Quote:
Originally Posted by Dahoss
Princess Noor ran to her figs.
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Another thing that has ruined the sport. Dwindling foal crops compounded by uncompetitive horsemen bringing their best horses out fewer times, ducking one another, and starting later in the year such that hardly any of these horses are truly battle-tested.
Princess Noor was running in the equivalent of maiden special weights in 3 of her starts (I think even the DM Debutante and Chandelier had 75% maidens). Why do we have to wait until the supposed championship event for Princess Noor to be exposed? At the same time, would she have conceivably finished better (rather than hitting a brick wall) if she had faced larger fields or some rivals of quality in her previous races?
I tend to think there's a glimmer of hope for her were they to able start from scratch and let her develop methodically by racing her in competitive spots (say if she wintered at Fair Grounds or Oaklawn, each of which has a robust stakes schedule and full fields).
Instead she'll probably rebound and win a 4-horse Los Alamitos Starlet, sit around for 60 days and then win a 4-horse Las Virgenes and/or a 4-horse Santa Anita Oaks before bombing again in the Kentucky Oaks.
I suppose it's more fun for the majority of owners to dupe themselves into thinking they have world beaters on their hands (at least for a little while) rather than just solid horses that can win some of the time.