I posted a comment about 20 hours ago and it's gone, I scrolled down and couldn't find it.
why are comments so randomly placed on this site? ive been on here for months and I still don't get why I can't see a comment I made only 20 hours ago?
I still don't get why people say we "don't have a standout". Really? Havre de Grace competed from March to November won 5 of 7 races and beat males in the Woodward. How is that not a standout? No other horse can compare to what HDG did this season. She went to Oaklawn and dominated her rival (Blind Luck) by 3 lengths, she then made easy work of top Female Sprinter Switch in the Apple Blossom, HDG then goes onto race in the G3 Obeah (wins easy). Then, she races Blind Luck in the Del Cap, gives two pounds and loses a nose, and is next sent out against males and beats them easily. How is this horse not a standout? I think it is silly to say a 2 Year old Filly should be HOTY. HOTY is supposed to crown the best horse in America not the best horse of a division. Not a man (or woman) on this planet would ever say My Miss Aureila is a superior animal to HDG (which I think both of you will agree with) or any G1 elder horse for that matter. Unless she was a freak two year old (like Secretariat, and others greats of the past) then no 2 year deserves the award. Havre de Grace was the best horse this year. Had she ran in the BCLC she wins for fun and we don't even have this conversation. For w/e reason, she didn't show up in the Classic, never had any sort of a kick yet still outfinished a closing Flat Out and passed SYT just before the wire. She was beaten a total of 3 lengths throughtout the season, won 3 G1s, beat males and there is no OTHER standout horse and somehow a 2 YO filly deserves the award? Doesnt' make sense to me. Once the ballot comes out it's going to be HDG over Cape Blanco (which I don't even think will be that close) with Game On Dude or Acclimation a distant third. My Miss Auerelia won't even make the ballot. I'm just happy this wasn't another shoutout post for Rapid Redux to be HOTY. Then I'd really have to let it all out.
Drosselmeyer is the best horse for the price...ST will be 6-5, FO/entry will be 9-5
best 1 1/2 race ever ran....including Big Red's Belmont and Affirmed and Alydar's Belmont....this race was better -- 1 1/2 on a horrid track with those blistering fracions Big Red would have been gasping for air
The race was run well, and given his early speed he is a dangerous horse in any race. Still, I'd like to see him win and run outisde of NY but that won't happen until BC day (the run part, I don't see him winning the Classic). NY horses tend to have problems with the Churchill strip. His worst race in the past 2 year was in the BC mile, so you can't look past that. As for the track yesterday, what do you expect? A 1/4 in 24 a half in 49, 6 panels in 113, the pace setup for a slow final time which it was....1.52 is about a 1.50 had the pace been your average 111, lets not blow things out of proporition. this race played out like your average race but had slow pace times on a very slow track (played slow allllllll day) and you got a slow final time. You can't judge horses by time....this same horse went 1.32 in the Met Mile, how easily some choose to forget that. The PACE of a race and TRACK VARIANT/CONDITION are your two best friends as pertaining how to grade final time. I've seen claimers run 1.09s and faster....they ran the 6 panels in 113 yesterday, don't tell me any claimer would have been able to beat a single horse in that race even at the 6 panel marker.....never gonna happen. Time is one of the most irrelvevant things when grading horseflesh.
In support of Mr. Zipse, I will give you my take. Winning races by wide margins in Europe compared to the USA is like apples and oranges. European races are usually heavily condensed, with slow early fractions and fast closing fractions. Many of the horses are seperated by only a few lengths. Frankel is one of few who on multiple occasions wins by many. His Guineas was the greatest European race I have ever seen. He is the epitomy of a 'race horse'. His foes are done before the race begins, they can't match him not even when his jock makes early moves. He's all class, never a better miler across the pond...never.
Frankel has just beaten the world's best older miler by 5 trouncing lengths. Canford Cliffs had every opportunity to pass him but couldn't even match strides with him. Frankel has yet to even be challenged. Goldikova is a racing treasure, a 6 year old mare with 14 Group/Grade 1 wins 10 of which were while defeating males, but she isn't unbeatable. She runs her race everytime, but she has met superior horses. She lost to a superior Zarkava and she lost to a superior Canford Cliffs, why on Earth would she lose to a horse who is at least 5 lenghts better than both of those horses? Not a miler alive can match him, and no European miler... not even Brigadier Gerard would be able to keep strides with this colt. Frankel is in a class of his own as pertaining to European milers. He stands alone. I did however try to match him up against Sea The Stars on my blog. I did a comparison and summarized it on paper.........sikorskidownthestretch.blogspot.com