Stephen Foster, Bob and John

[richiebee]

Last week at about this time I pondered the late running Jazil, and how a case could be made that there were some similarities between that K-Mac runner and last year\'s Derby winner.

I prefaced the post by relating that I was listening to George Harrison at the time I was posting. Frequent poster MO seemed to be searching for some connection between Jazil and GH; there was none. When MO questioned me about the post, I unleashed an uncharacteristic personal attack, which I now apologize for.

At the risk of once again running afoul of the musical people who frequent this board, I pose the following question: Was there ever a greater \"One Hit Wonder\" than Stephen Foster, who wrote the words to \"My Old Kentucky Home\"? Please give me $10 dollars for every time someone mentions getting misty eyed when they play this piece of crap. When the IRS taps on your shoulder, or your wife finds
where your cash is hidden, then you can tell me about misty eyed.

My gang of four remains the same-- SNS, B and J, Point D and Jazil. The latter 3 have already been covered offshore. They all seem to be working well up to the race, and as NCT points out, Baffert has relocated his mojo.

What concerns me most about SNS is the fact that he has beaten little if anything in the races he has won; the true indication of his quality may have been his wide and gutty 3rd place finish in the Gotham. I am impressed by the manner in which he won the Ill Derby, but right now am not at all impressed with the second and third place finishers in that race. Mr Triester, who is a non- winner of 2 lifetime, was beaten in the Derby Trial by another NW2LT, Baffert\'s Record. And by the way, the Desormeaux nosheaux sidesheaux was way overplayed
by some posters on this board.

(Since \"Derby Trial\" is now pretty much a misnomer, they need to re-name the race. Suggestions: Lindbergh Trial, Nuremburg Trial, OJ Trial).

As TGJB noted, SNS is hovering offshore at 6/1. Bob and John is currently at 12/1. Considering the historical and recent success of horses exiting the Wood, and the fact that Baffert can seemingly do no wrong, the revised Richiebee Derby Top Ten is:

     1) B and J
     2) SNS
     3) Point D
     4) Jazil

[Bally Ache]

Well Richiebee, I respectfully disagree with you about Stephen Foster.  He was definitely not a one hit wonder.  My Old Kentucky Home is like Auld Land Syne to me.  Ironically, I don\'t think Foster ever set foot in Kentucky.  But let\'s cut to the chase.

The only thing that bothers me about Sweetnorthernsaint is his performance in
 the Gotham.  Why didn\'t he win this race?  Like Now doesn\'t appear to be of the first rank and Keyed Entry is really just a sprinter who can be coaxed to go a middle distance on a good day on a glib track (running this horse at a mile & a quarter borders on the criminal IMO and reveals the dark side of the Ky Derby.  The trainer\'s ambition comes before the horse.).

I like SNS a lot and so do  several other people on this board but no one has offered a plausible excuse for his defeat.  Yes he was somewhat wide but not that wide.  If he was the horse I thought he was going into that race, he would have overcome it.

He\'s still my pick though and I\'ll take Barbaro for second.  Try to catch a horse moving forward for third.

Oh, but I do agree with you regarding all the puerile nonsense about Desormeaux.

[RICH]

Why didn\'t SNS win the Gotham? Maybe it was the 10 hole on the inner dirt track, it sure didn\'t help. If I remember correctly, they were pretty happy with the run considering.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> What concerns me most about SNS is the fact that
> he has beaten little if anything in the races he
> has won; the true indication of his quality may
> have been his wide and gutty 3rd place finish in
> the Gotham. I am impressed by the manner in which
> he won the Ill Derby, but right now am not at all
> impressed with the second and third place
> finishers in that race. Mr Triester, who is a non-
> winner of 2 lifetime, was beaten in the Derby
> Trial by another NW2LT, Baffert\'s Record.

Yes, Mr. Triester was beaten. But, he was taken out of his preferred running style by trouble at the break. He actually broke last, settled, ran four wide and fanned 6 wide for the drive. He didn\'t make any inroads late, but he was only beaten a bit more than 2 lengths. If he broke well, its very likely he would have won. Is he among the top Derby 5? No, he's not. He wasn\'t before and he's not now. However, he is not a half bad horse and the Derby Trial did not reflect poorly upon him.

http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbPDFChart.cfm?TID=CD&CTRY=USA&DAY=D&DT=04/29/2006&STYLE=EQB&RACE=9&BorP=B

> And by
> the way, the Desormeaux nosheaux sidesheaux was
> way overplayed
> by some posters on this board.
>

You\'re close to my initial top four, having dropped Bro Derek for Jazil however. The chalkiness of those selections has worn off some due to the increased level of the competition in the next one, though you\'re probably sitting upon 3 of the top 5 choices, but for Jazil. In regard to devaluing SoS, did you ever contemplate the Desormeaux NoSheaux may subliminally be impacting you and thus that is why you devalued SoS\'s stock? Maybe, just maybe, deep down, secretly, desperately, what you actually fear is Kent Desormeaux. Scary. Jerry\'s pretty good at these types of evaluations if you need a referral.

Jazil is a nice little tiny bit of a horse. His little legs will really have to be moving well to not get impeded and cover enough ground to get up. It's about 100-1 against that he gets the Wood trip Saturday. I kind of like him, but its good to get long odds there.

Addendum:

After much thought it has occured to me that Jockeys are notorious drunkards. As long as there have been small men in the saddle they have partied like sailors on shore leave. You wouldn\'t think that little men and booze would be a good mix. But those guys have an advantage in that area. They can get really, really snookered on less than half of what it costs us. I think the Wee Iceman drank. I know Sea Bisquits rider drank like a fish. Ron Hansen, Stewart Elliot, Pat Day, Chris Antley, Jerry Bailey. All the little men that are big riders have tied it on. Its just conduct that goes with the territory. Its vocational.

Now, I know that no one really doubts that Kent Desormeaux was as green as an Irish Leprechaun this past Friday night. Let\'s not even go there. But the real issue is whether its necessary to have a frosty, clear thinking jockey in the Run for the Roses? I\'ll answer that one for you. No, I dont\' think it is, provided the horse is special enough to overcome a couple misjudgements. But what you really need with 20 horses fireballin down a straightaway into a turn thats only wide enough for 3 or 4 horses is a little courage. Falling there is almost certain impairment. Obviously luck is far more important than skill in that calvary charge. In that regard a wee man thats both lucky and bolstered with the best kind of courage is just the thing a bettor needs. When your little man is as green as a shamrock due to over imbibing in Bushmills or Jamesons, thats just got to be lucky.

 

[high roller]

this board is notorius for slandering people, here\'s a guy or clown that says a jockey was drunk, the fact is that the guy came in on a red-eye flight and got up late, other losers say if they lose that a trainer was using \"juice\"

i wish these people would get a life