Talking Points - by Eric Mitchell

re: Talking Points - by Eric Mitchell

Deltalady — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 22:21:11 GMT

@smarie, I agree with you. After checking up on where I'll Have Another is going, and receiving assurances from Three Chimneys they will be facilitating updates from his new farm, I'm glad Little Red will get a shot at immortality in Japan that he would not have gotten here. Even if Mr. Reddam were so foolish as to consider trying to subsidize the first few years to keep him here, he would not have gotten the best mares. In Japan, he will get the best of the best, and in doing so, he will have a chance to establish his own legacy. A pox on all the houses of the American breeding industry. This bunch who runs around paying $16 Million for the likes of The Green Monkey, who insist on "breeding for speed, speed, speed" to more and more fragile lines, are on the verge of falling off a cliff. Sometimes, you just have to step aside and let them jump off the cliff. It was amazing to me to watch the Royal Ascot this past week as half the features were marathon type races, of which we in the U.S. have little acquaintance. We want more and more Trinnibergs and could not value a horse like Simenon who in less than 5 days ran one race at 2 1/2 mi and another at 2 5/8 mi, beating his competition by a total of 13 lengths! The little red horse will be just fine, and he has a big rooting section on this side of the Pacific. I'm hoping he throws the next Japan Triple Crown winner, like Sunday Silence did twice. Who knows we may get to see a son of a son of Sunday Silence and the son of I'll Have Another battle it out on the track. I can look forward to that about as much as I am to seeing Zenyatta's and Rachel's colts meet in 2015!

re: Talking Points - by Eric Mitchell

smarie — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 02:43:40 GMT

It will be even harder to win in the future as American breeders insist on breeding milers and sprinters. Horses who can get the Derby distance, like I'll Have Another are basically snubbed here and wind up overseas. Sunday Silence was another example of the oftentimes foolishness of breeders here. They breed horses who are unsound; ones who raced well on meds. but bombed when taken off these meds. How can we expect to get a Triple Crown Winner again when our horses are bred to run a mile, if that? Guess our next Triple Crown winner will be an import. How sad this all is.

re: Talking Points - by Eric Mitchell

Johnny D — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 22:33:56 GMT

I don't really see Sabercat as the poster child for change. They brought him along a little late to make an impact in the Derby, he still beat 5 and maybe was a bit lesser talent wise than the top choices but IMO he deserved to be there because he earned it.

Under the new system he still would've qualified. I think that if they reduced the field size to 15 that would make for a much nicer race. I am not so sure anything needs to be changed though. That's why the Derby is so special, it is so hard to win.

re: Talking Points - by Eric Mitchell

Ranagulzion — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:12:09 GMT

The objective of Kentucky Derby qualification system should be to have the highest quality field in the starting gates on the first Saturday in May ...not the manipulation of the preparation race programs that trainers should have the freedom to plot for their charges beginning with their juvenile season.

Also the new system is trying to make the composition of the race too predictable and homogenous, favoring late developers. The previous system did not hinder the class horses of the crop from making it and gave room for the surprise mystery horse that added intrigue and excitement to the build-up and the race itself a la Trinniberg, Spanish Chesnut etc.

What should've been tweaked was the draw for post-position to favour the highest qualified horses (perhaps giving those connections priority in choosing gate number).

re: Talking Points - by Eric Mitchell

Wrensflight — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:22:53 GMT

As usual, I agree with you, railbird. Although the point system may need some fine tuning, it does seem that, in the past few years, horses made it to the Derby who were not legitimate contenders. I also remember the days of Damascus, Dr. Fager, Kelso, Carry Back, and Buckpasser. These horses were not treated like hothouse flowers. I've often wondered about the modern trend in conditioning race horses and how the horses actually benefit from these methods.

re: Talking Points - by Eric Mitchell

an ole railbird — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:47:26 GMT

my mothers poilicy, was that theres always some good comes out of the worse sitiuations. the good i see in the new rules, to quilify for the kentucky derby are. #1 it will go a long ways to change the poilicy & opinions of the last few years,that you cant run a thoroughbred horse but once every 6 weeks or 2 months. under these new rules, there will be a lot of cases where it will be nessesary to race a horse 2 & 3 times a month.( can you imagine the cries from the bleeding hearts). the good part of that is it will cull the weak out before the derby. therefore leaving room for the sounder type horses. and maybe keep the weaker ones out of the breeding sheds. thats my opinion. " an ole railbird".