Silverbulletday VS Rachel Alexandra through Aug of 3yo season

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Why - you think Silverbulletday faced better fillies and better colts? .. I'd obviously agree that she did.

However, you can't take away from the quality of RA's performances.

I didn't realize Dreams Gallore was that good. Or the Happy Hopper, Marley Vale and the rest of the horses Silverbulletday beat.

You may not think much of who Rachel Alexandra has beaten this year, but her two wins against males are both better than any of Silverbulletday's wins up to August 1, 1999. The idea that Rachel's Preakness is on par with Silverbulletday's Belmont seems silly to me.

Of course it also remains to be seen if Rachel will suffer the same abrupt decline SBD did when she became Roza Robata and Lu Ravi's whipping girl.

NT

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

I didn't realize Dreams Gallore was that good. Or the Happy Hopper, Marley Vale and the rest of the horses Silverbulletday beat.

Those fillies are light years better than the fillies RA has faced ... and they aren't even among the three or four best SBD faced. Kind of amusing you left out Excellent Meeting and Three Ring.

Who are the ok fillies RA has faced? Besides Sara Louise anyway.


By the way, Excellent Meeting and Three Ring both were as good or better than Mine That Bird, Summer Bird, or Musket Man.

Horses like Charistmatic, Stephen Got Even, Lemond Drop Kid, and Menifee were all light years better than any male RA has ever faced.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Horses like Charistmatic, Stephen Got Even, Lemond Drop Kid, and Menifee were all light years better than any male RA has ever faced.

I should probably correct that.

Munnings has sprint races that fit with those horses.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Those fillies are light years better than the fillies RA has faced ... and they aren't even among the three or four best SBD faced. Kind of amusing you left out Excellent Meeting and Three Ring.

Who are the ok fillies RA has faced? Besides Sara Louise anyway.


By the way, Excellent Meeting and Three Ring both were as good or better than Mine That Bird, Summer Bird, or Musket Man.

Horses like Charistmatic, Stephen Got Even, Lemond Drop Kid, and Menifee were all light years better than any male RA has ever faced.

I left out Excellent Meeting and Three Ring because she didn't face them as a 3YO. I'm not denying that SBD's accomplishments as a 2YO were far superior to Rachel's but I think Rachel's 3YO accomplishments vs. SBD's 3YO accomplishments give her the edge overall.

NT

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

I left out Excellent Meeting and Three Ring because she didn't face them as a 3YO. I'm not denying that SBD's accomplishments as a 2YO were far superior to Rachel's but I think Rachel's 3YO accomplishments vs. SBD's 3YO accomplishments give her the edge overall.

True ... but I compared their careers through Aug of age 3 .. not just the 3-year-old seasons.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Cardus

Silly to me, too.

You don't remember Silverbulletday's Belmont?

She basically dueled head-to-head with Charismatic (a sharp horse off of 3 straight wins) through a vicious 1:36 2/5th mile . while pinned down inside.

Stephen Got Even - a horse who ran a 120 Beyer and is probably best known for siring champion 2yo Stevie Wonderboy and ML Derby favorite I Want Revenge - he made a middle move to ensure both SBD and Charismatic could take no breather.

After 10 furlongs, Silverbulletday was still down inside fighting for the lead in a time equal to about a 110 Beyer. She did falter late from the pressure at a distance beyond her best.

Menifee, who is no bum at all, was kept up close to the pace and was so out of gas that he finished 7.5 lengths behind SBD but still beat several lesser horses home.

In Menifee's very next start, he once again was kept close to the pace - and he won the Haskell over that years Breeders Cup Classic winner.

Only a moron can watch Silverbulletday's race in the Belmont and not see that it was VERY impressive.

She single handedly saved the sport from Lukas winning a triple crown with a former claimer ... and she ran out of her mind through pressure from good horses for just over 10fs before understandably quitting.

If you don't think her race was good ... you probably think Menifee is a mere allowance horse who should have been 60/1 in the Haskell.

[KirisClown]

Why did Silverbulletday scratch out of the Preakness?

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by KirisClown

Why did Silverbulletday scratch out of the Preakness?

Because she won the Black Eyed Susan the day before?

And did so with a higher figure than Charismatic got for winning the Preakness ... but she pretty much got no real pressure on the front end and won under a moderate hand ride.

That is the reason why Chris Antley couldn't let Silverbulletday have her way on the lead in the Belmont. Tough luck for him than Stephen Got Even didn't let him and the filly catch a mid-race breather.

If SBD doesn't run in the Belmont, Charismatic would have certainly won the triple crown.

In fact, the way Charismatic ran that day ... there's a good chance he might have won the triple crown if he didn't press SBD but kept a close eye on her and wore her down in the final furlong.

I've seen bad horses like Da Tara run big in the Belmont though when allowed to have it all there own way .. you can't blame him for taking the fight to her and pinning her.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Because she won the Black Eyed Susan the day before?

Didn't she opt out of the Preakness because she drew post 14?

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Well, that might have had a little something to do with it.

Even though 9.5 furlongs is a perfect distance for her and 12fs isn't .. it would have been tough to win a race like the Preakness on just 24 hours rest.

I'm just glad she saved us from a Lukas triple crown winner.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I'm just glad she saved us from a Lukas triple crown winner.

We can agree on that one.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Only a moron can watch Silverbulletday's race in the Belmont and not see that it was VERY impressive.

Attach the chart for this race, if you have it. I'd like to see what it looks like.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

Attach the chart for this race, if you have it. I'd like to see what it looks like.

http://www.belmontstakes.com/UserFiles/file/1999.pdf

[Thunder Gulch]

I was a huge fan of SBD, and vividly remember standing at Churchill when she was asked to run in the Oaks and being awestruck at how easily she cruised past the front runners. I'll always believe she would have won that Derby, and was mad that Baffert entered the wrong filly in the wrong race.

With that said, Rachel has done more to this point by virture of going where no other fillies dared. While SBD could have (would) won the Derby or Preakness, Rachel did win the Preakness. SBD's wins that followed were very impressive, but RA stepped out again to take the Haskell vs the colts by open lengths.

Either way you want it, they are the two best 3yo fillies I've seen in my 20 years of closely following the sport.

[miraja2]

Beating "the boys" is nice, but I'm not sure how many "points" it earns her in a comparison with Silverbulletday because the boys she beat weren't exactly outstanding. Just because they're colts, doesn't mean they're good.
She obviously can't control who she faces, but if injuries hadn't gotten in the way, and she had won a race like the Preakness or the Haskell with horses like I Want Revenge, Quality Road, and The Pamplemousse entered.....well that would be a very different story.

On the whole I think the two are pretty close if you compare their careers up to this point which is a complement - not an insult - to Rachel's career. Given the dip that Silverbulletday took after this point in her career, RA certainly has the talent to move well past her in terms of a total career.

[Sightseek]

In honor of SBD's induction, Crist posted her lifetime PP's on his blog:

http://cristblog.drf.com/crist/

[Travis Stone]

What about Zenyatta versus Silverbulletday