowance
Evry 5/04/84 Race 247 Prix Matchem
Longchamp 4/15/84 Race 171 Prix de Guiche - Gr.3
Deauville 8/06/83 Race 748 Prix de Cabourg

Yeah, it's a shame.

The 85 Strub was the greatest race I saw in person.

Greinton along with Lord at War, Precisionist, Alysheba, Broad Brush, Ferdinand, Judge Angelucci, Super Diamond, etc made for some great handicap racing in S Ca during the mid to late 80's.

A rivalry better then Be Bullish and Dr.W :eek:... never.

.....those were great days at santa anita, now its sad. was at the 86 big cap,that place was wall to wall......van bergs rabbit almost stole it.

....charlie, you came out from the east coast?

Herat, at something like 100/1.

I grew up in and lived in an LA burb.

Moved to Maine in 03.

....gotcha, been in the LA burb. since birth.....its
bad.

Yep. I arranged my whole life around avoiding traffic as much as possible. It's not a good thing to center your life around.

I arrange mine around internet gambling and internet porn. If only there was a way to gamble on porn scenes.

Only if you're BROKE!

true, its the greatest if you have unlimited funds.....few do.

LA sucks if you are poor.

LA sucks if you are middle class.

LA sucks if you are rich.

helL.A. is just too crowded. The traffic is just unlivable.

If you live in the foothills it helps cut some of the traffic and work close to home. I have always be against the traffic for work and I do live in the foothill which cuts the traffic almost in half.
It's all a state of mind.

I wonder why Charlie Whittingham put him in the BC Turf instead of the Classic. Certainly he couldn't have held his effort in the slop in the JCGC against him. He ran well enough in the Marlboro Cup (as the favorite) to take a shot even if he wasn't in peak form. It's like when they ran Bet Twice in the Mile instead of one last go at Alysheba in the '88 Classic.

Fortunately, we now have the Dirt Mile for those who are a cut below or in declining form leading up to the Classic.

Yeah, I was from West Covina.

In the local Indian dialect, West Covina roughly translated meant "Land of much smog"

I think it was the concern about a sloppy track that sealed the decision to run in the Turf. He closed strongly against Teleprompter in the Budweiser Million, so they probably thought the distance would suit him. The Classic turned out to be a strong race even with Precisionist in the Sprint off a long layoff and Greinton in the Turf.