Do Fans Deserve Any Consideration?

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

Bricks and Mortar, who had never been 12 furlongs until Saturday, just staved off a modest CA-based gelding to get the win, and the key rival, Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck was in tight and nearly clipped heels just as he was charging at the leaders.

Midnight Bisou, always suspect at 9 furlongs, didn't even win the Distaff.

That said, I would have loved to have seen Bricks and Mortar in the Classic--win or lose--just to avoid hearing that screeched, tacky pre-scripted line from the announcer about being "built like a champion" after he edged a 50-1 shot.


Godolphin and Coolmore suffer from an embarrassment of riches. And want to pad stud fees if possible.

The 6yo Swain had already nearly beaten Silver Charm in the Dubai World Cup a few months prior to the Classic. He had also tanked in the BC Turf a couple of years earlier.

Giant's Causeway had never tried 12 furlongs and Coolmore already had the great Montjeu in the Turf.

When Sakhee and Galileo contested the Classic, Godolphin and Coolmore had major winner Fantastic Light (who had spoiled Galileo's unbeaten record one race prior) and St. Leger winner Milan in the Turf, respectively. They ran 1-2.

All very good points, although I would be a little hesitant to use race results to justify why something shouldn’t have even been tried. Lets’s say Bricks doesn’t win and Midnight Bisou didn’t win, could an argument be made that loses in their own divisions were more harmful to their records or reputations than a loss in the Classic would have been?

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Lets’s say Bricks doesn’t win and Midnight Bisou didn’t win, could an argument be made that loses in their own divisions were more harmful to their records or reputations than a loss in the Classic would have been?

In that regard, running in the Classic would be a means for the pro tem leader of another division to duck their respective supposed championship event.

Bricks and Mortar had a carefully crafted and well-executed campaign, no doubt. But considering the horses he was beating, apparently the turf division was lacking in depth. The best horse he beat prior to the BC was globe-trotter Magic Wand, a second-stringer (in Coolmore's distaff division no less), who only became a Group 1 winner today (after 20 starts) when she won a race in Australia 4 days after an unplaced run in the Melbourne Cup. In the Turf, Bricks and Mortar not only shipped west, he stepped up in trip, and beat a Classic winner (Anthony Van Dyck) and a solid international Group/Grade 1 performer (Old Persian). That was the championship performance needed to put an exclamation point on his campaign.

Midnight Bisou also had a well-manicured campaign with some soft spots punctuating a few battles with the hard-luck Elate. Ironically, Elate went for the Classic rather than taking another shot at Midnight Bisou at 9f, where the former excels and the latter is suspect. That move actually detracted from the Distaff and essentially just added more filler to an already underwhelming Classic. Nevertheless, you still had major division player Blue Prize, who was just rounding into her best form, and had nearly dead-heated with Midnight Bisou for a placing in last year's BC. When it was all said and done, Midnight Bisou was soundly beaten and her HOY aspirations--appropriately--popped like a balloon and may have even called into question her presumed dominance of the division.