Crist on the Farcical World Cup

[chucklestheclown]

Isn't this a lot like baseball writers carping on the Super Bowl? Contrary to what I may have led others to believe, I read the drf quite frequently. Crist should concentrate on running the dam thing and let the experts handle the racing.

[tector]

Originally Posted by chucklestheclown

Isn't this a lot like baseball writers carping on the Super Bowl? Contrary to what I may have led others to believe, I read the drf quite frequently. Crist should concentrate on running the dam thing and let the experts handle the racing.

These would be the same experts who have run the game into the ground?

[chucklestheclown]

No. You are referring to (I think) people who talk about stuff they focus on one board meeting a quarter. When I say "experts" I am talking about people who have expertise on a subject, such as MyMissStormCat visavis Dubai and International Racing in general. Just the laughable difference in odds between the U.S. and Britain yesterday should be enough to satisfy even a casual observer that the U.S. doesn't understand overseas racing, or even cares to.

[tector]

Originally Posted by chucklestheclown

No. You are referring to (I think) people who talk about stuff they focus on one board meeting a quarter. When I say "experts" I am talking about people who have expertise on a subject, such as MyMissStormCat visavis Dubai and International Racing in general. Just the laughable difference in odds between the U.S. and Britain yesterday should be enough to satisfy even a casual observer that the U.S. doesn't understand overseas racing, or even cares to.

I know I don't care to.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by chucklestheclown

No. You are referring to (I think) people who talk about stuff they focus on one board meeting a quarter. When I say "experts" I am talking about people who have expertise on a subject, such as MyMissStormCat visavis Dubai and International Racing in general. Just the laughable difference in odds between the U.S. and Britain yesterday should be enough to satisfy even a casual observer that the U.S. doesn't understand overseas racing, or even cares to.

If you find the odds differences "laughable", I hope you took advantage of them. It's not as if the UK slayed them. They only had one winner pay under $15.

Two of the seven race winners (Calming Influence and Kinsale King) had lower odds in the US than in Britain. The unofficial numbers I have:

Joy and Fun 12-1 UK/ 18-1 US
Calming Influence 14-1 UK/ 13-1 US
Musir 1.375-1 UK/ 1.7-1 US
Kinsale King 7-1 UK/ 4.5-1 US
Al Shemali 40-1 UK/ 145-1 US
Dar Re Mi 9-1 UK/ 12-1 US
Gloria 16-1 UK/ 25-1 US

[brockguy]

Originally Posted by Bigsmc

If you find the odds differences "laughable", I hope you took advantage of them. It's not as if the UK slayed them. They only had one winner pay under $15.

Two of the seven race winners (Calming Influence and Kinsale King) had lower odds in the US than in Britain. The unofficial numbers I have:

Joy and Fun 12-1 UK/ 18-1 US 12.61-1 Betfair
Calming Influence 14-1 UK/ 13-1 US 20.43-1 Betfair
Musir 1.375-1 UK/ 1.7-1 US 1.67-1 Betfair
Kinsale King 7-1 UK/ 4.5-1 US 8.31-1 Betfair
Al Shemali 40-1 UK/ 145-1 US 204.49-1 Betfair
Dar Re Mi 9-1 UK/ 12-1 US 9.11-1 Betfair
Gloria 16-1 UK/ 25-1 US 25.27-1 Betfair

Spot on Bigs - Ive added Betfair Starting prices at the end for comparison

[the_fat_man]

I realize that this is a world class operation and all but are there any results charts for these races anywhere? I'm on the website and what I've found so far is very basic results information.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

I realize that this is a world class operation and all but are there any results charts for these races anywhere? I'm on the website and what I've found so far is very basic results information.

Why would we need charts.....we got such a great bird's eye view of the first four or five horses for the entire race that such superfluous things as charts are unnecessary.

[PatCummings]

Finally getting re-settled back from Dubai. Needless to say, it won't take me five months to get back into form - that too is a myth.

Anyway...

All expected commentary from the usual suspects here, so I'm not all that surprised. It is what it is - you either like it and embrace it for what it is or complain. I spent Sunday arguing back and forth with an Australian journalist who said the DWC wasn't "proper racing."

C'mon people - what is? Define it. An American's perspective is different than X or Y or Z. Just on and on and on. Complain or enjoy...it's what we do. You either have a rosy outlook on racing or a dour one. I enjoy being at Saratoga in the summer, or Meydan, or Manor Downs outside Austin where I will be calling the races on Saturday. People need to get over themselves and their ideal opinion of what is and is not good racing.

I didn't pick Gloria De Campeao first, had him second. But it doesn't excuse the fact that I thought the result of the World Cup was incredibly logical, and if I hadn't been in the walking ring lapping up the scene, I would have been salivating over the fact that three horses who had wins over the course were 25-1, 40-1, and 35-1 respectively.

The joke of it all is that people who bet the Dubai World Cup card do so, almost uniform, ONLY on that day, and pay no attention to the rest of the Carnival. That is a TON of uninformed money in the pool...I might have been better financially staying home and just plugging away. I think people are frustrated that they bet and lose when betting the form they know and losing to the form they don't understand...

I won't sit here and explain Al Shemali winning the Duty Free - but you can't say that there isn't a host of information I've put out there that doesn't give you a better handle to have thought these horses had a chance to win. I thought Allybar, Gloria De Campeao, and Lizard's Desire were all viable win candidates. Not redboarding here, just restating what was in plain English on my website.

How did the chat go?

[blackthroatedwind]

And I thought I was a shill.

[PatCummings]

Oh, it's shilly.

It isn't dirt, American racing, it isn't turf racing - as always, it is what it is. People don't like it when what they see doesn't fit into their preconceived notion of what is or is not ______ (good, bad, competitive, lackluster, etc)

And no one will ever assemble the field of all fields that will be the best in horse racing, someone will be missing somewhere. And just because there is a $10 million purse for the big one doesn't indicate it is the best race ever...

So Sheikh Mo says it is the best ever - what else do we expect from him? He's trying to market his own product.

The result on Saturday was absolutely the best thing he could have expected...when it comes down to it...he wants top horses to run in the Carnival and make the racing there as good as possible, which will therefore prop up the Dubai World Cup to an even stronger status.

Why not run for minimum purses of $110,000 while prepping for a $10 million race.

The schedule isn't perfect - nothing is...timing will always be off for some.

When the great American horses, previous winners of the race, were victorious, it was almost always a two or three horse race with bunch of nameless plodders filling the field. $10 million and the Tapeta is different. There were 11 G1 winners in this year's edition, and not surprisingly, those acclimated to race day conditions did the best.

If anything, I think the 2010 Dubai World Cup has provided a great blueprint for those who would like to have some success in future years. If American horsemen chose to engage, great...if not, their loss...because someone will pick up the slack.