[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

King Glorious reportedly had physical issues throughout his career, specifically with his knees (the reason why he missed the Triple Crown). Given the way he tended to finish up his races, plus the fact that he was allegedly pointed for 4 big races, one after he defected from the other, namely the Travers, Iselin, Molson Million, and Super Derby, its not hard to presume that some sort of physical issue ended his career. His sale to the JRA was announced in October, after all four of those races had been run.

I think we've all well established that the Haskell field year was anything but "premier".

Sunday Silence wasn't favored anyway. Another sprinter/miler type like KG, Houston , was.

Well, while you put all your stock in what the jockey's say, I'll stick with the journalists, like Steven Crist, who wrote after the Haskell (echoed by several other turf writers):

King Glorious was good enough to hold on for a three-length victory in the $500,000 Haskell Handicap today at Monmouth Park, but left the impression that stronger opposition and longer distances may give him serious trouble.

The California-based front-runner ran his career record to 8 for 9 today and became the sport's newest millionaire. But his slow final furlong and final time, as he shortened stride badly through the stretch, suggested he would have difficulty handling Easy Goer and Sunday Silence, the nation's top 3-year-olds.

He missed the TC races because he was sick, not because he was injured. After the chance to run in the TC was lost, Hollendorfer mapped out a plan that he called his own TC and it included the Ohio Derby, the Haskell, and the Travers. There were a lot of people that thought he was a miler and wouldn't go past 8f and when he lost his first try beyond it (to Avenging Force at 8.5f), most of those detractors thought their opinion had been verified. They thought Hollendorfer was stupid for deciding to go further with him for his next race but Hollendorfer, after listening to McCarron tell him 9f wouldn't be a problem, decided on the two 9f races. I remember sitting with Jerry one day and my buddy damn near cursed him out for deciding on that path instead of pointing to the King's Bishop. Again, I will admit that after the Ohio Derby, I didn't think that 9f was the best distance for KG and I think it's more than likely that in a full field with a decent and contested pace, Sunday Silence and EG both could beat him and I while a part of me was looking forward to seeing him face EG in the Travers, another part of me didn't want it to happen. But up to 8f and depending on the makeup of the race, even up to 9f, I'd have loved KG's chances. As for the sale to Japan, it wasn't announced til later but the deal was done well before and that was why he didn't race anymore.

That was my mistake about the SA Derby. He said Houston wouldn't be favored and Sunday Silence would be the third choice. As for who's got more credibility between the riders and the writers, take your choice. I'd rather have the opinion of those that have ridden him and competed against him over someone who's just watching them. Writers aren't always right. It was writers that made Favorite Trick the 1997 HOY. But even in that piece from Crist, notice that he said that the impression is that LONGER distance and STRONGER opposition would give him trouble. I've never disagreed with that.