Dear Dubai apologists...

[brockguy]

Come back with these statements when they go 0-20+ like Pletcher in the Derby..

[Bobby Fischer]

Apparently Mine That Bird is a Muslim. I don't know how I feel about that...

[NoChanceToDance]

Godolphin haven't got the know how to win a Derby, and the way it looks over here suggests they no longer know how to win a british classic either.

I had to laugh today when I saw that Crisford has said that Devotee will be taken to America as they think she's more suited to dirt.

Do they even know what they are doing?

[brockguy]

Originally Posted by NoChanceToDance

Godolphin haven't got the know how to win a Derby, and the way it looks over here suggests they no longer know how to win a british classic either.

I had to laugh today when I saw that Crisford has said that Devotee will be taken to America as they think she's more suited to dirt.

Do they even know what they are doing?

thats the reason why - not the location.. they used to be able to get their horses to step off the plane and run really well first time up, but the last 5+ years, that hasnt been the case.

[HaloWishingwell]

VISIT would have been better named VISITTHATLIGHTER

[tector]

Originally Posted by brockguy

Come back with these statements when they go 0-20+ like Pletcher in the Derby..

You have to be kidding, mac.

If I gave Pletcher half the money these drape-wearing dopes have squandered on their Derby ambitions over the past decade, he'd have won at least 3 or 4 Derbies by now, if only inadvertantly.

On a ROI basis there is probably no other failure in the history of sport that approaches the Derby efforts of these clowns. Frank Stronach's race track management and growth plan looks positively visionary in comparison. The Yankees would have to sign 250 Carl Pavanos in a row to get into their league. Dan Synder is a sports wunderkind by the standard they have set.

You should be laughing your ass off at their futility in this endeavor, and reveling in their frustration. It proves Allah humbles us all.

[brockguy]

Originally Posted by tector

You have to be kidding, mac.

If I gave Pletcher half the money these drape-wearing dopes have squandered on their Derby ambitions over the past decade, he'd have won at least 3 or 4 Derbies by now, if only inadvertantly.

On a ROI basis there is probably no other failure in the history of sport that approaches the Derby efforts of these clowns. Frank Stronach's race track management and growth plan looks positively visionary in comparison. The Yankees would have to sign 250 Carl Pavanos in a row to get into their league. Dan Synder is a sports wunderkind by the standard they have set.

You should be laughing your ass off at their futility in this endeavor, and reveling in their frustration. It proves Allah humbles us all.

youre correct, all Pletcher has had is garbage in his barn these last few years..

you have an agenda here against the Sheiks so I'm not going to bother.

[tector]

Originally Posted by brockguy

youre correct, all Pletcher has had is garbage in his barn these last few years..

you have an agenda here against the Sheiks so I'm not going to bother.

Yes, I said Pletcher "had only garbage"--I guess the words "if only inadvertently" went over your head. What's the matter, too many syllables in that last one?

As I said before, sycophants to money and power are everywhere--and always embarrassing wherever you find them.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by tector

If I gave Pletcher half the money these drape-wearing dopes have squandered on their Derby ambitions over the past decade, he'd have won at least 3 or 4 Derbies by now, if only inadvertantly.

The following are the purchase prices for non-homebreds that Pletcher has started in the Derby over the last three years.

2009:

Dunkirk- $3,700,000
Advice- $170,000

2008:

Monba- $200,000

2007:

Scat Daddy- $250,000
Any Given Saturday- $1,100,000
Sam P.- $200,000
Cowtown Cat- $1,500,000

NT

[tector]

Those numbers are absolute chump change compared to what these people have spent on their Derby efforts, pocket change.

[NTamm1215]

I don't think Godolphin discloses private purchase prices but just this year they paid out a fortune between Vineyard Haven, Desert Party, and Regal Ransom. Midshipman, who they got in the purchase from Stonerside, cannot be quantified.

The Pletcher numbers listed are funny simply because of how much was paid for Cowtown Cat.

We could certainly go on forever about the two people whose ass the Derby has kicked harder than any other: TAP and Sheikh Mo.

NT

[tector]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

I don't think Godolphin discloses private purchase prices but just this year they paid out a fortune between Vineyard Haven, Desert Party, and Regal Ransom. Midshipman, who they got in the purchase from Stonerside, cannot be quantified.

According to this:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/o...cky_Derby_run/,

Vineyard Haven alone cost $12 million.

And no one here seems to comprehend that entire focus of Team Dubai's dirt breeding and training operation is to win the Derby--anything else that falls out of the process is gravy. We are talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade or so.

Here's an interesting flashback:

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/...from_duba.html

And here we get the update:

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/0...-1st-derby-win

Yet all the setbacks through the years have done little to change the way Sheik Mohammed runs his program. His best 3-year-olds will spend the winters in Dubai. That's it.

"He's a very, very competitive man and if somebody told him he couldn't do it from Dubai, well, he is going to do it from Dubai," said trainer Eoin Harty, who guided Desert Party as a 2-year-old before he was moved to Godolphin.

Like the Yankees, Sheik Mohammed spares no expense in search of a championship.

Godolphin horses are superstars in Dubai and well taken care of at the stable's state-of-the-art training facility. Life is just as good on the road. Desert Party and Regal Ransom traveled to Churchill Downs in their own planes and have their every step closely monitored by an attentive staff and a nation glued to a popular 24-hour racing channel.

Ferguson has spent more than $281 million on over 300 yearlings at the Keeneland September sale in the last 10 years. It hasn't led to a Derby win but that doesn't mean Sheik Mohammed is going to keep his wallet closed when he sees a horse he likes.

The spending spree has slowed recently, but not because of the economic downturn. All that buying has helped Sheik Mohammed build an impressive collection of stallions and broodmares, and the hope is one day he'll be able to breed a winner without having to buy one.

[tector]

By the way, am I the only one who remembers this book?

http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Derby-B...1582849&sr=1-1

Apparently.

Pletcher > bin Syrup or whatever the hell that douchenozzle goes by that trains for 'em.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by tector

Those numbers are absolute chump change compared to what these people have spent on their Derby efforts, pocket change.

I think that in this type of discussion, it's also important to note the net worth of those that are spending the money. If it's $1 million to someone that has $50 million, it's 2% of their income. If it's $10 million to someone that has $1 billion, it's 1% of their income. As I've always said, when it comes to them, you can't just look at the purchase prices the way you would look at anyone else because they play on a different scale. The purchase of Mine that Bird worked out obviously because he won the Derby but the $400k that his owners paid for him in hopes of getting a Derby winner was a far bigger risk for them than the money Godolphin spent on Desert Party and Regal Ransom and Vineyard Haven and Midshipmen combined.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

The following are the purchase prices for non-homebreds that Pletcher has started in the Derby over the last three years.

2009:

Dunkirk- $3,700,000
Advice- $170,000

2008:

Monba- $200,000

2007:

Scat Daddy- $250,000
Any Given Saturday- $1,100,000
Sam P.- $200,000
Cowtown Cat- $1,500,000

NT

Don't forget, Keyed Entry at $145,000...Pletcher must have really been smelling roses while saddling that one.

[HaloWishingwell]

Pletcher is like football coach Marty Schottenheimer he gets them there but can't get them over the mountain. Godolphin just shoots them at the foot of the mountain.

[MisterB]

Originally Posted by tector

You have to be kidding, mac.

If I gave Pletcher half the money these drape-wearing dopes have squandered on their Derby ambitions over the past decade, he'd have won at least 3 or 4 Derbies by now, if only inadvertantly

Are you serious?? This has to be the quote of the decade