Rule explanation, thanks

[TheSpyder]

If you owned the horse at 21 and 8 belles beat you only to scratch you wouldn't be pissed?...not at all?

Originally Posted by Thunder Gulch

I disagree...they had their chance to get Graded earnings the same as the others. It's like the last team out in the NCAA tournament. Win your conference and you're in no matter what. The horses that would be bumped by Eight Belles chose their path and didn't get the job done. It's not like they would have much of a shot anyway, while on paper, this filly ranks up the list.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by TheSpyder

If you owned the horse at 21 and 8 belles beat you only to scratch you wouldn't be pissed?...not at all?

I'm all about people being responsible for getting their horses in the gate, and I talked about it here for quite some time last week before the Blue Grass and before some turf horse like Cowboy Cal kept some horses out of the Derby.

I am totally behind anyone with the earnings running if they want to -- but at the same time, THIS will make me angry if they enter and scratch. I think they're two very different things: being kept out by a horse who is arguably less of a contender than your horse and being kept out by a filly, who by nature of her sex, has the opportunity to be cross-entered and then just take whichever looks better. If you're going to take on the boys, take on the boys, but don't keep someone else from doing it just because you "can."

But then again, Porter seems to be a pretty solid d-bag, so I guess I'm not surprised.