looking foward to quality roads return. I think he, I want revenge and the pamplemousse are the cream of the 3 yr old crop for colts.
With Zenyatta's name already entered in the race, it's of little consequence who else may enter.
Mr. Moss, if you're reading this, stick to your guns. You've got the best horse in America, male or female, bar none. Anyone that's ever seen her race should know that. Rachel Alexandra being ranked above Zenyatta in the NTRA polls is a joke. I agree 100% with what you said. "The Breeders Cup races were designed to settle issues just like this. If Zenyatta finishes the year undefeated, and I think she will, and loses HOY to Rachel Alexandra I'll quit watching horseracing. To be the best, you have to go to the Breeders Cup and beat the best. The track it's held at is just luck of the draw. Don't say I've got the best horse but I'm not running her on synthetic after the race that Rachel Alexandra put in at Keenland on synthetic. But you know the old saying, "is there really any difference between a reason and an excuse?"
Are they sure she didn't walk on water too. I know it's not the horse's fault, but it's getting sickening how much this horse is constantly getting hyped in the news everyday. Constant comments on how she's in a league of her own and would destroy Zenyatta, like she's a claimer or something. Even in one article I recently read, being compared to Ruffian with the author saying she may even surpass Ruffian. This horse isn't immortal. She'll be beaten again, probably in the Haskell. Not a good habit for fillies, even great ones to go picking on the boys to often. As for her beating Zenyatta, dirt or synthetic track I'll take Zenyatta at the betting window anytime. I don't care if it's the lead pony that does it, I hope she gets hammered in the Haskell just to shut everyone up for awhile about how great she is. She's a good horse, but there's better horses in America, male and female than her. She won't go to race Zenyatta in the Breeders Cup but Zenyatta's avoiding her because she won't go to the east coast and race her on dirt in her own yard. The Breeders Cup races are there to resolve issues like this. The track it's ran on is luck of the draw for the horse. Don't claim your horse is HOY if you won't go race the best at the end of the year.
Really looking forward to Quality Road's return. I hope his quarter-cracks don't hinder him any, and he comes back looking like the colt we all saw in the Florida Derby. I really hated that both he and I Want Revenge had to scratch from the Ky. Derby, because if they had gotten to run in that race healthy, there's a couple of horses, namely a certain gelding and a certain filly I doubt we'd be hearing so much about these days.
I'm really becoming more and more impressed with Gio Ponti' every time I see him run lately. Winning 3 in a row, and 4 of his last 5, pretty impressive. But he barely seems to be a blip on the radar screen. It seems all the sports writers that cover horse racing want to talk about is Rachael Alexandra. I don't know if it's infatuation or what. They make her out to be almost god-like every time you read about her. To bad Ruffian never got this kind of attention or respect from the press, because imo Rachael Alexandra couldn't carry her underwear. If she's so great, let her jump over on grass and she how she does with the likes of Gio Ponti' or Einstein, since no one seems to think Zenyatta stands a chance of beating her. But a fool and their money are soon departed, because Zenyatta is the best racehorse on the planet, bar none. Quite frankly I'll be surprised if Rachael Alexandra can even win the Haskell. These colts, or the ones she faced in the Preakness, are much improved since she beat them then.`
With Munnings and possibly even Atomic rain pressing the pace really hard in this race, especially Munnings, Miss Rachael the great may have taken to big of a bite out of this particular slice this time. This isn't the same horses she beat in the Preakness. Most of the horses in this field are steadily improving,i.e. Summer Bird. Won't surprise me at all if Summer Bird or Munnings either one beats Rachael in this one.
Having seen Macho Again lay Einstein to waste on the dirt in the Stephen Foster makes me ask myself is Commentator any better of an older horse than Einstein? I think most would say no, but I do kind of feel that Commentator is just as effective on conventional dirt as Einstein is. Not so though on synthetic or grass. If he performs like he did in the S.F. at Churchill, Macho Again will be hard for anyone in the Whitney to beat.
Even though Einstein did get pinched off trying to get through between horses in the Stephen Foster, if he had gotten through clean Macho Again was just much the best on that day. Einstein is one of those very rare horses, in that he is still extremely competitive, on any surface,and he's still able to race effectively for a much older horse than the horses he's facing. I do still feel like he's the most affective on grass, so he'll really have to bring what's left of his "A" game to pull off a victory over Gio Ponti in the Arlington Million. But I'm rooting for him, and Commentator in the Whitney. It's that soft spot I have for the old guys. I just rooted for Magnum in the Hollywood Gold Cup for the same reason.