[QUOTE=equescool;7613144]
I read somewhere that Coburn has been married five times.[/QUOTE]
He may soon be looking for wife number six!
[QUOTE=JanM;7613147]Poor sportsmanship by Coburn, and Costas.
The Totilas remark reminds me of that Scandinavian TV commercial, that showed some men who bought the most expensive horse in the world as a racer. When the horse comes out of the starting gate he’s doing dressage.[/QUOTE]
I LOVE that commercial! I’m going to go look for it now.
No doubt!
[QUOTE=Beaver Breeze;7613151]
He was complaining about it before the Belmont. Had he won, I’m sure he’d have been crowing about how they “tried to derail him, but failed.”[/QUOTE]
So here is what I think should change in the Triple Crown. You must enter all three races. Scratch in any of the three and you are out. No resting. I agree, a fresh race at the Belmont will be a contender to the Triple Crown 99 out of 100 times. This way, its a fair fight. All tired, all never having done the mile and a half.
I do also agree, breeding has changed the sport from endurance to speed.
Rude and poor sportsmanship but I am willing to overlook it considering the huge disappointment. I hope he apologizes when he has cooled off. Bob Costas is a JERK but Tonalist’s owner was right not to comment, very classy.
Lesson one in the public face. If you are going to vent, run out to your car and scream your head off. I admire the trainer clapping for the winner. we all should do that as losers in sports, not say the winner shouldn’t have won.
I am disappointed for the horse.
Coburn is a jerk - but I kinda agree with him.
I am always so disappointed when a TC is lost to a horse that did not run the other races.
This year seems particularly bad as the horses that placed:
First and second - neither had run in either the Derby or the Preakness.
Only two other horses besides CC ran in the D and P.
One finished middle of the pack. The other one last.
The others skipped a race.
I know - I know. Different races. The TC winner has to beat all comers.
But still - the top two finishers did not run the Derby and Preakness.
steve Coburn’s comments…
thank you AKE…your post was exactly what I needed…I am glad that everyone came out clean and that there were no injuries, etc. A race is a race…and not every horse is a “Secretariat”, who was an amazing horse…athletically. These beautiful animals deserve our respect, no matter what…this guy “Californial Chrome” is only 3 years old…and he has his whole life ahead of him…I hope he has a great time!
[QUOTE=Salar;7613036]
Can you racing people tell me if is the way the TC races have always been (in that new horses can enter each leg) or if not, when was the rule changed?[/QUOTE]
Secretariat was very donminant in the first two legs, and faced Sham ( all 3) Twice a Prince & My Gallant ( skipped Preakness) and one fresh shooter.
Slew faced Run Dusty Run and Sir Sir( all 3), Snahedrin ( skipped Preakness) and 4 fresh horses.
Affirmed faced Alydar ( all 3) Darby Creek Rd.(skipped Preakness) and two fresh horses.
Of course, none of those were running on Lasix in NY(for sure) , so they didn’t need as much recovery time as those who use it. Don’t know for sure about MD & KY.
[QUOTE=grayarabs;7613185]
I am disappointed for the horse.
Coburn is a jerk - but I kinda agree with him.
I am always so disappointed when a TC is lost to a horse that did not run the other races.
This year seems particularly bad as the horses that placed:
First and second - neither had run in either the Derby or the Preakness.
Only two other horses besides CC ran in the D and P.
One finished middle of the pack. The other one last.
The others skipped a race.
I know - I know. Different races. The TC winner has to beat all comers.
But still - the top two finishers did not run the Derby and Preakness.[/QUOTE]
The 1st and 2nd in today’s Belmont ran 1st and 2nd in the Peter Pan Stakes.
The Peter Pan is a traditional prep race for the Belmont.
AP Indy, Coastal, Danzig Connection, Cavan are several horses off the top of my head that won the Peter Pan and then went on to win the Belmont. There have been loads of others that either won or placed in the Peter Pan and then placed in the Belmont.
The Peter Pan is a traditional prep for the Belmont.
You guys seem to have absolutely no sense of history about horse racing.
It was mentioned that Secretariat ran against 4 horses in the Belmont. Someone ran a column before the Belmont citing the number of horses in each Triple Crown winner’s field and they consistently ran well below the 10 that ran today. If the field size had been 5 or 6 today, perhaps the outcome would have been very different. I’ll come out and say that with a field of 10+ horses, odds are pretty good that there will be no TC winner, and I think that’s been one of the main reasons there hasn’t been a winner for all these years.
Chalk the comment up to strain over the past 5 weeks and the countless publicity, interviews, and general tension.
I don’t think Coburn is a jerk -I sympathize with him saying what he thought in the heat of the moment after all the hype of the past weeks.
Did you notice the wife trying to calm him down!
Hockey players are media savvy and have learned to play the party line with their scripted comments just for this reason. Jockeys, too, as they have to be able not to burn their bridges since they never know who they will be riding for next.
Wonder if Chrome was over-trained?
I’m just happy nobody broke down. 
CA Chrome has more than earned a happy retirement to the breeding shed.
I hope California Chrome will keep racing. I was disappointed in some of Steve Coburn’s comments, especially the cowardly comments. He may have had a point, but there is a time and place for them. He could have prefaced his comments with something congratulatory for the winner and thus given his self edited comments (leaving out cowardly) more merit.
That’s not true. There were eleven horses in War Emblem’s try. In fact, the fields for horses with the first two legs seem to vary between nine and eleven. If the trainers think a horse can be beat, there will be more entries. They aren’t going to run if they don’t think they have a chance at the money.
There have always been new shooters in the American Triple Crown races. It’s the schedule that takes superhorses to get all three.
[QUOTE=Lady Eboshi;7613215]
I’m just happy nobody broke down.
CA Chrome has more than earned a happy retirement to the breeding shed.[/QUOTE]
Well, he seems to have cut himself…
California Chrome’s struggles in the 2014 Belmont Stakes may have an explanation. According to Eric Crawford of WDRB in Louisville, the colt kicked himself at the start and may have injured his right front hoof:
[QUOTE=RhythmNCruise;7613074]
The horse, the trainer, and the jockey are class acts. Coburn? Not so much. He lived up to the image on those silks today.
(Did any dressage peeps keep hearing “Totilas” instead of “Tonalist”?? Hee hee)[/QUOTE]
YES. Hubby watched only the race, heard the call, and made the same mistake. Reminded me of this oldie-but-goodie:
The jock blew it. Big time.
[QUOTE=Sparrowette;7613235]
Well, he seems to have cut himself…
California Chrome’s struggles in the 2014 Belmont Stakes may have an explanation. According to Eric Crawford of WDRB in Louisville, the colt kicked himself at the start and may have injured his right front hoof:[/QUOTE]
Yep, grabbed a quarter. Although it was probably Matterhorn who did it at the start.
If the Triple Crown is indeed a media construct, it’s a popular one. Everyone agrees it would be good for the sport if more horses won it. So why not make it a series of races as many have suggested?
In other sports, rules are changed all the time to avoid injuries or to increase scoring. Hockey changed the rules so there can only be one player defending the area in front of the net. More goals are scored as a result. Basketball had already made a similar adjustment. Baseball lowered the mound and widened the strike zone. All of these tweaks were to make the games more fan-friendly, as my husband put it.
So, okay, people are hungry for a Triple Crown horse. Make it fair so a good horse has a better chance.
Racing history and tradition haven’t kept tracks from closing.
[QUOTE=GottaQHFilly;7613274]
The jock blew it. Big time.[/QUOTE]
He didn’t. The horse was beaten by 3 (or 3.5) better horses on the day.
That’s racing.
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