I'll Have Another winning the Preakness proved to me that he's a better horse than I thought he was, but he's still got to win the Belmont. I'd like to see a Triple Crown this year, but I'm not getting my hopes up until he finishes first on June 9th. I've seen too many horses over the years win the first two legs of the Triple and then falter in the Belmont.
IHA reminds me of Mine That Bird---a good horse with a talented jockey. That's why I'm not willing to crown IHA as the second coming of Secretariat the way some other folks in Horse Racing Nation have already. IHA will have to win the Triple to convince me. I can see Bodemeister romping home in the Preakness.
DedaBaber, what I posted was my opinion of IHA, and I stand by it. I've watched him, and I'm not impressed. So you say he's "a very strong horse and the best part is he knows it." That's YOUR opinion. Or is that your imagination? Either way, you're entitled to it. Try not to throw a hissy fit if someone else expresses a belief that you don't share.
I wasn't impressed with any of these horses. Not Hansen, Bodemeister, Creative Cause and Union Rags. As far as I was concerned it was a wide open race. I'll Have Another had the best racing luck and was clearly the best horse that day, but I just don't believe he has the stamina to win the Triple. If I'm wrong I'll gladly come on here and apologize.
Zenyatta never faced a horse with Ruffian's speed. I believe Zenyatta would have been unable to make up the distance by the time she made her stretch run. Ruffian would have heard her coming and Jacinto Vasquez would have turned her loose. As a three year old Frank Whiteley was training Ruffian to conserve her strength and speed. Jacinto always let her run at the end of her races. Zenyatta's style as a closer would work against her if she ran against Ruffian. Too much ground for her to make up.
After watching Ruffian romp in the Spinaway, Lucien Lauren was quoted that he thought that Ruffian "may be as good as Secretariat." Lauren didn't have to say that. He could have said, "Well, she can run a little", but he didn't. I'm pretty sure he was not trying to kiss up to the Janneys in a attempt to replace Frank Whiteley as trainer. I've never heard Lucien Lauren say anything like that about any other horse, and since he trained Big Red, I'd have to give his comment way more weight than any of the haters on this site. It's very interesting that 40 years later we'll still talking about Ruffian, and I have no doubt that she'll be talked about 40 years after that. That's the stuff of legends.
I'm always amused by the Ruffian haters on this site. When Rachel A and Zenyatta raced, I heard the same old tired arguments about them that I heard about Ruffian thirty odd years ago: "Who has she beaten?" "She's overrated. She's only run in one place!" The more things change, the more they remain the same. Haters will hate, but the fact remains, despite her brief career, Ruffian is a legend, and will remain so forever. She's the standard that all other females in the sport are measured against.
She ran so easily, and so fast, watching her always sent chills down my spine. I've enjoyed horse racing for quite a while now, and Ruffian is one of the few horses who've made me feel that way. What was it like? It was like watching a movie, only better, because she was real.
It pains me to admit this, but I'd never even heard of Rapid Redux before. I'll be keeping an eye out for him now. It's a shame he won't win an Eclipse. This is remarkable!
With all due respect, I don't think Zenyatta could have caught Ruffian. In her later races Ruffian had learned to slow down somewhat, to preserve her speed and her strength. She never could be rated all the way, but she listened to her jockeys until her patience ran out. The idea was to get her ready when she faced come from behind horses like Forego in the fall races. I believe Ruffian would have heard Zenyatta coming and taken off on her own. Her stride was so smooth and so effortless during the Spinaway she opened up a 7 length lead with Mike Bracciole on her back, and he said later he couldn't understand how she moved so fast. He spent the rest of the race strangling her and she still set a race record. I'd say Ruffian first, Zenyatta second. Just my opinion.