The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Jason Shandler — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:40:52 GMT

HorseShowStar: Thanks for your comments. Zenyatta lost. Blame won and was much the best. Time to move on. Get over it.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

HorseShowStar — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 20:48:45 GMT

I just read this blog and looked through the comments. I agree with a good part of the blog, but after reading Jason Shandler's comments, I'll never read another blog of his again. It is ridiculous how disrespected Zenyatta is. She'll go down as one of the greats; Blame will go down as the horse who beat the great Zenyatta. Don't get me wrong, Blame was a very talented racehorse, but let's face it, had Zenyatta had a better trip, she'd have won. I can't believe Jason said Blame was much the best. He won by a head. If he was much the best, he would have won by much more. Yes, people put down female grade one races, but let's face it, the horses in those races are a lot better than people give them credit for. Zenyatta beat horses such as Life is Sweet, Hystericalady, Switch, St. Trinians, and Ginger Punch in female grade ones. Blame didn't win 19 consecutive races in a row. His longest winning streak was 5. Blame's total losing margin in his career was 9 1/2 lengths. Zenyatta's was a head. Blame's average winning margin was about 3/4 of a length while Zenyatta's was nearly 2 lengths. Blame had 3 grade one victories while Zenyatta had 13. Blame's winning percentage was about 69% while Zenyatta's was 95%. Zenyatta had to deal with a lot of traffic and had to make up double digit lengths while Blame had a much easier trip in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic. She only lost by a head. Yes, she lost. We are all aware of that. But it's quite ridiculous to say that Blame was much the best. Like I said, if he was much the best, he would have won by a lot more than a head. If you think Blame was much the best, then Jon Kitna is better than Peyton Manning since he beat him. Then Upset was much better than Man O' War. Then J.O. Tobin, Dr. Patches, and Exceller were better than Seattle Slew. Then High Cascade, A P Valentine, Macho Uno, and Monarchos were better than Point Given. Then Songtress, Garden District, Sara Louise, Zardana, Unrivaled Belle, and Persistently were better than Rachel Alexandra. Look at the stats. Blame was not much the best. Zenyatta was much the best. Get over it.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Mike Relva — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 23:22:05 GMT

BILLY'S EMPIRE

That's a lame,self serving comment regarding Dublin for the reason I NEVER BOUGHT INTO THE PREMISE THAT DUBLIN WAS GREAT! You have it wrong,I don't agree with everything HOF trainers and news media says. If you look at my comments last yr when Dublin raced I never was high on him. That's absurd,gather better data next time,Billy.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Mike Relva — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 03:20:31 GMT

BILLY'S EMPIRE

Great to know you're the voice of reason.Tell me what's the name of your horse? Asking cause last week you stated,"we have a horse running this weekend". You seem to suggest it's terible someone as myself that takes time to visit retired hoses that's given so much. Guess your primary motivation is cashing a ticket only! Nice.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

LAZMANNICK — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:23:44 GMT

Double digit winners, in fact, any winners are more believable when they state their picks and give reasons why BEFORE the race.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Weekend — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:58:41 GMT

8 months, and we are still talking about Blame. He is some Champion!!

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Weekend — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:34:34 GMT

Did I ever state I was a fixture in racing? I don't recall that. I am passionate about it, love the game, and love winning money. Wise Dan was an easy win. I told the blog to watch out for Charlie Lopresti the rest of the year. $30.00 to win on Wise Dan, after Charlie stated he loved his one and only work on the grass. That is fact, not an opinion.

Relva, D Wayne said Dublin was a great horse last year. How did that work out for him? He is a HOF trainer. Don't believe everything you read. Get to the track. Do it on your own. You will win a lot more money. Oh wait, that's right. You don't bet. You just visit the pretty farms and pet the ponies.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Skip — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:10:39 GMT

Ian can't you say that about any horse that loses a race?

By the way, what are you doing these days? Still with TrueNicks?

Did you ever go out on your own as a trainer after you left Todd's barn?

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Footlick — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:38:44 GMT

Snow Fairy runs against Workforce and So You Think this weekend in the Coral-Eclipse. Another interesting developement is Stacelita shipping here for the UN. An in-form Stacelita would lay over this field, but it seems unusual that they would ship her here unless something might be up. Does anybody know if she is running on Lasix here? I know alot of Euro's automatically do, but my thought is that she might have bled, so they are testing the waters. Otherwiose, there are enough strong 10 furlong gr1's over there to keep her occupied, imo.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Householder — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:25:40 GMT

Put THIS on your Saratoga calendar. American Lady, trained by Bob Baffert, shipping in for the Test Stakes.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Jason Shandler — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:27:56 GMT

No, youre the expert Racingfan. Enlighten us please.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Stevebiscuit — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:01:47 GMT

I agree Mike, some people just don't know greatness when they see it.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Racingfan — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:56:47 GMT

Hey Mike, Hey Stevebiscuit, know what I think is interesting where Jason and the other naysayers are concerned....? They regularly talk about horses that encounter a problem in a race and fall behind (ex: Animal Kingdom in the Belmont)and when that horse doesn't even come close to winning the race - and we see it happen all the time-that is the reason the horse lost and he is excused because he "had no chance". But when Zenyatta spots a field of male horses that are supposedly MUCH superior to her twenty lengths and loses by a head, she just isn't that great....? That logic makes zero sense and when it comes from people who are supposed to be "experts" in the sport, well that's where the lack of credibility comes in.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Mike Relva — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:36:35 GMT

STEVEBISCUIT

Here's the answer,cause some aren't bright enough. We don't hear any of them admit to the fact Blame had home field advantage. Sometimes in other sports home field is huge not counting as you stated the type of trip Blame enjoyed compared to her. They know if Blame had the trip she did he couldn't overcome it either. She didn't exactly finish last,did she?

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Mike Relva — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:29:13 GMT

JASON

I don't expect an answer to my question. Do you think for a second Blame will have a longer historic following than the mare? Doubt it.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Ian Tapp — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:13:16 GMT

Stevebiscuit,

Dude, let it go. You're making all the wrong arguments. We all know and understand the difficulty she had in the race. These are excuses. These are the reasons she lost. In fact, it was her best performance considering what she overcame. Perhaps if she had been trained or ridden differently, or had a testing, dirt prep race, she would have fared better. No one's debating "career-wise and ability-wise." We're talking BC Classic--going in she hadn't faced a G1 winner in 2010, and it left her underprepared to beat Blame.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Jason Shandler — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:52:31 GMT

Steve: How many sleepless nights have you had replaying that race in your head? Must be difficult for you. If it's any consolation, I took my massive winnings and had a nice family vacation. At least you have your souvenir ticket to savor.

The only thing "history" will show is that Blame defeated Zenyatta the one and only time they met, with Zenyatta actually getting a weight break. History can be cruel. But that is sports. It's time to accept the facts: She lost. Get over it.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Stevebiscuit — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:34:34 GMT

Ian Tapp, Blame never had to spend the first half of the race adjusting to the surface, his jockey never considered pulling up as the crossed the finish line the first time around, he never had to check off of a tiring Quality Road, he never encountered any traffic at the top of the stretch, having to navigate around a wall of horses by stepping on the breaks and veering around Musket Man among others. Zenyatta did all of these things, while Blame had a perfect trip, or as Garrett Gomez called it immediately after the race "a beautiful trip", and never had to overcome the obstacles Zenyatta did. That's a fact. Had his margin of victory been 3 lengths I could see how a better trip wouldn't have helped Zenyatta much. But a head? No way. If her trip had been anywhere near as clean as Blame's she would have won decisively. It astounds me that a 6 year old mare can catch so much flack for failing to run down a 4 year old colt in his prime, on his favorite track, who had the perfect trip. History will view it as such: Both career-wise and ability-wise, Zenyatta was pound for pound a better racehorse than Blame. No amount of petty blogging by the naysayers will change that.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Mike Relva — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:07:25 GMT

BILLY'S EMPIRE

Careful regarding calling individuals "weak minded" considering you survive on a low iq. I'm certain you remember Tim G,a vet not a "washed up blogger" who certainly has your number,Billy.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Ian Tapp — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:39:02 GMT

Mike Relva,

That's right, buddy. He won the Classic, she won HOY--these are facts. And "having a good trip" isn't a bad thing. Blame won the race for reasons stated above, and Zenyatta won HOY because she had the bigger fanbase and impact on racing.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Mike Relva — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:36:39 GMT

BILLY'S EMPIRE

Snappy comeback,Bill. Be my guest and convince yourself I'm "weak minded". Sounds like you might be, to dismiss a trainer like Jerkens with a silly comment that "you don't care what he says. A HOF trainer that's been in the business fifty odd yrs. pretty certain you would've cared if he made the qlowing remarks about another horse you liked. Please don't be coy and pretend that you don't remember Tim G. a vet that called you out and like myself doesn't believe for a sec you're a fixture in racing. It's inaccurate that I hang on to every word. My income isn't derived from racing,there's no pass or fail here. So,how was your "visit" to see Zenyatta? Only ask cause you've never said anything else about it from months ago.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Mike Relva — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:27:17 GMT

Even Blame's trainer stated he had a good trip.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Mike Relva — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:26:19 GMT

IAN TAPP

Maybe so,but it's pretty "cut and dry" who won HOY.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Ian Tapp — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:46:51 GMT

Stevebiscuit,

Blame won because he better handled the conditions of the race.

Zenyatta's lack of tactical speed and difficulty handling the surface ultimately cost her the victory. Pretty cut and dry.

re: The Best Division in Racing: Older Females

Stevebiscuit — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:18:11 GMT

Jason, is the reason the only response you can come up with is "she lost. get over it" because you can't refute the argument that Blame's superior trip and handling of Churchill's cuppy surface were what led to his victory? Just wondering.