Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Paula Higgins — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:56:25 GMT

Oh Wanda that's o.k. I don't know much at all about horse's feet and with the exception of cracks, I don't know how bad, bad can get. I have alot to learn obviously.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Wanda — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:19:01 GMT

Paula:That was me making a comment about his feet "bleeding". He who we do not name made several statments about the horse coming back with his feet bleeding. Trust me when I say that if they were that bad he wouldn't be walking at all and would be in serious trouble with founder. It was an attempt to stop the exaggerated talk about his feet. I'm sorry it kind of backfired, I didn't mean to upset anyone.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Paula Higgins — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:27:21 GMT

Thanks guys for your responses. I really like Commentator and he looks great. I saw that Nick Zito doesn't like the polytrack too. So it's a faint hope that he will go to the BCC I suppose. But wouldn't it be great. I totally agree that Nick Zito is a class act.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Bradgm — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:06:28 GMT

Paula, I don't know about you but I think that run today and the Whitney with a 120 Beyer were really impressive. To me, they were the most impressive of the US runners being touted for the Classic in the last couple months. Hopefully Commentator came out of the race okay, I really hope they talk Nick into running him in the BC Classic, not really his distance but don't waste him in the mile if you're sending him to SA and the synthetic. He looked like he could have run a lot further and would have won by much more IMHO. Hope his old injury problems are held at bay forever, but at least until after the BC.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Saratoga AJ — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:40:02 GMT

Paula:

Yes, Commentator has run two consecutive excellent races, even if he didn't beat much more than allowance horses in the Mass. Cap.

And I do have all the respect in the world for Nick Zito. Great trainer.

However, I believe Commentator is a great miler, who can stretch out to 9 furlongs max. His past peformances suggest he will not get that last quarter mile of the BC classic. It's probably a little further than he would like to go. But based on his current form, he certainly deserves the chance to go. Remember that Zito is not a big fan of the poly track, however. We'll see.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Paula Higgins — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:55:55 GMT

Does anyone think Commentator has a good shot at winning the BCC if they enter him? He's pretty amazing right now.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Paula Higgins — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:41:24 GMT

Thank you BIGHORSEFAN for your response. Someone above in the posts made comments about how bad his feet were and mentioned bleeding. So I was wondering how bad, bad was. I know his feet are a problem, but there are bad feet and REALLY BAD FEET i.e. he shouldn't be running period.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

BIGHORSEFAN — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:13:06 GMT

Jason, been gone for a while but you hit the nail on the head. In earlier blogs I believe it was TB who claimed she hated what Saratoga had become, wished for the old days. From the sound of the latest comment it sounds like the person has never even been to Saratoga.

It almost seemed to me that the only reason BB ran in the Monmouth Stakes was pure greed, and the only reason Monmouth put up the big purse was the same. Sort of a payback for running in the Haskell and drawing a huge crowd and then doing the same at the MS. Seems like Iavarone knows how to play the money game, well we all know that, as long as he doesn't get caught with his pocket full of pennies. The loser in this whole deal is this poor horse.

Paula, as far as the feet issue, Draynay started the deal about the bleeding feet to support his views on the horse. Maybe I'm wrong, and someone please tell me where to find the article, but I haven't been able to locate where anyone connected to the horse said his feet were bleeding.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Paula Higgins — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:02:42 GMT

O.k. everyone keeps talking about Big Brown's feet and how bad they are. I am assuming they are worse than they were before the Belmont or thereabouts. Can anyone shed any light on this? Does anyone know this for a certainty? How bad is bad???

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Wanda — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:16:52 GMT

slyder: You ask about BB's biggest fan on here. My posse and I call him "he who we do not name".(Harry Potter).

I certainly agree with you at the end of the day what diff does it make.But hey welcome, it's nice to hear from you keep it coming!

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

slyder — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:54:28 GMT

Saratoga AJ,

I went back and read some of the "nays" previous blogs. Kinda obnoxious isn't he? To each his own, at least he's passionate about something. Me I prefer to worry about more important things like world and national issues. As much of a fan as I am for racing I keep it in perspective in my everyday life. I would never presume to get into a meaningless debate about who's horse is better than who's. What difference does it make in the big picture anyway?

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Saratoga AJ — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:25:44 GMT

Slyder:

Draynay is the biggest BB supporter on these blogs. Check above. So much so, he says that BB is the "best 3 yr old in the last 30 years or so".

Yikes!

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Slyder — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:34:36 GMT

Saratoga AJ,

I'm not a salesman, I just added my 2 cents worth. If I was though what's a Draynay anyway?

I agree with you on the Classic. It looks to be leading up to a very competitive race. I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Wanda — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:36:37 GMT

You made a great point there Jason.Only they know how bad his feet are. Their excuse was the timing of the race. Someone pointed out that the grass race was a few days differint. Again I say they have their fingers crossed and I bet the first thing they do every morning is pick up his feet and look at them for 10 minutes.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Jason Shandler — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:19:01 GMT

TB Racing Fan: You ask, "Why would any sensible horseman/business man want to take a horse to Saratoga?"

Ummm, perhaps because its the best racing meet in the world and people want to see how their horse competes against the best for large purses. Not really sure what your point is here, other than to make excuses for Iavarone and Co., who chose the Haskell over Saratoga. Is Big Brown's "ongoing foot problems" any better because he raced at Monmouth instead of Saratoga?

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

TB Racing Fan — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:37:40 GMT

[quote]"Saratoga is where champions go." jshandler[/quote]

Hmmm. Might I gently remind readers of this blog of Man O' War ... Secretariat .... amongst others, who went "where champions go" ...; and, to those questioning the 'class' of 'also-rans' ([i]older[/i] also-rans, might I mention ...) in the newly created 'Monmouth Stakes', might I gently remind readers of this blog of Onion, and Upset?

Why would any sensible horseman/business man want to take a horse to Saratoga? Particularly a horse that has nothing, really, to gain (except, in the opinion of some of the voting members, of HOY title ... and as JShandler mentions, that will be decided by the BC, anyway ...). Particularly a horseman whose stable hero has an ongoing foot problem? I know I would not - best company for me, worst for my horse!

The BC will happily give me something to think about, besides the November elections!

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Saratoga AJ — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:53:20 GMT

Slyder:

Very insightful blog. Try selling that to Draynay!

IF all the better horses do show up to the BC Clasic, it will be quite a field. Close to the best ever (1998).

The way I see it, the deciding factor will be that last quarter mile. It is here that BB will fold. And while this is Curlin's best distance, he will then get the most competition from someone other than BB. Col John, Casino Drive and perhaps one of the Europeans could be in the mix at that point. It will be interesting to see who does show up on this controversial poly surface.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Slyder — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:45:56 GMT

Here's my thoughts on Big Brown.

Born under a lucky star in a year virtually void of competition. He competed against this weak generation until near the very end even getting blown out by the same in the biggest race of his career. Denied the Triple Crown by an Allowance Horse and beaten by a Maiden.

His connections then sought soft races to re-build his resume. They even had a race written specifically for his first start against older horses that no top G1 could have time to point to.

There he held on desperately to win over a useful turf horse not ranked at the top.

History can show many horses who could consistently achieve beyer Figs of more than 100 but less than 110. This is where he fits.

He's now reduced to a one shot prayer in the Classic. Dutrow and Company have wisely managed this year to give him a shot at HOY. Kudos to them for that but it really shows a lack of confidence in their steed that they had to manage as beat they could who he ran against to get him there.

P.S. Please make him the betting favorite in the Classic, bet for all you are worth. I hear the register ringing already for those who don't.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Wanda — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:13:48 GMT

Katsan: Remember we're here for you girl.

MonicaV: Sorry I should have explained better. His feet are what they are so whatever they give him makes no diff at this point. If the feet are that bad the only thing you can do is quit on them. They will not heal if he stays in trainig.Ask for other opinions from other horsemen. Training and running puts alot of stress on feet with thin hoof walls. Quarter cracks are a result of that.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

schabelli — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:09:03 GMT

TerriV you stated that it takes 10 good experiences to get over 1 bad one. I would bet that Brownie has been over the track well over 10 times since his flop in the Belmont. Either that or Dutrow is not the Trainer I think he is. Along with that I would bet he has been trained to "finish" many times over since then as well.

The reason they call it training is that's where you teach the horses to react how and when you want them to. How you could overlook the fact that this animal has been worked since his debacle in June is amazing. I believe Brownie is intellegent enough to be well beyond any effects that race might have had on his mindset. It's that or he is dumb and untrainable which we all would agree is not the case.

He has some talent, but hasn't had to go against much. You are wrong to assume any ill effects that might have occured back in June haven't been remidied by his connections.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Saratoga AJ — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:58:43 GMT

Katinthehat:

According to the past performances on the NYRA website, Curlin got a 113 rating in the Man'O'War.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

JordanA — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:08:35 GMT

katsan, Wow, I hope you're okay. If you asked Jason to pull a post it must be bad. I know we're just board buddies and I know my friends wanted to meet you in Ruidoso but it was packed there. We'll be thinking of you and saying a prayer. Hope you have someone to talk with, I know you talk about your husband and family. Don't want to pry but God Bless you.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Paula Higgins — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:43:01 GMT

I have a question. People are saying BB's feet are much worse now and that they bled after the Haskell. Does anyone know this for sure (that they bled)? It makes sense that they want to preserve his feet and that's why they ran him on grass but what is the real story right now with his feet? Look to everyone that loves Curlin, you're right he is one incredible horse. To everyone that loves BB, you're right too. They are both worth loving, as is every horse. GOD's gift to mankind along with dogs.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Wanda — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:18:17 GMT

Hey Whatamidoing how are you? Nice to hear from you. How was the ship? Don't be a stranger.

re: Are You Excited About the Monmouth Stakes?

Katinthehat — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:49:58 GMT

Although I'm in your "camp" AJ, Curlin ran a 104 in the Man O'War. Barely discernible from BB's 105. Red Rocks ran a 108.

Norma Jean - I think what was said that the field for the Monmouth Stakes was tougher than anticipated, not necessarily "tough". See first paragraph.