Better late than never I guess.
https://twitter.com/GMA/status/475979071776899072/photo/1
Harvestmoon, that is great info. Thanks!
Can anyone recap this year’s Belmont field and if they ran in the Derby and/or Preakness? Was CC the only one that ran all three?
Medal Count ran in the Derby, Commanding Curve ran in the Derby, Ride on Curlin ran in the Derby and Preakness, Samraat ran in the Derby, Wicked Strong ran in the Derby, General A Rod ran in the Derby and Preakness.
I am no racing expert…but this is an amazing horse with an amazing two wins. So many times the third effort Belmont does not product that magical win for horses that won the first two. The jockey…who knows…some owners switch jockeys for Belmont to more aggressive ones and that does not produce a win either.
Not to take anything away from CC, but the very few horses of super steel grit to win all three, perhaps what sets them apart is that they overcome whatever disadvantage comes their way…being run three times, being stuck in traffic, a minor cut etc. The fact that very, very few horses have that grit, or perhaps that grit combined with a bit more luck on that one day is what makes the Triple Crown so elusive.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;7615066]
Medal Count ran in the Derby, Commanding Curve ran in the Derby, Ride on Curlin ran in the Derby and Preakness, Samraat ran in the Derby, Wicked Strong ran in the Derby, General A Rod ran in the Derby and Preakness.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, Laurie.
So if Coburn had his way, there would have been only three horses in this year’s Belmont.
California Chrome
Ride on Curlin
General A Rod
And given Curlin’s bleeding during the Belmont, it would have been a contest between only Chrome and General A Rod. Would that have made it a cakewalk for Chrome? Is that what Coburn wanted?
I saw a finish line photo in the paper yesterday morning. Chrome was only a few lengths behind the leaders. I’d say that is pretty damn good considering the injury to his foot and the amount of traffic he hit throughout the entire race. He got bumped around a lot. No he didn’t win the crown but he is a game horse and I feel like he is only going to get better from here. He’s one of the best 3 year olds we’ve seen in recent years and we can only wonder what that race would’ve been like if he hadn’t had a chunk ripped off his heel in the start
[QUOTE=Laurierace;7615098]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvcZ4LhZzMg[/QUOTE]
Kudos to him for having the courage to do that. It was a very big bite of humble pie. I truly hope he learned something.
Yes it needed to be done but too bad he didn’t do that yesterday instead of shooting himself in the foot.
[QUOTE=spotted draft x filly;7615145]
Yes it needed to be done but too bad he didn’t do that yesterday instead of shooting himself in the foot.[/QUOTE]
Cut the man some slack. He made a mistake and spoke out of pure emotion. Was it bad timing and inappropriate, yes. At least he owned up to it and made the apology. Would you rather he not have done it at all because he didn’t do it the day after the race??
[QUOTE=DownYonder;7615113]
So if Coburn had his way, there would have been only three horses in this year’s Belmont.
California Chrome
Ride on Curlin
General A Rod
And given Curlin’s bleeding during the Belmont, it would have been a contest between only Chrome and General A Rod. Would that have made it a cakewalk for Chrome? Is that what Coburn wanted?[/QUOTE]
Yes.
[QUOTE=Davignport;7615169]
Cut the man some slack. He made a mistake and spoke out of pure emotion. Was it bad timing and inappropriate, yes. At least he owned up to it and made the apology. Would you rather he not have done it at all because he didn’t do it the day after the race??[/QUOTE]
It is sad that he didn’t do that yesterday or at least kept his mouth shut. The rant he had yesterday added another nail to the coffin so to speak. It would of been better if he never had said anything at all, but what’s done is done. Yes he feels horrible and lesson learned but the damage has been done. Now if people can fully forgive him is another thing. There’s going to be a lot of people who will not forget what he had said and others that will say it’s ok.
[QUOTE=Lori B;7615004]
My post, pg 7, among others. As always, RTFM.[/QUOTE]
I did read the whole thing after getting back last night from long day at the barn. In several settings. 
But thanks for the explanation of why the discussion is still on about the campaign. Just so obvious to me that it should all be forgotten in light of other issues. But that’s how the news makes things unbalanced as to what matters. Or the conversation carrying on. NBC this morning saying 87% of those polled want the rules changed. Arrrrgh.
And with Harvestmoon’s informative post, which confirms it. What rules??
Thanks, Laurierace for posting the link. Thank goodness for ABC.
People don’t want rules changed, they want rules created.
But hey, while we’re at it, why don’t we just give a TC trophy to every horse who enters the races!
I watched him on GMA this morning. It was a very heartfelt apology, so many times removed from all of the PR generated apologies that we usually see. He got carried away by the moment, and I’m sure that everyone he knows has been reminding him of what a horse’s a$$ he was.
And–you can’t tell me that whoever engineered that immediate post-race interview didn’t know exactly what they were going to be getting, and he came through for them in spades.
Looking forward to CC’s fall campaign.
I know he got carried away in the moment and I could let it go at that if he hadn’t reiterated it the next morning. Better late than never to apologize today but can’t use the carried away excuse anymore.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;7615360]
I know he got carried away in the moment and I could let it go at that if he hadn’t reiterated it the next morning. Better late than never to apologize today but can’t use the carried away excuse anymore.[/QUOTE]
No, it’s the carried-away excuse for Saturday, followed by the male-ego-won’t-back-down excuse for Sunday. And then the come-to-your-senses “excuse” on Monday, resulting in the apology. I blame the media more for allowing this whole thing to happen, but then, that’s their job–to try to take advantage of people who are in unfamiliar situations, in order to create some air time. I think Coburn’s reaction was very human, given the circumstances. And though he made a bit of a fool of himself, he opened some interesting worm-cans. Healthy discussion of tradition vs horsemanship vs perception vs reality of racing. And probably gave the racing business a useful shot in the arm–better to be drawing attention because of the fallibility of one emotional human, than, say, the previous ongoing discussion of the number of horses being sacrificed to bad footing, greedy breeding and/or poor horsemanship.
“Gambling is a tax on people who are bad at math.”
I am with the folks that do not want to see the rules changed - it will take an extrodinary horse to win. I think CC was fabulous, but never pictured him winning it all. I do not think the hoof injury would have stopped the win and the ride was okay too IMO. I say this as an owner for the last 20+ years, but of course horses are individuals so perhaps in such a long race it played a factor. It just looked to me like he did not fire, and I could see the jockey starting to ride on him with little response. I think it was a game effort but just not meant to be for this horse.
I was disgusted too with the owner’s comments (I disagreed with his opinion, but it was the timing and manner of the comments that I found disgusting). That said, he made such a heartfelt apology that I can overlook it and appreciate just the debate about the rules and what happens to racing going forward in general. Sadly our sport is in great jeopardy, and while the hype around a new TC winner would help, I do not think it would be a big enough boost to justify cheapening the race so much.
Kudos to Coburn for such a heartfelt apology.
