Spectacular Bid 
nothing more to say about that.
I think Calvin Borel moved to soon on Mine That Bird.
2 Likes
I LOVED Mine that Bird!!! What a gutsy horse and super cute too!
1 Like
I totally agree on most every level. It’s not that our horses aren’t bred with stamina for 12+ furlongs. Human factors mean they are never trained for and/or tested at that distance.
One of my favorite “games” to play is to pull up the Racing Post results to see how our American bloodlines are performing in Europe in longer races and over fences. While you don’t see a lot of American-bred winners, you do see a lot of horses bred remarkably similarly to what is available here. Like this Group 1 12F winner at Epsom yesterday:
https://www.pedigreequery.com/desert+crown4
Sporthorse and OTTB buyers love to hate on commercially-bred horses, but honestly, they have resulted in more sporty-looking TBs than we were seeing in the latter part of the 20th century. I don’t necessarily agree that conformation has improved because there are still plenty of wildly successful stallions out there with some pretty prepotent faults, but I will agree horses have gotten “prettier.” A big, good looking yearling is going to sell better than a small, weedy one… and ultimately grow up into a big, good looking horse. The first crop sires who become the darling of the sales for a couple years before fading into obscurity are doing so based on nothing but good looks in their offspring.
2 Likes
It would be nice if we had some of the turf courses that they have in Britain so we could see what American bred horses could do.
Of course the horses would have to be trained differently, but wouldn’t it be fun to know how capable some would be at those distances?
It’s never going to happen, but it’d be interesting.
We do have some American bred TBs that are Eventing at the upper levels, don’t we? That takes stamina.
2 Likes
That ESPN article is kinda weird. There was no Triple Crown winner in 1979.
We have Kentucky Downs. But they don’t write anything bizarre; your standard 6-10F races. But it’s all turf.
We have too many American-bred TBs going intermediate and advanced in eventing for me to list them all. Most notably Sea of Clouds finished top 10 at Kentucky, who was a $170k yearling and about as typically American as they come.
1 Like
So the stamina is there, we just don’t take advantage of it on American racetracks.
You see it in our steeplechases to a degree. Some odd, sprinty pedigrees prove successful in long races over fences.
However, it’s getting less and less common to see American-bred steeplechasers even in the US because those heavily involved in the sport have realized it’s cheaper and easier to import proven chasers from Europe. The 2nd and 3rd string horses over there are world beaters over here. It’s not just the fact there still is some breeding specifically for it there, but also the cost savings of buying an already developed horse.
1 Like
This country still produced the mighty Battleship, and the breathtakingly amazing Jay Trump.
2 Likes
There is a list of horses that will run in the Belmont at the bottom of this article;
Sounds like it was due to routine chiropractic work. Reed is quoted stating RS had chiro work done before the Derby as well.
Curious…… Is it only in some states/tracks that certain things/procedures get a horse put on the vet list?
Good move for the brother to pay the creditors directly!
1 Like
Yes. Right now (pre-HISA) what gets a horse put on (and taken off) the vet list varies from state to state.
1 Like
Just guessing you meant this for the other thread
Yep…on my phone, without my glasses!
I have to mention this because it’s one of those emphasized textfun fact!emphasized text moments that so rarely occurs… My dad went to either prep school or college with Tommy (Crompton) Smith. Dad is from tiny town in Nebraska, so had to go out east for prep school to get into a good college. I’ll have to check with Dad which it was, but somewhere I do have the book about Tommy and Jay Trump. I have a feeling, as nice as my father is, he would have preferred the company of Jay over Tommy…
The undercard on Saturday’s Belmont Stakes day is great!
I’m very much looking forward to see what Flightline does in the Met Mile. He has such an interesting and great pedigree (IMHO) https://www.pedigreequery.com/flightline2 and has run some great races. Some familiar horses are entered. Entries here; https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/race/usa/bel/2022/6/11/9/hill-n-dale-metropolitan-h-g1
The Ogden Phipps has a great field of runners whose names are familiar to all. https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/race/usa/bel/2022/6/11/7/ogden-phipps-s-g1
The entries in the Woody Stephens S. including Chasing time; https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/race/usa/bel/2022/6/11/6/woody-stephens-s-presented-by-mohegan-sun-g1
The Acorn entries; https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/race/usa/bel/2022/6/11/3/acorn-s-g1
3 Likes
Rich Strike’s connections; https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/259419/reed-follows-own-program-for-rich-strike-into-belmont
1 Like
Here is a nice article from before the Derby, about Barber Road and his connections. https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/257267/bargain-buy-barber-road-puts-simon-on-derby-trail
Wishing them well.
1 Like
