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Originally Posted by eurobounce
I dont understand how is he a fraud. How did he misrepresent himself? I dont get it. How can any horse be a fraud. He ran 4th in the BC Juvenile, 4the in the Derby and 4th in the Preakness. Then he has won those prep races in the spring. Again, it isnt Brother Derek's fault who he beat. He cannot help who his competition is. I dont remember Brother Derek coming out and saying he is the best. If he did then I missed it. I sometimes speak too soon and talk bad about a horse and that isnt right. But in Derek's case, he has been in all the big ones for over 1 year now. He has won some and loss some, but I dont know how you can say he or any horse is a fraud.
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There was NO 3-year-old that got more press the first half of this year than Briother Derek did...NOne, zilch, nada....just pure facts...he got MUCH more attention in the media than Barbaro, Bluegrass Cat, Lawyer Ron and Sweetnorthernsaint wished they would have gotten.....that is the facts...
The two weeks leading up to the Derby at CD, there was NO horse that had more attention and press than Brother Derek.....I know because i was there every morning....they had press conferences for him every morning after he trained....Do you think Matz and the Barabro camp had that sort of attention?....Not at all. As a matter of fact, they were all in the same barn with Sweetnorthernsaint and Steppenwolfer - and Brother Derek got ALL the crowd every day.....
...he was the story, and whether or not he was bet down as the favorite in the race (by the way, his post position probably cost him from being the favorite if you want me to be quite honest...many people who understand handicapping and how the Derby is bet called that before the race even ran...) - he WAS the favorite for the Derby by all other accounts and was labled as that all spring...
Thus, when you are a BAD 4th in a short field in a non-listed stakes event after you have been working well for your second-season debut, you are going to get PLENTY of criticism form people who never believed the horse was genuinely a first-class animal of his generation....doesn't mean the horse sucks or desereves to die, or that I am making fun of Dan Hendricks for being in a wheel chair (like Oracle suggested), it just means that he is a fraud in the racetrack sense of the word - which means he was overhyped, an overachiever, etc....thats all
Hell, if he were to run in the Travers and run foruth off the layoff - then fine -but he ran 4th in a short field and had absolutely NO RESPONSE in a LISTED stakes event....
You wouldn't sit back and watch Tiger Woods win one tournament in a year, or sit back and watch Barry Bonds only hit 3 HRs in a year without making mention or noticing it, would you?...No..
It is my job as a racing analyst to noitice and acknowledge when this sort of activity happens with some of our games biggest equine figures so that people can be completely aware of the disappointment and completely understand it.....thats my job in a sense....
IMO (for all of you watcing TVG during the race), Simon Bray was trying to make excuses for his performnace saying that it will set him up nicely for next time, etc...which was all sugar-coating bull**** and I'm dissappointed as an analyst that he would mislead the public that way.....he should always be honest and educate the public...that is his job...I don't know if he was just trying to be optimistic, but ANY analyst who watched that race could have ZERO positive things to say about it for a horse of his stature to peform like that...go back and watch the race.....Solis wrapped up on him early in the stretch and this multiple Grade 1 winner could offer ZERO fight at any point in the stretch in a LISTED stakes event.....he eye-balled Cindago - who is only a maiden winner off a layoff longer than Brother Derek's - and Cindago absolutely broke his heart fair and square...a maiden off a layoff did!!!....I, for one, expect more from a multiple Grade 1 winner who was a highly-regarded as he was earlier this year when being the Derby favorite....
Just my opinion....