Quote:
Originally Posted by PatCummings
I'm far from a NYRA shill. I'm an optimist, and think that a bad day at the track beats a good day almost anywhere else, but more so at Saratoga than just about anywhere.
There are 11 horses in a G1 3YO race in a season that has been completely decimated by injuries, retirements, and basically, average horses - and a bunch of that coming in the last two months. It could be a six horse field and an awful betting race. It isn't.
The winners of the following races are either retired or on extended breaks:
BC Juvenile, Delta Jackpot, Remsen, Gulfstream Park Derby, Sham, Lecomte, Holy Bull, Robert Lewis, San Vincente, Southwest (both divisions), Risen Star, Fountain of Youth, Battaglia, Gotham, San Felipe, Rebel, Spiral, Florida Derby, Illinois Derby, Santa Anita Derby, Arkansas Derby, Derby Trial, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Peter Pan, Belmont...
Sure, some of those races above are repeats.
Paynter, who is completely hyped after the Haskell win and the mysterious illness, has a single graded stakes win to his name.
What exactly was NYRA going to do to get better quality in this field? They almost got Reddam to bring over a foreigner who was 2nd to the Secretariat winner, Bayrir, but he strained a muscle and missed the race.
This is the game we have. I don't have time for the "back in the day" crowd when everything was always better than the present.
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I can understand being a "glass if half full" kind of guy but at some point, you have to also realize that it's still half empty. Saying this is the best of what we've got left is not the same as saying it's good. If you put 11 $40k claimers in the field, you'd still have 11 3yos in a grade one race. A competitive race, a good betting race, doesn't make it a good race. If you turn on the men's 100m final at the Olympics and Bolt, Blake, Gatlin, Powell, and Gay are all missing, it's not even worth watching. Sure, the remaining runners could end up in an eight-way dead-heat and it would make for an exciting finish....but the reason we watch sports at the highest level is to see the highest quality. Through no fault of it's own, this race completely lacks it.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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08-23-2012, 07:24 PM
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