Egypt
 

It's hard to gauge Biancone horses at the moment especially after his suspension, but 1st time in NA runner "Egypt" was an interesting horse to watch in today's 7th race at SA. Ridden by unknown French jockey Julien Couton who reportedly won a meet at Deauville a couple of years ago, he encountered some trouble down the lane, not sure he would have won with a better trip but he may be worth watching down the line. All 3 of them infact.

He has run in a GROUP1 and a GROUP2 on his PP so a MSW in Cali is major drop in class. I will bet against on this one next as I am weary of Euros second time out in the USA. The winner Mark S the Cooler dropped from a G1
to run in a MSW on turf for first time.

Considering how cold Biancone and Couton have been this meet, I thought he ran well enough to be a horse to watch in the future. Interestingly Couton was brought to North America by Biancone to work for him, similarily to what he did for Leparioux. Regardless there may be a few jockies to keep an eye out for, I also read Patrick Husbands will stay on to ride in So Cal, this guy in my opinion can ride if he is given the chance.

This horse is a mortal cinch next time out. I just hope we get 8-1 or better on him.

Thats why I hope people like you see his US debut and pound him at the windows next out.

I have a love/hate relationship with any sentence that includes with word 'Mortal'

I am trying to add this horse to my stable mail. Does anyone have his age from the PP's, there are 3 horse with the name Egypt listed. Thanks in advance.

Respectfully, I'm not seeing this at all.

I know, I know... he ran in the Darley Dewhurst (Group 1) but he was last and wasn't he Rip's rabbit? Ran in the Railway (G2) but again... wasn't he there for Mastercraftsman? I only remember him cause he was an AOB horse and what i do remember is that Beauthea (sp?) pulled an Evening Attire and gave everyone a head start and even she beat him home. :D

Good luck to you and to his backers. I hope he does well here and everything but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

He's a 3 year old. :)

Caught the replay. Why?

Aren't most of the pacesetters employed by Ballydoyle for their top tier horses often stakes-calibur runners themselves?

Honolulu, MacArthur, L'Ancresse, Ivan Denisovich, Red Rock Canyon, Yellowstone, Shah Jehan, etc.

I suppose you'd have to follow international racing closely to pick up on this.

Ummm yeah I follow international racing a little bit and yes, they are.

This horse though? I wouldn't put him in the same category as any of these.

Just my opinion though.

Bingo!

:)

Do you remember AOB's runner, Puerto Rico? He's spiraled down to Class 5 in Hong Kong.

Or, as they call them, the cellar dwellars.

I liked him... thought he had potential anyway. He won his first race beating an insane field (26 horses!), hit the board a few times. Went to HK and straight downhill. Sad.

He was, well I hate to say a better horse cause that's silly but at least he showed me something.

Good luck to Egypt. I'm not seeing much but I'm wrong quite a bit of the time.

As an aside, there is an international forum.

Have a look someday. We won't bite. :D

Yes, he is not a "mortal cinch" next time out, but here is why I think he is a huge play.

1) He made a winning move into the stretch, but had no room for at least forty yards in the stretch, which, from my view, he would have been right there.

2) This horse is by Dansili, out of a Royal Academy mare, which is, in my opinion, far superior breeding than most of the stock in this country.

3) And this is the big "IF", IF they give him Lasix for his second start, this should improve him tremendously next time out.

4) They didn't send this horse over here to be a "rabbit" for another horse, I believe they think they have a pretty good horse, just maybe not good enough to run against those monsters in Europe, but more than good enough to beat the competition in the U.S.

These are the reasons I am so headstrong on this horse.

Brash prediction: Egypt will win his next race (I HOPE!!), and will win a stakes race on the grass before the end of the meet.

No Probs Hoss. Couple of interesting factors that also caught my attention besides the trip, the horse ran well for a cold trainer and an inexperienced NA Jockey.

I remember Kieran Fallon who is probably one of the top 3 riders in Europe struggling with race riding at Gulfstream Park and even before that Take in So Cal...Its never easy for European riders to adapt to riding over here...Saying that when Couton gets more used to riding over here or if a new Jock is announced on this horse say Leparioux, this horse moves up in my mind, another thing is when will Biancone will get hot again? His history would seem to indicate he will not stay clean forever.

T
R
A
P

Well, he was second to one of the top-rated juveniles in Ireland last year and the race at Santa Anita was atypically quality-laden, with the first two home coming out of stakes races and the first three finishers having pedigrees riddled with graded stakes horses.

But still, none of that shows he has the ability to compete in stakes competitively, which pretty much eliminates him from consideration in your average maiden special weight carded on the turf in North America.

Just for fun, let's take a look at the rest of that stellar field.

He beat home...

Little Bug (0-3-1 from 9)
Catalpa (O-1-0 from 8)
Naiazek (0-0-0 in 3 starts)
Venetian Dove (0-0-0 in 4 starts)
Oasis Sunset (1-0-1 from 5)
Aaroness (1-0-1 from 5)

Not trying to be a bitch... just having fun.

I really do hope this one improves. :) Good luck to his supporters.

Sorry Hossy. I'll shut up now.

You have your stats set and ready. I am impressed!

:D

Stepping away from the nice thread now, very slowly...

Precisely, we were just talking about a playback. I thought it was obvious.

The irony in all this is that, whereas MMSC had a valid point in saying that Egypt's Group races were a red herring for those who thought the horse was dropping significantly in class, in turn she made a comparable blunder by suggesting that those starts in a pacesetting role were somehow indicative of the colt's true ability.

This is somewhat off topic, but speaking of bad European form and Euro horses turning into stks winners rescued from the abyss, I remember(and I stress remember since I am not looking up stats from work) a horse named Dark Islander, mediocre european form but I do remember him somewhat turning it around over here. Obcourse you have others that go the other way also.

Dark Islander had ability both before and after his initial trip to America, and his style of racing meant it was no surprise for many of us that he ran so well over there. Before he won at Santa Anita he was in good form at home. Comparing a horse like him to Egypt is like comparing chalk and cheese.

Dark Islander had shown form, whereas Egypt only ever showed he had a small amount of ability in one of his starts (when second to Arazan) and the winner apart, it wasn't a very good race.

His next start was of even worse quality, which was why he was sent of a 1-3 favourite. He finished fourth and never looked like winning. Looking very one-paced in the process. If you look at the write ups of his races, almost every race will say "kept on" and "one paced".

He was used as a pacesetter in some of the major races, but many because he could go from the front and set an honest gallop but once he got to that pace he didn't have any other gears.

I'm not saying he won't improve in America, but he will need to because he couldn't win a poor quality maiden race in Ireland.

I would agree with that assessment, I remember betting him that day he showed up at SA off non group 1 or 2 status races and winning a Gr 2 race off of that european form, that was more of the point of was making and really taking a stab that a listed stks winner could make the jump to an American stake, in this case the Oak Tree Derby. He turned out to be the right choice but at the time it was a tough choice to make.

Interesting run by Egypt yesterday, ran second in his comeback, that's okay. However while looking very much like the winner at the top of the stretch when he made the lead quite easily, he lacked the ethusiasm to outfinish his competition. This maybe a horse that lacks the mentality to win races, rather than ability.

Egyptians should be embarassed to have this despicable individual named after their country. He'd been beaten in Europe at what? 2-5, and 4-5? I think we all pretty much knew that what he did yesterday was one of his favorite options. It's disappointing to see the horse do that (but we can't be surprised,right?) Might be as despicable as that Brian horse(called brave Brian or bold Brian.)

Yep, if this were the wizard of oz, he would be the Tin Man.

Guess who finally won one (at Ruidoso Downs)?

http://www.equibase.com/static/chart...061311USA3.pdf

He's won a few before that, right? He broke his maiden a few months after this thread started.

I added him to my VS when this thread started and wow Hossy I wish I had pp's cause I want to say I have never once noticed this guy get a(nother) win but I could be wrong.

If he did I sure missed it.

Yeah he broke his maiden May of 2009 and won a 25k claimer the following January. Weird seeing him winning a race at Ruidoso Downs though.