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Originally Posted by Cardus
How is Nafzger such an "old school guy" when he skips the third leg of the Triple Crown with a horse that he has not acknowledged to be injured or in poor condition?
"Old school guys" ran their horses more.
The biggest "sport" of this year's Triple Crown is Larry Jones.
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I agree with the first part and if u add Asmussen, I'd agree with the second part too.
How old are guys like Asmussen and Jones and Pletcher? I ask because, for them, maybe the Belmont is not as important as it might be for some of the older guys. I remember back in the early days of the BC. My favorite horse was Java Gold. I remember how his people (Paul Mellon and Mack Miller) were more interested in winning the JCGC than the BC. The BC wasn't even in the plans until he lost the JCGC and they knew they needed the Classic to get HOY. Same thing even in 2003 with Mineshaft. Will Farish was content to point Mineshaft to the JCGC and never was interested in going to the BC with him. For some, winning a grade one at Saratoga with a $100k purse is more important to them than winning a grade one somewhere else with a $500k purse while for others, winning a $500k purse in a grade three might be more important. So there are different outlooks on what's important. I don't know what Nafzger and the owner's backgrounds are so I couldn't say but obviously the Travers is very important to them, moreso than the Belmont, and they are doing what they think is best to get them to that race. I think about Harry Aleo and Lost in the Fog. He said once that he got more enjoyment watching Fog win at home, where he and all of his friends could watch him than he did in the bigger races on the road. I think about a guy like John Mabee, who would probably rather win the Pacific Classic than any other race in the country because it's at his home. I think about how Ron McAnally was specifically looking for a horse for the Craigs that could win them a Pacific Classic. Different people have different ideas on what's most important so for that reason, I don't have any issue with Tafel deciding what he did.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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