Smarty Jones is the Next Secretariat

[Catalin]

Silver:

Agree with your comment re Purge.  What does the fact that he\'s NOT running tell you?  Look at the connections skipping the race, Frankel, Pletcher, Violette.  There isn\'t a single trainer on the Belmont backstretch that legitmately thinks Smarty can be beat.

Except Zito who I hear is looking to claim a bunch of 3YO\'s at MNR this week so he can run them in addition to Cliff\'s Edge, Birdstone, Royal Assualt, etc.

[Silver Charm]

Catalin wrote:

\"Except Zito who I hear is looking to claim a bunch of 3YO\'s at MNR this week so he can run them in addition to Cliff\'s Edge, Birdstone, Royal Assualt, etc.\"


And if D Wayne Lukas was doing this......

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

If Lukas tossed 3 to 5 horses in the Belmont at a Triple Crown Prospect the racing world would see it for what it really was...Jealousy

Lukas got off the skids a bit in Kentucky. He got a bit lucky that in his down year Baffert couldn\'t come up with a horse to beat Smarty. Baffert is going to surpass Lukas before the end of this decade in all the Triple Crown Records. I think he\'ll out money him and I still think he could catch him in the Breeders Cup. That latter will be hard because Lukas had so many Juvenile Winners he broke down for the Breeders Cup.

But I now lead Lukas 6 derbies to 4 and I will increase that margin next year. I cannot be defeated in the Derby again.



CtC

[jbelfior]

Will everyone please stop with PURGE. Pletcher cranked this horse for a one turn race on a track that has been heavily biased towards speed since the meet began.

Yes, the race was fast and impressive.So how does this translate into a mile and a half 2 weeks later? Pletcher should wait for the Dwyer then point to Saratoga.

When I think of PURGE\'s Peter Pan it reminds me of another impressive PP winner that crashed and burned 2 weeks later---JAMIE\'S FIRST PUNCH.

PS: Can we get Allen Jerkens to take over EDDINGTON\'s training in the next couple of days???


Good Luck,
Joe B.

[Silver Charm]

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[bdhsheets]

One record that Baffy will never surpasss is Lukas\' 500+ Graded Stakes wins. Lukas was the 1st trainer that had strings of horses all across North America and didn\'t waste any time sticking his horses in them. Not like Hennig and Eddington in that big alw win.

[Silver Charm]

Sheets your not such a bad guy after all.

LOL.

For those of you interested a fellow TG Sharpie forwarded me a copy of an article about Lukas that is in the May Edition of the Harvard Business Review. The piece was outstanding and I highly recommend any horse racing fan to read it if they can get their hands on a copy.

There is absolutely NO BS in it.

[marcus]

Been wondering if Smarty Jones would be the best ever should he go on to win the big race in a couple weeks . My impression is that yes Smarty might be the best ever . Knowing what I know of Racing and Racing History (precious little) , Man O\' War and Secretariat and Smarty Jones (potentially) are all so close in abillity that it becomes difficult to seperate those horse\'s that are in that top one percent . Even when comparing each of them with and against previous and current generations of horse\'s and racing/track conditions , it still comes up pretty equall to me and , all things being equall , maybe we can look at it like the \'Big 3 . I\'m going out there to see the race and hopefully find a good bet on the undercard ... Thanks JB and everyone at Thorograph ! You guys and your followers practically are Racing , the Sport of Kings . I can never thank you enough ! Thanks



Post Edited (05-27-04 07:58)

[jwo7]

How does the administration of LEGAL, POSSIBLY performance enhancing drugs imply lack of morality or concern for society.  Have you ever taken nutritional supplements, or been prescribed modern medicine for an ailment?  Does that lessen your own accomplishments?  I agree that there are a lot of illegal drugs used in modern sports, be it horseracing or anything else.  And I agree that it is a problem that society should be concerned with.  But I do not see how Lasix diminishes Smarty\'s accomplishments nor do I see how the use of said drug is going to be the cause of the decline of western civilization, or even horseracing.  I think we should embrace modern science and step out of the dark ages. As far as handicapping goes I think that it is simply another variable to take into account.  And to think that prior to Lasix and the like, that all horses ate only hay, oats and water is naive.

[bdhsheets]

The HBR description of the article

\"What wisdom could a horse trainer have to offer a corporate manager? Let\'s start with the fact that the word \"manage\" has an equine origin. It comes from Latin, by way of the Italian \"maneggiare\"--to handle, to train horses. To find out whether the connection goes any further than etymology, senior editor Julia Kirby interviewed the man who is perhaps the most famous thoroughbred trainer of all time: D. Wayne Lukas. Over the course of his 40-year career, Lukas has broken virtually every record in the history of the sport. He\'s had a horse in every Kentucky Derby for the past 23 years. In 14 different years, he has made more money than any other trainer in the United States; his lifetime earnings mark is now approaching an incredible $250 million. Although his accomplishments are undeniable, Lukas remains a controversial figure in his industry. Early on, he bucked long-standing traditions and came up with a training program unlike anyone else\'s. His willingness to ship horses across the country to compete in fields where they had better chances of prevailing meant more victories, happier clients, and a reputation for success that brought Lukas even better horses. One of the biggest assets a trainer can have is a good eye for selecting not just talented horses but also talented assistants. Horse training is a trial-and-error, learn-by-experience profession, and a lot of it is handed down. There aren\'t any books that demonstrate how to train a horse to win the Kentucky Derby. Lukas may be famous for holding almost every record in racing, but his ability to develop a whole new generation of great trainers may be his most important legacy.\"

I just might have to go out and find this magazine. LOL

[Silver Charm]

Sheets glad to see you are coming around. Go get it you will enjoy it, share it with your girlfriend. You might get a little.......

The best and most accurate part of the article was the comment: \"The only thing I really cannot tolerate is a lack of effort....this kid (help)is wasting my time, I\'m going to send him over to Baffert\'s barn.

Chuckles when Marcus mentioned TGJB and his \"followers\" the first person I thought of was you. (Smiley that I can\'t get to insert)

[BitPlayer]

Silver Charm -

I was in a library today and read the HBR article.  I guess I\'ve read enough about D. Wayne over the years that not much was new to me.

I was, however, interested in the discussion of the economics of training horses.  I suspect D. Wayne was poor-mouthing a bit.  I can\'t believe he had to rely on stallion shares to be rolling in money during the Gene Klein years.

I wish there had been more discussion of the economics of owning horses and the client-relations/marketing aspect of being a trainer.  I think that, in general, horse owners get crushed (a lot worse than the 20% takeout bettors face), and I\'m curious how trainers confront that issue.

Thanks for the recommendation.