Quote:
Originally Posted by RolloTomasi
Lane's End Puff Release...er...Press Release
This is the roundabout way of saying he’s a one-hit wonder.
Unlucky trip or bad ride? Why he was allowed to switch off and hang nearly 15 lengths off the uncontested pace (while going wide into the first turn once again) is beyond me. The horse is bred to be a plodder, but if he had any positive going into the Derby (and there weren’t many) it was that he actually had a modicum of early speed and did well in his previous races with a stalking trip. Ironically, Smith did the exact opposite in the Shared Belief, inexplicably forcing the pace with a wide sweeping early move. To compound the problem, Smith decided to wait until the ¼ pole to set down on the horse (all the while still going wide) when the horse’s other strength has been his ability to accelerate and challenge for the lead on the far turn.
At any rate, if the author of this puff piece actually thought that the horse was "quickening" at the end, I don’t know what to tell you. The horse made up a total of 2 lengths in the stretch.
Rather than dubiously inflating the performance of the horse, most of this basically proves the performance of the rider left a lot to be desired.
And by the way, what a field it was. Hardly missed Nadal, Charlatan, Maxfield, King Guillermo, Art Collector, Thousand Words, Uncle Chuck, Swiss Skydiver…
When I think of precocity, I think of Gulch or Summer Squall or King Glorious or Cryptoclearance winning early baby races in the summer. I don’t think of a horse that wins a low-rated maiden race at Santa Anita in October.
But relatively speaking, I guess in Shirreff’s world the horse was quite precocious…
Running sluggishly for 10 furlongs, losing to a horse you already defeated, and coming out a race injured are stallion-making qualities now?
Affirmed was a breed-shaping sire? In what country?
At least the “...and more” part is tenuously accurate since the author opted not to name Indian Charlie outright…
From the sound of it, Lane’s End breeds show horses not racehorses.
Whatever happened to stamina, durability, consistency, versatility, and--dare I say--longevity?
At the very least, a classic win (or two) would have been nice…
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As always, you write the best posts and it's a pleasure reading them. The King Glorious mention made it that much better.
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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
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