I seem to remember hearing some years ago that no horse that had ever won the Gotham and Wood has ever won the Derby.I was thinking that someone might mention that in reference to IWR.Obviously that was back in the day when all the races were spaced two weeks apart.Is that true?--Jett
It\'s true, but the phrase \"Gotham/Wood Jinx\" is something of a misnomer.
A \"Gotham Jinx\" alone might be appropriate enough, as only the great Secretariat won the Gotham and the Kentucky Derby.
If we were to use more recent history, the term \"Wood Jinx\" might even be considered, as Fusaichi Pegasus is the only Wood winner in the last 27 years to go on and also win the Derby.
This post sent me to the archives, where I have a yellowed copy of Steven Crist\'s New York Times column from 20 years ago (to the day, apparently) titled \"Can Easy Goer Outrun the Odds on a Derby Jinx?\", which begins ...
\"It is getting awfully difficult to make a rational case that Easy Goer will not win the 115th Kentucky Derby 11 days hence.\"
Later,
\"He looks so good both on paper and on the track, that the only arguments now being made against him fall into the realm of voodoo handicapping - the voodoo of streaks and jinxes.\"
No, P-Dub. Sunday Silence does not get a mention in the column, but sheet theory is somewhat hinted at here ...
\"The Gotham-Wood jinx is ... intriguing, because there are some plausible cause-and-effect possibilities. Those two races, run four and two weeks before the Derby, might sap some horses by asking them first to run a fast one-turn mile and then to pick up weight and go an extra furlong.\"
He goes on to note that seven of the eight horses who won both races (prior to \'89) ran in the Derby (one got hurt), and five of them were trounced by anywhere from 6 to 25 lengths. Dike ran a good third in \'69, but was beaten by two better horses (Majestic Prince and Arts and Letters, who also combined to split the Preakness and the Belmont).
That seventh horse?
\"The first horse to win both the Gotham and Wood surely deserved to win the Derby. Native Dancer was unbeaten in nine career starts when he walked into the starting gate for the 1953 Derby ...\"
Now, I love a good jinx or curse story as much as the next guy, but it\'s got to have a horrible wrong at the core to make it a really good one (selling Ruth to the Yankees, or fixing the World Series are both fine examples of kiboshes which lived to a ripe old age before expiring). And, I gotta admit, Native Dancer suffering his only defeat in the Derby (by a head, after getting mugged at the start and getting a wide trip) makes for a pretty good curse. Crist concludes ...
\"None of the previous Gotham and Wood winners deserved to win the Derby, with the singular exception of Native Dancer, whose connection to this Derby is more than a footnote: At stud, Native Dancer sired Raise a Native, who sired Alydar, who sired Easy Goer. How fitting would it be for Easy Goer to end a streak that his great-grandfather had the misfortune to begin.\"
Now, I know you can find Native Dancer in just about any thoroughbred these days. But, still ... Raise a Native also sired Mr. Prospector, who sired Fappiano, who sired Roy, who sired Meguial, who threw I Want Revenge. Can I Want Revenge (this name takes on some meaning here, yes?) win the 2009 Derby? Whattaya say, great-great-great-great-great-(maternal)-grandfather?
BB Wrote:
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> No, P-Dub. Sunday Silence does not get a mention
> in the column, but sheet theory is somewhat hinted
> at here ...
Good one.
Saying it would take a voodoo or jinx of some sort is yet another example of East Coast snobbery. Not to mention ignoring a horse brought over by one of the greatest trainers of all time, one who just won the race 3 years prior. We appreciated the pile of money bet on the second best horse.
P-Dub Shug is a great trainer but he was out-trained twice in this rivalry for the two biggest races.
The Derby and BC. Where preparation mattered. Once the Triple Crown started rolling there is not as much one can do.
However regarding any \"other\" kind of jinx the weather and consequently the track came up very funny that day. EG didn\'t handle that track in the BC Juvy when it was wet and did not handle it at all on Derby Day.
Be that as it may when Charlie W blew his horse out in 46 and change about 5-6 days before the race I knew EG was gonna have his hands full. Which gets me to QR and Dunkirk. I does the latter overcome the former in any scenario. Better be twice the price to try and find out.
One thing PDub. Even bet, I get Mike Smith and you get Robbie A., who just put the kiss of death on the Lukas horse, on who is wider the entire race.
Silver Charm Wrote:
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> One thing PDub. Even bet, I get Mike Smith and you
> get Robbie A., who just put the kiss of death on
> the Lukas horse, on who is wider the entire race.
I love it. But since I\'m the resident Mike Smith apologist, why do you get him?? I\'ll take the bet, makes the race interesting in case I miss again.