While I was @ Gulfstream recently a friend of mine told me that a certain Hall of Fame trainer had said that ME had reminded him of Ruffian. That is a huge endorsement comming from this guy, i\'m curious to see how she runs today. Any opinions out there on this topic ?
Ruffian huh? She may turn out to be a nice sprinter but that\'s about the extent of it. Then again, it wouldn\'t surprise me at all if she\'s done after this stagger job thru the lane(see Pulpit).
The only way this filly will ever get 9F is if they put her in a van and drive her around the track. She is the all time bet against if she runs in the Oaks.
great wet track pedigree. i can see her running forever on a wet fast track. i\'m with you though, i will probably take a stand against her in the Oaks.
how good is congrats? think we may be looking at a mile to a mile and a sixteenth superstar here.
I tend to agree with you Catalin. Though the track was hard to guage with all those damnable Turf races. It did look slower and more fair than it can be at times however. But if Madcap couldn\'t speed away from them at Keeneland without showing some cracks she\'s gonna be hard pressed at Churchill unless the track comes up scalding. I think the biggest disappointment was La Reina however. I\'m sure Brothers will blame the vunerable looking effort on Rene Douglas and put Methusela back up. I almost hope he does.
Leroy Jolley made Ruffian run. He took the race to her. The first time a horse does that with Madcap I think you\'ll see her shrink outta the picture completely. I\'m not sure theres one out there to challenge her early though.
Just something for you to think about. This came straight from the owners mouth.
He put up the $6,000 late supplement fee last week and his words were--\"No one remembers who won the Oaks, everyone remembers who won the Derby\". I have first hand info on this quote trust me on this one. Now whether he follows thru after yesterday or is talked out of it by his trainer remains to be seen.
Also keep in mind this is a very successful man who spent $8,000,000 of his own money to run for Governor of Ky and pulled out 3 days before the election.
Sounds like that 6k was an insurance policy in case she destroyed the Ashland field by widening daylight. I suspect if Mr. Lundsford still has visions of Roses dancing in his head his trainer will find a way of informing him that the Oaks is the better route. Maybe a statement like: \"She has a chance to win the Oaks Bruce, if we run her in the Derby my day rate won\'t pay my bills\"
One thing I\'m certain of there is a colt or two to press her early if she goes Derby.
CtC
The Ashland offered very little convincing evidence that ME could beat a full field of decent fillies in a truly run 9f race, let alone win even a marginal Derby at 10f. I saw nothing whatsoever to jump around and get excited about.
bold post race reply.I have to agree that she wasn\'t that impressive, but she is still young and inexperienced. I didn\'t like the fact that Douglas strangled her on the backside, I feel that took alot out of the horse. So I will give her a shot, after all the trainer who made the remark has been winning with regularity for about 50 years.More will be revealed.
I\'m not sure Ruffian came along in a year when the West Coast competition was as keen as it appears to be. Madcap very well may be the Best on the East Coast...still, that might leave her no better than 4th best right now.
I\'d like to know who the Hall of Fame trainer is. Citing work of 50 years rules out Lukas. Jerkens? (I dont even think Jerkens is that old) Whiteley?
I\'ll give you a hint he made a habit of upsetting the likes of Kelso and Secreteriat.In reply to the remark about Ruffian being looked in the eye, I\'d like to know what that meant.It wasn\'t as if she spit the bit , she broke down. Ruffian and Go for Wand both had tremendous heart and ability, and they ran so hard it cost them their lives.Since when is victory the only yardstick to guage racetrack talent? Slew in defeat was more impressive to me in defeat (JCGC) than Secreteriat was winning the Belmont.Not that Secreteriat was dog meat but that race that Slew ran was amazing , and he got beat. I love horses that dig in and find something, ones that never quit, those are what real champs are made of.I don\'t think ME is capable of winning the Derby, nor do I think the connections should attempt it, I think it will ruin the horse, and i think she can end up being a real nice filly. I will bet this horse against Halfbridled, I believe that the horse can be something special.I just hope they stop trying to rate her.
I guess it is Jerkens. I know he beat Secretariat. I have to assume he beat Kelso. thats going back 40 years plus. I guess he could be that old.
Ruffian always got loose and the Jolley\'s decided to put the heat on her is all. Match races are generally won by the horse that runs fastest early. She never had been looked in the eye and when she had to fight for the lead she lost her rhythm and overextended herself. The same happened with Go For Wand and all the horses Cigar broke down.
Leroy Jolley\'s dad (Moody) had one of the all time classic lines at that race. As he watched Ruffian being pulled up and the valiant but vain efforts to keep her weight off her shattered limb to save her, he commented coldly...
\"Throw a quick quarter mile at a filly... and they come unglued\"
Its still one of my favorite race track anecdotes because of the poignancy of the situation.
Foolish Pleasure is in the pedigree of Smarty Jones.
CtC