Afleet Alex

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Flaxen Mane

Here is what bothers me about Alex.... Whenever he would unleash his stunning move he made the horses near him look like they were standing still. The reason is they pretty much WERE! He passed horses that didn't want any part of 1 1/4 miles let alone 1 1/2 in the Belmont. Every time I watched him run the race fell apart around him.
I don't mean to knock Alex because I did like him, however I don't htink he is the super horse that so many were trying to turn him into...

And honestly, if I were you I wouldn't put that much stock into the near knockdown. It looked very dramatic, however he lost NO momentum off of that stumble.

Then I guess you ingnore the final quarter mile time in his Belmont, and his stakes record in the Mountain Valley, and his superb time in the Preakness with the stumble, as well as the Arkansas Derby. I know it is silly to compare times between different tracks and between days and years, but a horse that wasn't talented couldn't have run like that four different times like that.

I ride horses in real life, and I'm telling you that as dramatic as that stumble was, at most he lost a couple 10th's of a second. And that is at the VERY most.

I never said the horse wasn't fast, he was, but he was no super horse. And of course that last 1/4 in the Belmont was blazing, the race fell apart! Did you see the final time???

Again, I don't mean to knock Alex, he was a very nice colt, however, if he'd have run the year before, or the year after, I don't know that he would have fared so well. He would not have defeated Barbaro or Smarty in the Derby, he DEFINATELY would not have defeated Bernardini in the Preakness, and I'm not sure he'd have got Smarty either. In the Belmont.... Well, maybe running against a stronger pace....

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Flaxen Mane

I ride horses in real life, and I'm telling you that as dramatic as that stumble was, at most he lost a couple 10th's of a second. And that is at the VERY most.

I never said the horse wasn't fast, he was, but he was no super horse. And of course that last 1/4 in the Belmont was blazing, the race fell apart! Did you see the final time???

Again, I don't mean to knock Alex, he was a very nice colt, however, if he'd have run the year before, or the year after, I don't know that he would have fared so well. He would not have defeated Barbaro or Smarty in the Derby, he DEFINATELY would not have defeated Bernardini in the Preakness, and I'm not sure he'd have got Smarty either. In the Belmont.... Well, maybe running against a stronger pace....

Gee, like I haven't been riding horses my entire life even since before I could walk? Afleet Alex did lose a little momentum in the Preakness. His striding was compromised, and anytime a horse's striding is compromised, they lose momentum. You could see him really digging his hind legs up under him and pushing off of them with all his might to get his momentum all the way back up to the way it was before the incident. That is why it took him a distance to get by Scrappy T. In fact, I think both of the horses' momentums were compromised. I don't know by how much it would have affected the final time, but I do know the final time would have been faster. With that being said, it wasn't the momentum that the horse lost that was impressive. It was the fact that he recovered at all. 999 out of 1000 horses would have fallen. Although he doesn't have the prettiest conformation, that was one of the most athletic horses that I have ever seen. Was Alex a superhorse? No, he wasn't, at least, not at that stage of the game. However, there was every indication that he was improving including his gain in weight and height after his injury and the final workout off of the long layoff before he was officially retired.

Also, regarding the final time, it wasn't AA's fault that the horses in front of him went so slow in the opening quarters of the Belmont. The little horse did what was asked of him, and that was to annihilate them. He really put on a show. His Preakness time was very good even with the incident.

No, he wouldn't have Barbaro in the Derby. Of course, Barbaro was one nice horse. AA would have given Smarty Jones a run for his money in the Arkansas and the Preakness though, and maybe even the Derby. The race completely fell apart in AA's Derby, so it is very hard to compare the two. However, the race in the Preakness was more toward Alex's real ability rather than the Derby and the Belmont because, like you said, both of those races comepletely fell apart. As far as AA beating Bernardini...NO WAY, but then again I don't think any horse could have beaten Bernardini in the Preakness in this millenium. I think Bernardini is the next great one.