Jerry Brown's letter to TDN on HOY discussion

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

Just so words aren't put in my mouth, I'll give you my recap of the race: Rachel set a rapid (not suicidal, as has been described) pace. Calvin chose to put her on the pace and out in the 2-3 path rather than taking back and getting boxed (as many people before the race thought Past the Point was likely to be a "dead send" from the outside post, as he was in last year's Woodward, and if Borel rated, Rachel could end up a marked horse like Ginger Punch was in the 2008 Go For Wand). She faced steady pressure to her inside from a weak race horse in Da' Tara for about five furlongs. When Da' Tara gave way, Rachel was hounded by Past the Point, but hard, head-to-head pressure from that rival never materialized. She shook loose on the turn and held off a determined challenge from an in-form closer in Macho Again (no world beater, but a legitimate Grade II type) under steady pressure in a very gutsy effort.

She was clearly the best horse in the Woodward, as she was in all her races this year and is a future Hall of Famer, but the attempts by some to elevate the Woodward performance to some kind of other-worldly performance, IMO, are wrong. Efforts of that caliber in this race belong to horses such as Holy Bull, Formal Gold and Ghostzapper. When trying to compare great performances in an historic race, I don't think "for a filly" is the standard. (And just so no one thinks I'm Rachel-bashing, while Zenyatta's win in the Classic was an outstanding performance by a terrific mare, it pales in comparison to the Breeders' Cup Classic performances of horses like Ghostzapper, Ferdinand, Sunday Silence, Awesome Again and the 3YO Tiznow.)

I appreciate this response because it has a lot of valid statements and is not just throwing a blanket over the debate like so many seem to be doing.

You bring up a lot of fair points... I still disagree a bit on the setup she received in the Wood, I don't think she was really given any breathers... they each took a shot, one-by-one, and failed.

As for the Formal Gold's of the world... well, truthfully, those type horses seem to be long gone. So, it's a tough comparison. Honestly, I think Zenyatta pales in comparison to that group as well. I think that's a reflection on the changing state of the game and not a negative reflection on her win.

The best horses in racing used to run 115-120... now it's 108-113 or so... it's a changing game.

The point of my initial post today was that ultimately, in the end, Rachel did more, the Woodward being one positive notch amongst many.