Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Kim Miner — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:20:04 GMT

Having been at the Cup, it was truly amazing when Goldi turned for home and came from nowhere! And not only her but so many others! Loved Pluck, was right where the gates opened and saw him go to his knees and then was nowhere to be found until he shot like a rocket on the turn! That was exciting!! Also, other than seeing the Beatles when I was in fourth grade (oh my) I have never felt the shaking of an arena or the din of the crowd that was as ear-shattering! Being a Blame fan (don't get me wrong, I adore Z and had the thrill of seeing her live in the Apple Blossom and was as loud as the rest of the crowd cheering her on!) since I was at Louisiana Downs where I watched him finish second to Regal Ransom but knew he was a special horse and having followed his career with vigor, I said before the race, if anyone beat her I hoped it was him. Honest horseracing, I'm sorry!

And if anyone wanted more excitement, Nobles Promise was fantastic in the Jimmy V and Apart was just as exciting in the Ack Ack!! Watch out for him! Can't wait for next year and all that's in between!!

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Grand Slam — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 14:15:32 GMT

Life At Ten..........she was not scratched because of GREED.........

All concerned were worried about

what it was going to cost them, money-wise.....

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Daniel — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 05:50:16 GMT

Barbaro should have been scratched,as he was pulling his head only to the right,a sign of pain.Life at Ten was ill,everyone watching was told.We need an outrcry then follow the money.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

John T — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 02:49:29 GMT

There is always a ''Feel Good'' about every Breeders Cup and this years ''Feel Good'' was Goldikova winning the Breeders Cup Turf Mile for a third year running,truly a remarkable performance.Good luck to her winning it for a fourth time as we now know she will be kept in training.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Brielle — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 23:26:19 GMT

Will,

I think he couldn't do the distance. Weren't there doubts about if he could make the classic distance?

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

SecretTriple — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:36:56 GMT

As an owner/trainer I was quite surprised that neither scratched Life At Ten ! As for the riders fight, I know some of these guys, and at certain times, especially in races of this magnitude, tempers will flare.TV coverage was way overboard, didn't have too see it over and over.No words can describe Zs loss,but many for her greatness, not liking the track for the first 6F., and finishing as she did, amazing. Goldikova IS, the best miler on grass, and proves it , what else can you say. The only thing that bothers me the most in my industry, is its lack of ADVERTISING !! Sure you're goig too see it a few wks. before the Derby, and the Triple Crown possibility, Breeders Cup, etc., but look at the other sports that adv. day in, and day out, ALLLL yr.ESPN covers the Breeders Cup, and when you go too they're website, you have too click on the more button, too get to Horse Racing. Hell, now Nascar has specials on Showtime, what a joke.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

will — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:27:03 GMT

Speaking of Life at Ten's connections, has anyone looked into why Quality Road ran so poorly?

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Goober — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:03:07 GMT

Agree about Uncle Mo! I haven't been this excited about a 2yr. old colt in many years!

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Zenyatta101 — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:15:34 GMT

I think this was one of the strangest yet one of the most exciring Breeders Cup World Championships we have all seen... for a while at least. How many just a quick question think that Blind Luck could win the B.C. Classic?

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Slew — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:01:51 GMT

Concerning the Life At Ten saga, it seems to be that stewards were notified by ESPN about the jockey's doubts. Why stand on protocol when a mare's life is at stake? Why didn't they jockey dismount, as was his right? Why no inquiry? Too much buckpassing on this scene if you ask me.

The Classic was most memorable, but I found Pluck's run from last to first really blew me away, along with the electrifying Goldikova. All of the races were exciting. My only disappointment came from the loss of Rough Sailing.

My irritation however was exacerbated by ESPN showing the jockey fight every 15 minutes for 2 days. That was almost as bad as the crunching sound heard over and over when Joe Theisman's legs were broken in an NFL game. In both cases...puhleeze..once is quite enough.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Peteski13 — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:13:15 GMT

After what happened to Eight Belles how could Velazquez even think about pushing Life at Ten. the vets said the horse was sound, but members of the broadcast team could see she wasn't moving right. I thought she was kind of paddling and I'm no expert. Rough Sailing going down was strange. I've never seen a horse's legs just go out from under it like in that race.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

P. Van — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:24:09 GMT

This is a first-class analysis from start to finish. Very interesting and insightful. TBH readers want to hear more from you, Mr. Hammonds. Keep firing.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Barbara W — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:40:08 GMT

RIP Rough Sailing, Pine Island, George Washington, Eight Belles, Buddy's Saint, and so many others that we have loved.

I hope they do their job to make sure that the Life at Ten incident does not happen in the future in any race.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

BlueHen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:57:15 GMT

I find it very strange Life At Ten wasn't administered a post-race drug test. I always figured that on the Breeders' Cup level, testing every horse would be automatic, esp. one who was so clearly not herself. Who knew?

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

PLUCKSTER — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:43:41 GMT

I can understand writing about Uncle Mo but not mentioning the race PLUCK ran after putting his nose in the turf, dodging the fall horse and making up 15 to 20 lengths is very surprising. Especially when you mention More Than Real.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Cris — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:49:56 GMT

There should be grounds for some sort of class action suit by the gambling public about Life At Ten. There are checks in place that were not used for this horse. The fact that the trainer and jockey all noticed that this horse was unfit to race and was not scratched is huge.

If Jerry Bailey can notice from his position in the broadcast booth and nothing is done should leave little to prove that the gambling public as well as the horse were left up for grabs.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

stevebiscuit — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:22:04 GMT

If I had to bet my life's savings on either Goldikova or Zenyatta in a mile and an eighth race on any surface, I'd take Zenyatta in a second.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Denmark — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:04:05 GMT

Words escape me. I just learned of Rough Sailing demise. That is just too sad. Pletcher's persona was probably a reason for Velazaquez's not asking for a vet check, what does that say for the safety of horses and betters. And, why wasn't she administered a pre-check - did Pletcher refuse it? Horse racing is in trouble and actions like these do not help.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Bill Daly — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 02:36:21 GMT

I see where Goldikova just won the Cartier Horse of the Year award. What a great mare she is! I am in awe of this animal. She has travelled all over Europe and the U.S. and beaten the best milers both continents have to offer. Her threepeat is mind-boggling and the prospect of a fourpeat is beyond the imagination. And very few if any people outside of racing here in the U.S. have ever heard of her. She ought to be in the forefront of marketing campaigns to bring public awareness to our sport. Her accomplishments may never be duplicated. Zenyatta thrills me, but this mare absolutely leaves me speechless!

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

gammyp6 — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 01:31:54 GMT

I am just very confused about the Life At Ten as you correctly say debacle. I understood that Jerry Bailey mentioned the conversation about LAT to the track stewards after talking to Johnny V. on air. An example of "something" needs to be made out of this situation.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

sherpa — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:28:09 GMT

Evan, I've yet to see anyone congratulate Bret Calhoun and Jamie Theriot, pairing up for their remarkable two-fer with Chamberlain Bridge and Dubai Majesty in their respective sprints. So here's a shout-out to them: WAY TO BRING 'EM, YOU GUYS!! :-)

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Mike Relva — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 23:08:07 GMT

EVAN

Stong punishment need to be taken to BOTH the trainer and rider of LAT.

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Richie D — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:55:55 GMT

Nice observations.

I agree Goldikova is an absolute monster!!!

I think that all four 2 year old races were exciting and identified some bonified stars of the future.

I wasn't that impressed with Repole, while I do enjoy seeing an excited owner, the statement he made at the end of his interview about getting drunk that night was a little bit "bush league" to me. Wrong place and wrong audience. He came off sounding like a frat boy.

The BC turf was a joke, arguable not even a Grade 1 bunch.

The fight and the Life at Ten debacle tied for low point. Both were black eyes for racing. I can't believe that there was not a blood test done on Life at Ten after that performance, especially due to the fact that both trainer and jockey both said she wasn't "right" and the public had a couple of million dollars "stolen" from us!!!!

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

Flynne — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:54:54 GMT

I was scared when the gates opened for the Ladies Classic because I didn't want to see anything happen to Life At Ten. I'm so glad she didn't try to run and potentially unintentionally injuring herself even more (because at the time no one knew why she wasn't doing well). During the warmup on ESPN Life At Ten clearly didn't look comfortable, and even after only minor jogging to warm up her sides were heaving, resembling cramps. I'm just glad she came home fine. The last thing the horse or the sport needs is for a situation like that to end in disaster. Imagine the bad press had she not been alright!

re: Moments in Time - By Evan Hammonds

txhorsefan — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:43:58 GMT

Thank you! You've reminded us of some of the high points of the days, which I truly relished seeing Bobby Flay's excitement and Mike Repole's enthusiasm, along with Mr. Plank. Yes, racing needs these young owners who get excited about their horses. The low points no one can argue with you on those, it's sad at any time a horse breaks down, but when our sport finally has a national audience, it doesn't show racing in a good light. My continuing hope is that authorities are relentless in searching for answers regarding Life At Ten. Sitting at home watching the tv, even I could tell that poor filly did not need to go in that starting gate. What a shame!