why hard spun sucks...

[robfla]

Originally Posted by hoovesupsideyourhead

lets look at the big picture... hard spun todays hat flopping favorite of the people .is a big turd.. he should have been battleing it out with street sence the whole time..but hes not of that class..hes been reduced to 6f.. pretty sad .... yee haa larry..you gota real goodin 6f..

pathetic..........

I cant disagree more. This horse has shown me nothing but class. He battled it out gamely in all three jewels of the triple crown, running a monster race in the Ky Derby.

Great race by gamely holding of Curlin in the Haskell

Lets see who his graded race losses have come at the hands of:

Street Sense
Curlin
Rags to Riches
Any Given Saturday

He has run in 8 races in 2007 ( an 8 month period ). No small feat in today's racing world.

He has won races at distances of 5.5f, 6f, 7f, 1m, 9f He has won on dirt and polytrack.

Yesterday he attended scorching fractions, was faced with a horse passing him for a stride and looked that horse in the eye and proceeded to draw away from said horse. Not only has his races on track been more than admirable in EVERY race he has run, but he has also had to deal with having an owner that has tried so hard to mismanage him.

As far as "should have been battling it out with street sense the whole time"
the connections made a GREAT decision to run in the Kings Bishop. He gets a GR1 win against what I feel was a very competitive, and large field. IMO he accomplished YESTERDAY more than SS who beat six other horses with a combined 1 stakes win.

[ninetoone]

he should go in the BC Sprint instead of the BCC IMO

[Zaf]

Originally Posted by ninetoone

he should go in the BC Sprint instead of the BCC IMO

Agree 1000 % !!!

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by ninetoone

he should go in the BC Sprint instead of the BCC IMO

The new BC mile race plays right into Hard Spun's wheel house.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

The new BC mile race plays right into Hard Spun's wheel house.

Is it graded and how much is the purse?

[robfla]

$1 million each

UNgraded for now

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

Is it graded and how much is the purse?

The mile / dirt has a purse of 1 million dollars and is actually run at 1 mile and 70 yard this year because of the track configuration. ( I guess) Dont know if it is graded. He fits the mile much better than the Classic.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

The mile / dirt has a purse of 1 million dollars and is actually run at 1 mile and 70 yard this year because of the track configuration. ( I guess) Dont know if it is graded. He fits the mile much better than the Classic.

It's not graded, as far as I know.

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

The mile / dirt has a purse of 1 million dollars and is actually run at 1 mile and 70 yard this year because of the track configuration. ( I guess) Dont know if it is graded. He fits the mile much better than the Classic.

Lava Man and Discreet Cat are going in that race. Highly unlikely they will ever allowHard Spun to race against Discreet Cat.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by DaHoss9698

I think it's highly unlikey Lava Man ships again. O'Neill should have learned that by now. I am also dubious Discreet Cat makes the race.

Here's a good question. Who runs in more races from this day to the end of the year? Discreet Cat or Rags To Riches?

C.) None of the above.

Originally Posted by DaHoss9698

I think it's highly unlikey Lava Man ships again. O'Neill should have learned that by now. I am also dubious Discreet Cat makes the race.

Here's a good question. Who runs in more races from this day to the end of the year? Discreet Cat or Rags To Riches?

Discreet Cat will get there and will probably do something similar to Ghostzapper's Met Mile and wow everyone, then they will retire him.

[Linny]

Originally Posted by robfla

He has run in 8 races in 2007 ( an 8 month period ). No small feat in today's racing world.

He has won races at distances of 5.5f, 6f, 7f, 1m, 9f He has won on dirt and polytrack.

Yesterday he attended scorching fractions, was faced with a horse passing him for a stride and looked that horse in the eye and proceeded to draw away from said horse. Not only has his races on track been more than admirable in EVERY race he has run, but he has also had to deal with having an owner that has tried so hard to mismanage him.

Interesting thing is that Jones also indicated to me that he figured the colt to be a serious middle distance GRASS horse when he got him. He trained over grass last season before his debut and his first run was seen as a sprint prep for a later grass route try. Jones still thinks he might be better on grass but knows that he'll never race over it, which is too bad.

Hard Spun has raced 8 times this season, competed in ALL the Triple Crown races, has twice placed at 10f and now won a 7f G1. During the TC everyone whines that no one takes on all three and then when one does and then follows up with 2 very solid G1 performances, he's bashed because he LOST ONE???

HS is undefeated under 1 mile and yet has earned over $1m while routing. What does a colt have to do?

BTW, I saw HS 3 or 4 times this week and he looked great. He was bucking and playing in the paddock yesterday. Unsoundness has never been a problem. He doesn't even wear standing bandages. He was the picture of fitness and readiness yesterday and it was JONES who got him there.

[richard burch]

Originally Posted by robfla

I cant disagree more. This horse has shown me nothing but class. He battled it out gamely in all three jewels of the triple crown, running a monster race in the Ky Derby.

Great race by gamely holding of Curlin in the Haskell

Lets see who his graded race losses have come at the hands of:

Street Sense
Curlin
Rags to Riches
Any Given Saturday

He has run in 8 races in 2007 ( an 8 month period ). No small feat in today's racing world.

He has won races at distances of 5.5f, 6f, 7f, 1m, 9f He has won on dirt and polytrack.

Yesterday he attended scorching fractions, was faced with a horse passing him for a stride and looked that horse in the eye and proceeded to draw away from said horse. Not only has his races on track been more than admirable in EVERY race he has run, but he has also had to deal with having an owner that has tried so hard to mismanage him.

As far as "should have been battling it out with street sense the whole time"
the connections made a GREAT decision to run in the Kings Bishop. He gets a GR1 win against what I feel was a very competitive, and large field. IMO he accomplished YESTERDAY more than SS who beat six other horses with a combined 1 stakes win.

i agree..some horses just run better at shorter distances. i like him!

[slotdirt]

Wonder if Joey P. will show up at the Sprint. The guy does love Monmouth.

[kgar311]

After reading most of the posts on this and many other threads it had occured to me that alot of people making the comments were not at Saratoga. I watched the race live from the rail and it was so damn hot and humid that it was hard to breath just standing there. So for people to make comments about slow final 1/8s and 1/4s without standing there and being engulfed in a complete sweat have no merit. It is amazing that these hoses didnt die of heat stroke after the races. Street Sense and Hard Spun in my book are true Champs after fighting hard that day and winning their respective races. Just take a look at all the other horses dragging their hoofs at the end of each race. I just hope that these races didnt take too much out of them.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by kgar311

After reading most of the posts on this and many other threads it had occured to me that alot of people making the comments were not at Saratoga. I watched the race live from the rail and it was so damn hot and humid that it was hard to breath just standing there. So for people to make comments about slow final 1/8s and 1/4s without standing there and being engulfed in a complete sweat have no merit. It is amazing that these hoses didnt die of heat stroke after the races. Street Sense and Hard Spun in my book are true Champs after fighting hard that day and winning their respective races. Just take a look at all the other horses dragging their hoofs at the end of each race. I just hope that these races didnt take too much out of them.

That doesn't change the fact that both of these "true Champs" as u call them, were all out to beat horses that were both taking huge steps up in class. While it's possible that both Grasshopper and First Defence are just late bloomers and could prove to be among the best in their generation, as of now, the book is still out on them. And they ran under the same conditions as the two winners. So while what the two winners did was maybe worthy of some extra credit because of the conditions, the same goes for the two runners-up. I don't think it's a stretch for anyone to believe that had that been Curlin or Any Given Saturday chasing Street Sense home in the Travers, the result might have been different. Not saying that Street Sense wouldn't have still won because nobody knows that. But I believe that the extra credit that u are giving them was equalized by the quality of the field.

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

That doesn't change the fact that both of these "true Champs" as u call them, were all out to beat horses that were both taking huge steps up in class. While it's possible that both Grasshopper and First Defence are just late bloomers and could prove to be among the best in their generation, as of now, the book is still out on them. And they ran under the same conditions as the two winners. So while what the two winners did was maybe worthy of some extra credit because of the conditions, the same goes for the two runners-up. I don't think it's a stretch for anyone to believe that had that been Curlin or Any Given Saturday chasing Street Sense home in the Travers, the result might have been different. Not saying that Street Sense wouldn't have still won because nobody knows that. But I believe that the extra credit that u are giving them was equalized by the quality of the field.

I don't think it's that hard to believe that not all animals react in the same fashion to extreme heat. Who's to say Grasshopper doesn't have a great affinity for hot weather? I know that once the temperature gets above 75, I cease to run as well as I would if it were 55 degrees outside.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

I don't think it's that hard to believe that not all animals react in the same fashion to extreme heat. Who's to say Grasshopper doesn't have a great affinity for hot weather? I know that once the temperature gets above 75, I cease to run as well as I would if it were 55 degrees outside.

I understand that but that wasn't the premise of Kgar's post. Kgar was saying that Hard Spun and Street Sense deserve extra credit for overcoming the obstacles, as if they were the only ones that had to run under the adverse conditions and everyone else had it great. While it's true what u said that all horses won't react the same way, who's to say that Street Sense isn't the one that had the affinity for it and that Grasshopper struggled mightily?