Mister Frisky

Bellamy Road deserves a mention also.

I don't know... Why? He delivered one of the great, if not the greatest, Derby prep performances ever in the Wood win, fractured a bone in the Derby and was basically finished.

Doug's premise is more horses that kept running and just never capitalized on their previously displayed talent. The injury aspect in this discussion is paramount because it's the fastest horses, and horses who stress themselves with enormous effort, that typically get hurt...

Steve, the derby was a dissapointment admittidely and the injury is a justifiable reason, I thought the Travers would have been the race where he could redeem himself, he did run a good second to Flower Alley. But perhaps unfairly so he was so hyped after that 120 beyer in the Wood Memorial that he would always run in the shadow of that race and anything less would be a dissapointment to some.

A disappointment if you don't understand what happened in that Derby...

I thought the Travers was the race where Bellamy Road did prove he was a good horse.

I don't think Badge of Silver should be on this list.

NT

What do you mean SS, please explain.

He popped a splint after the derby in training, I remember him having a few physical issues.

Bellamy Road Pops Splint
Updated: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 5:20 PM
Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 12:35 PM
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Bellamy Road, who finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) as the 5-2 favorite, popped a splint Tuesday morning in his left front leg and will miss at least 30 days of training.
The Wood Memorial (gr. I) winner, owned by George Steinbrenner's Kinsman Stable, will obviously miss the final two legs of the Triple Crown, the May 21 Preakness (gr. I) and June 11 Belmont Stakes (gr. I).

"He probably had a blind splint going in to the Derby and it was the Derby that aggravated it," trainer Nick Zito said Tuesday. "There is no doubt you will see the real Bellamy Road again."

Good horse yes, great? I don't know.

So he was a good failure?

That's perfectly fine because this whole discussion is subjective.

NT

Great game huh? Everything we converse about on here is somewhat subjective, opinions....Good, bad and everything in between.

TG's point is not one of semantics. There are two different categories here. First are horses that were hurt and never able to prove or disporove the validity of the early talent shown, like Pulpit. Second are horses that had complete careers while never attaining the heights that their early promise would lead to to believe they would.

I don't think he does because I think most anyone would know that Wood was a fluke. That race was so far outside of his norm that I don't see how anyone could believe that he should ever be able to do it again. Not saying the performance wasn't real because it was. But just like Sleepy Floyd once put up 51 on the Lakers and that was real, you don't ever expect to see him do it again. It was just one of those magical days when everything came together perfectly for him.

Not enough to go on IMO(2 races afterward) to say that for sure, I can understand your position but that was a very good race he did run in the Wood.

It was a good race but he had enough of an established history before that race to make me think the Wood was a one-time thing. I've seen too many times where a lone speed horse gets out there on their own and some fluky result comes up. One Dreamer comes to mind. If he had been running anywhere close to that beforehand, it would be different. But I think his best Beyer before that race was a 96 and all of a sudden, he's 120 and that should be expected again? Not by me.

Millenium Wind is another in the Bluegrass, 111 off the top of my head. That's the influence of Beyers, Cigar was consistent & honest as they come but he never hit the 120 mark I believe. I doubt anyone here would call him a slug or that Bellamy Road was better than him.

I really dont know what else this horse was supposed to do with all the injuries and such.

Winning 2 races in a row woulda been nice.

How about Lion Heart?

In the same vein as Afternoon Deelites and Favorite Trick, though injury shortened his career.

A name popped up in my head that no one has mentioned yet, Dollar Bill...not sure about the projected greatness part and he did retire a millionaire, but he was certainly a dissapointment as a racehorse.