Ouija Board lame, scratched, retired...

Travis Stone · #1 12-09-2006, 08:14 AM

...my friend Pat, who runs the international part of the site, texted me early this morning with the news. It was announced shortly thereafter she was retired. This is too bad as she is an amazing horse.

Racingdispatch.com

paisjpq · #2 12-09-2006, 08:18 AM

thanks Travis...that's too bad, I love this mare (who doesn't?) may she be half as successful on her new career

philcski · #3 12-09-2006, 08:29 AM

A shame, I for one planned on staying up to watch the race... but she doesn't owe anyone anything. A true champion.

#4 12-09-2006, 08:38 AM

As great a mare as anyone could ever see. A true legend. Hope she has a wonderful life as a mommy, and many happy days. I can't think of many horses who earned it more than her. What a warrior.

Travis Stone · #5 12-09-2006, 08:50 AM

I also think she proves to us that the horses can handle it, the breed isn't quite dead yet.

Danzig · #6 12-09-2006, 08:54 AM

an incredible mare, an amazing career. my hat (well, if i had one on) is off to her owner, lord derby. truly a sportsman in every sense, i thank him for his willingness to share such a gifted horse with all of us--i know everyone enjoyed her, and appreciated the fact he kept her out there for this long. and she never really missed a beat. three times in the bc, with great success. her efforts against the best in the world were a joy. just incredible.

the very best of luck to her, may she live a long and happy life.

#7 12-09-2006, 09:22 AM

What a strong animal....I think she raced in England, Ireland, Dubai, USA, Japan and China? Maybe more? Just those off the top of my head. That is unheard of these days and she never came up empty in any of those races. Travel never got to this animal which is truly amazing. Hopefully she will pass that trait down to many offspring.

ArlJim78 · #8 12-09-2006, 09:51 AM

yeah I was shocked and saddened when miss storm cat broke the news for us night owls in the International section late last night.

The superlatives that people use for this horse are for once truly applicable.
She was extraordinary, a true international star of racing as I have said many times.

We'll not soon forget her gallant efforts around the world.

Bogey · #9 12-09-2006, 10:13 AM

A true champion. I will never forget when I first laid my eyes on her at the '04 Breeders' Cup at Lone Star. I can honestly tell you that I watched her 3rd place finish in the '04 Arc (as a 3yr old) about 50 times in the media room at the hotel days before her U.S. debut. I watched the races with SAMM (ATRAB). It was easy to she how talented she was and what a bright future she could have. Well, as they say, the rest is history. She'll go down as one of the best ever IMO. With her catchy name and dominate performances it was easy to fall in love with her. I wish her the best.

hoovesupsideyourhead · #10 12-09-2006, 10:31 AM

and some one will come on here and say she wasnt great....sorry to hear this news..but...she will have many siblings...congrats on your retirement..you have earned it 100 percent..

brockguy · #11 12-09-2006, 11:21 AM

Lord Derby could so easily have retired her as a champ in 2004, with two Oaks wins, a BC Filly and Mare Turf win and a gallant third in the Arc. She even managed to overcome injury at Royal Ascot in 2005 to nearly reclaim her F&M title, but she got the huge prize she deserved last year with a win in Hong Kong. This year, she's been as good as ever, and she has been a real advertisment for horse racing. She's been a pleasure to watch for the last 4 years.

22 starts
10 wins (7 G1's)
3 2nds
5 thirds

shes raced in England 11 times, Ireland 2, France 1, the US 3, Japan 2, Hong Kong 2 and Dubai 1

King Glorious · #12 12-09-2006, 01:51 PM

Anyone that says she wasn't a great mare doesn't know what they are talking about. She's truly a world class level horse. I get so tired of people talking about horses like Makybe Diva and Silent Witness as being world class when they only stayed in one area and beat the best of that area. There is a chance that Makybe Diva could have travelled the world and done the same things as Ouija Board but the fact is that she never has. When u want to talk about true world champions, these days u would be hard pressed to find any horse more deserving of that title than Ouija Board. Male or female. I'm bothered that she was retired. They said that she was examined and x-rayed and nothing out of the ordinary was showing up. I understand those that will say that she owes us nothing else but then the argument can be made that she's owed us nothing from the start. I would have loved to see her rested and brought back to continue dominating next year. I see no reason why she couldn't have. In this day and age though, we've already gotten to see much more than we are used to so for that, I am glad.

#13 12-09-2006, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Anyone that says she wasn't a great mare doesn't know what they are talking about. She's truly a world class level horse. I get so tired of people talking about horses like Makybe Diva and Silent Witness as being world class when they only stayed in one area and beat the best of that area. There is a chance that Makybe Diva could have travelled the world and done the same things as Ouija Board but the fact is that she never has. When u want to talk about true world champions, these days u would be hard pressed to find any horse more deserving of that title than Ouija Board. Male or female. I'm bothered that she was retired. They said that she was examined and x-rayed and nothing out of the ordinary was showing up. I understand those that will say that she owes us nothing else but then the argument can be made that she's owed us nothing from the start. I would have loved to see her rested and brought back to continue dominating next year. I see no reason why she couldn't have. In this day and age though, we've already gotten to see much more than we are used to so for that, I am glad.

Is this the same King Glorious that posts over at the ThoroughbredNet forum?? You sounded a wee bit more pissed on that forum of her retirement than you do here. What's with the "conservative" approach here???

King Glorious · #14 12-09-2006, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Eyes

Is this the same King Glorious that posts over at the ThoroughbredNet forum?? You sounded a wee bit more pissed on that forum of her retirement than you do here. What's with the "conservative" approach here???

Over there, I'm a bit more comfortable to say how I really feel because I've been there so long. Also, there is no need to say the things here that I said there because I think that the people on this forum are much more realistic fans and understanding of the game and how it works than they are over there and there's no need to post something just to have people agreeing. I like to try to post opposing viewpoints to some things, just to make people think sometimes.

GPK · #15 12-09-2006, 04:45 PM

LOVED this gal and will miss her dearly. A game mare she was.

#16 12-09-2006, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Over there, I'm a bit more comfortable to say how I really feel because I've been there so long. Also, there is no need to say the things here that I said there because I think that the people on this forum are much more realistic fans and understanding of the game and how it works than they are over there and there's no need to post something just to have people agreeing. I like to try to post opposing viewpoints to some things, just to make people think sometimes.

What you posted on TBNet would have been more accepted here and what you posted here would have been more accepted over there. So what you're explaining doesn't make sense.
I call it contradicting yourself, or in some cases brown nosing, perhaps? But, to each his own.

avance2000 · #17 12-09-2006, 08:48 PM

for three solid years, she was a big threat to win any race she entered.....no matter what other horses in the world were running against her.
i think that says it all about her.

blackthroatedwind · #18 12-09-2006, 11:07 PM

I am somewhat confused by your initial post, hardly surprising, and while I agree with your assessment of her as a true " world champion " I don't understand you talking about them bringing her back. Tonight's race was to be her final start, she missed it, I hardly think because of that they should bring her back for another year.

She's done more than enough. Nice to see one who truly raced, danced all the dances, and now goes out on top. It's all good.

King Glorious · #19 12-10-2006, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I am somewhat confused by your initial post, hardly surprising, and while I agree with your assessment of her as a true " world champion " I don't understand you talking about them bringing her back. Tonight's race was to be her final start, she missed it, I hardly think because of that they should bring her back for another year.

She's done more than enough. Nice to see one who truly raced, danced all the dances, and now goes out on top. It's all good.

I don't mean to bring her back because she missed this race. I wouldn't have wanted her retired in the first place. Speaking strictly as a fan, I like to see the top horses compete as long as they are capable. If she was losing a step, fine. But she's not. And she's still very lightly raced. I got into a debate elsewhere about the term "done enough" and I think it's very subjective. No doubt that in this day and age, she's done more than can ever be expected. Honestly, in any era, she's probably done enough so with her, I have no problem with them retiring her although again, as a fan, I'd like to see her continue. My initial reaction was one of frustration at the industry as a whole, not her connections in particular although I guess it did seem as if it was with them. When I read that she was examined and x-rayed and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, I immediately thought of all of the retirement announcements where they say that the horse retired sound and never had any problems.....and he's a 3yo with 10 career starts. I hate being deprived of seeing good horses run when they are still more than capable of being top horses.

Going back to the "done enough" thing, I think that if u (not meaning u specifically BTW) are going to be ok when an owner says he feels that his horse has done enough, u have to accept that excuse every time. Not meaning to compare the career accomplishments of Ouija Board and Bernardini but who's to say that the owners of Bernardini hadn't seen enough? Who knows what it was they were looking to see in the first place? Isn't that up to each individual owner to know when they've seen what they want or need to see, when they've seen enough? If u were looking to stand a stallion or looking to breed to Bernardini, have u seen what u need to see from him? We as fans want to see more so that we can have more information about him and more basis of fact to use when comparing him to other all-time greats. But for many in the actual business of racing, I agree that he's done enough.

Danzig · #20 12-10-2006, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by merasmag

u were my last hope..why oh why didn't i do what any sane person woulda, coulda, shoulda done and put all my $$$$ on u to win on bc day??? (actually, cause i was drunk and in the ladies room as the race went off)---please make sure noone kills u trying to mount u and have a good post-racing life

post of the week.