4/12 (KEE): Blue Grass (Gr. I)

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Cardus

I meant an owner of a horse not running in the Blue Grass tomorrow, and has no control over who runs in or wins the race. If I'm sitting in 20th place right now and Cowboy Cal, who was atrocious in his only dirt start, wins and displaces my horse from the Derby, I'd be furious.

But my point, is shouldn't you have ensured your horse was in a spot prior to the Blue Grass where the results wouldn't affect whether your horse made the gate or not?

The horses who have won, or have consistently run competitively in several graded stakes are already sure to get in.

If I recall correctly, 'Cal was horrific on dirt in his debut, no? Wouldn't be the first time a decent horse didn't run well first time out, surely won't be the last. After having nearly a year to get the requisite earnings with loads of stakes races with qualifying purses out there, I have a really hard time feeling sorry for someone whose horse comes up $10K short because the winner of a $750K Grade I race kept them out of the Derby.

It's not like these rules came out of nowhere three weeks ago...put your horse in a spot where you rely on his races to get in, instead of relying on someone else to run poorly to get in.