Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Mike Relva — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:06:59 GMT

HIP703

AAF hates it when I remind him the fact RA four yr old season ended with a flicker.Then,he states he's visited Zenyatta. I've asked him why someone that truly hates her would visit? Sounds crazy!

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

hip703 — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:00:20 GMT

AAF, you are too much.

AAF said: "This statement is factual, how do you call yourself having the best horse in the world or US when you dont have the best horse in California. The best horses in Cali ran in the SA Handicap, HWGC, Pac Classic and Goodwood, where was Zenyatta, she was shivering and cowering in the kiddy pool that Sheriffs had her playing in, seems as if her whole career was that way other than 3 races"

Why AAF is wrong:

First off, I never said Zenyatta was the best horse in the world. Those are your words, not mine.

Second, Zenyatta defeated the winner of the 2010 Hollywood Gold Cup by 6 1/2 lengths. Zenyatta defeated the winner of the 2009 and 2010 Pacific Classic and 2010 Goodwood by 5 1/2 lengths. Zenyatta gave nine pounds to the betting favorite of the 2010 Santa Anita Handicap and won.

AAF then said: "I like how you make up things as you go though, very original of you. As for the 2010 Apple Blossom it was quite obvious that Rachel wasnt anywhere near peak form at the time. Riddle me this Rachel runs a grueling race in Sept of 09, is given a break in oct, nov and starts galloping in Dec"

Why AAF is wrong: While Rachel was resting, Zenyatta had the most grueling race of all in November 2009, and then bounced back fine. Rachel was a great filly, but no match for Zenyatta at 1 1/4 miles. And the fact remains that Zenyatta & Co. showed up for the Apple Blossom in April 2009, when $5 million was on the table and a date concession was granted.

AAF then said: "Blind Luck has faced males a total of 2 times less than Zenyatta, thats saying a great deal considering she only weighs about 300 lbs less also."

That is not an argument.

"At the time of the Lady’s Secret in 2010, Switch was a Grade 2 winning horse, sorry facts are facts, maybe you didnt recognize that but others did, while grade 1 horses were running elsewhere, zenyatta had to prove over and over again that she was superior to Dance to my tune and cherryblossommiss, those are top horses to have on your resume for sure."

The fact of the matter is that Switch is a Grade 1 winning horse, and DEFEATED a multiple Grade 1 winning horse, and the 2010 3 year old filly champion (Blind Luck) in the Hollywood Oaks months before the running of the Lady's Secret.

Unlike you, AAF, I do not hate any horses. I love them all. I am sorry to see that you are such a bitter person and could not come to appreciate the Great Mare. In any event, you diminish your credibility when you get your facts wrong and resort to falsehoods in your diatribes. (It reminds me of Shandler claiming Blame's diminishing head victory over Zenyatta was a "dusting.")

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Mike Relva — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:58:36 GMT

AAF

As for disrespecting Grace,you've never disrespected any horse,right Wes? Grace got beat in her back yard,simple as that! End of story!

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Carlos in Cali — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:23:07 GMT

..... Nah,I shouldn't. It's too easy.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

LAZMANNICK — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:58:49 GMT

Alex

The whip is part of the game only when used on your favorite horses. If used on others it is a sign of how weak and out classed they are.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

AfleetAlexForever — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:02:51 GMT

Not sure what you’re trying to accomplish with your disrespect of Havre De Grace, the whip is part of the game to urge a horse for the best, maybe you were trying to show your friends you can count. So congrats on that. Nice stats also, inconsequential but still nice that you are such the historian or whatever.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

AfleetAlexForever — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:49:46 GMT

AAF said: "Sheriffs [sic] has the world record for excuses as to why his horse couldn’t face the best of the best more than once a year."

(This statement is factual, how do you call yourself having the best horse in the world or US when you dont have the best horse in California. The best horses in Cali ran in the SA Handicap, HWGC, Pac Classic and Goodwood, where was Zenyatta, she was shivering and cowering in the kiddy pool that Sheriffs had her playing in, seems as if her whole career was that way other than 3 races)

Um, the "best of the best," meet one time every year, in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Your favorite filly, the 2009 Horse of the Year, ducked Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic, and then again in the 2010 Apple Blossom - outside California and on dirt!

(Ignorance is something you must flaunt and be proud of, how does a horse duck Zenyatta when it was stated up until October of 2009 that Zenyatta would not contest 10f and would never race against males, as Sheriffs said: “that would be asking too much of Zenyatta”. I like how you make up things as you go though, very original of you. As for the 2010 Apple Blossom it was quite obvious that Rachel wasnt anywhere near peak form at the time. Riddle me this Rachel runs a grueling race in Sept of 09, is given a break in oct, nov and starts galloping in Dec, Breezes in jan for the first time and runs in March. Why is it you have little to say about Zenyatta’s grueling race in 2008 that caused her to be stall bound from Nov of 2008 until March or April or 2009 and not make it back to the track until the end of May of 09, why did she miss the 2009 Apple Blossom. Maybe coming off of a hard campaign of 7 races in 2008 caused that. Hmmmmmmmm. So let’s summarize.

Zen’s last race in 08 – Nov 7 Makes it back to the track May 23. Almost 7 months NO AB.

Raitch last race in 08 – Sept 5 Makes it back to the track March 13. 6 months No AB

Similar situation, only 1 horse gets disrespected by you. Hmmm, I love taking you to task.

AAF said: "[T]he difference between BL and Zen is that BL’s record of 12/21 compared to Zen’s at 19/20 is that BL has accomplished much more and shown greatness in every race against the best possible competition available. Compare the competition and its not even close. BL has faced 6 Grade 1 types in the F/M division, Zenyatta played at home in the shallow/kiddy pool in 2010 and faced 0 Grade 1 winning females and only 2 Grade 2 fillies or mares."

Every sentence of that diatribe is wrong. First off, Blind Luck, whom I love, has never faced males. Neither has Havre De Grace. Period. (Blind Luck has faced males a total of 2 times less than Zenyatta, thats saying a great deal considering she only weighs about 300 lbs less also)

Second, Blind Luck's connectons have, in fact, ducked serious competition. She was pre-entered in the 2010 Lady's Secret against Zenyatta. Hollendorfer decided instead to run her in the Cotillion and give her chief rival, Havre de Grace, 10 pounds, rather than face Zenyatta. (Thank goodness you dont own horses, running smallish 3 year old horses against older horses when there are races all over the US that would allow her to stay in her own division for much more money is certainly something u wouldnt do correct. Amateur at best. Keep trying though)

Third, your basic facts are wrong again. Zenyatta, in fact, beat a Grade 1 winning female in 2010: Switch. She also beat 5 Grade 1 winning males in 2010. You are entitled to your diatribes and to hyperventilate about Zenyatta all you want, but you should at least get your facts straight. (At the time of the Lady’s Secret in 2010, Switch was a Grade 2 winning horse, sorry facts are facts, maybe you didnt recognize that but others did, while grade 1 horses were running elsewhere, zenyatta had to prove over and over again that she was superior to Dance to my tune and cherryblossommiss, those are top horses to have on your resume for sure.)

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Mike Relva — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 03:24:08 GMT

HIP703

AAF doesn't know how to get his facts straight,that's why he makes them up.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Householder — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:30 GMT

HDG got hit 9 times. Let me know how many times Gomez hit Blind Luck?

Blind Luck has ran 21 times and Hollendorfer plans on continuing next year. She could have 35 starts when it is all said and done. (Lady's Secret had 47).

The "down fall" for HDG is that she has 3/4 of her starts in Delaware but I don't hear anyone crowning her the "Deleware Champion."

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

hip703 — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:34:48 GMT

AAF said: "Sheriffs [sic] has the world record for excuses as to why his horse couldn’t face the best of the best more than once a year."

Every sentence of that diatribe is wrong. First off, Blind Luck, whom I love, has never faced males. Neither has Havre De Grace. Period.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

AfleetAlexForever — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:26:52 GMT

Mike Relva, it seems as if the connections of top notch horses would have more sense then to try to run their horse into the ground. Kudos to Mr. Porter and Larry Jones for giving Grace the needed rest that a horse should have after a 5 or 6 race campaign. What causes connections to come back after running in Nov and point to meaningless races in January and February of the next calender year. Oh and they were all important Grade 2 races at that, it would seem to me that prople would have more common sense than that but apparently not.

Hip 703, there is a huge difference between 3 ¼ & 4 lengths I am thankful that you pointed that out. So its ok for Hollendorfer to complain about the 2 lbs and that he wasn’t going to ship his horse there but on the flip side, the FHF connections should never say anything about it. What type of double standard is that. Hollendorfer stated not too long ago that they don’t duck anyone. Just wanted to clear that up, when you target a race like the Grade 1, $500k Apple Blossom and get trounced in that race’s prep, and then redirect where you are going to run in a lower grade 2, smaller purse $300k race, that is the definition of ducking. According to Osos, its ok to duck as long as you state before hand that you are ducking and what the reasoning is. New Cali-Coward rules, maybe Hollendorfer called up J. Sheriffs and asked him if he would allow use of some of his excuse. Remember when they wouldn’t face Nashoba’s Key, Zen wasn’t fit enough. Or when they wouldn’t go to NY, Detention Barns, or when they were coming to take on Rachel in 09, that was a Saturday and then after the Mother Goose that was off, yeah that was modified the next day after running faster than Ruffian and almost as fast as Secretariat. J. Sheriffs has the world record for excuses as to why his horse couldn’t face the best of the best more than once a year. Thankfully Hollendorfer doesn’t have that same yellow stripe down his back and tuck tail and run all the way back to Cali to prove his horse is best against St. Trinians and Miss Match and Rinterval over and over and over again. I saw someone say on TVG, the difference between BL and Zen is that BL’s record of 12/21 compared to Zen’s at 19/20 is that BL has accomplished much more and shown greatness in every race against the best possible competition available. Compare the competition and its not even close. BL has faced 6 Grade 1 types in the F/M division, Zenyatta played at home in the shallow/kiddy pool in 2010 and faced 0 Grade 1 winning females and only 2 Grade 2 fillies or mares. Sad but factual. Thank goodness for sporting connections that recognize that to garner respect you have to step out of your comfort zone and go find the best of the best. And you know what in competing like he does with his filly, the connections of BL or HDG wont have to take our tacky, classless full page articles in DRF begging for Eclipse award votes, only the connections of 1 horse in the history of the award has done that. Bush League at best of you call me, but that’s what’s expected from Cali, look at the product they provide, they are the laughing stock of the country right now. FTS – Fix the Surfaces/ Fix the Synthetics, LOL.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

-Keelerman — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:54:06 GMT

Thank you all for your comments! I appreciate them all. Blind Luck and Havre de Grace certainly provided an interesting topic to discuss!

Now, it's on to the Haskell! Will Shackleford and Ruler On Ice finish 1-2? Or will they both be beaten by an up-and-comer? I can't wait for the Haskell!

-Keelerman

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

oso7 — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 13:23:20 GMT

Great to see AAF here with his usual excuses as to why his current favorite, HDG, lost. I knew the 2 lbs would be the foremost excuse for him, Draynay and the other CA haters. So predictable. On the TVG website, I bet him that BL would win and if HDG beat her, I would disappear for a week. He wanted to make it a permanent departure. But I said a week was enough. Guess who stayed away for a day or two licking his wounds and then reappeared? AAF, of course. He can't even honor his bets.

Yes, his mentioning of a 4 length win is commonplace for all his internet postings. He ALWAYS embellishes anything that goes his way. When I mentioned the 10 pound differential BL was carrying in the Fitz Cotillion in which she lost by a neck to HDG--it was probably 2 lengths in AAF's mind--he never bothered to respond. Perhaps 10 pounds is less weight than 2 pounds in AR?

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Mike Relva — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 21:56:43 GMT

AAF

Grace didn't run twelve times in thirteen months like BL. Crybaby!

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

calico cat — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:11:37 GMT

Draynay said: "Blame had to give [Zenyatta] 5 pounds and STILL lost."

Blame lost???

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

hip703 — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:34:39 GMT

I loathe having to respond to Draynay and AAF, but I must correct their latest errors.

Draynay said: "Blame had to give [Zenyatta] 5 pounds and STILL lost."

Um, Blame only gave three pounds. And that was not a "handicap" race. The weights were SCALE weights according to age and sex. Zenyatta gave a pound to all the 3 year old males. (And if a tiring Quality Road does not back up into her in the final turn, Zenyatta wins by at least a length. If you disagree, you do not know how to watch a horse race).

As for AAF comment: "We've already seen what happens when they are equal weighted, Grace was better by 4 lengths at Oaklawn a track BL loves."

Um, no. Havre de Grace won by 3 1/4 lengths. Get your facts straight. And the distance, 1 1/16 miles, was optimal for her. 1 1/4 miles is Blind Luck's forte.

Whatever the case, when a horse twins by 3 1/4 lengths, her owner has no cause to complain when she has to give two pounds in the next HANDICAP race. Hollendorfer did not complain when his filly lost by a neck in the Cotillion, giving HDG ten pounds.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

LAZMANNICK — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:12:43 GMT

AfleetAlexForever

I have a bag of tears that I can donate to you if you wish. Being a Blind Luck fan I don't have a need for them. But you've done so much crying lately I figured you must be out......again.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

tcc — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:02:08 GMT

I am in a good mood so I will give you all the Saratoga early DD. Rocky World has gotten much better with each race and Julien taking over does nothing but improve his chances but I am going with Tapitdar. A patient ride should make all the difference and Prado may be what Tapitdar needs right now. Race 2 should be a bit easier. Everything points to Chardsey for the win. Well bred and trainer is winning at 22% 2nd time out. Could Poliziotto surprise ? Maybe but Lezcano is the one to beat.

Draynay 21 Jul 2011 7:46 PM

Results:

Race#1

9 Boat

1 Fizzano

7 Gamblin Fever

2 Warrior Up

#8 Tapidar (9th=last).

Results

Race #2

1 Stephen's Revenge

6 Poliziotto

3 Chardsey

$2 Daily Double (9-1)= $73.00

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

AfleetAlexForever — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:19:38 GMT

Its obvious that this is developing into another east vs west coast rivalry. Its fine also, because the only one to EVER duck was Blind Luck when she wasnt ready to try to take on Gracie in the Apple Blossom although Hollendorfer stated after the Azeri trouncing that they were pointing to the Apple Blossom. What happened there, oh, sore feet, too many races, too much travel, needing a confidence builder, she wasnt ready to face Grace again, she needed a new jockey, she cant be hit with the whip, she didnt change leads, she needed rest, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. Win or lose Grace comes with it every time. Head bob here, a nose there, in photos they are evenly matched, the only race where one of the mares showed extreme superiority was the Azeri, remember Grace by almost 4 lengths with little effort, win loss record, BL 3 wins, HDG 2 wins, it doesnt get any better than that, looking forward to Mr. Porter getting his wish and running in the Personal Ensign.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Bob from Boston — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:38:01 GMT

Two pounds does NOT equal four lengths. It equals 32 ounces.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Stevebiscuit — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:42:07 GMT

Draynay, Havre De Grace couldn't even beat Blind Luck at her home track, plus Blind Luck already beat her by a length last year in the Breeders Cup. Havre De Grace should avoid Blind Luck at all costs.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Draynay — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:46:08 GMT

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Draynay — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:35:55 GMT

mr. pibb, I guess it's the only way California horses can win you have to give them a few pounds. Blame had to give The California Poly Champion (restricted) 5 pounds and STILL lost.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Stevebiscuit — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:45:43 GMT

Afleetalexforever, are you joking? Do you have any idea of the kind of weights Blind Luck has had to spot Havre De Grace in the past? And don't pretend like Havre De Grace was at any disadvantage in the Azeri. She also loves Oaklawn and benefited from Blind Luck's foot soreness. Face it, Havre De Grace can't beat Blind Luck at her best. Dominguez said Grace gave everything she had and it still wasn't enough. The fact is, Blind Luck has beaten Havre De Grace 4 out of 6 times, and the 2 races she lost she had legitimate excuses. When Havre de Grace lost, she had no excuses. Time to face facts, the better filly won. Move on.

re: Guest Blog: The Rivalry Continues

Mike Relva — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:58:23 GMT

AAF

A response I would expect from a sore loser. What were you saying on NTRA Wes? Think it goes something like "Grace wins by five". lmao