Someone please find me this year\'s GATO DEL SOL.
Questions:
1. Is SMARTY JONES the next SEATTLE SLEW?
2. Does anyone out there really think that Shane Sellers can win a triple crown race?
3.Is Baffert now finished with his Derby charade?
4.Does MASTER DAVID ever stop fighting??
5.Does EDDINGTON get in??
6.Can Stewart Elliot win the Kentucky Derby???
7.Why do racing networks continue to employ Charlsie Canty?
Good Luck,
Joe B
Hey Joe
We gotta be about the same age. 30 years ago give or take, Charlsie looked really hot in the ridding suit she dressed in for the NYRA telecasts on channel 9.
Cozzene
There are a lot of horses ahead of Eddington and/or Rock Hard Ten on the graded earnings list whose owners might reasonably conclude that the Derby is not for them. It will be interesting to see how many bail. I have in mind, for example (in rough order of earnings):
Action this Day
Sinister G
Value Plus
Tiger Hunt
Saratoga County
Capitano
Kilgowan
Song of the Sword
Tricky Taboo
Consecrate
Mr. Jester
Of course, one of those might be this year\'s Gato del Sol.
My own least favorite racing analyst on TV is Hank Goldberg. I\'d like to see more of Jeanine Edwards in his place. I think Charlsie is, to some extent, a victim of the networks\' decision that they should try to attract viewers who don\'t follow horse racing rather than serve those who do. (I also remember her on those NYRA shows with Frank Wright).
Has Bailey decided not to ride Read The Footnotes?
Cox\'s Ridge? Temperance Hill?
Charlsie was married to Joe Cantey who ran the Loblolly (sp?) stable and produced those two champions.
I can still see the Racing Form line saying TH was blocked and looking for room in a turf prep some 10-14 days before the Belmont Stakes....
And I can still vividly picture him sloshing his way to victory at something like 50-1.
Charlsie has racing credentials and, to some degree, they like to keep it in the family.
Don\'t tell me you would prefer Ben Affleck and J Lo doing horse racing. Isn\'t poker, the Red Sox and the lottery enough for them.
One vote for Charlsie.
Two votes against Charlsie. She is officially OFF the island.
Really it is getting hard to take the these telecasts seriously. We have The Joker as the Anchor and Alfred E. Nuemann as one the Handicappers and your grandmother providing color. I taped the golf instead.
Bring on Privman, Moss and Edwards.
Bitplayer stay off the back of stuttering Hank Goldberg, he does the best he can.
Also I\'m surprised you didn\'t have Pukkinatthebar on your list considering he ran like puke. Of course considering how many media types there are who spend the entire Derby Week standing outside Bafferts barn, like their part of the permanent shrubbery, they would get lost if they had to go elsewhere to find a story.
SC -
Preachin\' would have made my list, but I\'ve already read that Baffert is taking him to the Derby. He\'s blaming Santiago\'s ride for the poor performance in the Blue Grass.
Silver Charm
I reccommend MatureGrannies.com. It may cause you to reconsider your comment.
cozzene
Judge for yourself but throughout these preps theres been few consistent horses. To my mind they are:
Smarty Jones
Borrego
The Cliff\'s Edge
Lionheart
Pollard\'s Vision
Master David
Imperialism
Limehouse
Less consistent have been
Tapit
Swingforthefences
Value Plus
Eddington
Sinister G.
Birdstone
Wimbledon
St.Averil
Preachinatthebar
With the exception of Smarty Jones even the consistent have multiple losses. The main point of which is to say anyone ducking this Derby just doesn\'t have much courage. JoeB. is correct this has potential for a Gato Del Sol year.
Its not an observation that is universal with this bunch, but when you look for a reason for the inconsistency its interesting that lack of foundation, especially significant two year old foundation is present in many of the inconsistent horses. Many of the more consistent horses seem to have more foundation.
I think its pretty clear that Wimbledon\'s Louisana Derby was a bang up race. There were some good horses in there and he really handled them. Theres been plenty of other horses to get beat 10 lengths and come back strong in their next. Hansel, Tabasco Cat, The Lemon Drop Kid. The list is long, my memory is short...lol If Californias battlers go Derby I think you\'ll see better races from them there.
I\'ve read Tapit may be favored. His new style is to drop way back and make a run that gets odd looking in the stamina testing portion of a race. In a 20 horse field, I don\'t see that running style discouraging any but the weak hearted. I really don\'t think he was crowd gawking last. It doesn\'t explain the bearing in. If he was crowd gawking Churchill is gonna give him a heart attack.
Theres gotta be a Sun Cat in here some where.
CtC
Post Edited (04-11-04 13:00)
Joe,
Interesting that you are looking for a Gato Del Sol. Tersa, the dam of Rock Hard Ten, is a half sister to Gato. I\'d love to see him get in somehow.
Frank
Cozenne,
I went to Maturegrannies.com reviewed every trailer they have and couldn\'t find Charlsie anywhere. Still gets a no vote.
Tonight I will review a tape of the Wood.
BP--
I\'m starting to think that PREACHIN\' may have distance limitations. In fact, I\'m not convinced that any SILVER CHARM offspring would be ideal candidates to get a mile and a quarter in May.
I think the old man was able to do it on guts and class. Now you have two offspring, both of whom packed it in quickly when tracking a swift pace. Of the 2, only WIMBLEDON can sit back and make one run. I think he\'s been asked to do too much too soon.
Good Luck,
Joe B.
Silver Charm
very nice!
cozzene