Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Kasept
Just noticed while capping this card that the 2008 winners from all three supporting stakes are back to try to defend their titles... Pretty cool considering the constant yammering about 'lack of stars' etc. I've said regularly that the 'stars' are there and easy to appreciate if some marketing entity would laud them.
Five year old '08 Shakertown hero Mr. Nightlinger is 19/9-1-4 ($500k) and won 4 stakes last year for likable Bret Calhoun. 6yo Rebellion (21/7-4-4; $740k) never seemed to reach the apex Motion sought with him last year, but he did win the Commonwealth and Ack Ack and place in the Pat O'Brien and BC Synthetic Mile. Finally, enigmatic Rutherienne (17/9-0-6; $921,555) promptly ran third in 6 straight graded stakes last year after homering in her '08 debut in the Jenny Wiley.
Aren't there people out there that are fans of these horses after 19, 21 and 17 starts respectively? Or do 3yo colts have to be the only stars in the game?
|
After reading your opening paragraph and then reading the rest, I get the feeling that your are saying Mr. Nightlinger, Rebellion, and Rutherienne are all stars. Good horses, sure. But stars? Really. No doubt it's good to have good horses that aren't quickly sent off to the farm and that do continue to race but I think it's a reach to say they are stars.
It's extremely hard to market horses in today's climate. When horses used to run more often, it was easier. But imagine if you were SA last week and had been marketing the matchup of The Pamplemousse vs. Pioneerof the Nile. How did that work out? What if you are Churchill and you want to market the matchup of Rachel vs. Stardom Bound in the Oaks? IEAH hasn't even committed SB to the race yet so you can't. Curlin vs. Big Brown was hyped a little before the BC but then Big Brown didn't go. Couple of years ago, St. Liam vs. Rock Hard Ten but then that didn't happen. Monmouth marketed the return of Afleet Alex in the Haskell. There are countless examples that show why it's too hard to market these horses now.
__________________
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
|