Nice to see Justify get another grass winner. Will he be a better grass sire than a dirt sire? Hard to tell since Grass is not very popular here in America but I wonder if Coolmore might move him to Europe for a few seasons to cover some elite mares there instead of shuttling them
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I added up the gaps in the official chart. About 58.5 lengths. I think some of the jockeys did not persevere with the no-hopers. Why beat up the horse for nothing?
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That is quite an accusation.
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I wasn’t saying hacksawing the competition was intentional, but trying to get to that pathway was intentional. The horse was already in front of PP #4 before the left rein was even used and it wasn’t a drastic left rein trying to steer back either
There is never a reason to beat up a horse.
But nine seconds is a really long gap in any timed event between horses. Jumper classes are often won or lost by tenths or even hundredths of seconds.
It sort of makes me wonder if the horses that finished almost 60 lengths behind the winner really belonged in the race in the first place.
But maybe it would have been less of a gap under better conditions instead of a sloppy track.
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It sort of makes me wonder if the horses that finished almost 60 lengths behind the winner really belonged in the race in the first place.
were the ones who finished so far back, the ones who were impeded with at the beginning? I just HATE the 20 horse field. The gate isn’t a straight line to the main track and we go through this every single year.
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Racing Post article on Justify’s growing popularity among breeders across the Atlantic:
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No Sovereignty in the Preakness
“We received a call today from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness. Bill informed us they would point toward the Belmont Stakes,” said Mike Rogers, executive vice president of 1/ST Racing, which operates Pimlico.
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That’s too bad. But totally understandable.
It’s so weird to look at the racing records from years ago and see how often the horses used to race, especially compared to these days.
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CNN reported that he has a wound on his front pastern, possibly due to being clipped by another horse in the Derby.
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It does eliminate the possibility of having a Triple Crown winner with an asterisk.
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I respect a trainer not wanting to push his horse beyond his capabilities, but I’m admittedly a little disappointed we don’t get a Triple Crown attempt this year!
Reading the PP was my first time actually looking at Sovereignty (I didn’t pay much attention to 3yo racing this year) and I was really impressed by his record. I think he has the “it” factor in many ways.
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There are at least a couple of Triple Crown winners who, if they had been foaled in this century, wouldn’t have made it to the Belmont.
Count Fleet had a bad tendon and was just sound enough to start. It was his final race. And Sir Barton’s feet were constantly a problem - he’d probably not have been allowed to start in any of the 3 races.
I’m not implying that those horses’ connections were bad people for running them with known problems, though Sir Barton’s trainer Guy Bedwell was a sketchy fellow. The world moves on, and the knowledge base expands.
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I’m disappointed but not surprised. I got a sense that Mott did not want him to go to the Preakness when he was asked the question in the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle. I think he said they would have to think about it to be polite and not rain on the Triple Crown parade.
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You could tell with the way Mott was hedging his answer that there was little chance of Sovereignty running in the Preakness.
With the Belmont being ran at Saratoga again & therefore being only 1 1/4 miles, not having any chance of a horse winning all 3 races is fine with me.
It wouldn’t truly be a “Triple Crown” IMO.
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Obviously I am super projecting here, but Godolphin’s stars often race a full campaign at four. So if Sovereignty remains sound and continues to win there is a good chance we’ll see him next year. No way they wouldn’t want to show off their Derby winner in front of the home crowd in the World Cup.
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I guess the good news is that the owner can afford to do whatever he likes with the horse. He doesn’t really need to worry about keeping the shareholders happy or anything like that, right?
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Journalism is in for the Preakness.
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It is good to be King 
