time to move on. he gave a heartfelt apology. They are great folks and he is a great horse. A prime example of the buildup of stress and what can happen when someone shoves a microphone in your face at the wrong time. He made good points; something worth looking into, just said it at the wrong time. No one is perfect and they had a lot of hope and expectation riding on their shoulders. They are good people who made right on their wrongs. Time to move along now
What a GOOD apology. Good job, Mr. Coburn.
He made a mistake, and now he’s owned it.
I agree. I’m satisfied with his apology and it is clear that he now realizes that he still has a lot to learn about the sport. He learned the hard way but the good news is, the horses all pulled up sound, he still owns a great horse, and CC will run again. Whether or not any changes related to the TC will be implemented at any point going forward remains to be seen.
Its all a big shame. The best horse didnt win the Belmont. Chrome was the best horse in the field and if he hadnt been stepped on, the outcome would probably be different.
[QUOTE=Noms;7615486]
Its all a big shame. The best horse didnt win the Belmont. Chrome was the best horse in the field and if he hadnt been stepped on, the outcome would probably be different.[/QUOTE]
The best horse on that day won. We can come up with a million scenarios in which CC won, or some other horse won all three. But that’s not reality. Reality is CC did not win. Tonalist was the best horse that day.
I doubt it.
He’s a nice horse, but not so sure he’s a great horse.
His apology was a lot better than those “I’m sorry if anyone was offended” PR nonsense non-apologies we’re commonly treated to these days. And he didn’t grab the excuse that he’d been “celebrating too much” that Robin Roberts threw him.
I feel for his wife - she clearly was hurt both for herself and on his behalf. She sure was staying on the far side of her chair though. Wouldn’t want to be the third person in their row on the flight back to California if they fly coach.
eta: I wonder who finally convinced him he needed to apologize? His wife? His partner? Someone from Sherman’s barn? (maybe he saw Art’s classy Sunday am press conference) a media person?
Besides the long belaboured, somewhat drunken and unfortunate rant, the only ‘rules’ I see that anyone wants to see changed is not a rule change of any kind, but a simple increase in the amount of time between races. The only reason that reads to ordinary folks as a ‘rules’ change is that less informed race fans have the amusing notion that there is some overarching governance of thoroughbred racing and the Triple Crown in particular, which of course, there is no such thing.
And whoever thinks that such a change is tantamount to giving out a Triple Crown trophy just for showing up, seriously?
I’m all for redemption - he was very heartfelt.
It just curls my toes the way the media tries to goad and bring out those unfortunate emotions. She even tried to make him admit he had had a celebratory drink before the rant…
Tonalist is a quality animal and I look forward to seeing him run again. It’s really a shame that some people can’t appreciate him.
He was on the Derby trail. Ran 2nd behind Constitution (Florida Derby winner) in an AOC at Gulfstream before coming down with a lung infection. Knocked him out of Derby contention, but he came back and ran a very nice race in the Peter Pan (in the slop). In fact, a friend commented on Facebook after he won, saying that the CC who won the Belmont wouldn’t stand for California Chrome, but for Christophe Clement.
Anyway, he was working well in the mornings, and then looked pretty awesome in the post parade. When I saw him, my heart dropped for Chrome because I thought, “Sigh, he looks good.” 
So he isn’t some random nag that managed to sneak in a win when Chrome wasn’t at his best. I don’t understand the animosity and nastiness from certain “fans”, I really don’t. I checked out Tonalist’s Facebook fan page after he won, and some of the nutters posting on it boggled my mind.
The Belmont takes nothing away from Chrome. He ran a bang-up race, considering, and will come back to do big things, I’m sure.
[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;7613772]
"NYRA is crowing about the huge take at the betting windows. "
You bet they are. The last number I saw on the screen was over $20M just in the win pool! Never got around to counting everything else, but it would have been outrageous after adding everything up.[/QUOTE]
Or not…that is, after all, why they race in the first place. Missteps, bumps, bruises, dirt in the face, mud and bad bad racing luck are part of determining greatness. Deal with and overcome them to be great, not cite them as excuses.
CC has to go on to a solid summer campaign to prove himself truly great, he won 2 Classics but there are still important races against ever maturing competition coming up. Including Saratoga (which I understand he will not attend therefore no rematch possible) and the Breeders Cup. We will have to wait and see.
I am reminded of a variation the old saying The Sport of Kings- The Sport That Humbles Kings (and Shieks). And an even older one- The only thing your horse is good at is making a liar out of you.
Yes, a big part of the fun is seeing how these 3 yos mature (or not). Forego was fourth behind Secretariat in the Derby and was terrific for years, courtesy of being gelded because they couldn’t do squat with him before that brain surgery.
[QUOTE=amastrike;7615494]
The best horse on that day won. We can come up with a million scenarios in which CC won, or some other horse won all three. But that’s not reality. Reality is CC did not win. Tonalist was the best horse that day.[/QUOTE]
No, Tonalist may be a good horse, but he didnt run with a quarter grab injury, coming off of 2 hard races like CC.
Well said, harvestmoon. I personally cannot wait to see more of Tonalist. To me, he is a magnificent animal with a huge stride. We do not know what would have happened if he had competed in the Derby and Preakness.
For whatever reason, many people (not on here, but on other boards) became almost fanatical about CC. They wanted him to win so badly that they were finding all kinds of “omens” and “signs” that he WOULD win. They compared him to Secretariat, despite very few similarities at all. Anyone who dared to mention another of the contenders was called a “hater” or the like. Then they were looking to blame anything for his loss. It was bizarre. Maybe it was the media that caused it; after all, they showed us very little about the other horses and their backstories.
Looking forward to some good summer racing. I heard that Tonalist may be pointing towards the Travers. And, for older horses, how about that Palace Malice? I am looking forward to the Breeders’ Cup this fall! Wishing the best for CC and his connections, but there are other horses worthy of following - not just him.
Poor Tonalist ;).
[QUOTE=Noms;7615638]
No, Tonalist may be a good horse, but he didnt run with a quarter grab injury, coming off of 2 hard races like CC.[/QUOTE]
But he won the race. We’ll never know if CC would have won without the grab or if he would have won had he not had 2 hard races. It was a fair race. CC had just as much chance to win as any other horse. Tonalist won. He was the best that day.
It sucks when the horse you want to win doesn’t do it. But that’s the sport. I’m still mad about Sweet Catomine getting screwed in the Santa Anita Derby. I still firmly believe that Afleet Alex should have won the Kentucky Derby. But what happened, happened. We can’t rewrite history with our "if only"s.
Hey, I’m still bummed Orb didn’t fire as expected after his Derby win.
Thats horse racing.
[QUOTE=Noms;7615638]
No, Tonalist may be a good horse, but he didnt run with a quarter grab injury, coming off of 2 hard races like CC.[/QUOTE]
No one made them run CC in those races.
Tonalist won. Plain and simple.
No one made them run in those races? Lord knows everyone would be calling them cowards for not giving the Triple Crown a chance. Anyone saying they wouldn’t have done it is a liar. Chrome went in that race looking very game, very composed, and training great. Yes, anything can happen on that track and unfortunately Chrome had a chunk of his foot ripped off. Tonalist won but if Tonalist hadn’t had 2 or 3 months off; I don’t think he would’ve been anything special on Belmont Day. Fate played in his favor on Saturday but I don’t expect much from him in the months to come
Woulda coulda shoulda’s don’t count in horse racing or any other sport. Every horse that got in the starting gate had a chance to win, depending on a bazillion variables. The horse that crosses the line first is best that day, period. The favorite only wins 33% of the time.
