Dick Jerardi's Wise Dan soapbox

[PatCummings]

This was too much of a gem to let slide...

"I don’t want to do anything to devalue him"

The gelding, Wise Dan...devaluing a gelding...I didn't say it, or think it...

http://www.drf.com/news/wise-dans-ow...icism-campaign

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by PatCummings

Ha. I was just told about this.

If anyone seriously thought that I didn't know Wise Dan was a gelding...

Well...

Teresa Genaro ‏@BklynBckstretch 30 Jun
"I think if we could win a Grade 1 on the dirt & keep him undefeated, he doesn’t necessarily to need to run in BC Classic" LoPresti in DRF

Pat Cummings ‏@DubaiRaceNight 30 Jun
@BklynBckstretch A G1 dirt win would definitely help his stud value.

Andy Robinson ‏@Andycapper24 30 Jun
@DubaiRaceNight @BklynBckstretch he's a gelding......and to put odds on him being hurt is only something a sick individual would do.

Pat Cummings ‏@DubaiRaceNight 30 Jun
@Andycapper24 @BklynBckstretch Wise Dan is a gelding?

Teresa Genaro ‏@BklynBckstretch 30 Jun
@DubaiRaceNight @Andycapper24 http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Res...682&registry=T …

Look, if you were being sarcastic, nobody else got it since at least two other people corrected you, and you never clarified it if you knew he was a gelding. Whatever. Claire Novak accidentally forgot Flat Out wasn't a gelding in the last month or so. It's an easy mistake to make with older horses since some stallions are racing later.

Originally Posted by PatCummings

This was too much of a gem to let slide...

"I don’t want to do anything to devalue him"

The gelding, Wise Dan...devaluing a gelding...I didn't say it, or think it...

http://www.drf.com/news/wise-dans-ow...icism-campaign

Wow, that's...an interesting reason to keep him undefeated this year. Mares or stallions trying not to lose, I may not like but I get. A gelding? Bizarre. He's not even undefeated, it's just this season we're talking about, and it's not like that's enough to get him HOY. Other people come to the dances and one of the viable HOY contenders wins the Classic, they get the big trophy.

[Sightseek]

I get what he is saying and it sounds like he wants to protect him more than anything else and enjoy him at his very best for as long as they can.

Personally, I don't see that as such a bad thing and I'm sure many of the people who are critics of this campaign would likely do the same thing after 40 years in the game and probably countless horses that didn't make it this far or got injured before they could. Heck, I would have scratched him out of his last race, but they still ran.

For anyone who didn't see his much talked about work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsYIsbO4kVE

[Alabama Stakes]

I know this isn't the same, but i can remember watching the like s of Skip Away and Cigars win Masscaps when owners did the right thing and brought their hosses to the people. These hosses love to run, it's why they are who they are. Wise Dan should be running all over the place in big races at local tracks. That's how interest is stirred. It's huge for the game, especially when you have 3 fans dying a day but only getting 1 new fan to replace them. The boss here does so much to help the game it's a shame more owners didn't see the big picture.

[Scav]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I get what he is saying and it sounds like he wants to protect him more than anything else and enjoy him at his very best for as long as they can.

Personally, I don't see that as such a bad thing and I'm sure many of the people who are critics of this campaign would likely do the same thing after 40 years in the game and probably countless horses that didn't make it this far or got injured before they could. Heck, I would have scratched him out of his last race, but they still ran.

For anyone who didn't see his much talked about work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsYIsbO4kVE

The guy is one day away from dying. He gets kidney treatments every other day or something drastic like that and he, like most people in the 80's, have good and bad days.

I personally have learned a ton from him from probably the 20+ conversations I have had over the past year in a half that I have been around him on Saturdays at Trackside.

And Pat, I think you took the 'devalue' word the wrong way. It isn't about money at all with Fink, the guy has more money then God

[Alabama Stakes]

God doesn't have as much money as she used to have

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by Scav

The guy is one day away from dying. He gets kidney treatments every other day or something drastic like that and he, like most people in the 80's, have good and bad days.

I personally have learned a ton from him from probably the 20+ conversations I have had over the past year in a half that I have been around him on Saturdays at Trackside.

And Pat, I think you took the 'devalue' word the wrong way. It isn't about money at all with Fink, the guy has more money then God

He didn't say anything about devaluing the horse, Lopresti did.

[Scav]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

He didn't say anything about devaluing the horse, Lopresti did.

I know, I think he took it the wrong way from LoPresti. Devalue doesn't have to mean financial.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by Scav

I know, I think he took it the wrong way from LoPresti. Devalue doesn't have to mean financial.

Racing was a better game when people didn't think that losses devalued their horses. Seriously, if Wise Dan was in the Whitney today and he lost, would it really devalue him?

[PatCummings]

Originally Posted by Scav

I know, I think he took it the wrong way from LoPresti. Devalue doesn't have to mean financial.

de·val·ue [dee-val-yoo] verb, de·val·ued, de·val·u·ing.
verb (used with object)
1. to deprive of value; reduce the value of.
2. to fix a lower value on (a currency).

val·ue [val-yoo] noun, verb, val·ued, val·u·ing.
noun
1. relative worth, merit, or importance: the value of a college education; the value of a queen in chess.
2. monetary or material worth, as in commerce or trade: This piece of land has greatly increased in value.
3. the worth of something in terms of the amount of other things for which it can be exchanged or in terms of some medium of exchange.
4. equivalent worth or return in money, material, services, etc.: to give value for value received.
5. estimated or assigned worth; valuation: a painting with a current value of $500,000.

Even if you used definition #1 of "value" - to suggest it has nothing to do with financials - that's fine...you can't suggest that running and winning against lackluster competition in the Firecracker isn't devaluing in its own right.

And if Fink is that sick, surely it's a shame and I wish him nothing but the best...but why not even try to go a furlong longer than the Woodford and try him in his home town of Chicago for the Arlington Million?

As I've long held, Wise Dan can ONLY improve his legacy with big race performances (win or lose) - he's a likely Hall of Famer anyway, so why dull his form with blah races...if he just does the same old same old and just reconfirms what we already know (basically, Zenyatta's races outside of the Breeders' Cup Classic runs), he does nothing.

Can you gain respect and add to your legacy without winning? I gained more respect for Zenyatta in losing the BC Classic at CD.

For all those who say money is no issue...then what is the harm in trying the top company and a few new challenges?

I guess it's all in the way you look at life.