not ashamed to sayI had the 126/126/all tri knock me out...slow pace killed any chance I had on that...the filly going 5 wide is impressive, congrats to all that stuck with her, I did not. As far as 2nd guessing the rides - with a very slow pace, I wnat gomez going to the front ASAP...call it what you want, he blew it.
Impressed by what, the quality of the blood doping? Give me a break.
ALM,
I guess that TAP forgot to blood dope:
AP Arrow
Keyed Entry
Wait A While
Deadly Dealer
English Channel
All relatively short priced losers. Whether or not TAP or Asmussen are blood dopers is not confirmed but for sure you don\'t have a clue.
Mike
You\'re serious about that comment right?
The bottom line: this stuff doesn\'t make a horse run faster,it helps them run further. They\'re not going to beat a faster horse, they\'re going to outlast a horse of comparable ability.
TAP can\'t win 100% because of this, but he wins 25% to 40% absent any tough testing. So yesterday he won 3 races on a tough card and finished 2nd twice. You see that as normal?
He\'s had many days like this and I\'ve been there when he\'s had days with 5 winners, many with multiple stakes. You see that as normal?
How long have you been involved with racing?
Alm,
He was 0 for 39, in big spots, with the best barn in the world.Is that normal?
I just started learning about racing, maybe you could help me understand about condy fractures, soft bones and blood dope,and when Curlin will break down.Also would like to know if the world is flat, I assume you know that too.
Mike
You do believe in the tooth fairy, but why waste time going there? Faith is everything to some people.
I said a lot of things in my posts before this race including I didn\'t think Curlin had the pedigree for the race. He had a far better trip than the filly and still couldn\'t outsprint her down the lane.
What other post, other than Jerry Brown\'s in the Post, called it this surely? I don\'t remember reading one.
As for whether or not Curlin has a physical issue that will emerge, that\'s a pure guess and I\'m not wishing it on him. If it happens, I hope to read your reactive post first.
Someone responded to one earlier post saying Curlin is going so well, he must be past any 2yo issues he had. Well, that may be the case, but it\'s just as likely that he\'s just in a groove that they are sustaining through this period.
As for understanding various aspects of the sport, such as condylar issues, I\'ve spent more money on nuclear scintigriphy and soft bone treatments for my own horses than you probably bet in a year. So hold your snottiness for someone else.
Oh, and good luck betting...you will need it.
\"As for understanding various aspects of the sport, such as condylar issues, I\'ve spent more money on nuclear scintigriphy and soft bone treatments for my own horses than you probably bet in a year. So hold your snottiness for someone else\"
Wow,
I did not know I was bantering with Sheik Mohammed. I could embarrass you about your comments about how much you have spent vs what I bet in one year but this is not the venue.
Mike
Very entertaining guys. Just remember what Uncle Miltie once said. \'When entering a longest ---- competition just pull out enough to win\'.
Frank
that is to funny, Frank...Alm, I don\'t quite understand - you seem very knowledgeable, yet if you are so convinced it\'s crooked and rampant cheating, why stay in it? Or do you avoid TAP entries when scheduling your own horses?
Absolutely a fair and good question.
We all have epiphanies in our lives and yesterday\'s Belmont was one for me. I had seen it in my mind\'s eye on Thursday and watching it unfold was a real discouragement. I would have preferred to have been wrong.
But I wasn\'t wrong. My first calls this morning were to the farm manager where I keep my mares and to my trainer.
I\'m dispersing.
Take a look at the trainer standings at Monmouth, where I race. Take a good look at them. Top notch guys who have been leaders there for decades are being left only the crumbs.
Until we get a solid Federal testing program horseracing is going the same direction as grand tour cycling. There it\'s doctors staying ahead of the authorities. On the track it\'s a few vets.
Only it\'s easier to beat the local racing commissions, which are underfunded and can\'t afford the testing labs they need.
Hey, does anyone on this blog know what drug TAP got set down for last year or how many times Assmussen has been given days for positives? Is there any knowledge out there? The small guy like me never had a great chance, but we could dream. Now we only have nightmares.
When Assmussen appeared on the HBO special and was questioned about his transgressions he ducked by saying, more or less,people were jealous of his success. Tell that to Barry Irwin (Team Valor.) He\'s not jealous, he\'s outraged. If Michael Tabor had the same set of ethics we probably would not have had the Belmont result we did this year. The business won\'t change until these folks are prosecuted.
As for me, I\'m gone...25 years...some good memories...a lot of frustration.
Alm,
It was mepivicaine (for Pletcher) an ALLOWABLE drug 4 days out(usually on wolf teeth extraction etc) Thought you being breeder/racer and all would know that. On a scale of 0 to 10 it\'s a zero compared to the stuff being used out there.It is tested for.Hardly the magic bullet.
Mike
Frank:
Legend has it that this is a contest which Uncle Miltie rarely lost...
That wasn\'t the point of the question. You\'re hopeless.
Alm,
\"That wasn\'t the point of the question. You\'re hopeless\"
.....once again you have shown to be cluless about the game.
Mike
I\'m not to sure about who is using what, but it seems to me TAP gets a lot of very good well bred horses, and does well with them.
Don\'t get me wrong, I\'m no TAP fan or anything, but it reminds me when Phil Jackson was winning 9 championship rings. Did he turn into a great coach, start giving his players steroids, or did he just have the best players?
I haven\'t been around the game too long, but I know things go in cycles. I remember when Baffert was winning everything out west...did he loose his mojo, Lukas dominated almost every big race for a time...what happen? Things change and I\'m sure TAP time will pass to.
ronwar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I\'m not to sure about who is using what, but it
> seems to me TAP gets a lot of very good well bred
> horses, and does well with them.
>
> Don\'t get me wrong, I\'m no TAP fan or anything,
> but it reminds me when Phil Jackson was winning 9
> championship rings. Did he turn into a great
> coach, start giving his players steroids, or did
> he just have the best players?
>
> I haven\'t been around the game too long, but I
> know things go in cycles. I remember when Baffert
> was winning everything out west...did he loose his
> mojo, Lukas dominated almost every big race for a
> time...what happen? Things change and I\'m sure
> TAP time will pass to.
Ronwar - I love this analogy with Jackson and the bullls...cyclical is everything...we\'ll see...must drive alm crazy though...
Miff,
I thought English Channel was through and all of a sudden decides to make one late run. Thought that was unusual, cause he certainly looked beat. I needed that 6 in First or second to score.
NC Tony
With the quality and blood stock TAP has, why would you consider his results UNUSUAL or why does have it just has to be drugs?
Some of you guys are sore losers man. Except for My Typhoon, I got my butt kicked at BEL. It\'s not a big deal. We get them next time.
NC Tony
\'All of a sudden he makes a late move\'...must be the great training kicking in.
NOT!
How could I be a sore loser when I picked the winner?
You can bury your head in the sand or you can question the anomaly of 35% trainers who get drug related suspensions fairly regularly.
Or you can ask yourself why Jeff Mullins slipped from 30% to 12% after SoCal built a multi-million dollar testing lab.
Or you can ask yourself a million other questions, but you shouldn\'t just accept the myth that a handful of horse trainers in 2007 have figured out how to win more than anyone ever did in history.
I anticipated a medium backward move out of Curlin and perhaps wrongly so - with all this \"stuff\" going on these days . Seems to me that both of the Trainers for Rags to Riches and Curlin have experienced some bumps in the road but have paid their debt , and ( none the less , even with CTC2\'s Teuflesberg winning in an earlier race on the Belmont Day card ) , I honestly believe that in the Belmont Stakes , it was the performance of the horses .
It was amazing to watch the Fillies effort in both the Oaks and Belmont and the Colt\'s Triple Crown campaign , and even with the five races in two months , how he tried to come back on Rags to Riches at three different times in the stretch says to me a lot about those Horses and the Connections.
lol...that was funny alm
Good point about Mullins. Oneil is slipping a bit too
You know.....he\'s not a 35% trainer when he is a 22-25% trainer who happens to have the best stock in the country. Not burying my head in the sand either. This is not or was not about Jeff Mullins but specifically TAP and his stock. Now it\'s become the age old indictment of the entire racing and training profession and the old drawn out DRUG conversation. Yes we know it\'s there, yes we can suspect the usual culprits. So I\'m guessing Todd\'s Drugs were better than Steve\'s on Belmont day?
It\'s agreed, there are not that many trainers over 20%, and not many if any near 30%. Same could be said for Home Run Hitters, and Guy\'s who hit over 300 or 320.
It\'s a boring worn out argument. No better yet, it\'s a bad excuse now.
NC Tony
It was the distance of the race. Hasn\'t been like we didn\'t see the same kinda thing in the Preakness.
No You are right, it was the drugs...yeah thats it. it\'s always the drugs.
Hey when you go on the backstretch are there bunches of guys and gals walking around with syringes and hoses to milk shake horses?
How many runners you got up for sale now?
NC Tony
I will be getting rid of 7 horses.
As for what goes on backstretch, I get the feeling you\'ve not really been there.
If you want to believe fairy tales I can\'t help you, but if you want to know what really goes on, you should try to find out.
For example, I once had a trainer who was caught with a kit of syringes in one of his stalls at the track. He called me to ask if I would testify that I knew for a fact he only used them on his farm!
I fired him, of course. Only vets can have drugs and syringes backstretch and every track\'s horsemen are serviced by several vets on a daily basis. One pro-active and motivated vet in a pickup truck can service dozens of horses a day if necessary with any drugs they are carrying.
Just factor into your figures that certain barns horses don\'t seem to bounce when they should and that the majority do. That way you can account for what\'s going on and keep betting happily, while remaining ignorant of the reasons why it is so.