A triple crown would be nice.
And no injuries.
*** Update ***
Nice shirt, Brent. Jesus. He has that “New Jersey Used Car Salesman circa 1981” look down, doesn’t he?
by John Cole| 41 Comments
This post is in: Sports
A triple crown would be nice.
And no injuries.
*** Update ***
Nice shirt, Brent. Jesus. He has that “New Jersey Used Car Salesman circa 1981” look down, doesn’t he?
Comments are closed.
The Grand Panjandrum
Ain’t that the truth. I love horse racing but another high profile injury at this race or another big race any time soon and the sport is doomed. I’ve owned horse since I was a kid so I know injuries are part of the sport but these last couple of years have been brutal.
isit2009yet
It would be wonderful…I’ve had the program on for an hour now, even watching all the pre-race blather.
ThymeZone
No injuries, amen. If we get a TC winner, great. If not, maybe next year. But no injuries please.
ThymeZone
New York, New Fucking York.
Even when a cute kid sings it, I hate that fucking song.
I ALWAYS want to put my hand through the tv when it is on.
ThymeZone
Who picks Brent Musberger’s outfits?
That pink shirt has to go.
ThymeZone
I am not a horse trainer, but won’t there be controversy about whether Big Brown should have been raced today on that hoof?
Rome Again
TZ, you’re showing your true democratic colors here. Of course if there was any reason why he might not have been 100% before the race he should have no run, but with the $$ on the line, you know how that works (and consider how many fans would have been so unhappy to find a possible triple crown winner wasn’t given the opportunity).
Between health and money, money always wins.
Rome Again
You knew what I meant.
Scott H
Well, Big Brown did make history today. (I was rooting for Icabad Crane, friends of my little sister.)
That’s what makes a horse race.
Zifnab
I’m not bookey, but I’d start prepping my thumb breaking gloves and mixing the concrete shoes cause people would be owing me all shitloads of money.
Dead last. Wow.
ThymeZone
Yes :)
Davebo
Hooters girls everywhere are crying.
ThymeZone
Yes, he was eased up there at the 3/4 point. At which time the field went right by him.
Guessing, which is all I can do here, it looked to me like he might have gotten into some leg traffic with the horse in front of him early, and the adjustment might have put some strain on that hoof which caused him to get uncomfortable through the next stretch — you can see this on the tape. At that point, he was set up to just run out of gas … the jockey said he “had no horse” at the 3/4 point. Clearly this fine horse was not happy out there, so isn’t it likely that the hoof got to him?
Rome Again
Commentary states horses run on these sorts of minor injuries all the time, just reinforces my earlier post, money always wins.
The Other Steve
I think it was the heat.
That is my professional opinion after having read every book written by Walter Farley thereby making me an expert on horse racing.
The Other Steve
Oh yeah, and last night I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express.
ThymeZone
I agree, and if his foot felt better, he might have. I think. It’s the best guess I can make.
I would like to subscribe to your newsletter, and also know what the price of gasoline will be at this time next summer. Ballpark, anyway.
Rome Again
I did not know Jim McKay died today. WOW, just wow!
ThymeZone
One of the really good people in all of broadcasting.
RIP.
debrazza
Wow, well ain’t that something. I suspect there may be an investigation as to why they did not scratch the horse if it was not fit to run. I am sure that was a money decision.
krusher
I’m sure the writer of this editorial in the NYT today will have some to say about the circumstances of Big Brown’s loss.
http://tinyurl.com/5lhagv
I know nothing about horses, but isn’t Big Brown awfully SOLID for a racehorse?
donnah
I guess I’m a big ol’ snob, because all I noticed about the pre-race show was how trashy the fans looked. I understand that it was very hot and humid there, but the people in the stands looked like they were at a demolition derby at a county fair. I was spoiled by the ritzy folk at the Kentucky Derby, I guess.
Sad to see Big Brown pull up. I was rooting for the gray horse. I always root for the gray horse if there’s one running. He placed second behind Big Brown in the Derby, I believe.
oh really
At least none of the horses (including Big Brown) were hurt.
In a way, I’m OK with Big Brown not winning. The Triple Crown is a huge achievement and this year Big Brown looked like a good horse among weak competition. Still, running in 93 degree heat is grueling and more power to him if Big Brown just decided to take it easy. It’s time a lot more was done to protect the horses.
If ever there was a trainer who didn’t deserve to win, it’s Dutrow. Winning the Belmont Stakes is never “a foregone conclusion.”
Today’s winner, D’Tara, would have finished a bit ahead of the second place finisher in ’73 when Secretariat won by 31 lengths. But then, it wasn’t 93 degrees in 1973.
The Grand Panjandrum
And D’Tara, and the rest of this field, isn’t even close to being in the same class as Secretariat. His record run the Belmont Stakes is still the fastest 1.5 miles ever run on a dirt track. One think one other horse has run it in 2:25 since then.
Aaron
Oh is this what was mucking up traffic….
Oh and Secretariat was a mutant with a heart literally twice as beg as a normal horses heart.
w vincentz
Jim McKay loved horses. So do I.
May Jim McK RIP. He did much for our sport.
I’m very happy for Nick Z and all his connections. His colt looked so nice with that blanket of white carnations. and to Dick Dutrow, man, you did your best.
Considering where you were ten years ago to where you are now, well, I just hope there’s nothing serious with Big Brown. Kent D did his best, and the ride on Real Quiet will haunt him as well.
I look forward to seeing Big Brown at Saratoga, maybe the Travers.
I’d also like to congratulate my friend, Jim Jerkens, who had the winner in the 1st and a spectacular victory in the 8th for his owners, the Moores, and their gorgeous filly, Zaftig, winner of the Acorn Stakes (GR I). Great day for you Jim.
OK, before you ask, I’m a thoroughbred owner and breeder. I have two race bound, a filly (3yo) and a gelding (2yo), both line-bred 3X3 to Alydar. The other ones are too numerous to mention.Oh, and Aaron, one of my expectant foals (due in March) is the grandson of Secratariat. I’m waiting for the Blue Larkspur gene to show up again.
The foal is also linebred 3X4 to Northern Dancer.
GREAT DAY OF RACING! Might be just as exciting as hockey.
Maybe.
w vincentz
TZ,
I just read back through the thread. Big Brown’s quarter crack in his left front was packed (shot with epoxy) and and his fronts were reshod (LF with a a puller shoe.
He had a five furlong breeze on Thurs. AM in 100 and change.
That’s consistant 12 clips. He came out of that fine. He was also jogged this morning (gentle) just to loosen him up and not clocked. He was fine.
My best guess is that without winstrol (a steroid that will soon be banned), that Dutrow didn’t shoot into him in May. and plus a very hot track (temperature) and that Big Brown clipped heels at the quarter pole, well, it’s just good that Kent pulled him up.
There are always races to be run. Sometimes a win, sometimes not.
Are any Hillary friends listening?
With horses, and people, there are always fences to mend.
Maybe one of mine will win the Triple Crown. We’re more than due.
lilysmom
Say a little prayer for Ruffian who is buried at Belmont facing the finish line. Seeing her break down 33 years ago devastated me.
God bless her filly soul. She embodied courage and competitiveness.
Hope to see her in heaven
w vincentz
Lilysmom,
I do everytime I pass Ruffian’s grave. Such a tragedy!
Many horses that gave their best are buried on or near the track. On the backstretch at Saratoga, just take a walk with your fondest memories. Belmont and Saratoga are both great NYRA tracks, and very respectful of all the horses that showed their sweat, blood, and life to make us remember their greatness.
Forgive me, Lilysmom if I see racing in a different way than you might. I see them on cold Feb and Mar nights, when they first stand on those wobbly little legs, nurse, and do their first gallop around the pasture when the grass comes. I train them (break yearlings and 2yos) but at the farm, not the track.
I’ll just say that there’s so much that goes into what we’ve seen today, a two minute race. There is so much effort. And yes, some horses die, sadly.
So do some people.
I feel the loss at their ending, and never wish to see any injury, I also see their beginning.
It’s all about hope. (Was that a Barackism?)
Horses have been a part of my life for a very long time. They’ve been a big part of my life, as I’m sure I have been in theirs.
And, without risk, there is no gain.
oh really
Only a handful of horses have been in Secretariat’s class, and while arguing across generations is an exercise in futility, it’s hard to imagine that on each horse’s best day there has ever been a horse that could beat Secretariat. His Belmont run was still the single most amazing athletic feat (by any kind of critter, including humanoids) I’ve ever seen. His Triple Crown races must have been that best three such races ever run by one horse. Sham’s time (allowing for the messed up timer), was likely the 4th fastest time ever run in the Derby and he was still 2 1/2 lengths behind Secretariat. And Sham’s two second place finishes behind Secretariat in the Derby and Preakness, coupled with his trying to run with Secretariat in the early going at Belmont, left him spent and in last place.
It may have been even more than twice as large as the average thoroughbred’s heart. Desormeaux said after the race today: “Maybe it was the foot,” he said. “Who knows? I was talking in the jockey room, and I can’t fathom what kind of freaks those 11 Triple Crown winners were.”
He’s right. Some of them, including Secretariat, really were freaks. But what beautiful freaks.
Rome Again
Sorry, it’s not America’s Ascot anymore.
And you can go to a Vegas casino without wearing a tux or a gown these days, did you know?
The days of having to dress up and turn it into a gala are over. Ther is more money in giving the casual set a glance at the event (a lesson Barack Obama is learning very well).
Nicole
Couple of clarifications for the non-racing fans (whom I am delighted to see talk about racing- sport needs all the help it can get. Thank you, Balloon-juice…)-
If his connections thought Big Brown was in any sort of risk by running on that quarter crack, they wouldn’t have run him. Yes, it is about the money, but in this case the breeding rights have been sold and he’s worth a lot more than the $600,000 the Belmont winner takes home. If they thought there was any chance they’d hurt the horse by running him, they would not have done it, because he’s worth too much to risk. So bummer about the Triple Crown, but ah well. Maybe next year.
“Freak” is one of the biggest compliments you can give a racehorse. Desormeaux was offering high praise to the 11 horses who pulled off the feat.
Genetics trivia- the gene for the large heart Secretariat had is apparently carried on the female chromosome. So it’s Secretariat’s daughters, not his sons, that have passed along his large heart. And he sired a daughter, Lady’s Secret, who was Horse of the Year in her own right, just like her dad was.
It was a fun day at the Belmont. Wayne, I look forward to meeting you at some point during Saratoga. A friend of mine has a broodmare (by Aloma’s Ruler) in foal to Siphon and I know she will have lots of questions to ask you- it’s her first broodmare.
w vincentz
Nicole,
Great to hear from you. Yes, I’ll be at Saratoga and I’d love to meet you. Also, good that your friend has a broodmare in foal. Very exciting.
It’s also nice to see so many people getting back into horse racing. Besides the beautiful animals and the cheering crowds, some of the tracks are just about the most scenic places ever.
W
oh really
“Derby” should have been Preakness.
It was a compliment, but mostly I think he was expressing awe and disbelief.
Nicole
Ergo his use of the term, “freak.” :)
Disappointed as the crowd was yesterday, it was nothing like the atmosphere when Smarty Jones lost. I remember halfway through the day they announced Reagan’s death and asked for a moment of silence and some people kind of lowered their voices. A few hours later, when Birdstone passed Smarty in the stretch, THEN there was a moment of silence.
w vincentz
Oh Really,
Here’s a link about Secretariat. If you skip to about halfway down, there’s info on the large heart, x factor.
Nicole is right, that gene comes through the mare line.
http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/nutbush/
oh really
I read that site several years ago, and I don’t have any reason to dispute what is written there. I didn’t say anything about who carries and passes on the big heart gene. From a breeding standpoint that matters. From a racing standpoint, it doesn’t matter where it comes from but which horses end up with it.
w vincentz
Oh Really,
I was just trying to be informative. If you took it the wrong way, my apology. Wasn’t my intention.
oh really
w vincentz, no problem and no apology is necessary. I was just trying to clarify my perspective. It’s pretty easy to be misunderstood online and this is certainly a topic about which there are some facts and a lot of opinion. Nothing you wrote in any way offended me.
lilysmom
w vincentz
thanks for your response
God bless and take care of the babies.
I’ll send a prayer and good thoughts out for you, too. Good luck with your horses.
She really was special.
Nicole
I didn’t think you had, oh really; I just thought it was interesting trivia. One of the things that kind of bothers me about Secretariat’s legacy is that people think he was a dud as a sire because he never replicated himself. But there was no way he could have passed on that enormous heart to his sons; it wasn’t genetically possible.
And yeah, you’re right; in the end, for a racing fan it’s less interesting where the horse comes from than how they do once they’re there. Who was it who said of his horses, “I don’t care who he’s by; I care about who he can run by?”