Theoretical Question-Barbaro

[MLC]

It's a little sad to try to speculate on what might have been. I was at the Preakness this year (my first ever Triple Crown event). Bernardini and Barbaro hooking it up in the stretch would have been nice to see. I personally feel that Barbaro would have beaten Bernardini, but wonder whether or not a hard fought trip would have compromised his chances in the Belmont.

[Danzig]

everyone is assuming bernardini would still get his dream trip without the trouble early in the race.

it's pure speculation--absolutely no way of knowing. i think barbaro was the better horse.

as for coming thru the gate--horses have done that and won. barbaro showed just how tough he was-i have a hard time believing he'd let bernardini get the best of him.

[sham]

I don't know who would have won that race. Sure would love to have seen it. I'd bet anything though that Barbaro would have been in the fight with Bernardini at the end. I thought the Preakness was Bernardini's best race, so it would have been tough to beat him. However, no one knows how good Barbaro really was. Everyone connected with the horse claims that we never saw anywhere near his best. I do know one thing for sure. We never saw a "tired" Barbaro. That was the most outstanding attribute about him. In the Derby, he walloped the field and never took a deep breath. In the winners circle, he did not even look wet. He had beat the best and never broke a sweat. There is a reason the Bernardini folks went after Barbaro in the Preakness. They wanted no part of that "Dynaformer" endurance going 12fl in the Belmont. If Barbaro had won the Preakness, he would have been 1-5 or 1-10 in the Belmont and we would now be celebrating the 12th triple crown winner. And the scary part...dirt was not Barbaro's best surface. Just a tragic loss for horseracing.

[randallscott35]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/opinion/01neuman.html

[smuthg]

Personally, I think he would have completed the Triple Crown. I don't think Bernardini had the "guts" to out battle Barbaro if it came down to it... I do think that the Belmont would have been his last race on the dirt though...

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by smuthg

Personally, I think he would have completed the Triple Crown. I don't think Bernardini had the "guts" to out battle Barbaro if it came down to it... I do think that the Belmont would have been his last race on the dirt though...

not just last on dirt, but last race.


i was talking to a lady at work--everyone knows my love of the sport, and have all been offering condolences to me btw--and i told her he was one in a million...he wasn't the best ever, but when you consider how well he handled everything thrown at him, his intelligence and willingness to put up with all those pesky humans, and all his talent he showed in his racing....he was a special horse. out of all the horses everyone has rushed to get retired so they can make babies--i'd have taken him over any of them, any day of the week.

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by Danzig188

not just last on dirt, but last race.


i was talking to a lady at work--everyone knows my love of the sport, and have all been offering condolences to me btw--and i told her he was one in a million...he wasn't the best ever, but when you consider how well he handled everything thrown at him, his intelligence and willingness to put up with all those pesky humans, and all his talent he showed in his racing....he was a special horse. out of all the horses everyone has rushed to get retired so they can make babies--i'd have taken him over any of them, any day of the week.

I agree...pure speculation on my part of course (like everyone else) but I think he wins the Triple Crown and goes on to defeat older horses in the fall, the only question would have been whether he raced at four. Recent history strongly suggests that he would be retired but yet, I wonder. Bernardini is a nice horse but he was exposed in the BCC...look him in the eye and he folds! Barbaro would have looked him in the eye at the top of the stretch at Pimlico and would have encountered as much resistance as the French army gave the Germans...Barbaro was indeed a "once in a lifetime horse".

[Buffymommy]

Originally Posted by somerfrost

I agree...pure speculation on my part of course (like everyone else) but I think he wins the Triple Crown and goes on to defeat older horses in the fall, the only question would have been whether he raced at four. Recent history strongly suggests that he would be retired but yet, I wonder. Bernardini is a nice horse but he was exposed in the BCC...look him in the eye and he folds! Barbaro would have looked him in the eye at the top of the stretch at Pimlico and would have encountered as much resistance as the French army gave the Germans...Barbaro was indeed a "once in a lifetime horse".

I agree with Somer. Barbaro had a look of arrogance about him, like he knew how good he was. He was that smart. IMO, Berni wouldn't have stood a chance.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/opinion/01neuman.html

thanks for putting that up randall. so very, very true!! i almost wish the horses could race without the jock--so tired of seeing the jockeys start pumping their fist, pointing at the sky, etc. horse did all the work!!!!! rider was just lucky enough to be in the saddle.