Preakness 2023

Great finish, though I was wishing B7’s had come out on top. (see earlier posters’ comments). No expert on these things but it seemed that Mage was really low key prior to loading, not looking all that enthusiastic. Not surprising I guess given his short career and the two week turnaround.

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I think Maga was simply outrun, in that race.

Wondering if they will run him in the next one?

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That slow pace gave Mage nothing to run at. Half in almost :49, three-quarters in over 1:13. He’s a trier though.

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It’s already happening, and some news sources are mentioning Baffert’s suspension first off in their articles regarding the breakdown of Havnameltdown.

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Loved the stretch run duel!
Gusty finish by both.

Now all the armchair quarterback experts will come out of the woodwork to go on & on about how weak the field was & how a nothing horse beat other nothing horses…

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I didn’t see the post race interviews, just the race. So this may not be applicable. However, just to be devil’s advocate, re saying “that horse” instead of the name, sometimes you know you can’t handle it to actually say the name when feeling emotional about a loss, so there’s a bit of distance applied just so you can speak without falling apart. It might possibly be that and not “I care so little about the horse that I don’t even remember what his name is.”

I read somewhere that Teddy Roosevelt never again spoke the name of his first wife after her death. Decades and decades, for the rest of his life, she was never named. It wasn’t because he didn’t care and didn’t remember it.

Again, might or might not apply in this situation. I’m just putting a different possible reason out there. I have a few times had trouble saying the names of my animals for a while myself after they passed on.

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I wanted the crazy cat lady to sthu, so far so good on front. Hope our luck continues

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This was the whiniest article possible; why did he bother to write anything at all? Also, I read that Cox missed the Alibi Breakfast because he was with the vet who was examining First Mission Thursday morning. That took precedence over all else.

Below the article I believe there was mention of this writer’s two Eclipse Awards. Couldn’t believe it, but did not think twice at the moment. Definitely won’t read his work any more if I realize it is his.

I couldn’t bring myself to watch the Derby but did tune in for this. I have an irrational hatred of BB spanning back to Fish. But I’m SO HAPPY for JV.

Overall, what a boring race. But will make for a fun painting!

I thought the Preakness was an incredibly exciting race, I can’t imagine anyone calling that boring. National Treasure was done but he still managed to find a way to dig in and win. Two horses dueling down the stretch while giving everything they have is as good as it gets in my book.

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Fish? I know that was Real Quiet’s barn name; is that the reference?

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I am no expert on TB pedigrees, I like looking out of curiosity, but with no particular insights. I found the pedigree of National Treasure interesting-- https://en.netkeiba.com/db/horse/ped/000a01f01d/

I do not recognize a lot of names until back a few generations to Sadler’s Wells, Alydar, Secretariat.

I would be very interested to hear what someone with more insight than me into pedigrees thinks of this one.

National Treasure ran a gutsy race. Johnny V rode a brilliant race. I never heard the term “rebreak” before, but I guess that is what it was at the quarter pole.

However, overall, with everything that happened before the race and considering the winning trainer—worst Preakness since Barbaro.

National Treasure is by Quality Road who raced around 2010 on the top levels and sired some notable racehorses such as Able Tasman who won the Oaks, Breeders Cup Distaff and other major races and was 2014 Eclipse Award winning 3 year old filly. QR also sired City of Light. QR is standing at Lanes End for 200k.

NTs damsire is Medaglia d’Oro whose wins include the Travers, Jim Dandy, Whitney plus seconds in the Belmont, the Breeders Cup Classic-twice, and the Dubai World Cup. He retired in 2004 or 5 and sired 2 FABULOUS race mares, Rachel Alexandra and Songbird.

No wonder National Treasure was a very expensive yearling…and thats where he got the grit he showed in that stretch drive. He was done but refused to quit. You cant train that.

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Interesting, if thoroughbred query, is correct, Peter Blum (Peter Blum LLC) has bred with this mare family since at least the 1980s (5 generations back). The vision (and faith) (and edited to add…money ) required to breed racehorses like that is inspiring.The original mare came from King Ranch (Mono 1963)…before that Augustus Belmont…and way back is a sister to ManOWar and reported as the family of Assault…

I realize by the time you come forward so many generations, alot of DNA has been diluted to a fraction but mare families are fascinating to me! :slight_smile:

https://www.pedigreequery.com/national+treasure8

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Yep! One of my all time faves.

Here are a few quick links if you want to explore these pedigrees in more depth.

National Treasure female family:
http://www.equineline.com/tdn/pedigree.cfm?tk=PIM&cy=USA&rd=05/20/2023&rn=13&de=D&ref=10777616&pid=4127

Blood-Horse Stallion Register online:

Elusive Quality, sire of Quality Road, was a graded SW by major sire Gone West. He also sired Kentucky Derby and Preakness-winning Champion Smarty Jones and numerous other major runners.

El Prado (IRE), sire of Medaglia d’Oro, was champion 2yo in Ireland and a son of leading European sire Sadler’s Wells. El Prado (IRE) was leading U.S. sire in 2002 and also sired 80+ SWs including U.S. champion and leading turf sire Kitten’s Joy. Sadler’s Wells was one of the most influential sires in Europe for years and his sons include major European sires Galileo and Montjeu.

Mt. Livermore was a multiple graded SW and sire of 70+ stakes winners including North American champions Housebuster (sire), Orientate (sire), Eliza, Peaks and Valleys (sire), etc.

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I will always remember Quality Road’s complete meltdown at the gate when loading for Zenyatta’s Breeders’ Cup Classic… the gate crew guy who had a hold of him averted a disaster with a blindfolded, panicked horse breaking free…

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I remember that. I can’t remember if he was scratched or not. My memory says yes, but is unreliable.

I thought I remembered him being scratched after that debacle but wasn’t 100% sure, so YouTube to the rescue:

That gate crew guy at the end should have been awarded a medal for managing to hang onto the horse and keep him circling while they tried to get the blindfold off!

I feel like - thankfully - we will never see such a dramatic effort to get a horse in the gate in a major, televised race again. Quality Road was not only injured during the struggle but ended up so mentally traumatized that he refused to be loaded on the plane to travel home after the Breeders Cup (https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/145923/traumatized-quality-road-will-van-home).

(Also, wow, has television technology advanced dramatically in the last decade! Lol)

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