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#1
09-05-2009, 06:46 PM
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Not that anyone shouldn't be able to figure it out on there own...
But this RA win was basically like the Preakness version 2.
She was five or more lengths the best ... and the two deep closers that finished in behind her will be severly overrated off of this performance. Here's a recap of how the horses who stayed close to the pace did: RA: co pacesetter & winner D'Tara: dueled with RA & was eased and did not finish Past The Point: Sat 1 length off of lead in 3rd & was beaten 18 lengths Cool Coal Man: Sat 2 lengths off of the lead in 4th & was beaten 20 lengths It's a Bird: Sat 3.5 lengths off of lead in 5th & was beaten 11 lengths. It was a gap of 3 more lengths back to the next horse. So ... the four other horses in the race all within 3.5 lengths of her early were all beaten double digit lengths. 2nd place finisher Macho Again was 16 lengths back after just a quarter mile .. and still couldn't win. Even though it is highly embarassing to have to fight hard to beat much lesser horses like Macho Again and Bullsbay ... the win showed that there is a steep price to pay if you press RA early... even for established older males. Don't get me wrong ... none of those four other horses who laid within contact early are going to be compared with Bertrando anytime soon. But still, she fractured the speed and held off a very accomplished older male who had the race handed to him on a silver platter. 
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#3
09-05-2009, 07:23 PM
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I especially love that she made a mockery of Marty "I cannot label her great" Wolfson's horse. I thought Graham Motion was incredibly gracious after the race. Meathead Marty's quotes were mysteriously absent.
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#4
09-05-2009, 07:31 PM
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Here is Clueless Borel.. Mind you the first 3/4's was very fast and the first half of the race was extremely fast:
On the race itself: “She was a little aggressive. Steve had talked to me during the week and said, ‘She might be a little bit fresh. So, save me some horse for the last 40 or 50 yards, or sixteenth of a mile.’ I’m glad he had told me that because I rode her a little bit more confident and sitting chilly until it was time to go. He was right about everything. For the last 40 or 50 yards, she had enough. We went pretty rapid and I knew we were going pretty rapid. I never took anything away from her as long as I had been riding her. I’m not going to change. I knew we were stepping up against older horses. I think she was as good as them, or better. Can you be more off base. the JO blitz the first half..
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#6
09-05-2009, 07:37 PM
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Quote:
He choose to be very aggressive and ride as if he keyed the other deep closers in the back of his tickets and wanted to make sure they finished in the money. Obviously he didn't bet .. so I'm joking about that .. but her winning margin would have been much bigger had he rode her the way he did in the Mother Goose and rated her in behind horses. I think he wanted to avoid a situation like with Miss Isella in the Flur De Lis at Churchill. He got her trapped inside just behind the pace and bounced her off of the rail - but got up to win. Everyone dumb thought he got Miss Issela in a world of trouble that day ... but her final time was 1:49.59. On that same day, going the same distance, Macho Again needed 1:49.75 to win the Foster. That kind of trouble is very overrated .. dueling through crazy fast early fractions is more the underrated kind of trouble.
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#7
09-05-2009, 07:41 PM
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Quote:
Wasn't Jim Rowe (trainer of some of Man O'War's opponents like Wildair, John P. Grier, and Upset from what I remember) the one that just couldn't accept that MOW was great for basically an eternity? Did he ever finally go 'ok maybe they have a point'? It was just a constant thing of 'well he hasn't faced this other horse I have but that will be the one that does it' after which he goes 'we'll get him next time' or 'I have another that'll do it.' Rinse and repeat for 2 years. Could've sworn it was Rowe but if not, I can't think of who else it'd be. If I were Tim Rice and Chip Wooley, I'd be rooting for her like nobody's business. They both have nice colts and it makes them look all the better that she goes on to such accomplishments. MTB got closer than the other 3yo colts, that's something to be proud of. Tim seemed like such a classy guy talking about Summer Bird in relation to Rachel.
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#8
09-05-2009, 07:44 PM
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If so, I almost certainly must have been Jim Rowe in a past life.
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#9
09-05-2009, 09:13 PM
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Quote:
__________________
Still trying to outsmart me, aren't you, mule-skinner? You want me to think that you don't want me to go down there, but the subtle truth is you really don't want me to go down there!
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