Can't help but root for him now. He has one heck of a shot. I hope that 7 weeks off he had before the SA Derby helps him stay fresh enough for the Belmont.
He actually did screw up twice already, both on horses attempting at TC. Real Quiet and BB.
The sport need a hero and a horse with a good story the public an identify with. IHA is that type of horse, as is Bode and UR, and many others. I really hope IHA and Bode continue their rivalry. Both very good horses with good stories that people can get behind.
This will actually be Frankel's 3rd season. He has already performed at the group one level for two years and has done so brilliantly. He was brilliant at two and at three, beating the best milers in Europe at three. He has earned two championships already, one at two, something Goldikova didn't do. Should he carry his brilliance on into this year he'll easily suprass Goldikova, yes i said easily. He has already dominated two season in a row, he even dominated his elders last year. This will be his third season, and based off of his last performace he has gotten even better. Should he prove that theory right and earn a third championship he will be a champion at two, three and four. Goldikova was a great older mare, no doubt. Even a great older horse. Frankle has been a great Juvenile and Three Year old, and is set to do the same as an older horse. Should he continue Goldikova while great would not hold a candle to his accomplishments.
horselover, alpha worked at Belmont, a completely different track. Also, UR worked half a mile but galloped out so strongly that he was credited with 5f.
willkins, i am not saying we have not had injuries, however, we have had a total, including Algorithms of three so far, and Algorithms was far from a serious injury, which is a blessing.
cocoa, there was not insult. Would you not agree that there has been a lot of bandwagon jumping this year? I'm stating an obvious fact, not uneducated insult. Hansen's pedgree has TC winners, Derby winners and Belmont winners. He is bred to excel at distance. That is a fact. We know he can rate well, that is a fact. The 3 weeks will most likely help take any issues of being too fresh away from a horse who obviously likes to run, meaning the likelyhood of him relaxing off the lead is very high. If he rates, and the likelyhood of that is high, then the likelyhood of him getting 10f is high. Right now, likelyhood is all we can go by, which is why when you say a horse that "CAN" get 10f, baffles me. How do you know they can when they have yet to do so. You can't know.
Mike, I would agree very much with that statement, as it is something i have noticed too. The breeding of most of the horses in this race screams distance, and not the typical speed push that we are used to seeing.
two in here that I think still could have a shot are Sabercat and Liaison. Liaison because we don't know if he just couldn't stand Santa Anita. A couple horses got off of that track after running subpar to run much better. He never got off of it, which is why I believe Baffert is taking him to Churchill to see how he trains first. Sabercat ran a much improved third over a track closers are typically at a disadvange over. Closer can love Churchill Downs, and if this one improves he could jump up a good bit.
Terry, in my opinion, weight does not make that large of a difference in most cases. He faced a very very very weak field in his southwest division, before he went to Sunland. There he was against much more experience horses. Stirred Up, I believe finished second to Bode finished third there. The top two had prior stakes exp, and had proven to be stakes caliber horses. If the wieght he picked up had anything to do with it, it was very little. Castaway is just not that fast of a horse nor is he that kind of class.