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#1
02-27-2009, 09:25 AM
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Ron Thompson   Avatar is Invasor in his stall/Post Classic taken by my trusty cell phone camera. 
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#2
02-27-2009, 09:39 AM
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 Tell you an interesting story about a cheap old out-of-town claimer that eventually won a nice allowance race in NYC, at BEL, running 1:09 and change. Had a nice run for a while. It's funny that this was a need the lead type in all of his previous races. In fact, he was so aggressive, that you couldn't even WALK HIM BEHIND horses in the barn; he had to in front of them. YET, the trainer was able to get him to rate and win. Wonder why that was? Yeah, the horse has to 'cooperate' and the jock needs to have a clue BUT the trainer also needs to TEACH the horse. Can't be that difficult to do because I don't see too many INTELLECTUALS on the backstretch. Seems that even OLD GELDINGS can learn to do new things. To get a sense of where this game is in terms of technology, compare the teams involved in other forms of racing, auto and bike, for example, the work involved in getting ready for a race, with the 'teams' (laughable) in horse racing. Time to really catch up with the times.
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#3
02-27-2009, 09:51 AM
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__________________
Ron Thompson Avatar is Invasor in his stall/Post Classic taken by my trusty cell phone camera.
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#4
02-27-2009, 10:29 AM
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Cappy has a point. It's one thing to work with an older horse that you claim and try to change is style, another to suddenly change a horse 7 weeks before the horses biggest career race. Would it have made sense in early march to have tried to teach Congaree or Spend a Buck or Affirmed to be a closer? You dance with what brought you at this point.
I agree that some horses can and do learn new tactics. Some never will. You might get them to rate kindly but they don't like the kickback or they find that they just don't like going out and passing horses. I have found that most speedball types are merely horses that don't care to change gears or paths in the middle of a race. They go as fast and as far as they can but they aren't adjustable and when you rate them they just gallop around. What they do in the morning often doesn't translate into the real world in the afternoon. Some riders are pretty good at settling a horse without fighting, Ramon D and Calvin do a nice job taking a long hold.
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RIP Monroe.
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#6
03-04-2009, 10:11 AM
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Which two great horses and what son of the only Gotham victor to win the derby ran 2nd in the derby after winning the Gotham?
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#7
03-04-2009, 10:26 AM
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__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984.
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#8
03-04-2009, 10:36 AM
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Not sure what you mean Nic when you ask about Gotham as a division of another race. The Gotham has been run in 2 divisions itself a number of times including the inaugural in '53 which Native Dancer and Laffango split it. It was run in divisions in 1974-75 and 1983 as well. It was run at 8.5f 1953-1959 at Jamaica, and then moved to Aqueduct in 1960 and cut to 1 mile. In 1977 and 1979 it was again 8.5f. In 1958 it was for 4 year olds and up. What's the division of another race answer???
__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984.
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#9
03-04-2009, 10:43 AM
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I can't wait to see the morning line on Ventura against the boys in the Kilroe, where if the horses who are being pointed to it go, she might be 3/5. NT
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#10
03-04-2009, 10:51 AM
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The whole card Saturday at SA should be great fun...
__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984.
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#11
03-04-2009, 10:53 AM
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When I get home, I'll make better notes on this, but in the years prior to Native Dancer it was a race that only the horses who were weighted in the Experimental Handicap could enter and they were forced to carry the weight they were assigned. I believe Vosburgh thought up the idea (I'll have to confirm this when I get home) but eventually, as more options on the Stakes calendar popped up, horseman were less inclined to run in this race because of the wide spreads of weight.
__________________
Tod Marks Photo - Daybreak over Oklahoma
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#12
03-04-2009, 10:57 AM
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Quote:
__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984.
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