Channel Maker and Firense Fire - And Let's Drop the Preakness

[Silver Charm]

Very surprised at how fast Beyer had the Man O\'War. A 106 and there were 4 horses within a 1.5 length at the wire. Including the rapid pacesetter. Fast or too fast Rosario rode a great race. We are quick to criticize rides but here was one where he moved hard earlier than he normally might and he needed to. Remember how O\'Brien beat Flintshire is the BC a few years back? Same thing going on yesterday. Horse was a head case at GP and Mott did a good job of settling him down and I got a little of my Derby Day money back.

Firenze Fire connections are being quoted as 6 or 7 furlongs might be his best distance. Since he has TWO giants runs at Belmont going a Mile, is wheeling back in the Met Mile and these guys are Big Gamblers...I believe them.

Sounds like all these runners are coming back Belmont Day in the Manhatten and Met. No Triple Crown on the line. I seriously think it\'s time to do away with the 2 week wheel back and the Preakness. Make the Belmont Leg 2. The place is dump. No one wants to run back in 2 weeks. The race adds ZERO real valuable Stallion value. The Old Triple Crown has been achieved. Modernize it

[richiebee]

Actually Silver, rumor has it that Belinda Stronach will be using the second jewel of the Triple Crown to solve some of her Santa Anita problems. The race formerly known as the Preakness will be renamed the PETAness. It will be run over a specially designed surface which has been created by Posturepedic in conjunction with NASA and with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez consulting. No runner will be treated with Lasix and no rider will carry a whip. At the concession stands only tofu burgers and dogs will be available, and because Miz Belinda apparently misunderstood a memo from Tim Ritvo, no milkshakes will be available at the ice cream stands. At the end of the credits rolling after the NBC telecast will be the disclaimer that “No animals were harmed or eaten during the running of this race.”

Firenze’s career best race was in last year’s Dwyer at a mile at Belmont so the Met makes a lot of sense.

You mention Channel Maker and The Manhattan on Belmont Day. Graham Motion has won the last two runnings of that race with decent price runners, let’s see what he has this year.

Motion’s Varenka, a maiden filly who kept Stakes company last year looked very good yesterday and obviously has a lot of upside

[Silver Charm]

While you are kidding on the Preakness I\'m not. Its had its turn, run its course, time to move on. In an era or period in the Sport where people are looking for more spacing and safety and care of the animals none of this makes any sense. Except as I heard Andy Beyer say once \"the Harbors in Baltimore open the following weekend and everyone is Boating so they cant move the Preakness....Oh yes they can. To a better more quality venue. And run it on July 4th Weekend. Oh BTW none if the runners on the quality Derby Undercard are running back either. The place has had its day. Losts its turn. It\'s no longer a good fit. Rebrand moce on. I had the runner up in the grass maiden at 13-1. I was cashing until I wasnt.....

[richiebee]

Well Silver I admit that eliminating whips, Lasix and Pimlico will all have the same impact on improving the game...none. And let’s be honest, if the CD Stupards had left MaxSec up, and MaxSec was headed to Baltimore with a Triple Crown still possible, you would have your pom poms out celebrating the great tradition of the Triple Crown.

Crazy game the Wests had one runner cross the line first and another who was more or less Thorographically fastest in the race and ended up with bupkis/nada.

As far as Racing is concerned, too many tunnel visionaries at the helm, too many horseplayers who will continue to support an enterprise which ignores and abuses them. To me one of racing’s larger problems over the next 5-10 years is the uncertainty around those fighting Stronach’s future plans for GP, Laurel and SA.

I also bet the KMac/MDO maiden, she might end up back on the main track with decent results.

[Silver Charm]

Yes and I had a Servis trained grass Sprinter run a 118 Beyer and I lost. So Servis is cursed.

The Traditionalist said the Breeders Cup was a mistake. The Traditionalist said these Super Days were a mistake. Drains the rest of the Days and those Card. Tradition is 0-2. I\'m gonna give you 3 races and as Breeder which one means more on the resume.

● Travers
● Preakness
● Haskel

If you had to think a moment then it\'s not a Jewel. When you need a Penicillin Shot before you enter the premises or backstretch it\'s not a Sport of Kings. Stronach has tried to fix more problems than he has caused. The Pegasus works. Gulfstream isnt falling apart. And the breakdowns at SA seem to have abated. Baltimore one of the more corrupt Citys in America is doing what? As its Crown Jewel turns into ruble?

If Tiger is on the Leaderboard next weekend. The Preakness will run a Negative #. Book It

[richiebee]

I will address your points briefly from the bottom, sir, trying not to dislodge your rose colored glasses or cause you to spill anything from your half full glass of your selected beverage.

Tiger and The Preakness.Considering the fact that the Tiger/PGA is now accessible action wise to a much larger audience, I imagine there will be a lot of eyes focused on Bethpage Black next Saturday. But since it is the THIRD round, and it is even possible that Tiger will bounce off his Masters win, I’m sure many will remote from 2 to 4 on their dials to catch the Preakness. Maybe the folks at William Hill NJ will offer a Preakness/PGA double?

There will not be a Triple Crown and I’m personally hoping that this year’s Belmont Day attendance  will be in the comfy 30-40k range, even though NYRA has apparently somehow brought one of my favorite racehorses, Fio Rito, back from the grave to make an on-track appearance.

Turning Crown Jewels into Rubles Is that a rather backhanded swipe at my Russian pedigree and connections? Sheesh, things are tough enough now, living as I am amongst people who sincerely believe that the US government (or one of its noms de course) would NEVER attempt to influence the outcome of an election in a foreign nation. Never.

Baltimore as a corrupt city I would argue that Baltimore is not a corrupt city. They elected a corrupt self dealing mayor who resigned under pressure last week. In New York City we elected a man who is lazy, corrupt and incompetent and he is ...running for President? New York City is a corrupt city.

Abatement of (23) SA breakdowns There have been no breakdowns recently as far as I know. But to say that the fatalities have abated has a bad acoustic (that’s an “optic” for your ears, right?) Those 23 fatalities will have a lasting   effect and have for better or worse inspired much dialogue. Those 23 fatalities might result in Racing trying to get away from Lasix too hastily (and without industry wide planning)and the results could be unfortunate.

Traditionalists/Breeders Cup I worked on the backstretch in the early and mid 1980s, and seem to remember everyone being fairly positive about what was then a one day seven race event. As to the “BIG” days that is all I really bet anymore, but if I was a more frequent traveler I would be upset that graded stake racing has almost disappeared from NYRA Sunday cards.

Your Travers, Haskell, Preakness question My quick answer, with no time for research (Mother’s Day, have to cook for the girls), is that a victory in any of those races, standing alone, doth not a legit stallion make, so my opinion would be they are relatively equally weighted among breeders.

One more comment about Varenka, by Ghostzapper. Wondering why we do not see more sons and daughters of GZ, who turned in some great performances at Belmont. Just seems GZ is somehow underrepresented. Some investigating may be in order.

[BitPlayer]

If stallion-making is an important criterion, you would probably drop the Belmont before the Preakness.

An irrelevant (but timely) aside:  didn\'t the Belmont stewards dodge a bullet when Victory Gallop got his nose down in front of Real Quiet.

[TGJB]

I had that conversation with Elliot Walden the other day. The stewards said they would have taken down RQ, neither of us believed it for a second.

[Silver Charm]

I for one believe they would have. The Public was thirsting for a Triple Crown but it was an obvious call. And then everyone would have screamed it was the insurance company and they didnt want to pay the $5M bonus. TONS of people took note of the Derby DQ. People who aren\'t die hard fans. But casual.

Bit the Belmont faded out because of the need for speed. It\'s been boosted lately by more quality fields with runners bypassing the Preakness and the Showcase race on a HUGE DAY. New York fixed its problem. Baltimore will not. Move on. Run the 3rd leg at SA or Del Mar July 4th weekend. Call it The Thoroughbred Championship Challenge and say you are doing it for the safety of the animals.

[BB]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had that conversation with Elliot Walden the
> other day. The stewards said they would have taken
> down RQ, neither of us believed it for a second.

In France, after WWII ended, everyone was in the Resistance.

[john9969]

Stronach will rip the bandaid off for the corrupt Balt. politicians, rebuild Laurel, and have a great event.  You can have a fun time at Pimlico on these two great race days in light of it being a dump -you have to have the right seats though.  Take a look at the BES card. Preakness should be similar.

[Silver Charm]

Hope so. I give big props to the Maryland horsemen and most of the Maryland based owners who gp out of their way to support the weekend and the Events. Start with Kevin Plank etc etc etc.

Since when is wheeling horses back in two weeks a requirement? Because the people of Baltimore need to boat the following weekend? I\'m not sure about Friday but I will be playing on Saturday. Not as much as normal. I save my bigger wagering days for the dog, not the tick