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Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann
I saw McCartney win the big 2yo race at Doncaster on Leger day. Expected him to show more as he matured, since his pedigree (In the Wings over Dashing Blade) indicated classic distance talent at 3 and up, but it didn't pan out.
How many promising horses have had their careers trashed by Godolphin buying them up and then mismanaging them? You can start with every one they bought in the US to train for the Kentucky Derby. Yes, Street Cry came back to run well at 4, but he could have done much more than that, had he been left in the states to train.
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The list is endless I'm afraid.
Layman is one I always remember. He finished a close second to Divine Proportions when trained in France by Fabre, and (correct me if I'm wrong) then went to run a brilliant race against top class Oratorio. He was then snapped up by Godolphin and did very little at all.
Songlark was another promising horse in France before they got their dirty little hands on it.
Sabre D'argent was one of the best 2yo's David Loder trained. It went to Godolphin and wasn't seen for a year. He won a bad race, went to America and wasn't sighted in any of his starts.
Caradak was another one.
Probably the biggest mess of all was Shawanda. A very very talented filly, sold to Godolphin and never saw the racetrack again.
Imperial Stride had won five in a row for Sir Michael Stoute, he was then sent to Godolphin, and surprise surprise he was injured within a couple of weeks. He didn't see the track until over a year later and was ruined.
This isn't a horse they purchased in training, but Desert Authority was the real deal. A good friend of mine rode him every day and to this day he still says he was a Gr1 horse with so much ability. He only made two racecourse appearances, winning both of them. Never to be seen again, probably dead
Kilworth is another I could mention, who they ruined.
Stage Gift, they injured him, too.
Short Skirt, another horse who was with Sir Michael Stoute. She was bought by the big blue bin........... she ran twice before being injured and retired.
Dijeer
Hala Bek!!!!!!
Razkalla
Carry On Katie
Vista Bella
I could sit here and write a list for hours and hours, but there is no point. And that is without the hundreds we have (and never will see) The horses that are broken down during training and destroyed. The wastage at Godolphin is huge. Hence the well known term "the big blue bin".
Another thing, I will always laugh at is Bayeux. Godolphin could manage very little with him, so they sold him. None other than Michael Tabor (coolmore) purchased him later in his career and has gone on to be a stakes winner in America and a great second finish behind Kip Deville.
The only horse that Godolphin have improved in many years has been Ramonti. They tried their hardest to ruin him, but injury after injury he kept coming back. That horse was as tough as nails.
It surprises me (still) that Godolphin are still respected in the industry. They have ruined so many nice horses, many horses have paid with their life just by being trained by these muppets and still they get represented as being the good guys and horseracings saving grace.
It's got to the stage where trainers such as Mark Johnston and Michael Jarvis are becoming scared of having really nice horses, as they know they will taken away and slowly run into the ground by Godolphin. They have to be very quiet about the good horses they have, try and disguise them for as long as possible. Neither of them can win. If they disguise them, they are losing out themselves, but if they have a very good one that wins a race impressively, it'll be at Godolphin by the end of the same day.