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Originally Posted by justindew
In 2005, I incorrectly labeled Afleet Alex as being in need of a rest after the Kentucky Derby. He then went on to prove me wrong by winning the Preakness and Belmont.
This year, I said the same thing about Curlin, and we saw what he did.
I think I have been jaded (for lack of a better term) by the fragility of modern thoroughbreds during the last few years. By and large, horses of today who try to do what Curlin has done since February fail miserably. But instead of taking a step backward, Curlin made a huge jump forward. So I guess the lesson is that no matter how weak the breed becomes as a whole, really good horses can still overcome some of the obstacles that most horses can't.
I probably should have learned this after Afleet Alex won the Preakness, but sometimes it takes a few examples for me to change my thinking.
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I can see why you might be"jaded" a bit by your thinking of the fragility of our modern horses. the top trainers continually space the races apart with their top horses. In the case of Curlin though, i wasn't the least concerned with him coming back quickly. He had a very easy time of it at Oaklawn this fall. He did'nt have one head and head battle there. All of his races were easy. The derby itself was not a taxing effort imo. He just seemed to go through the motions, and finished a well beaten third on ability alone. On the other hand lets look at Street Senses spring. He had a fierce battle with Any Given Sat at Tampa, and then another head and head battle at Keeneland. He then freaked at CD (once again) and scored his best number in the process. Like i said before in a previous post, i commend both trainers for having their colts ready to fire huge back in 2 weeks...