Crist on the Farcical World Cup

JerseyJ · #1 03-28-2010, 01:22 PM

The issue at hand here which I don't think some of you are understanding is not about whether it's a close jumbled finish in the Dubai World Cup or any other race where longshots win or there's a jumbled finish. The issue at hand here is that save for the Breeders Cup Classic which is supposed to be the premier Classic Distance Championship race in the world, the Dubai World Cup with it's purse and history is simply put one of the top races in the world of it's stature, which in the past was on dirt and at the classic distance of 1 1/4. Now with the Breeders Cup having been run on synthetics for the last two years and the Dubai World Cup now being moved to run on Tapeta synthetic, it basically renders the results as being a total crapshoot, due to the fact that these races that are run over the synthetic surfaces will simply lack the top notch horses we want to see (although it's debatable how many top notch horses are left), it robs the sport of star power and popularity, as most outstanding dirt horses are rendered average on these stupid artificial surfaces, therefore enabling European and other synthetic specialist horses to be on par with an outstanding dirt horse on these synethic surfaces, whereas if these races were held on dirt, we would see the top dirt horses in the world facing off against each other instead of the top turf horses in the world facing off against the top synthetic horses in the world. These turf and synthetic runners wouldn't even be competitive on dirt against our top dirt horses. And because these big races get run on synthetics now, we lose the ability of our top dirt horses in some years to run in the former best dirt races in the world.

pweizer · #2 03-28-2010, 01:27 PM

There may be something to this but the World Cup, unlike the Breeder's Cup, does actually attract horses from around the world.

I would also once again point out that the superstars weren't exactly out in full force last year when on dirt Well Armed won by a pole.

Paul

Kasept · #3 03-28-2010, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pweizer

There may be something to this but the World Cup, unlike the Breeder's Cup, does actually attract horses from around the world.

I would also once again point out that the superstars weren't exactly out in full force last year when on dirt Well Armed won by a pole.

Paul

The Breeders' Cup doesn't attract horses from around the world? Really? All those milers and turf winners over the years and Sakhee and Giant's Causeway and Swain and Wilco, Arazi and Johannesburg, et al... What were they exactly?

smuthg · #4 03-28-2010, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasept

The Breeders' Cup doesn't attract horses from around the world? Really? All those milers and turf winners over the years and Sakhee and Giant's Causeway and Swain and Wilco, Arazi and Johannesburg, et al... What were they exactly?

Steve, I agree with you, but to his point, other than the Austrailian horse that showed up in the Classic in 2005, I can't seem to recall any non-European horses "from around the world" showing up for the Breeders' Cup...

tector · #5 03-28-2010, 02:36 PM

I am very happy that Dubai Inc. went to plastic, because I don't want top American horses going there.

Now if we can go back to dirt for the BC, it will be perfect.

Bigsmc · #6 03-28-2010, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tector

I am very happy that Dubai Inc. went to plastic, because I don't want top American horses going there.

Now if we can go back to dirt for the BC, it will be perfect.

I enjoyed watching yesterday. I did dip my toe into the waters, but it wasn't as much as I would normally put into the early Daily Double, so I could care less what nonsensical results were produced. Next year, I'll keep all of my money in my pocket, but I will watch. Nothing to get lathered up over. It's an event and I'll treat it as such.

_ed_ · #7 03-28-2010, 07:36 PM

It wasn't just on the synthetic track that we saw illogical results. Honestly, did anyone expect Al Shemali to win the Duty Free? He was at 89-1 here. It happens.

Kasept · #8 03-28-2010, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smuthg

Steve, I agree with you, but to his point, other than the Austrailian horse that showed up in the Classic in 2005, I can't seem to recall any non-European horses "from around the world" showing up for the Breeders' Cup...

That's a function of the calendar. Breeders' Cup is run at an ideal time of the year for North American horses and as a coda to Euro season. The Austal-Asian horses have their own agenda at that time. World Cup comes at an OK time for North Americans if connections are specifically pointing for it seeing as it comes at the beginning of the season 'here'.

smuthg · #9 03-28-2010, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasept

That's a function of the calendar. Breeders' Cup is run at an ideal time of the year for North American horses and as a coda to Euro season. The Austal-Asian horses have their own agenda at that time. World Cup comes at an OK time for North Americans if connections are specifically pointing for it seeing as it comes at the beginning of the season 'here'.

I understand and I agree. The question did get me thinking about with Japan though? Don't they run on a similiar calendar as N/A racing? We've at least attempted to send some of our popular horses (Lava Man, Summer Bird, etc.) to run in the Japan Cup, but I can't remember a Japanese horse attempting to run in the Breeders' Cup.

pweizer · #10 03-28-2010, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smuthg

I understand and I agree. The question did get me thinking about with Japan though? Don't they run on a similiar calendar as N/A racing? We've at least attempted to send some of our popular horses (Lava Man, Summer Bird, etc.) to run in the Japan Cup, but I can't remember a Japanese horse attempting to run in the Breeders' Cup.

Japanese horses have come to Hollywood for the American Oaks but that is the only time I can remember.

Paul

pweizer · #11 03-28-2010, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasept

The Breeders' Cup doesn't attract horses from around the world? Really? All those milers and turf winners over the years and Sakhee and Giant's Causeway and Swain and Wilco, Arazi and Johannesburg, et al... What were they exactly?

The Breeder's Cup does attract horses from Europe. However, the Dubai Carnival gets horses from everywhere. Just off the top of my head, South Africa, Austraila, Japan, Hong Kong and even Norway were represented on yesterday's card. Which Breeder's Cup does that line up resemble?

Paul

Kasept · #12 03-28-2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pweizer

The Breeder's Cup does attract horses from Europe. However, the Dubai Carnival gets horses from everywhere. Just off the top of my head, South Africa, Austraila, Japan, Hong Kong and even Norway were represented on yesterday's card. Which Breeder's Cup does that line up resemble?

Paul

We should change the entire North American racing calendar to accomodate horses from the Southern Hemisphere? Interesting notion.

blackthroatedwind · #13 03-28-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasept

We should change the entire North American racing calendar to accomodate horses from the Southern Hemisphere? Interesting notion.

It's because of this kind of backwards thinking that Bambera never got a chance to shine in this country.

Shame on you.

pweizer · #14 03-28-2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasept

We should change the entire North American racing calendar to accomodate horses from the Southern Hemisphere? Interesting notion.

No one suggested changing anything of this sort. I think we have gotten far from the original point of this post at this point.

Paul