forcast is sunny and 90

           I don\'t know how you could see Funny Cide as or Midway Road as being that short,the whole key to the race was the fact that Peace Rules was going to take alot of money.I have been wanting to say something about JB\'s analysis but shied away until now.Peace Rules did not look like the most likely winner of that race to me.Whether there was any thing unethical about it I can\'t say.About the only value i can get out of these endless posts about who did what to whom is that i get a feel for the players involved,so there is some value in reading this stuff.

         I thought I was the only one who felt this way.Great post.

             The Mike Smith comment is because ,Smitty had a tendancy to race wide ,especially when he felt he was on a superior animal ,I recall seeing Mikey 5 or 6w in a race on many occasions ,I think Smith is a great rider but I think his strong suit is on the front end.So therefore I think that comment fit him perfectly .When I think of Bailey I think of him riding Gridestone from an outside post and never being more than 2w in the race.I don \'t believe that he didn\'t have presence of mind to tuck him away somewhere,personally I think he should have showed more speed early ,to get to a cozier spot.J.D.was thinking of saving his horse @ Aqueduct ,but not in the Derby ? It doesn\'t make sense to me.I think maybe he\'s near the end of the line.

EM was both types of wide ,in that race ,not to mention the extra ground he had to cover racing to the first turn.It also seems to me the EM was about 5W on each turn,so that is a difference of about 10 lenghts ,thats alot of ground to lose.By the way Jerry did a superb job pointing out that Bailey would likely lose alot of ground being over confident.



Post Edited (05-06-03 11:23)

After looking it up ,I found that Secretariat ran the Derby in  47:2,1:11:4,1:36:1,1:59:2,in the Belmont it was 46:1,1:09:4,1:59,2:24.



Post Edited (04-30-03 15:34)

       If they give Harthill a polygraph ,they better give him a post test urine as well.

         I\'m with you eddie ,Forego ran and won with 138lbs.you\'ll never see that again.

             I really don\'t think EM was late at the end of the Wood,it may have seemed that way because of the lead changes.

        It seems to me that the breed is getting weaker ,they breed for speed ,and this seems to knock horses out before their time,years ago they ran races longer the JCGC was @ 1 1/2 miles the the fillies ran 1m in the acorn ,1 1/8 miles in the Mother Goose and 1 1/2 miles in the Coaching Club American Oaks,some races in NY for handicap horses were run at 2 miles or more.Derby horses years ago ran 20 times or more before the first Saturday in May.The Whitney\'s ,Vanderbilt\'s and Phippses controlled whom was bred to whom.We will never see horses as durable as they were in the past and its a shame ,from a fans point of view ,this game doesn\'t mean as much to me as it used to.Who wouldn\'t have liked to seen what a horse like Point Given could have done age age 4.Cigar was the only t hing close to horses in that era as far as durability goes.There was something special about waiting for a really good 3y.o.\'s ,4y.o. campaign

Patrick Day!!!

horses keep getting faster,the bar is constantly being raised ,EM won the Wood easy and could have run much faster,if he doesn\'t lose in B\'more he will win the triple crown.

     I haven\'t seen the sheet\'s for this race yet ,but it seems to me that EM will win easy.Watching the way he finished up in the Wood ,it seems to me that he has alot more in the tank.I love to see horses with that kind of energy late in a race ,Bailey had the race won ,the horse(and rider) loafed a bit ,switched leads and the rider was able to shake him up and the horse responded immediately.Last year in the Derby if you look at the finish Espy is standing up waving his stick and War Emblem is still flying ,after seeing that I was  convinced  to bet him exclusively on top @ Baltimore,conversely he got a little late at the end of the Preakness and was a good toss @ Belmont.I think alot can be told about a horses condition watching the way they finish.EM could have won the Wood by 15 if he wanted to ,Bailey knows the real deal is ahead.

thank you ,that makes sense.

Does any one out there keep a stat on horses running after throat surgery to correct breathing problems.I would appreciate any feedback.Thanks