Week/Weekend Stakes Beyers: Pharoah 105; Honor Code 112

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

This is one of the problems with the Triple Crown hoopla, and flavor-of-the-months in general, as it dismisses other great champions we witnessed. How quickly the Zenyatta circus erased the impact of Azeri on the racing landscape. That Harlem Globetrotter-like stalwart also took quite a bit of shine off the filly you just mentioned, Rachel Alexandra.

A quick review of Rachel Alexandra highlights one of the all time great campaigns not only in terms of accomplishment, but in terms of pace, final time, and field quality.

While we are inundated with quasi-physiological assessments of American Pharoah's thoracic-pelvic limb coupling and whispers of speed figure conspiracy theories, no such mumbo jumbo is needed when analyzing Rachel Alexandra's 3yo campaign.

Facile wins in the midwest in preps for the bigger dances parallel American Pharoah's romps at Oaklawn. The Kentucky Oaks was one for the ages, stalking Gabby's Golden Gal, from the same crew that brought you Firing Line and likewise coming off a blowout at Sunland Park, Rachel Alexandra disposed of her as she pleased and won by 20. Gabby's Golden Gal won a Grade 1 in her next start, and did so again at 4.

The Preakness saw RA lock horns with Big Drama, a subsequent BC Sprint winner and champion sprinter, then draw off and hold sway. Ironically, American Pharoah's sire, Pioneerof The Nile was seen with brief speed before pack-peddling and easing through the stretch---sound like Materiality to anyone? Perhaps Pioneerof The Nile's Santa Anita wins in the winter preps should be dismissed too, based on this one run. By the way, he never ran again.

The Mother Goose against fillies seems like a joke, with just 3 horses, but Flashing would go on to win two Grade 1s in the summer and Malibu Prayer won a Grade 1 at 4, so quality was not in question. Certainly the pace that was set was blazing. 1:08+ for 6f. RA won by nearly 20 again, in a stakes record.

They took it to her in the Haskell. A sloppy track. Munnings (sire of Om, who dusted American Pharoah first time out), fresh off huge sprint wins against both fellow 3yos and older horses engages RA immediately while Kent Desormeaux decides to put the pressure early from the inside down the backstretch to try and crack her facade. She won by 6.

Visually and time-wise, the Woodward was a letdown, but nevertheless she won and defeating older males in one of the prestige events on calendar was the only thing that could put a worthy cap on what she had done earlier in the year.

That she showed only flashes of the same brilliance at 4 is no matter. In 5 races at 3 she was tested in all ways by all types and could not be beaten.

American Pharoah could not be beaten, either, and so was able to achieve a rare feat, but the kitchen sink was hardly thrown at him...unless 2 for 9 Frosted and 2 for 7 Firing Line are worthy substitutes for all the things Rachel Alexandra overcame.

Her Martha Washington at OP is breathtaking, Was at Haskell in paddock with her and she was such a grand filly. I am not sure what her stride measured but it looked like she was in air forever when she ran?

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Her Martha Washington at OP is breathtaking, Was at Haskell in paddock with her and she was such a grand filly. I am not sure what her stride measured but it looked like she was in air forever when she ran?

No no no. Being in the air is bad.

Or so I read elsewhere.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

No no no. Being in the air is bad.

Or so I read elsewhere.

I'll try to explain this to you, despite the obviousness of your trolling.

A horse, or any animal for that matter, accelerates when they push off the ground. The force that drives a horse forward comes from the legs pushing off the surface of the track.

When an animal is completely off the ground, they are no longer accelerating and in fact, are decelerating. Do you really believe that if a horse stayed in the air for five seconds on each stride, they'd be going even faster?

It's kind of like a batter in baseball trying to dive into first base to beat out the throw. They actually make it easier to be out by launching into the air and slowing down.

I can prove this to you mathematically (via simple physics) if you like, but I know you'll just reject it because Rachel Alexandra beat a sprinter.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

I'll try to explain this to you, despite the obviousness of your trolling.

A horse, or any animal for that matter, accelerates when they push off the ground. The force that drives a horse forward comes from the legs pushing off the surface of the track.

When an animal is completely off the ground, they are no longer accelerating and in fact, are decelerating. Do you really believe that if a horse stayed in the air for five seconds on each stride, they'd be going even faster?

It's kind of like a batter in baseball trying to dive into first base to beat out the throw. They actually make it easier to be out by launching into the air and slowing down.

I can prove this to you mathematically (via simple physics) if you like, but I know you'll just reject it because Rachel Alexandra beat a sprinter.

So you are saying the shorter the stride the more advantageous for developing constant speed? The problem with the math here is that while they are in air they aren't spending energy and are covering more ground. IF they had gas tanks that didn't deplete this would be fine but they do. As such the longer the stride to cover the most distance, typically enhances a horses ability to run faster, because the next push is done with the potential for more force. If you aren't exhausting your energy you can use it further up the track to push harder again. This seems to be why a longer stride is more favorable.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by freddymo

So you are saying the shorter the stride the more advantageous for developing constant speed? The problem with the math here is that while they are in air they aren't spending energy and are covering more ground. IF they had gas tanks that didn't deplete this would be fine but they do. As such the longer the stride to cover the most distance, typically enhances a horses ability to run faster, because the next push is done with the potential for more force. If you aren't exhausting your energy you can use it further up the track to push harder again. This seems to be why a longer stride is more favorable.

No, I am not saying that at all.

I'm saying the longer a horse has all four feet/hooves in the air, the more time that horse is spending slowing down.

I was responding to this point earlier (not to Trollo, but before him) that it's a fallacy to credit his running ability to him being in the air longer than other horses.

His biomechanical efficiency is where he gets his biggest advantage. It's the primary reason why I've felt that he would not have endurance issues, despite the female side of his pedigree.

He wastes almost no energy at all, relative to how other horses move.

A really good example of what I mean, though not perfect, can be seen immediately after one of his recent workouts.

When he's finished his work, you can see how he's moving with a very easy trot, almost like he's just prancing, while the stable pony has to exert himself to just keep up with the easiest of movements that AP is doing.

Also watch how almost perfectly flat his spine is during his workout. There is virtually no up and down (vertical) motion with the length of his back as he's running. Most other horses have very noticeable movement vertically, which is wasted energy.

He also has no visible defects in his forward movements. No leg paddling, he runs straight, etc..

These things are what you get as you get closer to perfect conformation. It is why conformation is so important, it translates into how good a mover a horse will be, among other things.

You can't really account for their internal engine though by what I'm saying. Secretariat, as you surely know, had a freakishly large heart, which I have no way of knowing anything about.

Save your breath Trollo.