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Kentucky Derby seems to be under the radar this year
Michigan
Posts: 4,942 ✭
in Sports Talk
I just realized yesterday that the Kentucky Derby is on Saturday, unless there is a compelling story line the race seems to slip under
the public radar until a few days before it happens. The favored horse is called "Big Brown" (not owned by UPS as you might think)
the public radar until a few days before it happens. The favored horse is called "Big Brown" (not owned by UPS as you might think)
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eightbelles i think is her name
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
<< <i>i think i like the phillie again this year
eightbelles i think is her name >>
I believe the filly won the Belmont last year, not the Derby...maybe I'm mistaken. But in any event, very tough for fillies to beat colts in top races...just doesn't happen often at all.
<< <i>rumor is that Roger Clemens had a relationship with Big Brown. >>
Rogers going from a 15 year old to a 3 year old??!!
Paid $3,400, woo-hoo! SteveK, this one's for you!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Very sad indeed. A very ugly side effect of such huge animals running all out on matchstick ankles. Sounded like she overextended herself trying to catch Big Brown. >>
I agree with that - a real shame there. Crazy that the horse looked fine crossing the finish line, and then wound up with two broken front ankles the doctor on NBC said. She was euthanized immediately.
<< <i>Well, I finally hit a big one...the TRIFECTA!!
Paid $3,400, woo-hoo! SteveK, this one's for you!
Lemme guess - from a "tote machine pick"
Nice tri for a 5/2 shot on top. Of course the big field of course helped the price, and a lot of players probably threw out the filly.
That filly was one heckuva horse - a real shame there.
Frankly, this Big Brown looks like a monster - Best 3 year old horse I've seen in a long time. That horse was just having fun at the end of that race - wasn't even that tired, and still ran green - a wide trip which is brutal at Churchill, and he didn't switch his lead smoothly at all in the stretch, and still drew away easily - Scary good.
Will probably be 1-9 in the Preakness, and then 1-5 at Belmont.
Actually, Big Brown was the only horse I felt strongly about...my wife told me to play Eight Belles and my Irish buddy at work suggested Denis of Cork so I put all three together in a tri box bet. Now, I'll have to throw a few bucks their way, LOL...
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Watching the replay at the 3/4 mark when Big Brown broke free there was no doubt of his dominance. There is a point where Belles was running with BB but she staggered slightly that was probaly when the injury happened, had that not happened it would have been a 2 horse race. I am just amazed if that was when the injury happened she was able to keep running. >>
Horses are amazing animals - they'll run to their death if necessary...I guess they're hard wired in their evolution to do this to get away from predators at any cost because if they get caught by a predator, they're dead anyway.
<< <i>Lemme guess - from a "tote machine pick"
Actually, Big Brown was the only horse I felt strongly about...my wife told me to play Eight Belles and my Irish buddy at work suggested Denis of Cork so I put all three together in a tri box bet. Now, I'll have to throw a few bucks their way, LOL... >>
Desormeaux is probably the best jockey I've ever seen when a horse gets a wide trip. Kent has no guts whatsoever to go through a hole, but he can rate a horse on a wide trip magnificently, and that was evident today.
A tri box bet - you were probably rooting at the top of the stretch for that filly to stay strong and beat Big Brown - LOL...the tri would have probably paid over 10K. But I know you're not complaining. LOL
Ron
Buying Vintage, all sports.
Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
<< <i>Watching the replay at the 3/4 mark when Big Brown broke free there was no doubt of his dominance. There is a point where Belles was running with BB but she staggered slightly that was probaly when the injury happened, had that not happened it would have been a 2 horse race. I am just amazed if that was when the injury happened she was able to keep running. >>
Another comment on this - that "staggering" in one part of the race usually has little or nothing to do with horses breaking down. I've been around horses, thoroughbreds and standardbreds - they run around in the field and trip and take bad steps all the time - that's what horses do and they don't break down because of that - it's the overtraining, severe overtraining, that for the most part causes them to break down.
Many horses when they break down do so on the training track as well, but of course the general public doesn't see that. Also the whipping of a tired horse in the stretch, exacerbates horses breaking down. There's other factors as well. The racing industry wants the public to believe that horses break down by seemingly by accident, by "bad steps" or something like that when that is simply for the most part not the whole truth.
Horse racing is a brutal, BRUTAL business, and not the "glamorous" portrayal with the hyped up "sob story" always seen on TV on Derby Day. It's all about the money and basically nothing more. I've seen the most "loving" horse owners, when their loved race horse could no longer make them money, discard that horse for the dog meat farm.
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It's being underreported that Eight Belles' trainer was not 100% sold on running the filly in the Derby, but that's what its owner wanted to do. How'd that work out?
Ron
PS. Nobody wants to think this let alone say it, but with Big Brown's bad feet it would not totally shock me if something happened in the Preakness or the Belmont. That horse is huge and runs violently. Screw the Triple Crown, I just hope he comes home in one piece.
Buying Vintage, all sports.
Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
<< <i>I think Steve has a point. Look at the thoroughbred Teuflesberg last year that its owners ran and ran and ran, twice as much as any Grade 1 thoroughbred. And he eventually broke his leg (luckily is recovering well). No doubt that horse's overtraining led to its injuries and it's just one of hundreds, if not thousands.
It's being underreported that Eight Belles' trainer was not 100% sold on running the filly in the Derby, but that's what its owner wanted to do. How'd that work out?
Ron
PS. Nobody wants to think this let alone say it, but with Big Brown's bad feet it would not totally shock me if something happened in the Preakness or the Belmont. That horse is huge and runs violently. Screw the Triple Crown, I just hope he comes home in one piece. >>
It's been randomly discussed to run the Triple Crown over more of a spread out time frame which would make perfect sense for the horses and the fans, but because of the huge money involved and I guess the "tradition", I doubt that it's ever gonna happen. But perhaps if these "problems" keep happening, it could be done.
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The problem is that owners are paying millions of dollars for these horses and letting them rest is not an option.
I used to work for John Oxley (owner of Monarchos) and his ranch and how they treat these animals is as humane as you can get. How they train each animal varies for each one depending on their needs and temperment.
I agree that overrunning of these animals causes micro fractures in legs that overtime create the breakdowns we see almost every big race.
It would be great to make each animal pass a independent vet check including xrays before being allowed to run.
Ron
Buying Vintage, all sports.
Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items
<< <i>I would support a move where the Derby is run on the first Saturday in May, the Preakness on the first Saturday in June, and the Belmont on the first Saturday in July. I think it would actually increase interest in the sport, and you might see more consistent fields in the races unlike today where none of the other Derby contenders are going to the Preakness to challenge Big Brown.
Ron >>
That's a solid idea - Not sure if it conflicts with the track meet schedule or not. Sometimes tracks run premiere races towards the end of their meet...IE the first Saturday in July might be during the Aqueduct meet...I'm not sure.
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<< <i>If these were human athletes I would agree that there would be training limits and race limits to protect them as they can't protect themselves (kinda like the rules for HS and college athletes).
The problem is that owners are paying millions of dollars for these horses and letting them rest is not an option.
I used to work for John Oxley (owner of Monarchos) and his ranch and how they treat these animals is as humane as you can get. How they train each animal varies for each one depending on their needs and temperment.
I agree that overrunning of these animals causes micro fractures in legs that overtime create the breakdowns we see almost every big race.
It would be great to make each animal pass a independent vet check including xrays before being allowed to run. >>
I used to sit at the track in an area which had a number ot trainers and owners there as well, and one couldn't help but overhearing them talk on their cell phones. The "instructions" they used to give to get their horses "ready" were instructions I'm sure you are aware of...with the worst being standardbreds because of course standardbreds do hold up better than thoroughbreds, therefore "more" can be done to get them ready to race without them totally breaking down. That's all I'm gonna say on that subject.
Those cheap horses like the $5,000 claimers at Yonkers and Freehold I do feel sorry for these horses as the owners have absolutely no regard for their health or welfare whatsoever...only in regards to winning purse monies, and a lot of these owners through gambling problems or other business/financial problems "need" their horses to win and therefore don't even care about the long term in regards to most if not all their horses. No $5,000 claimers will be going out to stud for stud fees anytime soon.
But again...I just don't see it changing. To my knowledge nothing changed or little changed after the Ruffian tragedy (I'll stand corrected if something did change after that but I don't remember anything changing) - and if it didn't change then, I can't see it changing now.
Steve