ruffian and rachel

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by dean smith

And then for you to find a way to work it into the conversation about Rachel and Ruffian and "just happen to mention it" on an Internet message board... It's like you want the whole world to know that you're wearing a Steve Byk pelt around your waist. The great hunter has stalked and killed his prey.

Okay now you're just being obnoxious. Way to reply to your own message by the way. 'Just thought I'd mention it'. How about you let Steve defend himself if he feels the need? I do believe he's a grown up. Good grief you got yourself wound up over nothing. Frankly rather than play gotcha with Steve, I imagine he could easily take me down when it comes to knowledge about this sport and he's always someone I look forward to hearing from. If he needs a public bowing down to, he can get one from me any time he wants.

Someone asked a question about MOW, being the insanely dorky kid I was, I read way way too much as a child (most especially about horse racing) and I got attached to Big Red. Steve just happened to mention him during the Hopeful and it occurred to me just now so I said something. I don't believe I trumpeted anything and probably would've just forgotten all about it were it not for the MOW question in this thread. It was a simple remark and you didn't say I slammed Haskin in any way, yet he didn't bring it up either. Love how it's a selective 'defend the honor' slam on your part.

[dean smith]

Originally Posted by Merlinsky

Okay now you're just being obnoxious. Way to reply to your own message by the way. 'Just thought I'd mention it'. How about you let Steve defend himself if he feels the need? I do believe he's a grown up. Good grief you got yourself wound up over nothing. Frankly rather than play gotcha with Steve, I imagine he could easily take me down when it comes to knowledge about this sport and he's always someone I look forward to hearing from. If he needs a public bowing down to, he can get one from me any time he wants.

Someone asked a question about MOW, being the insanely dorky kid I was, I read way way too much as a child (most especially about horse racing) and I got attached to Big Red. Steve just happened to mention him during the Hopeful and it occurred to me just now so I said something. I don't believe I trumpeted anything and probably would've just forgotten all about it were it not for the MOW question in this thread. It was a simple remark and you didn't say I slammed Haskin in any way, yet he didn't bring it up either. Love how it's a selective 'defend the honor' slam on your part.

C'mon, man. You can't possibly think I was being serious...

Tight-wound bunch at Derby Trail. Very touchy.

Sensitive thugs, I think you all need hugs!

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by dean smith

C'mon, man. You can't possibly think I was being serious...

Tight-wound bunch at Derby Trail. Very touchy.

Sensitive thugs, I think you all need hugs!

I'm feeling the love. No worries.

Gotta love how internet transfers tone, but I was really hoping you were kidding the first time and then the second post threw me. Given the level of hyperbole I thought 'my God, a DTer I thought was sane goes off the deep end.' I was having a bad day and then it was just the last straw. I thought I'd missed something where, unbeknownst to me, there'd been some other sort of discussion about it and you thought I was rubbing it in to be a jerk.

Originally Posted by Linny

MOW presumably was compared to Colin, Sysonby or even Hindoo. In fact do recall reading quotes in history books about a given horse being the "second coming of Hindoo..."

Good ones, you're right I've heard those too. Colin and Fair Play. What I wouldn't give to have seen that rivalry.

A point I think is great to bring up is where Steve mentions Gallorette. I just don't know that she's getting brought up enough in the Rachel discussion. People are focused on Ruffian, but when I first saw what Gallorette accomplished I was just in awe of her. I didn't realize Barclay Tagg said it's perfectly fair to talk about RA and Ruffian, but I appreciated hearing that yesterday when I think Jon White brought it up. Even if you can't compare fillies of different eras exactly, it's fun to discuss them all and really it just elevates everybody in my eyes as I realize how blessed we've been.

[Antitrust32]

What race are they going to change the name of to the "Rachel Alexandra" Grade 1 race. All the really good one's get Grade 1 races.

Maybe they'll change the name of the Haskell or the Woodward to the "Rachel Alexandra"

[slotdirt]

Poor Gallorette only has a G3 to her name.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

What race are they going to change the name of to the "Rachel Alexandra" Grade 1 race. All the really good one's get Grade 1 races.

Maybe they'll change the name of the Haskell or the Woodward to the "Rachel Alexandra"

I'm looking forward to the Grade 1 Seattle Slew and Affirmed Stakes. Maybe GP will do something to elevate the Spectacular Bid Stakes. As for Secretariat, Did AP get the stakes naming rights for Secretariat over NYRA?

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

I'm looking forward to the Grade 1 Seattle Slew and Affirmed Stakes. Maybe GP will do something to elevate the Spectacular Bid Stakes. As for Secretariat, Did AP get the stakes naming rights for Secretariat over NYRA?

I'm looking forward to the $3.75 cent DaTruth Claiming race.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

I'm looking forward to the $3.75 cent DaTruth Claiming race.

You should feel honored by the Antitrust 32 Handicap, which is restricted to geldings.

[dean smith]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

I'm looking forward to the $3.75 cent DaTruth Claiming race.

Originally Posted by DaTruth

You should feel honored by the Antitrust 32 Handicap, which is restricted to geldings.

Ah, verbal jousting at its finest... I'm giving the point to DaTruth on that one. "Restricted to geldings" was nice.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

What race are they going to change the name of to the "Rachel Alexandra" Grade 1 race. All the really good one's get Grade 1 races.

Maybe they'll change the name of the Haskell or the Woodward to the "Rachel Alexandra"

If any existing race is changed, I'd guess the Mother Goose or one of the Oaks preps she ran.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

If any existing race is changed, I'd guess the Mother Goose or one of the Oaks preps she ran.

i wouldn't be in the least surprised if oaklawn changed the martha washington to the rachel alexandra, since she's now the record holder in that race-also because they renamed a race the smarty jones.

[Danzig]

http://www.xpressbet.com/columns.asp...uthor=JonWhite

[dean smith]

Jon White is just tremendous. He is far and away my favorite segment of the week on ATR. He had me drinking that Pioneerof the Nile Kool-Aid during Derby season. I was glad to do it, too.

[Merlinsky]

I was reading the Tim Ice transcript on Bloodhorse http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/talki...isten-now.aspx and he was asked about HOY. He talked about figuring Rachel had it, and he referenced the Haskell, so of course I felt the need to go relive that. Then I clicked on the Woodward video for some more RA fun and saw a couple links to crowd reaction at Saratoga during the race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shsQn...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdGM-OWLPEo&NR=1

Do they do it justice? Tim's such a classy guy, it was great to hear him be so generous.

[Linny]

Agree about Gallorette. She was very good and took on leading males in an era of tough old timers sticking arond for years. I don't think she's being snubbed so much as the focus has been comparing RA to other brilliant 3yo fillies. To try to draw a comparison, you have to look at a timeline comparison, meaning you only look at Gallorette up to September of her 3yo year.
RA has had a brilliant 3yo campaign and it's fair to compare her to other brilliant 3yo fillies, but not fair to compare her to horses that developed into champions at 4 or beyond.

Colin and Fair Play had a rather on sided rivalry as Colin was never beaten. The horse I'd love to time travel to see would be Domino, but only if I could catch a day when he was sprinting.

Don't get me started on the changing of race names. I hate it with the white hot heat of a thousand suns. NOTHING will sway me, nothing.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Linny

Agree about Gallorette. She was very good and took on leading males in an era of tough old timers sticking arond for years. I don't think she's being snubbed so much as the focus has been comparing RA to other brilliant 3yo fillies. To try to draw a comparison, you have to look at a timeline comparison, meaning you only look at Gallorette up to September of her 3yo year.
RA has had a brilliant 3yo campaign and it's fair to compare her to other brilliant 3yo fillies, but not fair to compare her to horses that developed into champions at 4 or beyond.

Colin and Fair Play had a rather on sided rivalry as Colin was never beaten. The horse I'd love to time travel to see would be Domino, but only if I could catch a day when he was sprinting.

Don't get me started on the changing of race names. I hate it with the white hot heat of a thousand suns. NOTHING will sway me, nothing.

depends on the race they're changing. renaming the la troienne made no sense to me, while i would have no problem with renaming the fantasy stakes, or the rebel, the carousel, etc.

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by Linny

Colin and Fair Play had a rather on sided rivalry as Colin was never beaten. The horse I'd love to time travel to see would be Domino, but only if I could catch a day when he was sprinting.

Don't get me started on the changing of race names. I hate it with the white hot heat of a thousand suns. NOTHING will sway me, nothing.

It wasn't for lack of trying on Fair Play's part.

About changing race names, I agree. As much as I loved Barbaro, c'mon The Sir Barton was named after a Triple Crown winner. Is nothing sacred? And now there's more than one race named after him. La Troienne was another I was frustrated about. Is the point of changing the race name that it gets to keep grading it already has? I can understand that but geez, some names have a lot of history. I guess I could see renaming the Martha Washington given Rachel's accomplishment there and the fact that a lot of her other wins like the Woodward are gonna stay as they are for sure, but I could see them renaming an Oaks day race. Somebody remind me, what are the options there?

Originally Posted by Danzig

i was thinking sysonby, but too tired to look it up... i read the farley man o'war book-hell, i read everything walter farley wrote!

Rachel could totally school Black Minx. RA doesn't go getting sweet on any of the colts she's racing, now does she? She knows the Godfather maxim, it's not personal, it's business.

[Linny]

Renaming races takes away from the history of the game. When races are named for famous horses or people in the game, carry the name forward, carries a bit of what they did with it. The great mare Maskette deserved a race named for her but if they still run it, it's not the Maskette now. Changing the name of the "John A Morris" undercuts one of the founders of American racing in the "modern" era. I understand that today's observer may identify more with Personal Ensign than Mr Morris, but guess what, in another 50 years people won't be associating with PE and the name Phipps will be an obscurity and the Ogden Phipps H (formerly the Hempstead) will be renamed for the flavor of the month.

[Phalaris1913]

Renaming races takes away from the history of the game. When races are named for famous horses or people in the game, carry the name forward, carries a bit of what they did with it. The great mare Maskette deserved a race named for her but if they still run it, it's not the Maskette now. Changing the name of the "John A Morris" undercuts one of the founders of American racing in the "modern" era. I understand that today's observer may identify more with Personal Ensign than Mr Morris, but guess what, in another 50 years people won't be associating with PE and the name Phipps will be an obscurity and the Ogden Phipps H (formerly the Hempstead) will be renamed for the flavor of the month.

The Maskette became the Go for Wand.

On a slightly different topic, one of my pet peeves is naming races for horses over conditions that have little to nothing to do with what the horse actually accomplished. It irks me how many major turf races are named for horses that never ran on the turf, or never won on it, and likewise, there are numerous major sprint races named for horses that were not best known for sprinting.