Kentucky Derby...and Beyond?

Question is: what can Asmussen do with just four months? Bolt is being retired at the end of this season and sent to Spendthrift.

Even for Ruis this is good, as if he does not do good, it vindicates him, and if he does do good, then he makes more money. I'm frankly kind of shocked he even tried training him, as I was looking at Ruis' history and he always employed top notch trainers like Aidan Obrien w\ previous horses. Then one day, a light bulb must have went off in his head, and he thought: ''This is so simple! Anyone can do this!" and started training all of his own horses. It will be interesting to see how he does tho, as I feel he already damaged him too greatly and there is not enough time to straighten him out. He should run at four, but he will not (I hate modern racing. It's all about the breeding shed and racing means nothing),

If Bolt is being retired at the end of the year then there's not really much time to do much with him is there? If they want to get two races into him before the end of the year the training for them has to start any day now. That probably means that a Breeders Cup race is the end goal, so that even lessens the time Asmussen has to prepare him. We know Bolt does have talent, and as far as I know he doesn't have any physical issues. It's all mental with him as far as competitiveness goes I think, so that's what Steve has to work on. He at least has the stable of horses for Bolt to work with and to try to build that confidence back up. From cheap maiden claimers up to graded stakes winners. Asmussen should be able to find the right workmates for Bolt if Bolt does in fact have some compete left in him. If Bolt isn't giving his best in the mornings then I would doubt Asmussen would put him into a spot where he's demanding his best in the afternoons and would recommend retirement instead. Unless Ruis forces his hand bu insisting.

It is a longshot to get Bolt back to form. I agree with you there. I've seen it all too often. Alpha independant herd leaders like Bolt get their hearts broken by a more alpha horse and there will to race is depleted substantially. They find out that they're not the leader anymore and very few recover. Go back and watch Bolt's previous races to the Santa Anita Derby. Both his group and individual dynamics were way up there. He ran with intensity and focus regardless of where he was on the track. The space he ran within was his space in his own mind. He never conceded space to anybody regardless of where he finished in the race. He bullied other horses out of the way if he had to. He inserted his dominance that way and by opening up on the field other times. He was an elite herd dynamic horse as a 2 year-old and into his 3 year-old year. He was the boss out there. Even when McKinzie got his nose in front of him in the San Felipe that wasn't a Bolt that thought he was defeated. Nor did all the bumping that was going on between those two seem to bother him in the least either. Bolt showed next to no reaction to the bumping. Just kept his head down and kept on trying. Even when he got beat in the BC Juvenile he never lost his forward focus and kept trying right til the end even though Good Magic was well ahead of him. Then against Justify in the SA Derby Bolt was still trying for 90% of the race. He took two shots at Justify in that race around the trun and again in the stretch. Then there was a moment when he conceded to my eyes. For the first time in his racing career he stopped trying to beat another horse. Justify imposed his dominance over him for once instead of Bolt doing that to other horses, and Bolt knew he was beat. It was a very subtle moment and possibly hard to catch. But I saw it and @t6p knows that I was concerned about that heading into the Derby because I was thinking about playing Bolt before the race (and did use him in the end). Bolt got his heart broken in that one little moment, and then when his jockey asked him to take on Justify rounding the far turn in the Derby, Bolt didn't want any part of it. He conceded once again because he identified what he was up against from their previous meeting, and this time more drastically. The intense, aggressive horse that Bolt used to be was no longer. He became a passive conceder. And that became more amplified when he was asked to go against better and more mature horses in the Met Mile.
 
What a load of crap this horse turned out to be.



Apparently another issue of tenderness in his left hoof. Hey Bob. Maybe if you weren't sticking needles in your horse's hoof every few weeks this stuff wouldn't be a problem.
 
What a load of crap this horse turned out to be.



Apparently another issue of tenderness in his left hoof. Hey Bob. Maybe if you weren't sticking needles in your horse's hoof every few weeks this stuff wouldn't be a problem.

I was JUST GONNA send you the article!

HA! About the least surprising thing ever. Did anyone think Winstar was going to risk him losing that 0, or fork over the millions to insure him, when he could only win millions in the Haskell/Travers, etc? It is TOTAL hogwash tho, and everyone knew some fake injury would come up.

The real tragedy is for racing, as this horse unquestionably did more in six races than any horse in history, and there was just no telling what he could have done with 15-20 races under his belt, or even a nice rest after the grueling tc. All we got out of him was essentially half one highschool season, but in that season, he showed more promise than any highschool player in history - like getting a taste of Lebron and then retired to porn.

Coburn may be a 'dumb ass partner', but atleast he gave the fans what they wanted. The breeding shed is the enemy of racing fans
 
I was JUST GONNA send you the article!

HA! About the least surprising thing ever. Did anyone think Winstar was going to risk him losing that 0, or fork over the millions to insure him, when he could only win millions in the Haskell/Travers, etc? It is TOTAL hogwash tho, and everyone knew some fake injury would come up.

The real tragedy is for racing, as this horse unquestionably did more in six races than any horse in history, and there was just no telling what he could have done with 15-20 races under his belt, or even a nice rest after the grueling tc. All we got out of him was essentially half one highschool season, but in that season, he showed more promise than any highschool player in history - like getting a taste of Lebron and then retired to porn.

Coburn may be a 'dumb ass partner', but atleast he gave the fans what they wanted. The breeding shed is the enemy of racing fans

Coburn and his partner really didn't have much of a choice when it came to Chrome if they wanted to make the best business decision for their own bottom line, as, because he came from such modest bloodlines, Chrome didn't have a whole lot of value in the breeding shed despite his accomplishments as a 3 year-old. Chrome was about the only runner his sire produced that had any kind of successful racing career, and Chrome was viewed as an anomoly when it came to his bloodlines. Shit, Chrome was only bred for a low price of $2,500. For Coburn and his partner, the money to be made in racing with Chrome was in targeting the big money races like the BC Classic, Dubai World Cup, and then later the Pegasus. In doing so they were also able to greatly increase Chrome's breeding value as well (some estimates had in in the $10 million range as a 3 year-old despite what he accomplished, while some gave lower estimates), as he ended up being worth more than double even triple what he was worth in the shed if he had retired after his 3 year-old campaign.

Justify is almost the complete opposite of Chrome when it comes to bloodlines. Chrome was a rags to riches story from modest beginnings. Justify was the classic blue blood when it came to his breeding. The cost to breed him was 40 times that of Chrome, and Justify also sold for a half million as a yearling. His sire, Scat Daddy, has also been one of the most successful sires out there over recent years, producing at a high rate quality graded stakes runners on all surfaces and covering all difference. In fact, didn't we see almost half the Derby field this year being sired by two horses in Curlin and Scat Daddy? Justify, Mendelssohn, Flameaway and I think one or two others in the Derby were all progeny of Scat Daddy.

You know this already, but Justify isn't worth what he is because he's a triple crown winner. He's worth that because he's a triple crown winner that comes from bloodlines that has been proven able to produce top quality runners at a high percentage. He's expected to continue the success of those bloodlines himself. His value in the shed isn't going to increase much with continued racing and like you alluded to, can be hurt (for his future breeders) with some lackluster efforts. His value is almost at it's peak, and the risk/reward equation makes the decision an easy one for his owners. It's a completely different situation than Chrome was in, who was worth more as a race horse than a stallion at the time, and who the owners also continued to race to increase his value as a stallion. Chrome was raced on turf that one time and why he was sent over to England in 2015. Those moves were meant to showcase Chrome versatility as a future sire and nothing more because the breeders out there needed the convincing.
 
Coburn and his partner really didn't have much of a choice when it came to Chrome if they wanted to make the best business decision for their own bottom line, as, because he came from such modest bloodlines, Chrome didn't have a whole lot of value in the breeding shed despite his accomplishments as a 3 year-old. Chrome was about the only runner his sire produced that had any kind of successful racing career, and Chrome was viewed as an anomoly when it came to his bloodlines. Shit, Chrome was only bred for a low price of $2,500. For Coburn and his partner, the money to be made in racing with Chrome was in targeting the big money races like the BC Classic, Dubai World Cup, and then later the Pegasus. In doing so they were also able to greatly increase Chrome's breeding value as well (some estimates had in in the $10 million range as a 3 year-old despite what he accomplished, while some gave lower estimates), as he ended up being worth more than double even triple what he was worth in the shed if he had retired after his 3 year-old campaign.

Justify is almost the complete opposite of Chrome when it comes to bloodlines. Chrome was a rags to riches story from modest beginnings. Justify was the classic blue blood when it came to his breeding. The cost to breed him was 40 times that of Chrome, and Justify also sold for a half million as a yearling. His sire, Scat Daddy, has also been one of the most successful sires out there over recent years, producing at a high rate quality graded stakes runners on all surfaces and covering all difference. In fact, didn't we see almost half the Derby field this year being sired by two horses in Curlin and Scat Daddy? Justify, Mendelssohn, Flameaway and I think one or two others in the Derby were all progeny of Scat Daddy.

You know this already, but Justify isn't worth what he is because he's a triple crown winner. He's worth that because he's a triple crown winner that comes from bloodlines that has been proven able to produce top quality runners at a high percentage. He's expected to continue the success of those bloodlines himself. His value in the shed isn't going to increase much with continued racing and like you alluded to, can be hurt (for his future breeders) with some lackluster efforts. His value is almost at it's peak, and the risk/reward equation makes the decision an easy one for his owners. It's a completely different situation than Chrome was in, who was worth more as a race horse than a stallion at the time, and who the owners also continued to race to increase his value as a stallion. Chrome was raced on turf that one time and why he was sent over to England in 2015. Those moves were meant to showcase Chrome versatility as a future sire and nothing more because the breeders out there needed the convincing.
With all that said tho, I believe Winstar/China Horse Club/ the 400 other controlling parties would have retired even a blue collar bred horse like Chrome ALOT earlier, and also never would have raced even Pharoah past Belmont. Zayat is a pretty big staple in horse world but still rolled the dice thrice after Belmont, and I partly wonder if he wishes he never did, seeing as Pharoah went 2-1 in his next 3, despite winning the Breeder's Cup Classic.....me thinks Winstar took his Travers in to serious consideration.

The best thing that could happen to the racing fan world is a horse that is as talented as Justify and somehow ends up gelded. It's just crazy how far things have come from the days when Calumet raced Citation (who was bred to the nines and they were the Coolmore\Winstar of their day) and they still ran him up to 45 times. A horse like Justify running until they were 5 and beating the brakes off everything would revolutionize the sport of racing - and theirin is why I think the popularity of racing went from one of the most popular sports to popular obscurity. The public just has no sure horses to grab on to now, as all the best horses are retired when they are still babies and green, and we are only left with mediocre geldings and mares that race a while.

It's funny when I hear people talking about Winx being the best on earth, when the reality is, there were probably multiple stallions in her year that would have beaten her brakes off with just as much time training and racing, but everything that shows promise or good breeding is retired in relatively quick order. I just wonder what a horse like Secretariat could have done up to seven, and the saddest being a horse does not really physically mature until around 6 or so, so he just would have kept getting better, bigger, faster if properly cared for and not burnt out.

Racing is bound to be a fringe sport until something changes.
 
What a load of crap this horse turned out to be.



Apparently another issue of tenderness in his left hoof. Hey Bob. Maybe if you weren't sticking needles in your horse's hoof every few weeks this stuff wouldn't be a problem.

I call bullshit on the injury tho. No question they had him jacked up on countless stuff, like all major barns do, but I don't think Coolmore wants that 0 to go or risk something happening. Just to insure him for the Travers, it would cost like one million dollars, and the purse is only one million.

I think he would have swept pretty much everything entered in, including the BCC, but it's just too risky for the bigwig breeders and Winstar is one of the safest players\breeding orientated businesses around.
 
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With all that said tho, I believe Winstar/China Horse Club/ the 400 other controlling parties would have retired even a blue collar bred horse like Chrome ALOT earlier, and also never would have raced even Pharoah past Belmont. Zayat is a pretty big staple in horse world but still rolled the dice thrice after Belmont, and I partly wonder if he wishes he never did, seeing as Pharoah went 2-1 in his next 3, despite winning the Breeder's Cup Classic.....me thinks Winstar took his Travers in to serious consideration.

The best thing that could happen to the racing fan world is a horse that is as talented as Justify and somehow ends up gelded. It's just crazy how far things have come from the days when Calumet raced Citation (who was bred to the nines and they were the Coolmore\Winstar of their day) and they still ran him up to 45 times. A horse like Justify running until they were 5 and beating the brakes off everything would revolutionize the sport of racing - and theirin is why I think the popularity of racing went from one of the most popular sports to popular obscurity. The public just has no sure horses to grab on to now, as all the best horses are retired when they are still babies and green, and we are only left with mediocre geldings and mares that race a while.

It's funny when I hear people talking about Winx being the best on earth, when the reality is, there were probably multiple stallions in her year that would have beaten her brakes off with just as much time training and racing, but everything that shows promise or good breeding is retired in relatively quick order. I just wonder what a horse like Secretariat could have done up to seven, and the saddest being a horse does not really physically mature until around 6 or so, so he just would have kept getting better, bigger, faster if properly cared for and not burnt out.

Racing is bound to be a fringe sport until something changes.

Sure. Winstar does very likely retire Chrome early if they were the owners of him. They are in the breeding business first and foremost with their racing operations being secondary afterall. They are also a much, much more respected group when it comes to the breeding establishment than was the start-up partnership that owned Chrome, so because of who they are and the influence they had, they would have been able to command the dollars had they owned Chrome. Remember one of the partners of Chrome went on a ridiculous rant after his horse lost the Belmont, and the other partner also embarrassed himself the next year with his comments during the Eclipse awards. Both of them made a fool of themselves in front of the racing establishment, who were likely quite reluctant to do any business with them. But this is all a moot point anyways. Winstar isn't in the business of associating themselves with horses who had the cheap bloodlines that Chrome had.

You're right, though, there has been a ton of changes over the last 50 years or so when it comes to the amount horse race nowadays. At least for the top quality horses of today since. In the claiming ranks we still see horses every day who have had 50+ races under their belt. The amount of money in the breeding game has certainly played a big part of why the top modern horses only race a limited amount compared to yesteryear. Back then the breeding game was very different as far as how much money was in it, and in fact, it wasn't all that uncommon for horses to perform as both a stallion and a race horse at the same time. One of the more famous horses in history, Seabiscuit, performed as a stallion and then was back to the races according to Laura Hillenbrand's book on him. That practice isn't all that uncommon when it comes to other forms of racing either even today, especially in harness racing. We also have modern "medication" that has a great effect on the modern thoroughbred as well, as there is a recovery period for the horse after every "shot" that horses back then didn't have to deal with. Because of the amount of lasix being used, and things like EPO shots and the like, these modern top horses simply aren't capable of running the way they used to. They'd all be dead of a heart attack if they tried simply because of how these medications turn their bloood into something more akin to red gravy rather than blood. The more shots a horse gets the worse it'll be over the long haul. Back then trainers were also more willing to race their horses "into shape" meaning that they'd get their workouts by entering them in races often whereas today trainers are more reluctant to race their horses into shape and instead are much more reliant on workouts to do that job. But yes, because of the crazy amount of money there is in breeding, owners are certainly much more protective of their asset than they used to be, no doubt.

Having the horses with star power retire early is only one of the many problems with horse racing, though. As you know, the horse racing industry lives and dies with it being almost entirely a gambling based sport, and that's what the sport needs to fix. That's what's needed for it to thrive. People like us who'll put their money on the line if we have an opinion to express with our dollars. Promote the sport for what it is to new people, and quit alienating those who've already made the choice to invest their money in it in the process. What do they do when the sport has the most eyes on it every year? They promote fashion and recipes for awful tasting drinks for 90% of the broadcast. 10% of the broadcast is focused on the horses and their connections, although even that is done with pageantry in most cases. Almost 0% of the broadcast is focused on what drives this sport and that's it's gambling. That shit is utterly ridiculous. How do the powers-that-be expect to attract new people willing to invest in the sport with bullshit like that? They're not as the common person has no interest in crap like that, and at the same time it has zero appeal to people like us who are already invested. There's always been at least a small element of pageantry to the Derby broadcast as far as I can remember (35+ years), but it is way more prevailent nowadays than back then. Way more.

One thing that has always puzzled me about horse racing is why other tracks don't follow the Breeders Cup model. Or the more recent Belmont Stakes day or Travers day models. For me, there are three racing days that I look forward to way more than others. I'm talking about the day of racing being offered up rather than just one particular race since I of course look forward to the Derby and other races every year as well. And it's those three there because the racing is so good on each of them top to bottom. The BC is a huge financial success every year that sees gambling of $100 million plus all the time. That's not including ticket prices, parking, concession, or anything other source of revenue for the track. Just what is gambled on the day. That's a huge amount of money. And for a relatively new event that only goes back 35 years or so. But this is where the "if you build it they will come" line of thinking comes into play, and that's been proven by the recent success of both the Belmont and Travers day cards. Both of those tracks did some shuffling with their schedules over the last decade and both tracks are getting paid off for those decision and in a big way. This year the Belmont gambling handle for it was the 2nd highest in history behind only 2014's card. Ditto for last year's Travers day car, which was also the 2nd highest they had in history. The Belmont day produces $75-$125 million gambling handles and the Travers day card produces $50 million gambling handles. Plus the extra revenue for both tracks. Such a simple concept right? Card some great races all throughout the day featuring the top horses in training and what do you know, people will want to bet on them. Well, duh. I give the greedy crooks and idiots at Pimlico a hard time every year when the Preakness comes around because those morons don't understand that simple concept. They've been given a golden opportunity (and undeserved, in my opinion) every year to put their best foot forward on that day yet can't see it because those running the track have their heads so far up their own asses. The track has been struggling for a number of years now and instead of following the "if they build it" concept they've taken the opposite approach by decreasing the quality of races/racing on that day (the Preakness is the only graded stakes race they have on the day) while trying to gouge the customers with ridiculous ticket/parking prices and by raising track takeout to one of the highest in the country. Instead of electing to make the effort to try to improve the on-track product they were offering they elected the path of trying to take, take, take. I hope they got their fill of taking because the Preakness will be be finding a new home some time within the next few years whether it's Laurel Park or Monmouth. This year's Preakness that we didn't see will be one of the last ones the track hosts. Belmont and Saratoga will never have to face such a thing in our lifetimes with their biggest races because they understand that giving something back to those invested in the sport from a gambling perspective and not trying to gouge the customer at the ticket window (both the Belmont and Travers are significantly cheaper to attend than the Preaknesss) is a whole lot more beneficial to their bottom line in the long run. Offering great racing has proven to net great returns for those who have tried it, and I've always been surprised other tracks don't follow suite.

Sorry for this big rant, but that is only one idea/complaint of many that I have. And one that those involved in this multi-billion dollar industry can certainly afford to do. But I'll leave it there since this post has already gone on way too long as is.
 
I call bullshit on the injury tho. No question they had him jacked up on countless stuff, like all major barns do, but I don't think Coolmore wants that 0 to go or risk something happening. Just to insure him for the Travers, it would cost like one million dollars, and the purse is only one million.

I think he would have swept pretty much everything entered in, including the BCC, but it's just too risky for the bigwig breeders and Winstar is one of the safest players\breefing orientated businesses around.

I've had drugs on my mind for at least the last month or so just because of a bunch of obvious red flags with certain horses. It did pop into my head when Justify came out with that limp after the Derby. The timing of it had something to do with it since he would have been tested the day before and you'd want to get the shot into him as soon as possible in order to pass the test for the Preakness. But it was really when Baffert came out so unworried about it, and then the doctor coming out and contradicting him by saying he had some bruising when I really raised an eyebrow. Much like steroid users in humans inject themselves into their left foot around their toes, horses often get shot up in that same area.

It was after that, though, when I really started seeing some horses perform to some unnatural levels and seemingly in succession. Gronkowski improving his previous form by 20+ lengths in the Belmont for his new trainer was one of them. Firenze Fire, who had never ran a Beyer higher than 90 in any previous race, suddenly jump up to a 107 Beyer when he beat Mendelssohn and some other decent horses by a mile in the Dwyer. The odds shift on Firenze Fire was disgusting as well. He was almost 7/1 as they entered the gate, and then was 5/2 leaving them. Obviously some big money insider who made his big bet late knew he was on the juice that race and he performed like it too, almost to the point where they didn't even bother trying to hide it. There was another horse that same day at Belmont that showed puzzling improvement in a race as well. As there were at other tracks. Then we had the pair of young horses fall dead because of a heart attack recently as well, with this most recent one doing so in a workout a few days where Victor Espinoza was injured and is still hospitalized.

These illegal drugs are generally kept in the back of my mind just because, like you say, most of the top horses from the top trainers are are something they shouldn't be. But when someone sees a bunch of circumstances within a short period of time it's hard not to bring those thoughts more forward in the mind after doing so.
 
Sure. Winstar does very likely retire Chrome early if they were the owners of him. They are in the breeding business first and foremost with their racing operations being secondary afterall. They are also a much, much more respected group when it comes to the breeding establishment than was the start-up partnership that owned Chrome, so because of who they are and the influence they had, they would have been able to command the dollars had they owned Chrome. Remember one of the partners of Chrome went on a ridiculous rant after his horse lost the Belmont, and the other partner also embarrassed himself the next year with his comments during the Eclipse awards. Both of them made a fool of themselves in front of the racing establishment, who were likely quite reluctant to do any business with them. But this is all a moot point anyways. Winstar isn't in the business of associating themselves with horses who had the cheap bloodlines that Chrome had.

You're right, though, there has been a ton of changes over the last 50 years or so when it comes to the amount horse race nowadays. At least for the top quality horses of today since. In the claiming ranks we still see horses every day who have had 50+ races under their belt. The amount of money in the breeding game has certainly played a big part of why the top modern horses only race a limited amount compared to yesteryear. Back then the breeding game was very different as far as how much money was in it, and in fact, it wasn't all that uncommon for horses to perform as both a stallion and a race horse at the same time. One of the more famous horses in history, Seabiscuit, performed as a stallion and then was back to the races according to Laura Hillenbrand's book on him. That practice isn't all that uncommon when it comes to other forms of racing either even today, especially in harness racing. We also have modern "medication" that has a great effect on the modern thoroughbred as well, as there is a recovery period for the horse after every "shot" that horses back then didn't have to deal with. Because of the amount of lasix being used, and things like EPO shots and the like, these modern top horses simply aren't capable of running the way they used to. They'd all be dead of a heart attack if they tried simply because of how these medications turn their bloood into something more akin to red gravy rather than blood. The more shots a horse gets the worse it'll be over the long haul. Back then trainers were also more willing to race their horses "into shape" meaning that they'd get their workouts by entering them in races often whereas today trainers are more reluctant to race their horses into shape and instead are much more reliant on workouts to do that job. But yes, because of the crazy amount of money there is in breeding, owners are certainly much more protective of their asset than they used to be, no doubt.

Having the horses with star power retire early is only one of the many problems with horse racing, though. As you know, the horse racing industry lives and dies with it being almost entirely a gambling based sport, and that's what the sport needs to fix. That's what's needed for it to thrive. People like us who'll put their money on the line if we have an opinion to express with our dollars. Promote the sport for what it is to new people, and quit alienating those who've already made the choice to invest their money in it in the process. What do they do when the sport has the most eyes on it every year? They promote fashion and recipes for awful tasting drinks for 90% of the broadcast. 10% of the broadcast is focused on the horses and their connections, although even that is done with pageantry in most cases. Almost 0% of the broadcast is focused on what drives this sport and that's it's gambling. That shit is utterly ridiculous. How do the powers-that-be expect to attract new people willing to invest in the sport with bullshit like that? They're not as the common person has no interest in crap like that, and at the same time it has zero appeal to people like us who are already invested. There's always been at least a small element of pageantry to the Derby broadcast as far as I can remember (35+ years), but it is way more prevailent nowadays than back then. Way more.

One thing that has always puzzled me about horse racing is why other tracks don't follow the Breeders Cup model. Or the more recent Belmont Stakes day or Travers day models. For me, there are three racing days that I look forward to way more than others. I'm talking about the day of racing being offered up rather than just one particular race since I of course look forward to the Derby and other races every year as well. And it's those three there because the racing is so good on each of them top to bottom. The BC is a huge financial success every year that sees gambling of $100 million plus all the time. That's not including ticket prices, parking, concession, or anything other source of revenue for the track. Just what is gambled on the day. That's a huge amount of money. And for a relatively new event that only goes back 35 years or so. But this is where the "if you build it they will come" line of thinking comes into play, and that's been proven by the recent success of both the Belmont and Travers day cards. Both of those tracks did some shuffling with their schedules over the last decade and both tracks are getting paid off for those decision and in a big way. This year the Belmont gambling handle for it was the 2nd highest in history behind only 2014's card. Ditto for last year's Travers day car, which was also the 2nd highest they had in history. The Belmont day produces $75-$125 million gambling handles and the Travers day card produces $50 million gambling handles. Plus the extra revenue for both tracks. Such a simple concept right? Card some great races all throughout the day featuring the top horses in training and what do you know, people will want to bet on them. Well, duh. I give the greedy crooks and idiots at Pimlico a hard time every year when the Preakness comes around because those morons don't understand that simple concept. They've been given a golden opportunity (and undeserved, in my opinion) every year to put their best foot forward on that day yet can't see it because those running the track have their heads so far up their own asses. The track has been struggling for a number of years now and instead of following the "if they build it" concept they've taken the opposite approach by decreasing the quality of races/racing on that day (the Preakness is the only graded stakes race they have on the day) while trying to gouge the customers with ridiculous ticket/parking prices and by raising track takeout to one of the highest in the country. Instead of electing to make the effort to try to improve the on-track product they were offering they elected the path of trying to take, take, take. I hope they got their fill of taking because the Preakness will be be finding a new home some time within the next few years whether it's Laurel Park or Monmouth. This year's Preakness that we didn't see will be one of the last ones the track hosts. Belmont and Saratoga will never have to face such a thing in our lifetimes with their biggest races because they understand that giving something back to those invested in the sport from a gambling perspective and not trying to gouge the customer at the ticket window (both the Belmont and Travers are significantly cheaper to attend than the Preaknesss) is a whole lot more beneficial to their bottom line in the long run. Offering great racing has proven to net great returns for those who have tried it, and I've always been surprised other tracks don't follow suite.

Sorry for this big rant, but that is only one idea/complaint of many that I have. And one that those involved in this multi-billion dollar industry can certainly afford to do. But I'll leave it there since this post has already gone on way too long as is.
Epic rant, bro! LOVED IT and so on point on so many things.

I had no idea Perry went off the rails at the Eclipse Awards. I hate using the word cringe but this speech is the apotheosis of that word:


I've too got a ton of ideas for cleaning up the horse race world, but mostly from the horse perspective, as horses and horse care are my business.

For starters, in all other disciplines, it is well known that you don't want to start serious training until after 4; put a few rides in break at two, leave them off at three, pick up soft training at 4 and start the more physical work at 5 and after. The results are way better for the horse, so you won't need Lasix and all this other junk to keep them together. And racing is the most the most physically demanding horse sport of all, they are running as fast as they can for as long as they can, and all this wear and tear is happening when they should not even be carrying weight or be ridden - hence why it is well known off the track thoroughbreds are the worst horses to adopt and are riddled with health issues. Use the time at three and four to put ground work foundations on them, so they are better trained, better on the track, more controllable and can find homes after racing.

If you talk to a vet or a natural horsemanship expert, they will all will tell you that essentially everything done in the race world is bad for the horse: from the constant stalling, early starting, corrective shoeing, to the sugary sweet fed they give them, to pulling forage pre and post workouts (90% of racehorses have ulcers as a recent study shown -which are HORRIFICLY painful and grossly effect performance), over reliance on gear\pain devices rather than training, the list goes on all day.... So, it's no wonder these horses are doped up, shot up and end up lame before they at the equivalent to a 9 year old child.

The breeding industry is totally f'd up too, as many mare owners don't have the money or means to go to top studs, so they end up with poor bloodlined foals that run like donkies and a poor horse that is unadoptanle later. Maybe artificial insem could help prevent this (higher quality bloodlines), on top of putting a cap on stallions allowed and foals to be born? Most tb's never make it to the track even, and many are slaughtered right after racing (tho,that part is covered up after PETA blew the lid off). For every horse that is a black type winner on the track, ten more end up in the slaughter house, and pthus the thoroughbred is the most slaughtered horse in the world. Chances are if you've had horse meat, it is thoroughbred. And the breeding pool is also WAY over saturated, with the Byerly Turk line being almost wiped out historically and horses like Northern Dancer and Raise a Native being in almost every bloodline since American type breeding replaced U.K. style.......the end result being inbred horses that lack genetic robustness, have feeble bones, as owners have no care for the breeds integrity and everyone wants an instant winner.

Ahh, I could go on all day about this stuff. And as you alluded, there are certainly many ways to increase aspects of racing for the players, popularity and the sport, as well as the horses; but racing being the oldest sport just seems so stuck in it's traditions and has a hard time pivoting. It's media also makes MMA's media look like Pulitizer Prize quality - just so much money but low quality all around. It's a shame too, because once you get a taste of it, it is the best sport, and it also has availability to all types of people (animal lovers, sports fans, people looking to make a quick buck, enjoy culture) and provides ways for a two dollar bettor to potentially turn that amount in to thousands by the end of the day.
 
I've had drugs on my mind for at least the last month or so just because of a bunch of obvious red flags with certain horses. It did pop into my head when Justify came out with that limp after the Derby. The timing of it had something to do with it since he would have been tested the day before and you'd want to get the shot into him as soon as possible in order to pass the test for the Preakness. But it was really when Baffert came out so unworried about it, and then the doctor coming out and contradicting him by saying he had some bruising when I really raised an eyebrow. Much like steroid users in humans inject themselves into their left foot around their toes, horses often get shot up in that same area.

It was after that, though, when I really started seeing some horses perform to some unnatural levels and seemingly in succession. Gronkowski improving his previous form by 20+ lengths in the Belmont for his new trainer was one of them. Firenze Fire, who had never ran a Beyer higher than 90 in any previous race, suddenly jump up to a 107 Beyer when he beat Mendelssohn and some other decent horses by a mile in the Dwyer. The odds shift on Firenze Fire was disgusting as well. He was almost 7/1 as they entered the gate, and then was 5/2 leaving them. Obviously some big money insider who made his big bet late knew he was on the juice that race and he performed like it too, almost to the point where they didn't even bother trying to hide it. There was another horse that same day at Belmont that showed puzzling improvement in a race as well. As there were at other tracks. Then we had the pair of young horses fall dead because of a heart attack recently as well, with this most recent one doing so in a workout a few days where Victor Espinoza was injured and is still hospitalized.

These illegal drugs are generally kept in the back of my mind just because, like you say, most of the top horses from the top trainers are are something they shouldn't be. But when someone sees a bunch of circumstances within a short period of time it's hard not to bring those thoughts more forward in the mind after doing so.
Yes, man, exactly! Did you see the PETA bust on Asmussen? It's barbaric what they do to these horses, but most people just want to turn a blind eye. If you ended up working with a thoroughbred rescue like I did, it changes your life. They wreck these baby horses and keep them afloat with tape and drugs.

It occurred to me that the biggest difference with the big barns and small barns is their ability to dope the horses - like how the difference between highschool level sports and college levels is PED's. With horses it's the worst too, as the testing is a joke. And all the shit they put in these babies just ruins them later. I mean, how many amazing studs have died at 8 or 10 of a heart attack? Steroids ruin the heart. That is like 30 years in human years, and hot blood breeds like tb's should be able to live well in there 30's, but the average stud is lucky to see 20.

Justify limping was just BIZARRO! That was NOT scratches, it was not a heel bruise, he was flat out lame. Bobby B did not even blink either. The thing is, all we have to go on is the owner's word and some paid off vet. When there is this much money, you cant just inspect the horse.......can't even see him at the stall even.

The list goes on forever too, from that mount Espinoza was on just dropping DEAD to Ruffian breaking down. They are loaded with toxins, doped up, run too early, but everyone just turns a blind eye and cries for Barbaro after his leg snaps in half. And when you get a trainer does not dope, the horse gets smoked......your only option is turning it over to a top trainer for doping if you want it to be successful.

I feel kind of badly about ragging on Ruis lol. He probably was doing everything right but just could not get the right concoction down. Bolt's drop off was stunning, almost as stunning as Gronkowski gaining twenty lengths or Firenze Fire smoking Mendelssohn. I won't be surprised to see Bolt run the table with Steve now, as that horse is seriously like the perfectly conformed race horse, with a massive stride, speed, but no "bottom end" aka EPO.
 
Great posts @ImNotSurpisedDonks!. I have to shut my brain off soon here, but you raised a lot of great points that we could certainly discuss tomorrow or some other time in the near future. I will say though, that I've bet at least a thousand races over the last 7 or 8 months and that's probably being very conservative. The vast majority of those races that I've been betting have been claiming races and most often cheap claiming races. What I've learned while doing so is that these types of races are a lot more trustworthy when it comes to a lot of things than the bigger stakes races. There are concerns there in regards to trainer intent (and overall care for the horses), but I think I've gotten good enough at reading where the concerns lie and know when to avoid and instead look to bet against (class drops off a good result in a horse's previous race is the obvious one, especially when that situation happens after any sort of layoff). It's very rare that a result in say a cheap $7500 claimer baffles me, almost to the point where it practically never happens. Sometimes you have to reach a little bit further with certain winners or place finishers, but when you look back over the PP's you can always find some reasoning as to why a particular horse was set to run well. You don't see these huge 20 point jumps on the BSF that we saw with a horse like Firenze Fire or a Gronkowski. It just doesn't happen. Well, I shouldn't say that with that much certainty. But I just don't see it. Almost all the results make some kind of sense if you use traditional handicapping techniques or by using certain handicapping angles. Form is key at that level of racing followed by class, speed, pace, etc. But when it comes to cheap claiming races, if you concentrate your efforts on the horse(s) with the best form and projected to keep it's/their form going into the race then you'll be finding a lot of winners. Just like horse racing was in the pre-steroid era. I'm sure some horses at those lower levels are on stuff they shouldn't be, but most of them aren't worth the extra cost of expensive steroids for the connections of the horses. There's certainly issues at the lower levels of racing for sure, but I found that the actual racing is much more pure and honest than what we see at the higher levels. You see plenty of horses every week who are 8, 9, 10 years-old and with 75+ races to their credit already still capable of running good races at that level. Again, just like it used to be upper echelon of horses from 50-100 years ago.

I read a book about Northern Dancer some months ago that was written by Kevin Chong. Your comment about a "paid off vet" reminded me of it. That book touches on the corruption side of things when it came to horses and vets at the time and how certain vets, who job it was was to oversee things as an independent, would not only give passes and not report drug violations, but were also often directly responsible for the violations themselves. Meaning they were paid off and instructed to inject the horse with the illegal drugs themselves. And these were the people that were hired to regulate and ensure an even playing field. That was 50+ years ago. No different today. Where's there's money there is power, and where there is power there is corruption. Those who a given a position that says that they are "in charge" are anything but that. They're merely puppets for those with the real power, and that power lies with the people with the money. I hate to bring politics into this, but if you think about it, all it's doing is mirroring society as a whole. Our governments don't lead our two countries. Nor do the people who vote in our governments. They're just puppets for the real power in Canada and the US, and that's those with the money. i.e. The banks and other big corporations. That where the real power lies with our countries and many others. Horse racing is no different, although it's obviously played on a much smaller scale. Big racing outfits or breeding farms like Winstar rule the sport. Not racing commissions like NYRA or whomever else. It's the money that decides how the sport is ran and how their money should be divided out within the sub sections of the sport. You want a better breeding industry. I want a better on-track product to gamble on. Neither is going to change at all unless there was some way those with the money in the sport feel in in their bottom line.

On a related note, I was upset to hear that Looch was being pushed out of racing by the horse racing establishment. I've worn my wife's ears out the last few years talking about him and how horse racing needed more owners like that. This is an owner who had (still has since he's not done yet) at least a couple of hundred horses currently running that are in his stable and that are wearing his silks, and he supports racing at every level. He runs horses in cheap claiming at tracks like Mahoning Valley or Mountaineer, and also runs horses in the biggest G1 races in the US as well. The guy just loves horse racing as a fan and as a gambler, and he's backed up that love for the sport by investing millions and millions of dollars directly into it. If such a thing as "the people's owner" existed in horse racing even existed this guy would be so far in front of the line you wouldn't be able to find the next most qualified guy. No matter what level of interest a person had in the sport (whether a new fan or a long time gambler) he always took the time to speak to people on social media as well. He's known for being as approachable as they come if you were to see him at the track and wanted to talk racing or handicapping with him. He always supports his horses when it comes to the betting windows, and is also quite well known for a bit of trash talking of other ownership groups and challenging them to large side bets that his horse would finish better than theirs. He holds contests on his twitter quite often, which he did very recently when he asked for help in naming one of his new horses, and with the prize being a trip out to Saratoga on his dollar. As a lot of people have been telling him on twitter lately, this is an owner that "gets it". This is a guy who those who run racing should be ecstatic to have in the game as a sort of ambassador for both the racing fan and racing gambler alike. But no. He's too different from them and the true power players instead try to run him out of the sport. Which they are going to be successful in doing and that's a shame. A real shame.
 
Just looked it up and Looch was 2nd in US when it came to both overall number of starters and in total wins last year in 2017 from the ownership side of things. As of this point in time in 2018 he is once again 2nd in both categories. But nah, the racing establishment doesn't want such active owners like that who put so much money into the game. Nor do they want a racing fan and gambler who just happens to be one of the most active owners out there, tries his best to promote the game, and is easily relatable to 90% of the people who actually follow horse racing regardless of what their interest in the sport is.





 
Huh. How about that?



We say Bolt should be given some time off on the farm and that's what happens. We say moving Bolt to the Asmussen barn would be worth the try and that's what happens. We say that the game needs more owners like Looch and...? A change of mind for him? Maybe.

See @t6p? And you thought I was joking around a few months back when I told you before that owners/trainers/jockeys read this thread and were conspiring against us.

<Fedor23>
 
Shit, I really need to get back to making some bets. I've only made maybe a handful of spot bets over the last month, but I had an excuse with it being a busy time at work. But I have down time now so that excuse doesn't cut it anymore. I'm simply being lazy I think. Plus there's like 30 different tracks running on the weekends nowadays with it being summer and all, and even skimming through the PP's quickly to find possible options is a time consuming and daunting task. I was only going to look at Saratoga both yesterday and today, but that track has seen a lot of rain recently which scared me off even bothering. Maybe I'll wait til tomorrow to play some races there since it's a pretty big day for them there with the Jim Dandy (Tenfold, Vino Rosso, and some others) and a bunch of other graded stakes races. The Haskell is on Sunday as well (Good Magic, Bravazo and others). These two races means it's almost Travers time. Can't wait.
 
Shit, I really need to get back to making some bets. I've only made maybe a handful of spot bets over the last month, but I had an excuse with it being a busy time at work. But I have down time now so that excuse doesn't cut it anymore. I'm simply being lazy I think. Plus there's like 30 different tracks running on the weekends nowadays with it being summer and all, and even skimming through the PP's quickly to find possible options is a time consuming and daunting task. I was only going to look at Saratoga both yesterday and today, but that track has seen a lot of rain recently which scared me off even bothering. Maybe I'll wait til tomorrow to play some races there since it's a pretty big day for them there with the Jim Dandy (Tenfold, Vino Rosso, and some others) and a bunch of other graded stakes races. The Haskell is on Sunday as well (Good Magic, Bravazo and others). These two races means it's almost Travers time. Can't wait.
I was just gonna ask who you had in the Haskell and Jim Dandy. Tomorrow is a big race day and the most meaningful of this crop since Belmont Day.......which is also a cold reminder that we could have potentially seen a fully rested Justify going head to head with Good Magic if there was not so much of the crookedness we spoke of yesterday.

I'm going to be interested to see if any other horses show 20 point jumps like Firenze Fire. One would think Good Magic has this in the bag, but who knows in this sport.

I'm interested to see how Tenfold does too, as that horse has shown a ton of potential to me and with Steve slowly building him up, I can see him potentially being the best of this crop in Justify's wake.

Btw, I watched those Looch videos. That guy is a character and your right, we need more of his types. The one on Sr Quisqueyano got me thinking about Shared Belief and what a travesty that was. A gelding like that is what this sport needs, one that won't be retired immediately and is super elite......but just like we talked about yesterday, with high end training barns, with all the roids, the lasix, all the other crap, they could not even get more than 11 rides out of him before he broke down! It's just crazy, man, and you made so many good points about how the lower end barns wont shell out hundreds of thousands for the most premium PED's and other junk for a 7,500 dollar claiming horse. In the natural horsemanship training and western cow horse world that I come from, you would NEVER see a horse die of colic at 5. It is rare that a horse dies before even 25, and most live well past that. A small I just think, imagine in any human sport if the 1 out of 1000 athletes were on average dropping dead: they would outlaw the sport or atleast seek to change it. Which all just comes back to this point that you made that where there is money, there is power and power controls everything. It's just soooo rare that we get a gelding that is the best horse in the country (and even at two), and so sad that we can not get him past 11 races........I guess if he went to a lesser barn, he may still be alive, but also, hevwouod never had his success at the highest levels of this sport.
 
Anyone know where I can see the recent work by Haskell or Jim Dandy horses? For the TC, the work used to be on YT. I pick by seeing how the horses look. Don't need another Mendelssohn before the Derby on my hands, where he was in my tri but was all washed out, hot and looked like death.
 
@t6p

Race 9 today at Saratoga. The Curlin Stakes.

http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/briswatch.cgi/public/RiceLinda/RICE+LINDA/9999/summary.html

Hofburg being in this race is quite curious don't you think? I think we talked about trainer intent for a horse's entry into a race in these type of situations around this time a year ago with last year's Jim Dandy. Coming out of a big G1 race race into a less prestigious race when there's another big G1 race on the horizon. What do you think? What does your gut say? Hofburg is 1/2 on the morning line and might be more likely that he is 1/5 as the gates open.

I already did the numbers for the race and obviously Hofburg is way ahead of everybody else on them. But coming out of the Belmont and going into an ungraded stakes race like the Curlin when the Travers is a month away is interesting. Also, entering Hofburg in the Curlin Stakes with it's $100k purse instead of the G2 Jim Dandy for a $600k purse the same weekend at the same track is also quite curious don't you think? What say you?

For the record, I have the #5 American Lincoln ranked 2nd on the numbers by a pretty decent margin (15 pts over 3rd). Besides the #2 horse there really isn't any front end speed in this race, and this #5 horse may get that ideal trip stalking outside a slow to moderate pace that the #2 horse sets, and that #2 horse has questions if it can get the distance or not since it's past successes has came in sprint races. This #5 horse could get the perfect trip, is in good form, has an okay pattern, can handle this distance, has a great trainer, and is as fast as anybody in the race not named Hofburg. He's also the longest shot on the board being 12/1 on the morning line. He has class questions, but again, so does every horse not named Hofburg.

I'd like to play this American Lincoln horse today, but I need to get a good read on Hofburg first because, let's face it, if Hofburg is prepared to run anything close to his best race then the rest are running for 2nd and likely a distant 2nd at that. So help me out, bud.
 
Anyone know where I can see the recent work by Haskell or Jim Dandy horses? For the TC, the work used to be on YT. I pick by seeing how the horses look. Don't need another Mendelssohn before the Derby on my hands, where he was in my tri but was all washed out, hot and looked like death.

https://www.xbtv.com/video-on-demand/workouts/

That's the sight I use, although it's not the easiest to navigate and they don't show all the workouts of all the top horses since they don't have cameras at some of the smaller tracks. But you should be able to find videos on most of the horses you're looking for.
 
@t6p

Race 9 today at Saratoga. The Curlin Stakes.

http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/briswatch.cgi/public/RiceLinda/RICE+LINDA/9999/summary.html

Hofburg being in this race is quite curious don't you think? I think we talked about trainer intent for a horse's entry into a race in these type of situations around this time a year ago with last year's Jim Dandy. Coming out of a big G1 race race into a less prestigious race when there's another big G1 race on the horizon. What do you think? What does your gut say? Hofburg is 1/2 on the morning line and might be more likely that he is 1/5 as the gates open.

I already did the numbers for the race and obviously Hofburg is way ahead of everybody else on them. But coming out of the Belmont and going into an ungraded stakes race like the Curlin when the Travers is a month away is interesting. Also, entering Hofburg in the Curlin Stakes with it's $100k purse instead of the G2 Jim Dandy for a $600k purse the same weekend at the same track is also quite curious don't you think? What say you?

For the record, I have the #5 American Lincoln ranked 2nd on the numbers by a pretty decent margin (15 pts over 3rd). Besides the #2 horse there really isn't any front end speed in this race, and this #5 horse may get that ideal trip stalking outside a slow to moderate pace that the #2 horse sets, and that #2 horse has questions if it can get the distance or not since it's past successes has came in sprint races. This #5 horse could get the perfect trip, is in good form, has an okay pattern, can handle this distance, has a great trainer, and is as fast as anybody in the race not named Hofburg. He's also the longest shot on the board being 12/1 on the morning line. He has class questions, but again, so does every horse not named Hofburg.

I'd like to play this American Lincoln horse today, but I need to get a good read on Hofburg first because, let's face it, if Hofburg is prepared to run anything close to his best race then the rest are running for 2nd and likely a distant 2nd at that. So help me out, bud.

Sounds like American Lincoln is worth a small bet at least, no? I'm in if you are Shark.

Looks like I'm going to be in Saratoga next weekend so I'm looking forward to getting back into it. I haven't bet a race in forever it seems.
 
I was just gonna ask who you had in the Haskell and Jim Dandy. Tomorrow is a big race day and the most meaningful of this crop since Belmont Day.......which is also a cold reminder that we could have potentially seen a fully rested Justify going head to head with Good Magic if there was not so much of the crookedness we spoke of yesterday.

I'm going to be interested to see if any other horses show 20 point jumps like Firenze Fire. One would think Good Magic has this in the bag, but who knows in this sport.

I'm interested to see how Tenfold does too, as that horse has shown a ton of potential to me and with Steve slowly building him up, I can see him potentially being the best of this crop in Justify's wake.

Btw, I watched those Looch videos. That guy is a character and your right, we need more of his types. The one on Sr Quisqueyano got me thinking about Shared Belief and what a travesty that was. A gelding like that is what this sport needs, one that won't be retired immediately and is super elite......but just like we talked about yesterday, with high end training barns, with all the roids, the lasix, all the other crap, they could not even get more than 11 rides out of him before he broke down! It's just crazy, man, and you made so many good points about how the lower end barns wont shell out hundreds of thousands for the most premium PED's and other junk for a 7,500 dollar claiming horse. In the natural horsemanship training and western cow horse world that I come from, you would NEVER see a horse die of colic at 5. It is rare that a horse dies before even 25, and most live well past that. A small I just think, imagine in any human sport if the 1 out of 1000 athletes were on average dropping dead: they would outlaw the sport or atleast seek to change it. Which all just comes back to this point that you made that where there is money, there is power and power controls everything. It's just soooo rare that we get a gelding that is the best horse in the country (and even at two), and so sad that we can not get him past 11 races........I guess if he went to a lesser barn, he may still be alive, but also, hevwouod never had his success at the highest levels of this sport.

I haven't really looked over the PP's of the Haskell or Jim Dandy yet, but I might take a similar approach as I'm doing in that above post about the Curlin Stakes and weigh or make an educated guess on what the trainer's intention are for entering. Are the horses in there to win now or are they in to try win later in the Travers? Especially the Jim Dandy since that is a outright Travers prep race. The Haskell is a lot more of a stand alone race and also a G1 race.

Without looking at the PP's, I'd certainly favour Tenfold over Vino Rosso as you alluded to, I think there's more potential for improvement there, he's probably already the better horse of the two, and because he has yet to win a graded stakes race has more to gain win a win tomorrow. My guess without looking at the PP's is that form, pattern, race shape, etc., would also point to Tenfold as being the one of the two most likely. But I may try to beat both if I can find the right horse. If not maybe I'll just try to beat Vino out of the exacta or something like that. We'll see.

In the Haskell I really don't have any thoughts being hoping to find something I can beat Good Magic with. If not then I may just pass on the race and watch it as a fan. Horses like Bravazo, Lone Sailor, and Core Beliefs don't really do much for me when it comes to backing them with my dollars. Nor so any of the others really. But, like the Jim Dandy, I haven't even looked at the PP's yet for the race. There may be something within those that makes me change my mind.

Do we really need another Justify vs Good Magic showdown? Haha. Nah, I've watched that twice already and on both occasions Good Magic showed he couldn't step with him. No insult towards Good Magic, though, since none of the others in this year's crop could either.

Shared Belief was on my mind as well when Looch mentioned him. That sucked big time. That horse had so much talent, so much heart, and so much class. Like you said, he was the best horse in training at the time. It's a shame that he's not held in higher regard or remembered more often that he is now, and it's only been a few years. The disgraceful riding tactics of Team Baffert probably had a lot to do with that since it happened on the biggest stage in the BC Classic. People who follow the sport closely know how good he was. he was the best around and proved that when given a fair shot, and proved best even when not given a fair shot (Team Baffert in the G1 Awesome Again in particular). Shared Belief beat Chrome on the square (and everybody else around on the square), and with little difficulty at that. Yet Chrome was the superstar horse remembered fondly by people who barely watch the sport while Shared Belief is an afterthought to many who do follow the sport somewhat. Bad Luck I guess. Bad luck that Shared Belief got hurt after being crowned champion 2 year-old and was forced to miss the triple crown races. Bad luck with what Team Baffert did to him at the start of the BC Classic. And then the ultimate that ended his life. It sucks. He should have been one of the great ones remembered for years and years, yet won't be now because of what happened to him.
 
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