Dubai World Cup

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

Care to elaborate on a "rough winter?"...Just didn't settle back in to desert life?

Well it's no secret around here that he's never been the soundest of horses. And he just had more than usual of his aces and pains this winter. So they had to do a little "doctoring up", and well he just wasn't himself. Maybe the connections got caught up in the pressure of running him before the home crowd on their biggest night. Maybe they thought he was so good that he could overcome it. Whatever the case, he is an exceptional horse. You can't fault a horse for his ailments. Only the connections that run them when they are not 100%

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by outofthebox

Well it's no secret around here that he's never been the soundest of horses. And he just had more than usual of his aces and pains this winter. So they had to do a little "doctoring up", and well he just wasn't himself. Maybe the connections got caught up in the pressure of running him before the home crowd on their biggest night. Maybe they thought he was so good that he could overcome it. Whatever the case, he is an exceptional horse. You can't fault a horse for his ailments. Only the connections that run them when they are not 100%

I've seen a lot of VERY good horses run VERY bad races before---in some cases, often due to a breathing related issue, these horses will find their old form fast. A few examples would be Afleet Alex getting slaughtered behind Greater Good in the Rebel Stakes. Skip Away was beaten about 30 lengths in an allowance race during his 3-year-old season. Holy Bull was beaten about 25 lengths in his start prior to the Florida Derby.

Hopefully, Discreet Cat had a problem he can come back from. He had a massive early speed advantage over that field---and showed no speed at all. Seeing him racing in last pace behind that slow pace---was as shocking as it would be to watch a horse like the Strike the Gold or Borrego on the early lead in the Breeders Cup Sprint.

The fact that he never made a move at any stage suggested something was wrong. My gut feeling is there's more to it than what's being reported on godolphin's website...I'm not so sure he'll ever race again.

Perhaps a match race with Thor's Echo might be in store.

Godolphin started 11 horses on World Cup day---not a single one managed to hit the board. And coming into World Cup day, they had struggled greatly all year long. At least they haven't yet resorted to Ian Jory's claims after last years World Cup day. When he insisted his two starters in the UAE Derby, whom both ran well below form, had been drugged. He claimed to have proof with the post race test results.