Top 5 Derby horses at this point

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by kentuckyrosesinmay

Not all horses who are sore will walk sore. Bute hides a lot of things. Sometimes it requires a jog, a canter, or even a gallop to pick it out, or a good feel of the legs.

That's why the people that I am associated with feel the horse's legs at the two year old sales. They can't tell everything by watching them walk or just by looking at their legs. We saw some that walked sore at a recent sale while we were pulling them out and looking at them, and some of the others who didn't walk sore had something majorly wrong with them like a bad tendon or suspensory when their legs were felt upon.

Street Sense definitely does not move as pretty as he did as a two year old, and I have never been a fan of the way Any Given Saturday moves, but it is not as fluid as it was when he was a two year old.

Well obviously, Jessica... I'm not a complete idiot. How about this... as the two of them were coming around the far turn and thundering down the stretch, neither one of them looked sore or appeared to be hitting the ground any harder than the rest of the field and the rest of the horses that ran all day at Tampa. In fact, the only horse that was even in the same ball park as those two in the warm-up was that grey gelding, Delightful Kiss (who finished 3rd, no surprise there.)

Have you seen these horses in the flesh? Are you willing to admit that you can't tell a lot without having been around them?

I don't have a top 5 and i'm not going to have a top 5 until derby week but I do agree with KRIM that Street Sense and Any Given Saturday might need some tough actin Tinactin.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by Pillow Pants

I don't have a top 5 and i'm not going to have a top 5 until derby week but I do agree with KRIM that Street Sense and Any Given Saturday might need some tough actin Tinactin.

Do you think they both have jock itch?

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

Do you think they both have jock itch?

Excuse me? I know what Tinactin is and it's for sore horses. The people I work for told me so. And after watching the race on TV I am certain that those two horses have a case of the shingles. Hmmph.

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

Well obviously, Jessica... I'm not a complete idiot. How about this... as the two of them were coming around the far turn and thundering down the stretch, neither one of them looked sore or appeared to be hitting the ground any harder than the rest of the field and the rest of the horses that ran all day at Tampa. In fact, the only horse that was even in the same ball park as those two in the warm-up was that grey gelding, Delightful Kiss (who finished 3rd, no surprise there.)

Have you seen these horses in the flesh? Are you willing to admit that you can't tell a lot without having been around them?

I am judging each individual horse's movement. I'm comparing them to an ideal. Delightful Kiss is a much better moving horse than either one of those horses even though he isn't nearly as fast as them. And I completely disagree with you about neither one of them looking sore as they were thundering down the stretch. It isn't just about how hard that they are hitting the ground either. It is how they are moving...length of stride, suspension phase, power, knee action, rhythm...etc. etc.

I have seen Street Sense in the flesh, but not recently. I haven't seen Any Given Saturday in the flesh. I can tell an enourmous amount about a horse by watching videos of the horses without even being around them. It ties into why they make videos of the horses at the two year old sales. It also ties into being a handicapper. I get more from watching the horses on the videos than I get from watching them in real life. However, I also can tell a lot about the way a horse is traveling in real life, as well as on video. For example, it is pretty easy for me to tell if a horse is sore when I am watching them work on the track in the mornings. However, I do much better at judging their actual movement (like length of stride and power) from a video when they are breezing or galloping just because my eyesight isn't that great and their legs look like a blur to me. For example, when I am watching a two year old on video, I often times pause or put the tape in slow motion to see if the horse is cross-firing, how smoothly the horse switches leads, how far the horse is getting his front legs out in front of him, how long the suspension phase is, how hard they hit the ground, how far they are getting their hocks up underneath them...etc.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by kentuckyrosesinmay

I am judging each individual horse's movement. I'm comparing them to an ideal. Delightful Kiss is a much better moving horse than either one of those horses even though he isn't nearly as fast as them. And I completely disagree with you about neither one of them looking sore as they were thundering down the stretch. It isn't just about how hard that they are hitting the ground either. It is how they are moving...length of stride, suspension phase, power, knee action, rhythm...etc. etc.

I have seen Street Sense in the flesh, but not recently. I haven't seen Any Given Saturday in the flesh. I can tell an enourmous amount about a horse by watching videos of the horses without even being around them. It ties into why they make videos of the horses at the two year old sales. It also ties into being a handicapper. I get more from watching the horses on the videos than I get from watching them in real life. However, I also can tell a lot about the way a horse is traveling in real life, as well as on video. For example, it is pretty easy for me to tell if a horse is sore when I am watching them work on the track in the mornings. However, I do much better at judging their actual movement (like length of stride and power) from a video when they are breezing or galloping just because my eyesight isn't that great and their legs look like a blur to me. For example, when I am watching a two year old on video, I often times pause or put the tape in slow motion to see if the horse is cross-firing, how smoothly the horse switches leads, how far the horse is getting his front legs out in front of him, how long the suspension phase is, how hard they hit the ground, how far they are getting their hocks up underneath them...etc.

Don't you use binoculars? I find that it makes it easier to view them when you are...

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

Don't you use binoculars? I find that it makes it easier to view them when you are...

No, I mean my eyesight is bad in general. Binoculars don't help.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by kentuckyrosesinmay

No, I mean my eyesight is bad in general.

This has already been established.