Very Mixed Feelings

[alphanumeric1]

Originally Posted by Payson Dave

hmmmm I'm not so sure that Laz Barrera was squeaky clean.

Touché.

[Zippy Chippy]

Just like you can't pick your parents, a horse can't pick his or her connections. I understand why people feel the way they do, but in the end the only thing that matters is the horse. As much as I hate that he beat me on Saturday, I can root for Big Brown because the only thing he is guilty of is winning race after race.

[Danzig]

yeah, four times! he just passed danzig for wins in a row.

no, seriously...i had a thought. maybe for dutrow and assmussen, it's poetic justice. they remain in a sport( that if it had the same teeth as other sports, they would NOT still be a part of) and manage to find a legit horse. but now (thanks to karma?) they'll always feel slighted, because the horse will always be questioned..because of their shady, cheating, conniving, thieving pasts. so, they'll always be defensive, and there isn't a damn thing they can do about it but take it.
of course, they'll laugh all the way to the bank-but part of them will always feel this slight, the doubt some will have that the horse really did it the right way.

[westcoastinvader]

I do think the competion or lack there of (so far) is an issue. Right now, he looks much the best of a shallow 3 year old pool.

I'm old enough to remember Seattle Slew quite well, and in fact walked in Belmont at about 6AM or so on the morning of his Triple Crown win and ended up with primo seats at the finish line. I'll never forget it, and still have at least one uncashed $2 dollar ticket.

Point is, that Seattle Slew had all kinds of naysayers during his unbeaten run up to and through the Triple Crown. Lots of 'em.

At Belmont, not only was he "no Secretariat" to fans in the stands before the race that day, he was also "no Forego."

"He's just run well enough to win against mediocre horses" was the near universal mindset of racing fans and writers in 1977, with visions of Secretariat fresh in the mind.

I heard it so much at the time, I sort of believed it myself.

That's why I was especially happy in the years after his Triple Crown that he so excelled as a stallion.

Even more proof for eternity Seattle Slew was the real deal.

[westcoastinvader]

For the record, there's no way I can pull against an undefeated Kentucky Derby winner in the remaining Triple Crown races.

Especially one who won the Florida Derby, and then the Kentucky Derby in such spectacular and dominating fashion.

[_ed_]

I have mixed feelings too, for the reasons already mentioned but another reason I don't really want the TC to be won this year is because I don't want to have to see that Derby over and over again in the future with what happened to poor Eight Belles.

[cowgirlintexas]

Reminds me a bit of when Slew was going for the triple and all the negative stuff surrounding his owners/trainer etc. I hated reading the B.S but still enjoyed seeing the horse win.

[Split Rock]

Very interesting and passionate opinions here.

Big Brown is a very talented colt. There is little doubt in that. However, he is trained and owned by people that make my skin crawl.

I have no problem with a guy like Dutrow doing drugs himself. Makes no difference to me. I do have a serious problem with him drugging his horses and winning purses at the expense of other accomplished horseman. It forces trainers (and owners) into a moral decision about whether to stay honest and lose and pair up with the "dark side" in order to win.

I still get chills watching Easy Goer/Sunday Silence or Ferninand/Alysheba or Secretariat. So, as a horse racing fan, I cannot help feel that Big Brown is where he is based in part (and probably a large part) on the fact that he has illegal substances helping him. Do I know that for a fact? Of course not. But where there is smoke, there is usually fire. Anyone handicapping Rick Dutrow (and his brother) can easily see there is an uncommon skill at winning with anything. Seasoned horse players are not idiots and are probably more adapt at spotting falsities than any outside investigator.

As far as the owners go, not a lot to say other than they appear to have zero class and have little interest in the betterment of the game. They want to make money, which is fine, but their actions and attitudes are hard to believe. Very smug, self important and arrogant. In a game like horse racing, where most owners fit that bill (rich, arrogant, etc) it is amazingly impressive that these owners can stand out in that category.

The whole thing (Dutrow, IAEH, drugs, breakdowns, excessive whipping, no ADW options on many tracks, high takeout in all pools, charging for admission, lack of technology improvements) just makes me turned off to the game. As a sport, it hardly reaches the national map. It won't be long until the Kentucky Derby is broadcast on ESPN, then on TNT, then maybe on the GAME network. Go out and look at ESPN and try and find it on their hyperlinks. It shows up with Mixed Martial Arts, Lacrosse and the WNBA...and after the AFL. Not even sure what the AFL is....