One of the most ridiculously overhyped, overbet horses in the past 10 years... won an Eclipse without beating a decent horse:
Champion sprinter LOST IN THE FOG (Lost Soldier), who finished a disappointing ninth in Saturday\'s Smile Sprint H. (G2) at Calder, will be given a rest and could possibly be retired, trainer Greg Gilchrist told Daily Racing Form. \"We\'re not leaning one way or the other,\" Gilchrist said. \"We\'ll give him time to get his feet underneath him and see how he is. We want to determine if he can be competitive at the level he should be. If it were going to take two or three months to bring him back, and there was only one race left for him this year, we\'d probably retire him.\" Lost in the Fog lugged top weight of 125 pounds in the Smile. \"You can\'t put a positive spin on it,\" Gilchrist said. \"It\'s the first time I\'ve seen him not try. He carried a lot of weight, but that had nothing to do with running that poorly.\"...
Put LITF in most any other trainers hands and he is ruined on the TC trail.
An 85 year old, and a trainer who didn\'t get caught up in the Triple Crown hype, did what was best for the horse and all the horse did was win 10 in a row, at 8 different tracks. Who was the last horse to accomplish that feat? Cigar maybe, I guess he was overhyped too.
Maybe we should hope that he doesn\'t make the breeding shed either so that we are not subjected to such undeserving progeny.
Awesome animal. Last month he just ran a neg 3.5 and did it over the bc sprint surface. Well obviously he\'s not gonna three up this new top like he did with his neg 2.5 last year... if that\'s the expectation then who exactly is lost in the hype?
As someone posted here last week, kudos to the connections for accepting the challenge at Calder and testing the limit. Now how about a two month rest, a scripted cakewalk at Bay Meadows, then the culmination at CD.
I have never understood all the negative feelings for this horse and his connections. I get sick of hearing \"he has never beat a decent horse.\" THe bottom line in this game is too win as many races as possible and Kudos to his connections for putting in the right spots.
I tend to agree with those who object to the LTF bashing?
Who expected him to run Sat off the -3 1/2???
And this field was laden with horses that had run negative TG figs in their past.
So, with the expected \'bounce\' how was he going to win?? ...then add impost and an expected wide trip from his post ( with plenty of pace inside).....
So he succumbed and so what???
He was a vulnerable favorite and he \'VULNERATED\'.....lol
With some time off and a prep, perhaps, LTF has another big negative in him. I\'ll stay tuned.
Bob
As always the General is right.
Learned a new word today...vulnerated!
And yes; today is my first day off in a while..
In my book, figures are figures no matter who you\'re running against. The horse went out and ran the figures in graded company and won when he could which was more than a lot of other animals have done.
So if he does go to Louisville in November and is going off at 4-1, which one of you wouldn\'t bet on him?
ME.
Unfortunately he cannot handle pressure and other speed on the turns. Just my opinion. It doesn\'t make him a bad horse. He is a very good horse but not a great one yet. In order to be great, you have to beat great horses.
It\'s like the Atlanta Braves, they have been great for 13 consecutive years but who thinks the Braves are better than the Yankee\'s (how it hurts to even say that) during the same period?
NC Tony
Uncle Buck Wrote:
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> In my book, figures are figures no matter who
> you\'re running against. The horse went out and ran
> the figures in graded company and won when he
> could which was more than a lot of other animals
> have done.
>
> So if he does go to Louisville in November and is
> going off at 4-1, which one of you wouldn\'t bet on
> him?
You can\'t be serious.... I wouldn\'t bet this horse at 15-1. Graded company... give me a break - he beat 3 yos last year, nothing else worthwhile. Got beaten at home first out this year, didn\'t want to face Carthage again so he beats a small field at CD (I don\'t care what his figure was) and ships to CRC because the trainer/owner didn\'t want Silver Train at BEL or any horse in SoCal (he wouldn\'t get a sniff of Surf Cat).
Managed well... absolutely, but so was Hallowed Dreams. Just because there are a lot of 1s next to your name doesn\'t make you great. He has run five times against older horses with two wins, a second, and two flops. That tells the story.
I am serious...and stop calling me Shirley:-)
EZGOER89 - we\'ll revsisit this topic after the BC Sprint if the Fog rolls in that day..
Have a great summer!
Uncle Buck---
Doesn\'t matter....LOST IN THE FOG will have been retired long before they run the 2006 BC Sprint.
Good Luck,
joe b.