Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

Freetex — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:32:47 GMT

One last thought on this blog. If Mine That Bird is as tough and hearty as he appears to be, then, for me, he wins hands down.

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

Mary — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:11:06 GMT

Barb, No. Sorry. I wish that I did recall the name of the Giacomo get that had an impressive race. but I don't. I would have added him/her to my Virtual Stable just to follow along for a while. Guess I will have to put pen & paper handy to the tv because I have forgotten a few that I wanted to remember.

Hurts to get old. : D

I will check the Pimlico website for contact info to ask about the historian.

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

barb — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:59:26 GMT

Mary...I don't know who was at Pimlico, but there is probably someone you could contact on their website who could give you that info. I am just a big fan of racing with alot of books(over 200 racing related). And I like to answer questions, lol. People often make comments on these blogs that send me to the bookshelves. I always like to learn something new so I'm glad I could help. And do you know the name of the son/daughter of Giacomo? BTW, he won the Ky Derby (over Afleet Alex who ran a stellar Preakness).

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

Mary — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:22:56 GMT

Barb, Thank you for the historical record. The only horse I recognize from pp #13 is Giacomo, who won one of the Classics that year. BTW, one of his get recently got some very good press on one of the racing channels. While they did mention that they hadn't previously noticed any of his get burning up the tracks, they were very definitely salivating over the one who raced that day.

Since you are something of a researcher or historian yourself, do you know how to find out the name of the historian that sat in the press box at the Preakness, who was reported to have said the field was the deepest he had seen in 60+ years of viewing that race? It would be nice to see if he has written anything on the race so that we could have it first hand, instead of through the filter of the Pimlico official whose job, I assume, includes promoting that track and it's biggest race, or even my recollection of what he said.

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

barb — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:12:48 GMT

Mary...I always like to do research. So I did a little on your question about post 13 in the Preakness. Here ya go...First of all there haven't been many fields with 13(or more) runners, just 16 out of 134. For 1894 I don't have post positions just the final order of finish. 1917- #13 Fruit Cake(finished 4th). 1921- #13 Star Voter(9th). 1923- Goshawk (last). 1924- Mad Play(3rd, to Nellie Morse). 1926- Banton (last). 1928- Don Q (10th of 18, largest Preakness field ever). 1970- Plenty Old (13th). 1974- Destroyer (11th). For 1981, 1992 and 1999 I do not have detailed results. 2002 was Equality (last) and in 2005 Giacomo was #13 and finished 3rd. And of course 2009 Rachel Alexandra, winner. Not exactly a who's who list of great horses.

Katsan, on the subject of greatest race ever I agree. This wasn't even the greatest Preakness(1989, 1997, 1978, 1973 those were GREAT Preakness'). If I were to choose the greatest "filly beats the boys" race it would have to be Rags in the Belmont,(stumbled at the break, beat the HOY in the "Test of the Champion" in a thrilling stretch battle). Tho I sure loved Winning Colors in the SA and KY Derbies. And I was very happy with RA's Preakness. I was too young for Genuine Risk, but I love her in retrospect.

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

steve s — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:28:04 GMT

A jockey(CALVIN BORREL) that is a danger to himself.DID you see ride on MISS ISELLA.

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

Mary — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:02:16 GMT

Katsan, Ok. If you say so, it was Mark Allen's idea to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the Preakness. I thought I remembered Chip Woolley's voice in that recording played on HRTV. But does that negate my point, or prove it? By your admission, a team Mine That Bird member tried to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the Preakness. Guess they knew where the heat was going to come from. Even if it was technically legal, it was still a shabby thing to do. That back room finagling is what America has hated about horse racing for as long as I've been alive. We want everything to play out in front of us fairly. And we don't want to hear that possibly the best horse was froze out.

<>And yes, I stand by the'09 Preakness being the greatest race I have ever seen. I saw history. You can dispute that if you want to, but you can't dispute these facts; she was only the 11th filly to ever win a Triple Crown race, she was the first favored filly since 1915 to win a classic, the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924, she is the only filly to try the Preakness after winning the Oaks, and she is the only horse to have won the race from that post position ever. It would be interesting to know what notable horses started from pp #13 over the years. Since she did something they couldn't do, she can be measured against them as well.

I watched an interview with an official from Pimlico who spoke of a racing historian who watched the race from the Press Box, and has watched every Preakness for 60+ years. Apparently, this historian is a 'go to' source when sportswriters want to harken back to days gone by. The Pimlico official reports that the historian thought it was the deepest Preakness field that he had ever seen.

More than any of that, it was the way the race unfolded that just skewered my heart, polishing of a sprint stakes record holder early and then holding off the Derby winner's late charge. They reminded me of a tag team trying to take her down.

Maybe the '09 Preakness will eventually grow on you, too. <g> You often hear the talking heads on these horse racing channels refer back to a race having more significance than was immediately obvious on the day because so many of the starters go on to distinguish themselves in their next race. One race often mentioned in this light is the $900,000 Sunland Park Derby in which MTB finished fourth. Both he and others have gone on to G 1 wins from that race. As this year's other Preakness contestants go on to prove what they are made of, that too will all reflect backward on the filly that beat them.

I don't think of race horses in terms of who owns them, even if I am aware of it. What purpose does that serve?

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

Zookeeper — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:59:31 GMT

What did you guys think of the Stephen Foster and the other races yesterday? We were treated to some exciting stuff weren't we?

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

jshandler — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:47:38 GMT

Time flies when you're having fun Sweet Terchi :)

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

ColetteMarie — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:57:15 GMT

I think Mine That Bird will be the 2009 3 yr. old of the year. His electrifying turn of foot is amazing. His ability to turn on the speed & pass one top level 3 yr. old after another and zip in & out of traffic is something that I never get tired of watching. Not only is he incredibly gutsy, he also is a very sturdy horse. So many of the other 3 yr. olds seem so fragile & who knows how many will still be racing in November. Mine That Bird strikes me as having long term stamina to be front & center in every race. Another horse I believe we will be seeing a lot of thru out the rest of the year is Musket Man. He was right there coming in 3rd in both the Derby & the Preakness. Another gutsy horse. I was wondering though if he has raced on synthetic before. We already know that Mine That Bird can run & win on both dirt & synthetic. So, he is definately my pick for top 3 yr. old. It is sure going to be an exciting rest of the year!!

Colette

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

sweet terchi — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:31:24 GMT

Jason, Iv'e been away earning $$, (fair is in town), are you sure the Draynay ban clock is working correctly? I could have sworn there were more days than posted!

Draynays Better Half, I don't think things are as dire with your Cheeto boy. There were some rumors of him creating havoc on other blog sites, unless they have banned him also!

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

Katsan — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:24:15 GMT

Mary, safe to say on this blog, you're barking up the wrong tree.

It was Mark Allen's idea. Truthfully it's been done before and will be done again. It's strategy. Mark was actually going to run the colt he was going to enter, as a 'rabbit' so to speak. A colt not even trained by Chip.

Thankfully the class and wisdom of co-owner Doc prevailed. This is another rumor, just like the one that Lukas was entering Luv Gov to block Rachel.

When all else fails, and the true inside story isn't known, Make it UP?

Just saw that on the new blog.

Shameful.

Calling it the greatest ever? While I admire Hal immensely, the new connections who I also know, not so much and think the filly is fabulous, by no means was it the greatest race. Unless you've not seen too many.

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

Mary — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:37:21 GMT

The astounding thing about the 2009 running of the Preakness Stakes, the thing that takes the winner Rachel Alexandra to new heights untouched and clean, was that after she put away a very talented graded Stakes sprint record holder whose obvious intent was to mix it up with her right from the starting gate, and despite setting blistering early fractions, she then held on to polish off the Kentucky Derby winner, a horse known for tremendous late run. She was tested every step of the way and bested all to become the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes since 1924.

Post race analysts that simply listed Rachel Alexandra with other fillies that have won Triple Crown Races missed a couple of important points. The fact that she is the only Oaks winner to attempt the Preakness, much less win it, and that she won from a post position that has never previously taken the race, puts her out there all by herself in a league of her own because there is nobody on that list but her.

As much as I enjoyed Mine That Bird's Kentucky Derby win, and celebrate how valiantly he showed up in the Preakness, I do not agree that he could have gotten to the filly if he didn't have to go wide around the field in his late run. He was the beneficiary of those blazing early fractions while he lay comfortably off the pace dead last for the first 3/4 of the race, and he got to make his move exactly when it suited him. It just wasn't good enough. First Rachel Alexandra was compromised by her post position, and then she was forced wide around the first turn, so neither horse was permitted to take the shortest route around ol' Hilltop. Only Rachel Alexandra was tested every step of the way, and still got home in front. If they had both gotten a perfect trip I think the order of finish would have been exactly the same, but the winning margin would have been considerably wider.

I love Mine That Bird, and always will, but I stand in complete and utter awe of Rachel Alexandra. I think that Chip Woolley must have felt the same way or he wouldn't have done his level best to try to keep her out of the race. And I will always wonder if trying to keep her out of the race simply morphed into the appearance of a very talented graded Stakes sprint record holder whose obvious intent was to mix it up with that freak filly right from the gate while Chip makes nice with the press. Hmmmm.

It was the greatest horse race I have ever seen, and I will never forget it as long as I live. I will be talking about it to my great grandkids, and telling them that I was alive then, and that I saw her. For me it was the benchmark against which all others aspiring to greatness will be measured. You don't dare even dream of horses doing stuff like this. What more can a flesh and blood horse do? Maybe nothing.

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

draynot — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:27:21 GMT

Greg J,

Thanks for the update on the Secratariat movie. Can't wait for it to come out. You can be sure that whoever plays the part of the great one it won't be big brown although he might be the one carrying the water bucket. My moneys on Curlin.

re: Poll - Who Will Prove to be the Season's Best 3-Year-Old?

zenyatta — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:36:16 GMT

Who is this Sea of Stars horse?? I know it sounds dumb but I have never heard of him except for on this blog... I have heard of a lot of horses but just not this one!!

Matt H.,

Her name is Rachel Alexandra, not Rachel Alexandrea. She's named after her previous owner's grand-daughter, if I got that straight.

Draynay's Better Half, you are too funny!!