BEYER: Defining Zenyatta's historical role

[johnny pinwheel]

Originally Posted by tiggerv

Why publish a generic "Zenyatta is overrated" article the day after Rachel retires? How about writing about the historical place of the retired horse instead of the horse with 2 races left? I know that Beyer is in LA and Z runs this weekend, but save the Zenyatta historical role article until after she finishes racing.

amen. no, hes not biased either after his numbers said zenyatta was slow last year....oh wait a minute, then she won the BC classic. must be the surface...oh, the horse won two graded stakes on the dirt too.....that doesn't count. it almost makes me want her to win at churchill. just to read what kind of garbage makes her not "historical" after that....what a joke of an article....did it even have a point? i noticed the trend that these articles usually come up after his numbers get tanked or he has to justify them. if she was not one of the best horses of the last decade.....who is andy? i thought you followed this game...lol....lol,

[Indian Charlie]

Expecting rational discourse from Zenyattards is much like expecting an intelligent, non emotional conversation between a rational human being and a religious zealot who reacts to every undeniable fact with great outbursts of illogic and defensiveness.

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by johnny pinwheel

amen. no, hes not biased either after his numbers said zenyatta was slow last year....oh wait a minute, then she won the BC classic. must be the surface...oh, the horse won two graded stakes on the dirt too.....that doesn't count. it almost makes me want her to win at churchill. just to read what kind of garbage makes her not "historical" after that....what a joke of an article....did it even have a point? i noticed the trend that these articles usually come up after his numbers get tanked or he has to justify them. if she was not one of the best horses of the last decade.....who is andy? i thought you followed this game...lol....lol,

Do you ever have a point with your drivel?

[goingtothewhip]

Probably she isn't;dirt and synthetics are so different that few horses are top-class on both. (The 0-for-43 record of horses making the transition from dirt to synthetics in the Santa Anita Breeders Cups laid to rest the cliché that "a good horse can run on anything."

Just off the top of my head: Looking at Lucky, I Want Revenge, Colonel John?
A few "slow" synthetic based horses that seemed to do alright making the transition to dirt.

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by goingtothewhip

Just off the top of my head: Looking at Lucky, I Want Revenge, Colonel John?
A few "slow" synthetic based horses that seemed to do alright making the transition to dirt.

What does your response have to do with the passage you quoted?

[goingtothewhip]

dirt and synthetics are so different that few horses are top-class on both. (The 0-for-43 record of horses making the transition from dirt to synthetics in the Santa Anita Breeders Cups laid to rest the cliché that "a good horse can run on anything."

Those are 3 obvious examples of horses that are top class on both surfaces. If the surface is so divergent why were they able to transfer their form to dirt?

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by goingtothewhip

Those are 3 obvious examples of horses that are top class on both surfaces. If the surface is so divergent why were they able to transfer their form to dirt?

Colonel John wasn't top class on any surface and I'm not sure I Want Revenge was either. He was better on dirt, but top class? It's debateable.

Do you really think the surfaces aren't different in the way they play and how horses handle them?

[goingtothewhip]

Of course not, but to say that a horse isn't going to be as "potent" on dirt because of a breeder's cup stat that has dirt horses going 0-43 on synth is a very weak argument.

More to your point regarding surfaces, I think many are failing to realize that all of the synthetic surfaces (Hwood, Santa Anita, Del Mar) are extremely different in the way they play as they are different brand surfaces (cushion, pro ride hybrid, and polytrack respectively). To lump them all together under the synthetic moniker is misleading in many ways.