Blasphemy-- the SROTW

[richiebee]

... as in Steeplechase Race of The Week...

The first at Belmont on this beautiful Sunday in NY is the Grade 1, 150K
Lonesome Glory Hurdle. The reason this Grade 1 is run as the first race on the
card is so that the Pick 6 plungers will not have to have the \"jumpers\" in their
P6 sequence. God forbid we make life difficult for the whales and/or the
publishers of racing publications.

I have always enjoyed handicapping these races and I am glad NYRA has not
totally abandoned \'chases yet, even though I am sure there is plenty of pressure
exerted to do so.

Some observations:

Irish shipper Dalucci must be made of iron. This gelding competed in a 2 mile
hurdle race on June 2, a 2-1/2 mile hurdle race on June 8, and a 2-3/8 mile
hurdle race on June 14. After that 6/14 race he was freshened for nearly a
month, then returned to run in 3 races (a flat race over a polytrack surface
and 2 hurdle races) between July 12 and July 31.

A good test of your \"Thoro-math\":

On May 10 at the Percy Warner course in Nashville, Mon Villez won a 3 mile
allowance race over the jumps in 6:00.3 carrying 176 pounds; later in the card,
Good Night Shirt won the featured Grade 1 Iroquois at the same distance in
5:47.3, carrying 158. Without knowing the ground loss, who got the higher TG(S)
#?

Sorry if I have offended any purists out there...

[tmon]

Dalucci is a young(5) handicap/novice gelding. In Ireland he would run at long odds in any graded/group race.

>Some observations:

>Irish shipper Dalucci must be made of iron. This gelding competed in a 2 mile
hurdle race on June 2, a 2-1/2 mile hurdle race on June 8, and a 2-3/8 mile
hurdle race on June 14. After that 6/14 race he was freshened for nearly a
month, then returned to run in 3 races (a flat race over a polytrack surface
and 2 hurdle races) between July 12 and July 31.

[marcus]

Never would have guessed - hurdles & poly ?  It does stand to reason though  , if they run them at Hunt Meets etc -  why not synthetic ... Coincidently , last week I started reading \"American Steeplechase\" / Colgan,Char out my interest  in the entire Hunt Meet racing and Hurdle / Gate jumping phenomina . And after looking at the Leading Steeplechase Winners In America chart , it seems imo serious money -in terms of amount won - is being made by the Champs  .

 My interest in Hunt and Steeplechase racing goes way back a good many years when as lads we would run up and down hills of fields and apple orchards in rural south east central Massachusetts along with retired races horses - they would let us win once and a while . However , in the past several years a renewed interest had been spurred when considering the state of Thoroughbred Breeding as it relates to stamina and soundness  - and how to bring back some of the qualities found in the Hunt , Gate and Turf horses back to the North American flat track race horses  .

Several years ago I was saying and still am now - why not a modified \"Triple Crown Series \" with an accumulated points system being earned across five ( or six ) races - in an expanded Canadian Triple Crown type format that may include Canada and/or other Host countries taking turns sponsoring a race or two or three in the \"Triple Crown Series \" each season  . Obviously this would mean future is now and for radical structural changes to Racing , the TC and BC . Along with the Globalization and Internationalization of racing , a Triple Crown Series of races  would only add further prestige and significants to the original Triple Crown , BC races and revitalize all types of Racing  , and Breeders have an added incentive in the market place to key on producing soundness , stamina and speed in the horses    ...

[tmon]

You do realize Churchill Downs has partnered with Kempton Park Racecourse in England to create the $150,000 Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race over Kempton\'s synthetic surface that will guarantee the winner a spot in next year\'s Derby.

[marcus]

Yes I\'ve read about that recently and I\'m for it ! Honestly , I wasn\'t considering or connecting the dots with the new Kempton Park race and the implications while posting before  - excellent point  ...