Eight Belles form

[ddthetide]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

I don't know if you look at the sheets, but it really stands out on there as well. from her debut to the 12/23 race she gradually went from a 14 to a 7.

then she reeled off 5 straight 1's or 0's if you include the derby.

usually you don't see this type of disjointed pattern. i'd love to know what happened, what change precipitated the improvement.

the light went on after the 2nd place finish and she understood what they wanted her to do. after that Eight Belles "wanted" to be a champion.

[horseofcourse]

I think part of it was her huge size and she took awhile to fill out and grow up. If I remember watching her early races...she never changed leads at all in the stretch...staying on her left lead. (I could be wrong about that but I'm pretty sure it was her.). Watching all her races in 2008, she changed to her right lead right on cue in the stretch. I don't know what happened November 30th, but if you throw out that race, she was also progressing upward steadily her two year old season. I don't think it's magic as it is well documented she was a 17 hand filly...quite large. And if you toss that 11/30 race she was progressing at 2 as well.

[packerbacker7964]

It looks good to me you just don't see it every day.

Sprint she ran a 53
2nd time out 1st time routing 67
3rd time out 2nd time routing 10 length win
4th time out 1st time Alw try 7th place
5th time out 2nd time Alw 2nd place
6th time out Alw no winners since Big Time Score
So almost every race she was getting better learning each time out what was going on around her. Some horses are made into Champion's other are born that way. Ether way she dies way to soon for anyones liking. She'll go down as one of the greatest Filly's to race in a long time.

[cmorioles]

DrugS,

Didn't you post this earlier? I would swear I've read this exact same thing before somewhere. Deja vu?

I actually gave her a 105 speed figure on turn around day.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Yeah - I probably did post something about it earlier.

A few people also commented to me about how radical the form reversal was when they first saw it - two of which who post here (IC and BTW)

At a time when you hear rumors about exotic pain killing drugs that they don't have tests for - like the stuff Biancone got caught possessing - it just makes you wonder a little when you see a horse improve 13 lengths on figures in the span of a month, hold the form, and than run until collapsing from ankle fractures in both front legs.

Maybe something was bothering her a little when she stunk - she was given something that cured what was bothering her - and it allowed her to run hard at an extremely high level. Not being able to feel the pain isn't always a good thing.

Perhaps I am just way to jaded for even having a thought like that. I don't know.

[GPK]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Yeah - I probably did post something about it earlier.

A few people also commented to me about how radical the form reversal was when they first saw it - two of which who post here (IC and BTW)

At a time when you hear rumors about exotic pain killing drugs that they don't have tests for - like the stuff Biancone got caught possessing - it just makes you wonder a little when you see a horse improve 13 lengths on figures in the span of a month, hold the form, and than run until collapsing from ankle fractures in both front legs.

Maybe something was bothering her a little when she stunk - she was given something that cured what was bothering her - and it allowed her to run hard at an extremely high level. Not being able to feel the pain isn't always a good thing.

Perhaps I am just way to jaded for even having a thought like that. I don't know.

Even if it is a jaded way of thinking, it is also, in turn, a very realistic way of thinking.

Well the lazy thing to do is blame it on the surface. That way the problem will be fixed with a generic band-aid (synthetic) until the vets come up with a drug that's 10x more numbing than the ones used today.