Belmont Drama

[snaffle1987]

Asmussen has always been surrounded by controversy. Have to say that the stretch dual really made the race exciting but do not approve with what they did with Gettysburg

Here is the article, you need to read farther down for the drama: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/212422/asmussen-basks-in-belmont-afterglow

Basically Walden/Winstar removed Gettysburg from Pletcher’s barn and placed him with Asmussen shortly before the Belmont.

Asmussen sent the horse out there strictly as a pace setter for the beginning half mile so Destin (Pletcher’s horse) couldn’t get a slow as snail pace.

Gettysburg faded rapidly in the stretch and Asmussens other trainee beat Pletcher by inches giving Asmussen the upper hand.

Walden stated Gettysburg will now be going back to Pletcher after a “well deserved rest for doing such a great job”

Pletcher returns with, the horse isn’t coming back in my barn.

So Winstar and Asmussen threw this unprepared horse out into a Classic strictly as a rabbit for the opening fractions with zero regard for the fact that Gettysburg had no change in H*LL to make the distance and/or hit the board. He backed-up rapidly in the stretch which is dangerous. In addition, his jockey Paco Lopez checked a horse 3 times in the stretch on poor Gettysburg who had zero chance and had nothing left.

I get it, rabbits have been used for years but where do you draw the line and find some class. Every time you send a horse to a race you risk injury or worse, they were willing to sacrifice this horse for the sake of Creator.

Just left a very bad taste in my mouth.

[Where_sMyWhite]

To me, this wasn’t drama. What was drama was Golden Gate Fields pulling 2 turf courses off the turf to run on dirt (excuse me, Tapeta) in the mandatory Golden Pick Six (yesterday was GGF’s last day in this meet). Two of the last 3 races in the Pick Six were moved after jocks refused to ride on the turf course causing the results, with respect to the Pick Six, to be considered “all”.

The Golden Pick Six required winners which let to a rollover resulting in a mandatory payout of over $5M (yeah, $5M at GGF ). Making those 2 races be “all” really diluted the payout.

That to me sounds like drama

[Where_sMyWhite]

And Gettysburg didn’t quit quite that bad… Suddenbreakingnews and Exaggerator finished behind him

[Laurierace]

I vote no drama as well.

[Palm_Beach]

[QUOTE=Where’sMyWhite;8701970]
To me, this wasn’t drama. What was drama was Golden Gate Fields pulling 2 turf courses off the turf to run on dirt (excuse me, Tapeta) in the mandatory Golden Pick Six (yesterday was GGF’s last day in this meet). Two of the last 3 races in the Pick Six were moved after jocks refused to ride on the turf course causing the results, with respect to the Pick Six, to be considered “all”.

The Golden Pick Six required winners which let to a rollover resulting in a mandatory payout of over $5M (yeah, $5M at GGF ). Making those 2 races be “all” really diluted the payout.

That to me sounds like drama :)[/QUOTE]

YES!!! $146 payout!!! Now THAT was drama!!!

[Palm_Beach]

I would have done the same thing as Winstar. I guess. Pretty doubtful that I’d ever have ONE Grade I horse much less 2 of the same age at the same time in the same race. It’s so hard to win a Grade I, when you have a well bred horse like Creator with big time stud potential, you swing for the fence. I’m sure Gburg’s jock took care of him once he ran out of gas. And where is Shammy Davis when you need someone to dig up some obscure statistic or result - like the rabbit winning the race over the big horse???

And I think Pletcher handled it well. It looks too much like insider trading to have horses move back and forth in that obvious a manner. It should not have landed in the press - now it’s been brought to the attention of the public.

[LaurieB]

[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8702494]

And I think Pletcher handled it well. It looks too much like insider trading to have horses move back and forth in that obvious a manner. It should not have landed in the press - now it’s been brought to the attention of the public.[/QUOTE]

It landed in the press because the owners and trainers bragged to reporters about how successful a ploy it was. They were very proud of themselves. Obviously legal and all that, but not the most sportsmanlike attitude.

[Rackonteur]

Wasn’t Aristides sent out as a “rabbit” for stablemate Chesapeake? And look how he finished.

[Shammy_Davis]

[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8702494]
I would have done the same thing as Winstar. I guess. Pretty doubtful that I’d ever have ONE Grade I horse much less 2 of the same age at the same time in the same race. It’s so hard to win a Grade I, when you have a well bred horse like Creator with big time stud potential, you swing for the fence. I’m sure Gburg’s jock took care of him once he ran out of gas. And where is Shammy Davis when you need someone to dig up some obscure statistic or result - like the rabbit winning the race over the big horse???

And I think Pletcher handled it well. It looks too much like insider trading to have horses move back and forth in that obvious a manner. It should not have landed in the press - now it’s been brought to the attention of the public.[/QUOTE]

I am not the one to ask. I thought Palace Malice should have been a rabbit. Certainly the pace in the Belmont and then stumbles across the finish. And what about my call on SBN this year? I am still trying to figure if I will survive the emotional crisis of his alusive gender identity. You realize a colt named Creator won. There is something spiritual in all this. Troublesome for someone like me who thinks he knows it all.

I don’t think this is much drama. I agree Pletcher handles this well. Can you imagine if insider trading became a common term in racehorse jargon? How many $2 betters would be running to the SEC claiming foul.

But just so you know that I am not completely out of touch on the subject, Sir Barton was the rabbit for stablemate Billy Kelly in the Kentucky Derby. Haha.

[Shammy_Davis]

[QUOTE=Rackonteur;8702523]
Wasn’t Aristides sent out as a “rabbit” for stablemate Chesapeake? And look how he finished.[/QUOTE]

Yes!

Dated but interesting read.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/14/sports/on-horse-racing-run-rabbit-run-but-may-the-great-horse-win.html

And another great dated read involving HOF trainers Whiteley and Nerud.

http://www.si.com/vault/1968/07/29/609533/suckered-by-a-rabbit-punch

[ASB_Stars]

Anyone remember Damascus and Hedevar? Damascus was a brilliant race horse, but with his rabbit, Hedivar? I seriously doubt he’d be remembered as he is.

ETA- I hadn’t read the link above- sorry- this was just from memory. My old, usually useless, memory! :lol:

[skydy]

Haskin has an interesting column…http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2016/06/12/winstar-creates-a-wild-ending.aspx

[Gestalt]

Well I still have Destin as my number 1, Creator is a nice horse but even the win doesn’t move him ahead in my book. (Which means absolutely nothing!) And like the article says, Lani is very well trained. I look forward to seeing more of him.

[Lord_Helpus]

Out in my retiree’s field is Commanche Trail. He was the rabbit for Tabasco Cat (come from behind) when he ran against Holy Bull (front runner). As a 2 and 3 year old, he was never expected to win a race; his job was over after 6f and he came home at the back of the field (I was able to see a replay of the Travers from that year, and it was lots of fun to hear that Commanche Trail was leading the field for the first 1/2 of the race. )

Rabbits are nothing new and are not expected to go the distance. So it was not really important if Gettysburg was fit enough to run the whole way. And Rabbits are often not the same class of the rest of the horses. If Gettysburg was a GI horse now, he would be running in GI sprints.

(Commanche Trail (Yes, Overbrook’s secretary did not know how to spell Comanche, so the name was sent into the JC with 2 “m’s”. ), when allowed to sprint beginning as a 4 year old, was a G3 SW and raced until he was 8. At that point he had slid down the ranks until he was running in the cheapest claiming races. Since my mother had bred him, I had followed his career the whole way, and I claimed him and brought him home. He has been with me for 17 years now and he still is a real character. He never knew he was not supposed to win; he just knew that there was a lot of hoopla over his races.)

[Lord_Helpus]

To me, the real drama was taking Gettysburg away from Pletcher to set up the race so that Winstar’s horse could beat Pletcher’s.

If I was Pletcher I would not have taken him back, either.

[snaffle1987]

^^ this was what I was getting at

[Palm_Beach]

Creator is one of my favorite 3 yos this year.

[Canterwell]

The great Frankel almost always had a rabbit - Bullet Train - a three-quarter brother to Frankel. Bullet Train was an excellent racehorse in his own right, who won graded stakes races. He’s now standing at Crestwood.