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Originally Posted by SniperSB23
Do people really think they would have run Ghostzapper in a $1 million BC Dirt Mile instead of the $6 million BC Classic? I sure as hell don't.
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Absolutely he would have. He had won the 6.5 furlong Vosburgh by 6 1/2 lengths, in last-to-first fashion, in the supersonic final time of 1:14 3/5ths. In the words of Tom Durkin after the wire that day: "Just 1/5th off the track record in the 66th Vosburgh Stakes.....Ghostzapper...a sprinting force!" Instead of passing the BC Sprint...Frankel would have run him in the BC Dirt Mile after the Vosburgh. Which, he would have won.
Ghostzapper was a half sibling to confirmed sprinter City Zip...and Frankel waited until August of his 4-year-old season to stretch him out. Here are some quotes.
Before his 4yo debut in the 7 furlong Tom Fool "Trainer Bobby Frankel opted to skip the Breeders' Cup Sprint because he believed Ghostzapper's closing style would work against him at Santa Anita."
After his 4yo debut win in the Tom Fool "Frankel, who won the Tom Fool last year with Aldebaran, said Ghostzapper would be pointed to the $200,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga on Aug. 14 as a prep for the Grade 1 Forego on Sept. 4, also at Saratoga. Frankel said he is inclined to try and stretch out Ghostzapper here in the fall.
"With the speed he showed [Sunday], going long you might be able to sit there with him and turn him loose in the stretch," Frankel said. "Everybody wants to pigeonhole him as a sprinter; we don't know. He's an easy horse to rate."
Here is what was published in the DRF on why Frankel pulled out of the SIX FURLONG Vanderbilt Stakes. "Instead, Frankel will now point Ghostzapper to the Grade 3, $200,000 Philip Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park on Aug. 21.
Frankel wouldn't come out and say it, but part of what went into his decision is his dissatisfaction with the weight assignments for the race. Ghostzapper was assigned 122 pounds, compared with 120 for Speightstown."
How can you be so sure that Ghostzapper would have run in the Classic, as a 4-year-old, if they had a Breeders Cup Dirt Mile. While the purse of the Classic is much greater---a Breeders Cup win, at the important commercial stallion distance of a mile on dirt, isn't exacly something to scoff at. Most Breeders Cup Classic meant horses, aren't looking to run in six furlong races in Mid-August.
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Originally Posted by SniperSB23
The effect on the pace scenario in the Classic is a valid point and, in my opinion, the only effect the addtition of the BC Dirt Mile will have on the outcome of the BC Classic. However, if a horse can't win the BC Classic in a 10-12 horse field because there isn't enough pace then the horse just plain isn't good enough and shouldn't be winning the BC Classic anyways.
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Bernardini probably (maybe almost certainly) beats Invasor this year if all of the cheap speed that was in that race (Brother Derek, Lawyer Ron etc.) opted for the dirt mile instead. With a slower pace, he wouldn't have been gunned as early as he was by Castallano. Giacomo, would of also not run as well.
A horse like Concern, would have never won the Classic without the intense pace setup he got.
I also happen to think fast-paced championship races are much more exciting to watch than the slower-paced tactical versions we are now more likely to see.