I need to keep going back to a Bobby Frankel quote made after the Derby, when he said the purse of the Derby was not large enough considering that \"hundreds of millions of dollars worth of horses are ruined chasing it\"
With that in mind, here is one man\'s list of this year\'s most mismanaged 3YOs:
1) Sweet Catomine-- a black eye for Wygod, Canani and California racing.
2) Going Wild-- expected better judgment from Bob and Beverly Lewis.
3) Rockport Harbor-- owner Rick Porter did what was best for his horse-- taking him off the Triple Crown trail-- but he did it six weeks too late.
4) High Limit-- Frankel has always been known as a great handicapper; as such he should have scratched HL from the Preakness as soon as he was certain that Going Wild was running. Now that we have all seen Mary West on national TV, maybe the West\'s will allow Frankel to rehabilitate this brilliantly fast colt, placing him in races at distances where he can win.
5) Galloping Grocer-- whoever was responsible for his 3YO campaign, whether it was trainer Schettino or the widow Waldbaum, should be subjected to supertesting.
6) Spanish Chestnut
7) Greeley\'s Galaxy
8) Wilko
Just my opinion...
Richiebee
You were right about Eddington and I was wrong. Hope you had a ton on him.
A leftover discussion from last night about 3yos that sticks in my craw. I said last weekend that Lost In The Fog MAY be the best of this crop. Some took exception to that then and moreso after yesterday.
Well,Lost ITF does what he does better than any colt I can remember. OTOH you only have to go back to last year for a colt who\'s at least the equal of and probably superior to, Afleet Alex.
When they go into the gate for the Belmont the experts and gurus will be saying, Oh, who can possibly beat Afleet Alex?
Well that depends. Are we talking about the AA of the Preakness or the AA of the Derby?
The AA of the Ark Derby or the AA of the Rebel Stakes?
The AA of the Hopeful (where he ran a very game race for those of you who don\'t remember) or the AA of the Champagne ( where I believe he got beat by Proud Accolade- what\'s HE done since).
I don\'t know whether he\'s going to win the Belmont and neither does anyone else. That\'s why they have to run the race. But this time last year Smarty Jones, after annihilating the field in the Preakness, looked awfully tough. Yet he found the Belmont a pole too long.
BA:
My days of wagering the proverbial ton ended the day I got married. For better or worse I am now limited to a half ton.
With regards to Lost in the Fog, we both agreed that his connections handled him very prudently. For LITF to get recognition as one of the best of his generation, he will have to beat older horses in a Grade 1, such as the BC Sprint or the Cigar Mile.
A good list, and I can\'t argue with anybody you put on it.
But what kind of award or category does Zito\'s handling of his \"five superstars\" over the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
I agree that they weren\'t mismanaged to the point of health concerns.
But who in the past 20 years has done less with more, than what Zito did? Those five horses were even money as a group to include the Derby winner according to oddsmakers. His best finish there was 7th, beaten 12 lengths. Yesterday, he ran three back and he got one to come in 4th, beat 15.
To not even hit the board with that group is an awful job of training.
Anybody else out there sick of his line afer each race about \"we\'re blessed. Sometimes things don\'t go your way. We\'ll be back. Its a humbling game.\" etc.etc.etc.
If he really is in the group of juicers, he is going to hell for his constantly invoking God and blessing in his interviews. If you want to cheat, go ahead, take your chances and try it, but then don\'t ask for a blessing on top of it.........
Jimbo-- Amen.