Wrong.
Iâm recalling a conversation I heard recently, among senior level advertising pros. In short, none of them wanted to be promoted to creative director or even further up. Some of them even wanted to take a step back. Because, quite simply, at that level and in a big or mega agency/network environment, the job wasnât âthe workâ and making âthe workâ so much as handling staff and clients and budgets. Administrative stuff. Entertaining, even (so to speak).
Racingâs changed a lot over the years. If I werenât supposed to be on the clock right now, lol, Iâd go looking for some of the articles Iâve read about the decline in small barns, even that Paulick Report piece about how big Goliath partnerships are more common than David-type owners these days.
No matter their opinion of Baffert or how he operates, I donât think anyone who half pays attention to the sport would say he got to where he is by being an unskilled hack, leaning on assistants and drugs (circling back to the assistants reference in one of my earlier posts).
But a lot of us would wager heâs spending more time on the phone, pushing papers, doing lunch, making himself available to the media (sigh) and, in general, shaking hands â than running them down horsesâ legs these days.
And thatâs a whole other skill set a lot of horsemen lack, no doubt.
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I think the biggest skill to make it to that level is to be able to charm and influence the big dollar owners to invest in you, and the second is an eye to pick out talented youngsters at the sales. Then third is to do whatever it takes to win- drugs, push the horses hard, etc⊠Iâm not really sure that âtrainingâ per se has a lot to do with it.
Odd about Justify. Hope he is truly sound and not just under the influence to seem that way. I dont have any faith in racetrack vets to be ethical but you would hope that the prospect of him breaking down would be enough of a PR nightmare that someone might do something about it.
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Arenât you just a nasty piece of work!
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Just my 2 cents but I wish BB hadnât said scratches. I doubt he knew the horse would be toe touch lame on the left hind when he brought him out. I think had he said that the horse appeared to have a minor injury and that the vet would be called out immediately to see what the problem was would have gone over a lot better. âI donât know but Iâll find out right awayâ is a better answer then something that sounds so unlikely.
Iâm beyond thrilled that it was a minor injury and that the horse is sound and back to work.
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Not sure where youâre digging your information up from, but you may want to recheck it.:sigh::lol:
Justify was fine through his gallop & hasnât shown any more signs of being off.
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He has too many horses to do that. But he did pay his dues, absolutely. But yes, trainers in his position donât even recognize every horse in the barn. They need great assistants and staff.
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I agree with this at least in part, but even a trainer in this position will recognize the top horses in his barn(s). Dont think he handled this in the best way, but thankfully the horse seems fine. Looking forward to the PreaknessâŠ
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Just misinformed. Itâs all about the numbers nowadays. If a trainer doesnât have the win percentage, the owners move the horses to someone who does.
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Haha, well of course you need the numbersâŠbut I dont think what I wrote is ânastyâ at all. first and foremost, you need the eye to pick out good horses and the big fat wallet to buy them, and then you need to be highly competitive to do whatever it takes. this is true for many horse sports- good training techniques will only get you so far
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Bolding is mine - this is true for all horse sports (and probably sports in general). I think weâve all known a talented horse that didnât have top connections and that horse never got itâs name in the spotlight. Too many trainers cheat so that an honest trainer with a low budget owner wonât win even if they have the superior horse. This may not be as true in racing as it is in showing, but it does hold water. The worst offenders that I know are the hunters and the Tennessee Walkers.
Looking at the hoof pix from the link it seems as tho Justify has crappy feet. Beautiful horse tho.
[Bolding is mine] I think racing offers a more level playing field than most horse sports thoughâbecause racehorses arenât being judged by any subjective standard. The superior horse will beat the competition more times than not (barring a bad ride or an unlucky trip.) Honest trainers win plenty of races. And many many low budget horses out-run their purchase prices, their breeding, and/or their connections. The most famous example of that is probably Seattle Slew. Smarty Jones would be a more recent high-profile example.
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The video where Justify could barely walk on either hind leg.
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Alright
Iâm not the one who called you nasty. Many good horses are kept and raced by the breeder.
Agree, most specifically since the winner always gets tested. With showing, itâs supposedly random.
Me, too. But I think my moneyâs staying home.
I spent American Pharoahâs prep and TC season trying to beat him. That was a valuable life lesson. Though a backup boxed exacta with him and Tale of Verve paid my phone bill that month :lol:
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Ummmm⊠of on LH, not both hind legs and that video was from the Sunday immediately following the Derby (ie, a week ago).
Justify has since been on the track more than once with no indication of a problem (and no, he wasnât worked in secret in the middle of the night⊠plenty of people were watching his works). He was also examined by a vet from, IIRC, KHRC and found to have no issue.
HipNo34, Iâd agree⊠Preakness (based on all the expected parties being in the starting gate) would be a good place for exactas, trifectas with Justify over a few other candidates :lol:
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California Chrome (homebred out of an $8k mare to a $2k stallion)⊠Iâll Have Another ($11k pinhook)⊠Mine That Bird ($9.5k yearling)⊠Funny Cide ($22k pinhook)⊠War Emblem ($20k buyback)⊠and Iâm just limiting the conversation to KD winners this century.
Apart from the insane cost to play, itâs by far the most level playing field there is. A good horse will win in spite of his connections.
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