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#1
06-05-2012, 03:50 AM
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Hawkster
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-10-...330_1_oak-tree
I was looking at various world records and given that it's Belmont week (even though it's on Santa Anita's downhill turf course) Hawkster's 1 1/2 time got my attention. I'm sorry to say I'm not as familiar with Hawkster as I probably should be. It was really before I followed racing with any seriousness, and despite my best efforts attempting to bridge gaps, I miss certain horses. Most of my awareness of him is from Afleet Alex. Can anybody elaborate on him a bit, given his record time and being the broodmare sire of a Belmont winner? The article I linked to discusses his world record achievement at Oak Tree, notable for how Russell Baze was a last minute replacement for an MIA P Val. Had a ton of deja vu reading about what happened there--not from remembering it obviously, just from knowing what happened with him later and thinking about other jocks with problems. 
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#2
06-05-2012, 10:22 AM
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Despite his grade 1 win as a 2yo on dirt, Hawkster was a much tougher horse on turf. Also, once they figured out he needed to be let loose on the lead, he became a really top runner.
As for the track record, the turf was real fast those days. I did see him break his maiden too. I think he won first time out on dirt in a very short race.
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#3
06-05-2012, 12:28 PM
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Hawkster is the only horse in history to run 5th in all 3 Triple Crown races. Mane Minister trumped him a couple of years later by running 3rd in all 3. Of course, Alydar is the standard.
Like many offspring of Silver Hawk, he was a completely different horse on turf. Basically a one-run closer on the main track, he was practically a run-off frontrunner on the turf. Unfortunately, he was not BC nominated, else he would have been an interesting rival to Easy Goer in the '88 BC Juvenile coming off a runaway win in the Norfolk at Oak Tree. In '89, he was riding a 4-race win streak on the turf, including the Del Mar Derby, Secretariat, and Oak Tree Invitational, going into November. Considering the unheralded Caltech was favored, and first time turfer Prized ended up winning, Hawkster would have probably been a top choice in the Turf that year. Instead he went to the Japan Cup and ran a decent 5th.
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#4
06-05-2012, 04:19 PM
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Short video of Hawkster's 89 Del Mar Derby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzdeXJkmBqs
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