Diversify at Belmont is probably the best horse in the country in my opinion - consistently rendering 2:00 and 1:59 type one and a quarters where as Accelerate hasn't broken 2:01. I think they are both locks today, but the real interesting factor in the Cup is they both travel poorly.
Do you know what I think was more impressive than Bid's record is Game On Dude's Santa Anita, where he broke
er's mile record and still ran a 1:58. It's crazy to think a horse can go that fast over a mile and then keep it up another quarter.
Do you know what I think was more impressive than Bid's record is Game On Dude's Santa Anita, where he broke
Speaking of Bid tho, WOW, what a horse! Crazy to think he would have been like 15 lengths in front of Secretariat's record breaking Derby. Amazing to think no horse has come close to that in nearly 40 years either, even with all the advancements in breeding and in technology. Bid at 4 is probably the best race horse ever. My favorite is the Whitney, where he had no competetion and still rendered a 2:02. Hillarious yo me that people will call Winx the best racehorse ever, but she struggles to even break 2:04 on the lawn, where horses like Bid would nearly be lapping her running on the dirt. I really thought Arrogate was going to be Bid reincarnated, but boy were we all wrong about that.
I'm thinking Diversify maybe runs under 2 today. You're right, the track is juiced to the gills and we got some speed horses here too. I think Gronk is toast.
er and Secretariat. They were just faster than all the rest. Just better. And they proved it time and time again unlike a lot of more recent horses who do it one or two times. I cringed every time I saw someone refer to Zenyatta, Pharoah, etc., as the "greatest ever". They weren't. Not even close, although they were certainly great in their own eras. They just weren't in contention for "greatest ever", though, unlike er and The Bid. Horses like that are on another level to what we've seen more recently. They were just faster and they didn't need to be babied or in need of a medication like lasix either unlike the more fragile breed we've seen over the last decade or two. They raced, they won, and then they repeated the process a couple/few weeks later.
Shark you honestly sound like you're talking boxing in this post as well. It's crazy how similar what you're saying in regards to the ponies is to old school boxers as well. I also need to watch some tape on Dr.My first memories of horse racing when I was just a kid were actually of The Bid, and it may have even been in that walkover you alluded. Imagine that hey? A big G1 race and every other horse in training doesn't even bother to contest the race and instead concedes in advance. That says a lot about a horse right there if he's allowed a walkover in a G1 race. But you're 100% correct. The Bid was friggin "spectacular". There's three horse in my opinion over the last 50 years or so who breathed different air than all the others and Spectacular Bid was certainly one of them along with Dr
er. I know Secretariat but Dr. er seem much less known albeit just as prestigious of a horse.
Shark you honestly sound like you're talking boxing in this post as well. It's crazy how similar what you're saying in regards to the ponies is to old school boxers as well. I also need to watch some tape on Dr.
er would have been your favourite horse ever if you were around at that time since you're both a little "nutty". Haha. er was a "character" for sure.
My guess Dr.
Here's his world record mile which still stands to this day.
er showed was amazing. He looked like he didn't even break a sweat, he finished and looked like he could've ran another 8f. That was beautiful.
Makes sense, thanks for the wisdom as always buddy.
My guess Dr.
Here's his world record mile which still stands to this day.
er was on another level and so consistent. Secretariat gets so much attention because of the Crown and the Belmont victory, but er was a freak. You are dead on about the Secretariat, er and Bid being in a different class. I can only imagine what Secretariat would have done as a 4 year old. What kills me about Justify is I think he may have potentially panned out to that class of horse with more time - reminded me of er in that you could throw G1 sprint winning rabbits at him and he would smash them and the G1 Eclipse winning closers too.
Firstly that looked like the Zapruder film but with horses and no murders. Secondly, the second wind down the stretch Dr.
That's one thing I think I'm lacking in, you give me formulas and even tho I'm terrible with math I'll eventually get a hold of at least the less complex ones you've conjured up. But even tho I watch much more horse racing than I used to when it was basically just the TC races, I don't really know what to look for when it comes to a horse's attributes when they run. Maybe attributes isn't the right word, but what to look for other than the horse/jockey being on/near the pace.
As you've taught me over the last few years, my off pace types aren't really great horses to bet on all the time, it's more being up in the mix the whole time instead of trying to run down the others in the stretch, lol.
er also set that world record by carrying 134 lbs (he was always forced to carry a high weight), which makes it that much more impressive. He also ran what is believed to be the fastest quarter mile section of a route race in history when he pulled off a 20 second flat for the second quarter of that race. A couple of really impressive stats for that race beyond just the world record time. er ran that one fast early and then fast late. That's extremely rare for a horse to be able to do that in a route race.
Yeah, the majority of races are won by horses who are in the mix early in the race whether they be on the lead, just outside the lead, or just behind the lead. At least on dirt. In turf route races closers do have a better chance just because of the nature in which those races are ran (slow early, fast late as opposed to fast early, slow late seen in turf sprints and most dirt races). A horse that has shown enough early speed to get involved and also showed enough sustainability late is going to be really hard to beat for any closers in the race. If you want to bet closers look for weak frontrunners who can't sustain late. Or closers who have enough early speed to at least keep in range early, and two or more frontrunner types of near equal ability that may pressure each other into the ground. Otherwise betting closers, especially short priced ones, are a pretty terrible bet over the long run.
er as kind of like a prime Aaron Pryor. Just nonstop no matter how long he had to go, he never seemed to tire. That was impressive for sure.
Yeah sorry to make another boxing analogy {even tho I'm sure you're probably the least to be bothered by such a comparison] but watching that race I automatically thought of Dr.
How was he a bit nutty btw? He was just a horse who do weird shit sometimes or something? As you mentioned, I can definitely relate to that, haha.
Would you say jockeys are more important for turf races b/c they have the ability to hold their horses back a bit to make a later run in the turn/stretch. More likely to hold up then unleash the horse than a dirt race for instance?
Gotcha, basically high rated front running horses who have slow lp's [the more the better] against a closer type who has decent e/e2 numbers would be a race that you'd look more to. Otherwise steer clear.
er just had a mind of his own and refused to do what any human asked of him for the most part. He trained only when he felt like it, but loved the competition of a race. Relished when any horse tried to take him on. But he was quite eccentric as far as horses go, especially when there was a crown or camera tuned into him. He loved to dance around before his races. Bob his head up and down, and things like that in front of a camera. He was a show off basically, but a fun loving type when not in direct competition. In competition he was intense as a horse could be. Was never beaten on the square by another horse.
you are right, my friend, that is my type of horse right there.
A jock would be more important in a turf route for sure just because the horse usually has to be shot off for the first half of the race at least. An experienced jock helps with that, but turf horses are naturally inclined to do that anyways because they were trained to do that. Being relaxed early and preferably being covered up by other horses (or the rail) is what turf routers are most comfortable doing.
