Wow!! :eek: She’s going to remember THIS derby day! :yes:
On another note, any thoughts on a TC win for Justify? His way of going makes me wonder (assuming it’s just scratches, and heals well).
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Aiden O’Brien talks about Mendelssohn’s trip in the Derby: https://www.paulickreport.com/news/people/different-level-of-intensity-obrien-talks-disappointing-derby-144-with-Mendelssohn/
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Little early to start worrying about June. So much can happen to any of them. And alot of BS gets thrown around from all sides. Of course the idiot press will now start thumping the " New Shooter" cliche every other sentence. And some people like the attention.
Just throwing this out there, I’ve had Hunters I showed at some venues in mud come back soreish around the heels and pasterns for a few days, vets thought it was the slightly abrasive nature of the footing material. Rocking back to jump puts the back of the pasterns closer to the ground and into the mud, same thing in front landing… Sounded reasonable to me, seen Reining horses abrade that area dropping to slide. Imaging full out running for over a mile in slop might have a similar effect.
Give it a few days, after they return to serious work, before theorizing. Nobody has any idea if he can run back to the same form in two weeks. They’ve never asked him to and the only way to find out is to ask him to.
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Classy of him to take the blame. When my husband pointed out that Rayya got beat 42 lengths in the Oaks, I was rethinking my fondness for Mendelssohn.
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I’ve always thought Adian O’Brien was a solid class act. This just proves it again. I’m sure we’ll see them back in full force this fall.
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Mendelssohn really took a beating on derby day. He got sideswiped hard two or three times in the run into the turn. He ran gamely around most of the track but like the majority of the field; I don’t think any of them took too kindly to the conditions and having their eyes filled with mud. I really feel bad for most of the field stuck with the kickback. It was no surprise to me to see the 1st and 2nd horses clean as a whistle. They got the best trip around
Can we take a moment to acknowledge the tremendous run by My Boy Jack??!! Horse ran 2nd to last for 95% of the race and his sheer turn of foot in the stretch to run 4th is borderline mind boggling. If you watch the replay of the LA Derby, his stretch run and the amount of ground he made up in the turn is something to see. If this horse shows up for the Belmont; watch out. Highly underrated in my opinion
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I was thinking the same! Just WOW, what a closer. I hope they skip the Preakness and try for the Belmont. He could really show up! He got boxed in a few times in the Derby, imagine him in a smaller field?!
last I heard they were bringing him back to CA and giving him a break. I think they are skipping the Preakness based on this. If he is every a little closer to the pack and not travelling so far back; is kick in the stretch could really put away a field. I think it is very rare to find a horse who can turn on the gas like that at the top of the stretch…ever, single, time.
Just did a quick Google and it looks like they are indeed planning to skip the Preakness and run him in the Belmont! Fingers crossed for him! He was my Derby pick, because he’s sort of locally owned (big story here in CT leading up to the Derby), and my first horse was named Jack, so I like him regardless!
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They CRAWLED home. I think they went the last half in 53.
maybe you need to watch his stretch run in the LA derby as well.
The one where he battled the top two and then hung? He didn’t finish up.
once again I will revert back and ask if you are always this grumpy. honestly all you do is criticize everyone else’s posts. negative, negative, negative. No he didn’t get hung up and he didn’t battle the top two. He came roaring from dead last running 6 wide on the turn in a tremendous stretch run. He never caught the front runners in time; but was right there with the front runners who were more hung than he was. I advise you to watch the replay before commenting
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He passed tiring horses and couldn’t go with the top two. If you are impressed, that’s fine. Same thing with the Derby - they were blazing the first half and the stretch runners who were able to negotiate traffic caught the horses who tried to go with the leaders and got tired. I’m not sure why you think that a difference of opinion is a personal criticism of you. I don’t know you and have no opinion of you. Except maybe your use of the word “hung” is a bit inappropriate. It’s a verb.
Palmbeach; My Boy Jack in the LA derby was a neck/half length behind the 2 leaders at the wire. they tired at the same point he did and didn’t put nearly the effort into their stretch run as he did. Yea Noble Indy crossed the wire first but if I had the choice to own any horse in that field, I’d pick the horse who tries his heart out every single time and shows up on race-day every single time. My Boy Jack does that; he is a hard trier who perhaps just needs a bit more distance in his races.
In the derby, he ran just about dead last for most of the race and passed the entire field to make 5th; in the pouring rain and the slop. Yea they may have run the final 1/2 in 53 but does that not make Justify’s win equally less impressive? Perhaps someone should clock jack in the final 1/2 to see exactly where he shook out. The fact that he blazed by an entire field of 15 tiring horses from the top of the stretch should speak for themselves. Where was the rest of the field of tiring horses in the derby? that’s right, behind the horse who showed up in the stretch run.
If Justify wins the Preakness and makes the Belmont; I think Jack is the horse everyone needs to be very afraid of. He’s coming into that race fresh, hangs out in the back and saves his energy the entire race, and loves a big stretch run. Big Sandy is Jack’s style.
You can figure out exactly what he clocked if you know how. Eyeballs can be deceiving, times are not.
WRT the Belmont, he does not have the classic pedigree to win the Belmont.
If horses were entered and actually won based on pedigree, TB racing history would, I am sure, look pretty different 
Thats why they run horse races… to see, on that day at that time on that track in that race who is “best”.
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IKR. But with the Belmont, it’s always a horse with a classic pedigree that wins.
Sorry, but I just can’t root for a horse named My Boy Jack. It is, at least, better than Big Brown.
I think that horses should have official names with some majesty and nobility and dignity to them. I realize that this has nothing at all to do with the horse’s ability, but people have all sorts of reasons for rooting for or not rooting for a horse. I personally will always shun the ones whose names sound plain. They may still win, but not with me wishing they would.
The name was my main objection even as a kid to the Black Stallion series. Forget the racing anomalies, timeline anomalies, breed anomalies, etc. It was the name above all that bugged me. Come on, Alec. You had all that time on a deserted island with the horse, admiring him, and all your imagination could come up with was the Black?
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IKR! Keep on, we need people like you to sweeten the betting pools.
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