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Originally Posted by RolloTomasi
No doubt that Invasor was the tops of the division, but I'm not suddenly feeling this gaping hole that's been left in the American dirt racing scene.
If there was a hole, its been there since February. Invasor was slated to make at most 3 more starts. A race like the Dubai World Cup, for all the excitement it generates for a single day, really is a detriment to the season as a whole, as the trip involved usually puts the participants out of commission for a significant period of time whether by design or out of necessity. The race, when you get down to it, is practically a tailored novelty (kind of like Cigar's Citation Challenge in '96) that seeks to be a seasonal championship event just when the racing year is getting warmed up. For the most part, its influence has a negative impact on American racing, either by leading to early retirement or compromising the domestic campaigns in the States of top level horses.
Invasor was going to run in 4 horse fields a couple of more times before attempting a second BC Classic, which would have been his only significant start aside from the Dubai race. But racing is a year long event and really Invasor was not going to play much of a part during the year other than at the bookends. The weight of his absence was already very much in tow even before the injury.
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couldn't disagree more.
Invasors departure leaves a huge hole this year in my mind. he wasn't only at the top of the division, he was a horse with rare qualities.
the campaign for this years breeders cup classic seems much less exciting to me now. the possibility of Invasor running the table two years in a row and repeating in the BCC classic was huge for me and I suspect many others. I was also really looking forward to seeing how this years crop of top three year olds would fare against the big guy this fall.
True, Invasor may have only missed three races due to injury, but for me they were very important and exciting races. By the way, I wouldn't call the races he had on his agenda exactly insignificant. I wanted to see him step up a bit more in the historical sense and a repeat in the BCC would have put him in rare company.
BTW, the Dubai World Cup is not some novelty day of excitement. from a quality standpoint this past DWC was on par with any breeders cup offering. the racing year doesn't warm up at the same time world-wide, there are more than one racing seasons.