$10,000 for Too Much Bling

[Bravado2112]

Standard rationale: "There was nothing was left for the horse to accomplish."

Looked like a top 3 yo sprinter over the spring and summer, has no fall campaign at all in order to come in to the BC well-rested, and then finishes up the track in the BC - and is subsequently retired. Nice career! I love racing.

[Gander]

Nothing left to accomplish? How about winning a grade one. Bishop Court Hill did. Too Much Bling is one of the most overrated horses in the past couple of years. He has looked sensational blasting a few weak fields and nobody will ever forget the day he lost to Songster because Gomez got him pinned on the rail. Believe me, hes got plenty left to prove. Too Much Bling will be forgotten just like 95% of the horses who have run this decade.

There were more "real" horses running in 1995 alone than in all years so far from this decade of racing.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Gander

Nothing left to accomplish? How about winning a grade one. Bishop Court Hill did. Too Much Bling is one of the most overrated horses in the past couple of years. He has looked sensational blasting a few weak fields and nobody will ever forget the day he lost to Songster because Gomez got him pinned on the rail. Believe me, hes got plenty left to prove. Too Much Bling will be forgotten just like 95% of the horses who have run this decade.

There were more "real" horses running in 1995 alone than in all years so far from this decade of racing.

They were being facetious when they said he had nothing left to prove. That has been an on-going joke around here for a few months. They even said it kiddingly about The Green Monkey. They said why even bother running him. He has nothing left to prove.

[Gander]

How could it not? The mid nineties were like Ben & Jerry's Sweet Cream & Cookies ice cream...simply spoiling.

I remember the goose bumps I use to get watching horses like Skip Away and Formal Gold and Lure run. Wow, what a list I could make.

Havent felt goosebumps since the start of the Belmont where Smarty Jones was going for the Triple Crown and came up short.

Something about Ghostzapper, Saint Liam and Invasor just didnt get me all that jazzed. You know?

[Gander]

Back then I didnt even need to bet. Honestly I think I made 1 bet ever on Skip Away, $1,500 to win on him when he won the BC Classic. But I watched and rewatched all his races in awe.

Ghostzapper was greatly talented for sure, but 4 months between races to run against watered down fields? Where is the historic pleasure in that?

I lost a bundle betting against Cigar. Funny thing is I bet on him when he failed a few times on the turf before he got great.

Holy Bull also killed me at the windows. But I respect the hell out of him and he could have pissed on Ghostzapper & Bernardini.

[Bravado2112]

Ghostzapper was one of the few horses in 19 years of being a racing fan that actually brought me out to the track to watch him run. I made a special trip out to Belmont for his Met Mile just because he was a horse I felt that as a racing fan I needed to see at least once in person. After the race I did have chills - and that doesn't happen to me very often - because I knew I just saw one of the most talented horses in history. I still look back at the effort on YouTube and shake my head at how impressive it was and how good that horse was. It's too bad that his campaigns didn't allow his accomplishments to equate with his ability because he was probably the most talented horse to run in a long long time.

Of course Too Much Bling was pretty awe-inspiring as well...

[alysheba4]

Originally Posted by Gander

Back then I didnt even need to bet. Honestly I think I made 1 bet ever on Skip Away, $1,500 to win on him when he won the BC Classic. But I watched and rewatched all his races in awe.

Ghostzapper was greatly talented for sure, but 4 months between races to run against watered down fields? Where is the historic pleasure in that?

I lost a bundle betting against Cigar. Funny thing is I bet on him when he failed a few times on the turf before he got great.

Holy Bull also killed me at the windows. But I respect the hell out of him and he could have pissed on Ghostzapper & Bernardini.

........bernardini, yes. ghostzapper.....

[Bravado2112]

Holy Bull at 3 was slightly better than Bernardini going middle distances. Going over 1 1/8, they were probably pretty equal.

Ghostzapper obviously hit his peak form as a 4 yo. On his best, he was the fastest horse of recent times.

[Bravado2112]

Originally Posted by DaHoss9698

It's tough to say since obviously they can't ever meet. But I think Holy Bull crushes Bernardini from 7F to 1 1/4. Holy Bull crushed very good older horses in the Met Mile and the Woodward, and his Travers, dueling with the rabbit through crazy fractions was an amazing effort.

Holy Bull's 2 fastest races/Beyers were both at middle distances. Obviously his overall Travers effort was probably better than the final figure indicated as a result of the pace scenario, but in general Holy Bull's races at 9-10 Furlongs (115-113-85-115-115-116) look extremely similar to Bernardini's (113-114-116-117-115). They were both 3 yo's so they probably would have been even faster at 4, but I would imagine that Bernardini's ceiling was a little higher at 4 than Holy Bull's given that he was an and a bit more lightly raced.

I posted the lifetime Beyer figs for a bunch of top horses from the past 20 years in a prior thread, but here's Holy Bull again:

Holy Bull
Olympic - 117

Woodward - 116
Travers - 115
Haskell - 115
Dwyer - 119
Met Mile - 122
Derby - 85
Bluegrass - 113
Fla Derby - 115
FOY - 57
Hutch - 108

In Reality - 93
Futurity - 103
Alw - 91
MSW - 101