Hard Spun Confirmed For Preakness
 

No free lunch for SS in that race...Thought he might wait for the Belmont.

http://tcm.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=38815

hmmm, no wildncrazy...and i forgot about xchanger and slew's tizzy. full field no doubt in two weeks.

why would he wait..the tc is out there.........you just cant give ss his do can you ...........

i'd really like to see o'neil ship great hunter straight to b-more. shorter race and better post he'd hit the board.

I realize I'm not an expert on this... *clears throat*... but, I thought that Great Hunter looked a bit ouchy all week at CD. Maybe he needs the break?

I expect Hard Spun to run but if I was his trainer I'd sure watch him closely...that was a gut-wrenching performance yesterday off a blazing work...I'd be looking for any sign of regression. At this point, if your horse isn't named Street Sense, the Preakness is another grade one race with a nice purse...winning it would be nice but doesn't mean any more than winning say the Travers later in the year, coming back in two weeks for either Hard Spun or Curlin is something to consider very carefully!

could well be the case.

Based upon the path they took with Hard Spun, I'd have to think that Larry Jones wouldn't risk this colt by running him back unless he felt he was 100%. Just a guess...

I'd hope no trainer would risk a horse that was less than 100%, just saying that the Preakness, for those not named Street Sense, is not the "road to glory" and I understand why many trainers choose to skip it.

it's ashame the preakness has become a "weekend off" for so many derby horses. as long as the horse is 100% run him back. just because May 5 , wasn't YOUR day maybe May 19 is? i'd just like to see more of the good horses.

As a fan, I would too...but as a horseperson, I understand, especially with today's thoroughbred, that running back in two weeks off the most grueling race of a young horse's life is something that I might have second thoughts about...so many TC horses disappear into the shed before the end of their 3yo season.

my thinking, the belmont is the one to skip because of the distance? and tougher to recover from?

I don't understand why they are going to run Hard Spun in 2 weeks. They thought he needed 6 weeks to ge ready for the Derby now they want what?

Hey, if the horse is 100% go for it.

just saying for someone that thought they needed 6 weeks now thinking 2 weeks is do-able?

Hard Spun
 

I would rather have seen Hard Spun skip the Preakness and freshen up for the Belmont, but can't blame connections for running. Live ones in the Preakness might be Chelokee, Slew's Tizzy, and the Lukas entries. Each of the 3 TC races might be radically different scenarios. Will make for a challenging TC effort for Street Sense.

one lukas runner will go in the preakness, the other in the barbaro stakes. cp west will go to one or the other.
i'm thinking they gave hard spun a breather between the lane's end and derby so as to not take too much out of the tank, so that he wouldn't be too tired to run back.
they may well have been thinking ahead.

nafzger on the other hand admitted that the derby was the only thing on his mind, said it's up to the horse to go on from here.

They never said he needed six weeks off, it was what they chose to do....they had enough graded earnings after the Lane's End and Jones saw no reason in hooking the field that was pointed to the Bluegrass he if didn't have to. They decided to see how he handled Churchill track and trained up to the race....

Confirm all they want but they are going to be contested the whole way with Lukas's rat and then another probably. SS will win this easily, and then we get 3 weeks to talk about Belmont and how easily he will win that race.

We need Drugs to work on Borel's stats at Belmont

Took the words right off of my fingers.

I think Hard Spun is more suited for this race than the Belmont. The shorter the distance the better. That 1/16 less of a mile added with slight traffic issues for SS, could give Hard Spun the Preakness. Remember too that SS is also lightly raced, so who knows how the 2-week turnaround will do for him too...

i don't think the belmont would be a problem for hard spun.

Althought the Belmont is longer than the other two it's easier on the horses to run a 1 1/2 miles than a all out 1 1/4 or 1 3/16 mile. The Belmont is usually won with speed horse not a deep closer.

Exactly correct. It's sort of along the same lines of thinking that I used when the debate was whether Bellamy Road should run in the Travers or the King's Bishop.

And Slew's Tizzy, that is screaming another 46.2

That's assuming he has to have the lead. He has rated in the past....But you are right, if Pino tries to go with the rabbits in that race he is finished....The fact that Street Sense ran that well yesterday has to make me think he has an excellent chance to win the Triple now. Not overused in the race, only his 3rd race of the year. I'd love to see it....Just wonder if he does win it, will he have a summer campaign. I pray that the horse that finally wins the Triple actually competes as a 4 yr old. A pipe dream I am sure.

At least SS will have a nice pace to run at if Flying First Class, Teuf and Hard Spun are all in the race. Heck, fractions could be faster in the Preakness than the Derby.

Jamie Sanders isn't really going to run that horse in the Preakness...is she?

Sadly I dont think Tberg is going to get a break. Looks like hes going to run in the Preakness. Probably would have made sense to not run in the Derby and take a shot in the Preakness.

Maybe not IF it happens- how old is SS's owner? I imagine the older one gets, the less the money means compared to the experience (Foggy's owner comes to mind).

Yes, I'm naive. I know. But Cigar ran until he was 6, and they didn't know he was sterile until after he retired, right?

Didn't you say that he was one of the 4 best horses in the Derby?

I actually don't think he needs a break. He's not running too much in my opinion. I actually don't even have a problem with where he's been placed in this year. He won the Southwest and earned a shot at the Blue Grass. But I thought the result of that race was very clear that he shouldn't have been in the Derby. And the result of the Derby should make it crystal clear that he shouldn't be in the Preakness.

Just looking over something and I noticed something that struck me as interesting. Should Hard Spun and Curlin run back in the Preakness? I don't think so. Not because I don't think they can both run well but at what long term cost to the horses? I feel that once u lose the Derby, especially if u run 2nd or 3rd, there is no incentive to come back in the Preakness or Belmont. Consider these horses that have run 2-3 in the Derby and come back in one of the other TC races and how they have fared recently:

2006
Bluegrass Cat (2nd...Belmont).......didn't make it past the summer.
Steppenwolfer (3rd....Belmont)......I believe was knocked out for the rest of the year.

2005
Closing Argument (2nd...Preakness)....I don't think he's ever raced again.
Afleet Alex (3rd...Preakness/Belmont).........never raced again.

2004
Lion Heart (2nd...Preakness)........didn't make it past the summer.
Imperialism (3rd....Preakness)....continued on with his career.

2003
Empire Maker (2nd....Belmont).......didn't make it past the summer.
Peace Rules (3rd...Preakness).....continued on with his career.

So over the last four years, u have eight horses/
-three never raced again that year (37.5%)
-three more raced again but didn't make it past the summer (37.5%)
-two continued racing and even went into the next year (25%)

Is there something to this? Maybe, maybe not. I realize it's a very small sample size but it's still worth noting.

Also, it's a different game now. There are many huge purses out there after the TC now. U have the WV Derby, the Super Derby, the Travers, the Penn Derby, the Haskell, the Jim Dandy. The way the game is now, TC race winners are hardly around after the TC races anymore so these races become a lot easier to win than they were when the best horses of the TC were racing in them. Is it worth it to ask your horse to peak for the Derby and then ask him to come back and do it again two weeks later? I'm not so sure with today's horses and training.

a couple of those that didn't race or cut their career short could have continued on with some patience if the breeding shed wasn't so lucrative. the connections of a horse like empire maker were just waiting for any excuse to retire him to stud. a hangnail would have sent him to the shad.

KG,

I don't what you can conclude... Bluegrass Cat was less than sound all along. Afleet Alex sustained a fracture in the Preakness incident. Empire Maker nursed a bad hoof much of his career.

Closing Argument barely even made it to the Derby having been kept together with spit and glue by McLaughlin. I'm sure if KMc had it to do over again, he'd have passed the Preakness.

But honestly, isn't the idea is to race 'em while you got 'em? They're just as liable to have their careers ended any morning training, or in their stalls any time, as in a race. Agree the stress adds to the scenarios, but they aren't developed to be museum displays.

Did you "cyber burn" that hat you had as your avatar?:D

Go Storm in May!

you also have to take into consideration which of these horses were desirable for stud duty, both by owners, or potential future owners....

Yeah, I think hes a very nice horse. Im saying if they knew there were going to the Preakness all along they could have freshened him and had a legitiment shot. Rather than get drilled, and bring him back.

Looks like more early speed in the Preakness. Lukie sending First Class Flying and what about Toothlessbird? Is he going to send unlike he did in the Derby?

No, I actually own that hat too. :p

I love that horse to pieces... he had a quarter crack and a horrible trip. I'm not basing his performance in the Derby as a meter of how talented he is. I know he's a talented horse and hopefully, I'll get to see him this summer in Toga. :cool:

Not part of JS vocabulary