Top 5 Derby horses at this point

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by kentuckyrosesinmay

Not all horses who are sore will walk sore. Bute hides a lot of things. Sometimes it requires a jog, a canter, or even a gallop to pick it out, or a good feel of the legs.

That's why the people that I am associated with feel the horse's legs at the two year old sales. They can't tell everything by watching them walk or just by looking at their legs. We saw some that walked sore at a recent sale while we were pulling them out and looking at them, and some of the others who didn't walk sore had something majorly wrong with them like a bad tendon or suspensory when their legs were felt upon.

Street Sense definitely does not move as pretty as he did as a two year old, and I have never been a fan of the way Any Given Saturday moves, but it is not as fluid as it was when he was a two year old.

I always thought that if I was an expert horse person like yourself, that I could use that knowledge to predict how a horse would run on a given day. Now I'm realizing that it is a complete waste of time.

Any Given Saturday ran his best race to date. Street Sense ran not as good as his juvenile race but NO ONE expected that he would repeat that effort first off the layoff so his performance is perfectly in line with his previous high standards. They both achieved very nice 101 beyers and equaled the track record. And all this was done while they were sore and did not have the pretty strides that they had last year. I'm also kinda shocked that two training icons could have done such a poor job not maintaining the horses pretty two year old stride, and allowing plainly obvious sore horses to compete.

The whole thing is quite perplexing, why wouldn't the soreness and lack of stride fluidity show up in the actual performance?

[Grits]

I know that y'all are familiar with the late Bonnie Ledbetter.

God, she shows up here at DerbyTrail, reincarnated. In the flesh. Who'd a thought!!

I hope that you hire yourself out for the sales Roses, because folks like Michael Tabor and the Maktoums pay big money for that wealth of knowledge you have.

Originally Posted by Grits

I know that y'all are familiar with the late Bonnie Ledbetter.

God, she shows up here at DerbyTrail, reincarnated. In the flesh. Who'd a thought!!

I hope that you hire yourself out for the sales Roses, because folks like Michael Tabor and the Maktoums pay big money for that wealth of knowledge you have.

Ohhhhhh my!!

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Grits

I know that y'all are familiar with the late Bonnie Ledbetter.

God, she shows up here at DerbyTrail, reincarnated. In the flesh. Who'd a thought!!

I hope that you hire yourself out for the sales Roses, because folks like Michael Tabor and the Maktoums pay big money for that wealth of knowledge you have.

It really is a crime to see this kind of talent go to waste.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by Grits

I know that y'all are familiar with the late Bonnie Ledbetter.

God, she shows up here at DerbyTrail, reincarnated. In the flesh. Who'd a thought!!

I hope that you hire yourself out for the sales Roses, because folks like Michael Tabor and the Maktoums pay big money for that wealth of knowledge you have.

Don't worry, if one of them happens to breakdown she will have one of her 'friends' come on and post about her great eye like she, I mean they, did when Pine Island broke down.

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Don't worry, if one of them happens to breakdown she will have one of her 'friends' come on and post about her great eye like she, I mean they, did when Pine Island broke down.

I didn't want my friend to bring that back up. He was asking if I knew about conformation, and wanted me to teach him a little bit about it as he will be investing in some race horses very shortly. So I showed him that post and we looked at some of her videos of her races. I had no idea that he was going to actually reply to the post. In fact, I was glad that no one said anything about it then...well, until now. I was very sorry that I was right on that one.

[blackthroatedwind]

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better.

[Payson Dave]

lololololol.... This is quite the entertaining thread...

[Grits]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better.

Alright now, we gotta settle down here. I don't want to be party to hammering this young person's dreams.

Still, I have to keep in mind that this is part on the online experience, . . . in other words, I couldn't make this S**T up.

Entertainment and all, this it is.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by Grits

Alright now, we gotta settle down here. I don't want to be party to hammering this young person's dreams.

Still, I have to keep in mind that this is part on the online experience, . . . in other words, I couldn't make this S**T up.

Entertainment and all, this it is.

I'm not trying to bust her dreams... it's just that things are very different in the racing industry. I have a background in show jumpers, and while I know a few things in regards to that discipline, the same rules don't always apply to racing. A successful race horse doesn't have to win any conformation contests if he/she can run fast and get the job done, you know? I definitely look at conformation (sometimes to the dismay of others, lol), but I think I've finally learned my lesson that how a horse looks in the paddock and in the warm-up isn't always going to be a preview of how they're going to race.

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Grits

Alright now, we gotta settle down here. I don't want to be party to hammering this young person's dreams.

Still, I have to keep in mind that this is part on the online experience, . . . in other words, I couldn't make this S**T up.

Entertainment and all, this it is.

How are you all hammering my dreams? I'm going to college to be a cardiologist, own a very nice horse, and hang out with some of the biggest names in Thoroughbred racing. I'm already in the middle of everything in the industry living the good life. In other words, I was being very facetious in my previous post...

[paisjpq]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by paisjpq

Pillow just got topped!

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by Grits

I know that y'all are familiar with the late Bonnie Ledbetter.

God, she shows up here at DerbyTrail, reincarnated. In the flesh. Who'd a thought!!

I hope that you hire yourself out for the sales Roses, because folks like Michael Tabor and the Maktoums pay big money for that wealth of knowledge you have.

They pay much less now as they can just read DerbyTrail. I wouldn't be surprised if they're lurking as we speak soaking up these tidbits of information.

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

I always thought that if I was an expert horse person like yourself, that I could use that knowledge to predict how a horse would run on a given day. Now I'm realizing that it is a complete waste of time.

Any Given Saturday ran his best race to date. Street Sense ran not as good as his juvenile race but NO ONE expected that he would repeat that effort first off the layoff so his performance is perfectly in line with his previous high standards. They both achieved very nice 101 beyers and equaled the track record. And all this was done while they were sore and did not have the pretty strides that they had last year. I'm also kinda shocked that two training icons could have done such a poor job not maintaining the horses pretty two year old stride, and allowing plainly obvious sore horses to compete.

The whole thing is quite perplexing, why wouldn't the soreness and lack of stride fluidity show up in the actual performance?

It did show up in the actual performance. Not in terms of how hard the horses ran, but in terms of how they looked. However, as BTW pointed out, a good horse can run through their physical problems. It does not mean that the horse is going to last. It also means that I won't bet on races where favorites like these are running. You don't know if they are going to break down or win by open lengths. Besides, I always stay away from favorites anyway. I don't like to bet anything that is under 3-1.

Good trainers run sore horses all of the time. Bobby Frankel ran Empire Maker in the Derby didn't he? Badge of Silver was sore as he could be while working at Churchill Downs before the BC too. He finished in the money. What about BG Cat? Front wraps for the first time and then he all of a sudden has a broken leg after the race?

I actually gave Street Sense a good shot to win. My outlook on everything was that they were just trying to squeeze a few more races out of him and that he would probably be good for a few more starts.

[blackthroatedwind]

Carl Nafzger did a fine job of getting a full career of good races out of Banshee Breeze. I realize you weren't born yet when she raced but she was a very sore going horse.

A lot of expertise being blathered here with virtually no background to back it up. Newbies beware!

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Carl Nafzger did a fine job of getting a full career of good races out of Banshee Breeze. I realize you weren't born yet when she raced but she was a very sore going horse.

A lot of expertise being blathered here with virtually no background to back it up. Newbies beware!

And just for the record, I'm not a groom, exercise rider, jockey, or anything like that. No, I'm not in the race horse business and I don't have any connections in the Thoroughbred business at all. I don't even go out and watch the races. I don't have any background in horses or in racing. So, the newer members should not listen to me and should listen to all of the other experts on this board. It is much better that way. You all will learn a lot more.