hi
i amm sure that jerry will agree if it was not for the dead rail on derby day we would have a triple crown winner.
p.s. horses who raced on the dead rail have performed in a spectacular fashion coming back from almost the whole churchill meet.
i think madcape escapade will blow off the doors the next time she runs.
This horse had what it took to take down all three legs but just as in other years it wasn\'t meant to be. Whether it was the dead Derby Day rail or a slightly early move into a brutal pace, one will never know.
This horse did everything he could and if you saw the last two races, then some.
Seems it is always something a little strange, more so than the three race grind so often referred to.
Tabasco Cat decided to sit down when the starting gate opened, War Emblem fell down. Risen Star hugged the outer rail not the inner. Sunday Silence just happened to come along the same year as Easy Goer, Easy Goer just happened to come along the same year as Sunday Silence. Real Quiets jock set his horse down thinking he was riding at Fairplex, not Belmont Park. Point Given ran like he was overdosed. Bid stepped on a pin. Smarty Jones was attacked by a gang.
The list goes on.
One thing is for sure, this horse today has already won impressively going 6 furlongs and 12 furlongs. Something no other horse in training can lay claim to. Clearly stamping himself as the front runner for Horse of the Year.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050612/COLUMNISTS01/506120417
Apparently I am not the only one thinking this
IMO, a couple of those horses would have been worthy Triple Crown winners - certainly \"Bid\". However, I think the thing that separates the winners of the 70s from the \"almost winners\" is that the winners overcame the kinds of obstacles that derailed the others.
Take a look at Seattle Slew\'s derby. He got left, rushed up and bulled his way between horses, dueled in a fast pace and won at 10F. He actually had something extra left in the tank. In the Preakness he dueled off Cormorant in a fast pace and won. I think those kinds of trips (certainly the Derby) would have derailed most of the recent candidates.
Affirmed had to deal with a horse like Alydar 3 times. Alydar would have been a worthy Triple Crown winner yet Affirmed was able to pull off the sweep.
Pincay rode rings around Ron T. in the Derby and Preakness. The Belmont duel would have killed just about any horse other than Secretariat that day. It certainly killed Sham.
I think what recent years have taught us is that in a series of 3 races loaded with quality horses you are going to get at least 1 bad trip, 1 other superior opponent etc.... and you are going to have to be very superior to overcome it.