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Old 09-16-2020, 11:09 PM
Betsy Betsy is offline
Randwyck
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,303
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dahoss View Post
Isn’t the general disdain being shown here more for that ridiculous fluff piece about him than the actual horse?

I mean, I like the horse, bet him in the Derby and found the retirement and especially that article pretty nauseating.
Perhaps..as a huge fan of the horse, I love reading the articles as they make me feel better. I don’t view them with the cynicism that so many do. Let me make it clear - I don’t care if not everyone likes the horse; opinions make horse racing. What bothers me - not here so much as on board I visit more often is the need to rip apart his record, trash his agility, and pretty much display incredible ignorance about his races. I get it, he was 2 for 6..but Andy always says that wins are overrated to a degree. Also, you have to look at context. HAP ran very well in his debut, showed more promise breaking his maiden and then, off a 5 month layoff and a huge class jump, ran extremely well in the San Felipe. He took a step forward in the SA Derby. I think the Shared Belief turned many permanently against him, but he was severely undertrained for the race. As to the Derby, he ran even better than was first thought as he was on good legs. 6 starts - I think Honor A.P. accomplished a great deal, and I thought he was going to be even better later on and into next year.

If people want to dissect articles, go ahead - they have the right. I don’t think Bill Farish said anything wrong, certainly not to be poked fun of. But, no big deal - I’m not forced to read it.

Do I think HAP will be a good sire? I don’t know. His own sire, who I was deeply invested in since I loved him as a racehorse and since he’s Indy’s last big son at stud, has been promising but not and cold. That said, the fact that he’s an outcross to Mr. Prospector mares should help. I think Honor A.P. is a gorgeous horse and very talented - his retirement has been like a punch in the gut, but hopefully he will be a good sire.
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