The Best Field Ever Assembled
In 2004, the Breeders Cup Classic was deemed to contain its "deepest field ever". Oh how I beg to differ. First lets evaluate the 2004 Classic.
1. Ghostzapper - A monster. If his career would have continued I have little doubt that he would be mentioned as one of the best ever.
2. Roses in May - Yes, he too is a great horse. He won the Dubai World Cup the following year. Another victim of early retirment, no one knows what could have been.
3. Pleasantly Perfect - He was the defending champ, and was a very good horse, but the field he beat the previous year was just decent, and his career featured spotty starts. He was a good horse who could have been great if not for his physical ailments.
4. Perfect Drift - A grinder, one of those horses who always hit the board but never wins. A good horse.
5. Azeri - The greatest filly of the last 25 years adds the most prestige to this field.
6. Funny Cide - A Derby and Preakness winner who just didn't amount to what we thought he would be.
The field that I say was the strongest ever ran in the 1998 Classic at Churchill Downs.
1. Awesome Again - The race winner came into the race on a 6 race winning streak and wasn't even close to favoritism. As a three year old he won the Travers Stakes. At 4 he won 7 starts including the Classic.
2. Silver Charm - He won the Derby, Preakness, Goodwood and the Dubai World Cup. Amazing credentials for an amazing animal. He was the second choice in the betting.
3. Swain - Yea, I know - who? In 1996 he was 3rd in the Turd behind Pilsudski and Singspiel. He wreaked havoc in Europe in '98 and was 2nd to Silver Charm in the World Cup beaten just a nose. He would have won the race if not for Frankie Dettori's frantic and relentless left-handed whipping through the stretch.
4. Victory Gallop - The Derby and Preakness and Haskell runner-up that same year, and the Belmont Winner. Was almost 20 lengths behind with 3/8's to go in the Classic, and lost the whole race by 2 lengths.
5. Coronado's Quest - The pace-setter of the Classic led to the 1/8th pole. He was the heavy morning line favorite in the Preakness before scratching and won the Haskell and Travers the same year as the Classic.
6. Skip Away - The 2nd richest horse in North American history, and defending champ finished 6th! He won 10 in a row before finding defeat in the Woodward, including a win over Cigar (he won 16 in a row) at the end of '96. One of the best horses of the 20th century.
7. Touch Gold - The 1997 Belmont winner defeating Silver Charm in that historic Belmont. Also won the Haskell the same year.
8. Gentlemen - One of the best horses to ever run in California. A multiple Grade 1 winner himself, was injured in the Classic, but certainly added to the tremendous talent of this race.
The 1998 Classic contained all of the following:
1 Derby Winner (1-2004), 1 Preakness Winner (1-2004), 2 Belmont Winners (0-2004), 3 Haskell Winners (0-2004), 3 Travers Winners(0-2004), 1 Dubai W.C. Winner(1-2004, won in 2005), Defending B.C. Classic Champ and more. There has never been a more talented field assembled, even the field of 2004.
Claimed
Well today we claimed Witness Perfection from the Jim Marshall barn for $7,500. He'll be running at Freehold on a regular basis for us.
Manasquan is so sick, the poor thing. His white cell count was an 11.4 when a 9 is considered high. He is resting at the farm for the week. But he will be back soon.
Match That and Chicory Mac are heading to The Meadows. They just have too many horses running at the Meadowlands right now, and rather then run for $15,000 every three weeks, we'd rather run for $9,000 every week. It makes sense.
Check back later for my pics for tomorrow night at the Meadowlands to make some bucks.
Sickness wreaks havoc on our stable
There is no common cure for the common horse cold either. Our stable consists of 14 standardbred horses now. Here is an update on them.
Always in the Mood - He is currently in training, and we are awaiting his return as a three year old.
BadCredit NoProblem - Our marquis 2 year old. I think she will be a great one. She does everything professionally, is staked for everything, and is currently going around 2:50, we'll see her in the spring as well.
Badlands Honey - I recommended her purchase and we bought her at a sale last Monday. She is running in the 4th race at the Meadowlands on Wednesday, I am expecting big things from her.Barn Party - She is back in training, and hopefully will make it to the races by spring.
Brother Larry - We bought him in the sale as well and he is in the 10th race at the Meadowlands on Wednesday. He should make us some money.
Chicory Mac - He is down to about 2:10 and will be qualifying in the next couple of weeks, hopefully he will be racing in about 4 weeks.
Done Done It - He is a monster! He is down to 2:44, and should be ready for his career debut at 2 in May. He is staked for plenty of races and will be one to watch
Machiavellian - Our broodmare is in foal to SJ's Photo and is due in March.
Manasquan - He is sick. He ran last at Freehold on Friday and scoped very sick, we are treating him and giving him the week off. He's a good horse and always runs hard, he will be fine.
Match That - She was so disappointing last week. She took the lead at the 3/4 at the Meadowlands on Thursday night and quit finishing 7th, but she scoped sick too. She gets the week off and will be back next week.
This Girl's Got Sugar - She's a yearling now and is still about 18 months away from the races.
Under The Covers - Well, she is out of that series, thank god. But she has a cold too, damn winter months. She has the week off and will return next week.
Un-named 3YO - We just purchased a three year old trotter. He is about three months from the races, get you his name as soon as we come up with one.
Witness Perfection - We may be claiming him tomorrow at Freehold for $7500, I'll post if we do.
Eclipse Awards
I haven't looked at the results yet, because they don't televise the damn awards show, but here is some predictions for the "best" (or what I like to call what was left) in 2005.
Horse of the Year - Saint Liam. (Sorry Alex, you should have stuck around)
Three Year Old - Afleet Alex
Three Year Old Filly - Smuggler (She won the C.C.A. Oaks and the Mother Goose, and I don't know what else, thats how bad this division was)
Two Year Old - Stevie Wonderboy (He lost his 3YO debut)
Two Year Old Filly - Folklore (So did she)
Older Filly or Mare - Ashado (She's good, not great)
Sprinter - Lost in the Fog (he did win like 10 in a row, sorry Silver Train)
Turf Horse - Leroidesanimaux (He got beat by Artie in the mile, but when he won, 90 percent of the time, when he won, he wowed me)
Filly Turf Horse - Intercontinental (Ouija Board, 2nd in the Filly and Mare Turf at the B.C., is my Horse of the World, winning the China Cup in November)
Trainer - Todd Pletcher
Jockey - John Velazquez
