Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Mary — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:53:18 GMT

Did anyone get word on how The Pamplemousse is doing? What farm is he rehabbing at?

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

ColetteMarie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:17:54 GMT

Hi SecretariatFan!

It was great that you got to see Mine That Bird at Ruidodo Downs. Morgan & I watched it on TV. How cool for him & Chip that their presence there drew a record breaking crowd. I was very happy to see Chip up on a horse during the post parade. He must have been so proud! It must feel great for him to be able to be off crutches & to do things that he has probably normally done his whole life. Mine That Bird looked great. I wonder if he thought he was going to race when he led the post parade. Commentator, another gelding, officially retired at Saratoga on Labor Day. He is a 10 yr. old, so he raced for many years. To honor him, Saratoga had a Commentator Stakes race & Commentator led the post parade. The poor guy thought he was out there heading for the starting gate for a race. He got all worked up & a little lathered. Mine That Bird looked cool, calm & collected. He didn't seem confused, at all, like poor Commentator. I guess Chip told him what he was doing ahead of time & Nick Zito forgot to explain it to Commentator!!LOL

Thank you for sharing your day at Ruidodo Downs.

ColetteMarie

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

LDP — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:12:52 GMT

Dray,

Lol, it just gets easier and easier to push your buttons. That last comment of mine was called a bait my friend. Obviously you took, lol, just chill.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

LAZMANNICK — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:49:49 GMT

Dray:

If you're still reading this Blog....to say five G-1's in a row is fair, but it is also a stretch.....What about those horses that have won 6 or 7 graded races in a row, many of them G-1's, but have lower graded races mixd in. That automatically takes them out of it.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Shawn P — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:26:17 GMT

Wins over elders THREE TIMES. At several distances, without a weight allowance and I don't think he's on the tip of the tongue of casual fans, a shame.

Ask a casual fan, they know a filly beat older horses. Not much beyond that.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Draynay — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:06:34 GMT

LDP ? I knew maybe 1 or 2 others had done it but could not come up with who. Some of the all time greats could not do it so the record speaks for itself.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

secretariatfan — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:57:57 GMT

ColetteMarie

I was at the All American yesterday. The horses name was Winner's Cartel. Didn't win though I think he was 5 or 6th. They had the largest crowd on hand over 30 thousand and most were there to see Mine That Bird. We got rained on but it did not dampen the sprits of the crowd. They brought him out under tack with a rider on and parades him in front of the stands and then the post parade came. He then went back to the paddock and the cheers were loud. I was lucky enough to get some pictures. He was lead by Chip on a stable pony. Also as I was in the car trying to get out. I saw Chip walking by...He's off his chutches now and seems to be walking well. Even with the rain it was a fun day.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Draynay — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:08:13 GMT

Easy Goer !!! Thank you GunBow ! Wow.. 20 years. Unreal.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

EasyGoerFan — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:11:44 GMT

Ranagulzion, all I said was that Easy Goer had the best year of any 3yo who did NOT win an Eclipse award. I certainly did not say that he should have won it. Please give me credit for knowing that he was second best that year. Please give me credit for not kidding myself and for being honest. I just wanted to answer the question about 5 Grade one wins for a 3yo with three of them being over older horses. Easy Goer did it.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

LDP — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:39:44 GMT

HorseFirst,

I think Dray is just going to keep narrowing down the criteria, until it's only RA that can be choses. Dray, Curlin's streak STARTED as a three year old, and continued into his four year old year, so starting as a three year old he did string togeather a win streak of five consecutive Grade ones, all against older horses.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Ranagulzion — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:53:04 GMT

Folks, you can win 5 Grade 1 races including multiple victories over older horses and still be second best. Beware of statistics that hide certain facts/truth. Everything including greatness is relative.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Ranagulzion — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:46:26 GMT

EasyGoerFan,

Don't kid yourself. Your namesake got beaten three times out of four meetings by Sunday Silence as a 3YO, in the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness (greatest ever) and the Breeder's Cup Classic.

Now please tell us which of these two had the better year and was more deserving of the Eclipse award. Easy Goer was also my favourite 3YO that year but he was undoubtedly second best. Be honest pal.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Karen in Indiana — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:28:55 GMT

HorseFirst, people tend to forget him because that happened so long ago, but when the facts are written out the way you have them, it's very easy to see why he's #1 on the Bloodhorse list. Can you imagine what would happen if a horse ran as many times now as he did then and carried as much weight, especially as a 2 year old?

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Draynay — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:03:54 GMT

HorseFirst I was really looking for a horse in the last 40 years since they had a Graded Stakes system. They had none in 1920 so Man O War would not be the answer. I really am interested to know if any horse at 3 has won 5 G1 races in a row including beating older males. Curlin winning as a four year old doesn't count I want to know if another 3 year old has done what Rachel has done.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

dgrayone — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:39:22 GMT

Good eye, Draynay, the horse trained by B.L.Woolley Jr.,raced 9/6/09 (Monday),at Ruidoso Downs,N.M. Sorry,(Louisianafeature One) came in 6th.Race 11 on the card.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

dgrayone — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:11:30 GMT

Yes, I think Summerbird is well deserving,starting at the end of the Belmont. I've often wondered what may have happened to him if BLINKERS were never applied ?????

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

HorseFirst — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:49:10 GMT

What's your next criteria Draynay, when someone does come up with the horse that accomplished what you asked? That they be born only in Kentucky?

Maybe not all of these were Grade I, dunno if they were graded the same back then, but here's a horse who ran in major stakes for the time and won 10 in a row his three year old year including races beyond 1-1/4 miles- Man O' War:

Preakness Stakes (1920)

Belmont Stakes (1920)

Travers Stakes (1920)

Jockey Club Gold Cup (1920)

Lawrence Realization Stakes (1920)

Stuyvesant Handicap (1920)

Miller Stakes (1920)

Withers Stakes (1920)

Potomac Handicap (1920)

Dwyer Stakes (1920)

Oh, and he carried a lot more weight in his career, too:

As a two-year-old, he carried 130 pounds in 6 races, as a three-year-old, he carried as much as 138 pounds in races, giving away as much as 32 pounds to other horses.

He also won, in a row, 7 stakes and a futurity at two, before the Sanford.

I suppose the next criteria will be that the horse has to have run within the last 10 years....

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

LDP — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:26:42 GMT

Dray,

As i said, Curlin's streak was started as a three year old, and started when he beat older males, in two consecutive starts, the JCGC and the BCC. I say him because his winning streak started as a three year old.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Ron T — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:58:19 GMT

You are absolutey right about Summer Bird he is a fast improoving horse, if he stay sound we may see a very good older horse running next year ulike this year.

we are lucky to have Rachael Alexandra otherwise we would be looking at a bunch of claimers beating each others

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

EasyGoerFan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:16:01 GMT

Look at my namesake. Not that it did him any good at the end of the year. No 3yo ever had a better year than Easy Goer and yet ended up without an Eclipse award.

Belmont

Whitney (over older)

Travers

Woodward (over older)

JCGC (over older)

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Draynay — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:08:31 GMT

I am looking for an AMERICAN horse 3 years old that won 5 G1 races in a row including beating older males. Anyone other than Rachel in racing history ?

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

HorseFirst — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:38:26 GMT

Maybe Sea the Stars?

(Not over elders but that has yet to happen with another current three year old)

fifth G1 in a row....

2000 Guineas

Derby

Eclipse

Juddmonte

Irish Champion Stakes.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

LDP — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:35:08 GMT

Dray,

Does it count if the streak starts as a 3yr old and continues into the 4yr old year. If it does Curlin did i believe, starting with his win in the 07 JCGC.

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

ColetteMarie — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:54:21 GMT

I know we are all TB racing fans here. But, I just happened to turn on TVG & the Preview to the Futurity Show was on. I found out that Mine That Bird's owners also have a horse racing in the Futurity on Monday. That is so cool!! I didn't turn on the TV in time to catch the horse's name, but did hear Mike Joyce say that there has never been a year where the owner of any horse racing in the Kentucky Derby (much less the winner)also has a horse racing the QH Championship Futurity. So, not only will they have Mine That Bird leading the post parade, they also have a horse racing. They must be so excited. How cool would it be if the owners of the Kentucky Derby (TB)also won the Futurity (QH).

ColetteMarie

re: Countdown to the Cup - Bird Bath

Draynay — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:24:31 GMT

Steve, I don't know if you can answer this question but maybe one of the bloggers can. Who was the last 3 year old to win five G1 races in a row including a win over elders? Maybe Gunbow can come through with the answer.