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#1
06-24-2006, 05:34 PM
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#3
06-24-2006, 05:38 PM
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#4
06-24-2006, 05:40 PM
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#6
06-24-2006, 08:55 PM
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I couldn't argue with that, so she bet him to win and made a little. I guess if your favorite horse is also the best horse in a race, it makes sense to play him. I'm not sure he'll lose this year.
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#7
06-24-2006, 09:01 PM
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If you are able to "guess" that a legitimate breathing problem caused the JCGC and draw a line through it, he was an absolute developing star last year. His Spa races were awesome, and I was beginning to think that I was the only one who realized how great his BCC was. I mean, St Liam was a lot better horse than he gets credit for. FA had him all out to get by teh whole stretch and was well clear of soem pretty nice older horses. His sheet numbers were just crazy good. I've been preaching and stomping my feet since that race that he was gonna be a KILLER this year. There was no setback. Todd said so in today's DRF and hes a pretty level guy with the media. They just decided to go for the races that matter. To me, the Whitney and the BCC are the two that I would want more than any other race if I were an owner of an older horse. Yeah sure, there are some bigger purse money races than the Whitney, but nowhere near as prestigious and lets face it, the owner isn't a millionaire, hes a billionaire. he doesnt care about the purses. Hes already won the Travers and winning a race like the Donn or Foster or im Special wasnt give him more status. The Whitney and BCC can do that.
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#8
06-24-2006, 09:34 PM
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Hmmm ... Flower Alley went a mile in 1:35.4.
A few races earlier ... $25,000 maiden claimers went a mile in 1:36 ... and they still had another 1/16 to go. Not impressive at all time-wise ... but it was his first outing in eight months ... so there's room for improvement ... ... and he'll need to improve a lot in order to compete with Mayan King. I don't think it'll happen ... but good luck.
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#9
06-24-2006, 09:39 PM
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it's just a shame (to me) that this horse had to be gone so long between the bcc and his four year old debut.
i guess one way to look at it is that there used to be a 'season' to racing. everyone stopped in the fall, no racing in winter, and then everyone started back in the spring. now there's racing all year thru--which is good for fans, but not so good for horses. but is it really and truly too much to ask that a horse run more than a few times a year? i guess for some it is. yeah, hoy may not be earned in the first half of the year, but i don't think it should be earned exclusively in the second half either.
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Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln
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#10
06-25-2006, 02:01 PM
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Presumable, when a horse comes off of a long layoff, it is only some percentage of its optimum racing fitness (80%, 90%, whatever), which needs racing to be developed. Therefore, a contest versus lesser animals gives a horse coming off of a lay-off the best shot of winning and these days, when any loss negatively influences stallion value, it is clearly the way to go.
Ooops. Should have read the WHOLE thread before I jumped in. Last edited by Pedigree Ann : 06-25-2006 at 02:07 PM.
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#11
06-25-2006, 05:34 PM
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Joel,
I noted your response on Asmussen and smiled. See, you know the guy, so you have a pretty good idea that he is a great horseman. Steve is all class and a brilliant guy with an eidetic memory. Hes just a damn good horseman and businessman. yet the same questions have been raised about Steve as have been raised about Dutrow and Todd. Joel, I used to lead the "hes juicing the *********"!!!!!!! campaign. And I guess some of the guys I thought were jucing, were juicing. But I didn't know how much I didn't know. I used to help manage a stable for guy who is on your home turf. Picked out spots to run in, claims, who to hire as a trainer, etc. This guy has just awful knees. One day a couple of years ago a vet gave him something that is now patented to take orally for his knee. the pain went away and he hadnt felt that good in years. Its called lubrisyn now. Call Steve Allday what you will, but the guy is the best vet on the planet earth. hes arrogant but with that arrognace is a cunning and high drive to be the best at what he does. Soem of the guys people question have been using that product and several other legal products for years now. they aren't cheating, they just have acess to better legal stuff and the money to pay for it. I met Rick through a friend and he trained a couple of horses for Lansdon on the advice of my friend Joe P. I called him one day and bought him a horse. later on one day at Aqueeduct he asked me to go out to dinner with he and an owner ofhis after the races. So I stop by the barn and he gives me a tour. Now hes got a full barn. No grease pencil on the stalls, yet he knows every one of the horses by sight, not all tariners could do that. As we stop be each stall he tells me their last race Ragozin, and their lifetime best rag. Now I'm stunned, he is much brighter than I thought he was, as a matter of fact hes downright crazy intelligent. he learned a lot from his dad, and a whole lot more from Frankel, whose horses he used to house back before frankel had made a semi move back to NY. he cares for horses like you wouldnt believe. he also uses Rag numbers to spot em all and manage them. You havent met him, so you have the perception that he is a juicer. But you have obviously met Asmussen so you know hes bright. Ricks the same way, and like Asmussen he hates losing. Thats what drives him. You oughta meet the guy before you condemn him to being a juicer. I had the same opinion until I met him and saw what he was about and how he does it.
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#12
06-25-2006, 05:39 PM
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if these trainers could really juice their way to wins, wouldn't they have all their horses running in all the stakes? i mean, if it's so easy.....
i saw where SA got a six month ban. is that the norm? seems to be pretty stiff to me....
__________________
Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln
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#13
06-25-2006, 05:42 PM
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also, some are really good at looking at a horse and seeing something that tells them they could be special. look at lava man. or anew. sometimes it's a change of surface (cigar, mineshaft) distance, equipment change (some minor, some major--aheam, ANEW)...or they get better with age, like john henry.
anyway, if it was so easy to claim a horse and make his a stakes winner, they'd do that every day. esp asmussen, he has a ton of horses. ought to be cleaning up all over i guess....
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Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln
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#14
06-24-2006, 05:37 PM
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Flower Alley is certianly the horse to beat this year. He has proven form whereas the 3yos still need to improve considerably to figure. Obviously, they will but I reckon there is still more to come from FA and as Oracle said, Pletcher will have him spot on BCC day±!
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