Glad I kept my money in my pocket- had two healthy bets today at DR Kauto stone and QDLR so am pleased with my day! Bring on Cheltenham!!
Enjoyable action but not convinced that it's the championship they try to claim. The dirt, the track, and other circumstances seem to combine to make it a bit too reliant on luck. Looking forward to next year at Santa Anita. But more looking forward to the jumps.
But Zen the SYt will he wont he act on dirt debate.Goldy going for a 4 timer.All interesting races to watch dont yer think?
Been fun to chat through with you all, some interesting racing but you have to say, Churchill is a track that really does cause huge problems on the turn and therefore you need a lot of luck. I think alot of the 'speed' horses would come unstuck in the UK, but well done to all winners- I don't want to sound too dismissive of US Racing. That's round about it then for the flat season, time for you National Hunt fans to continue educating me as the Spotlight series runs through the winter!
Well it's goodnight from me and well done SNA. It all came right in the end. Shame about Goldi and SYT though.
Ashame Goldikova couldnt do the business, she has already beaten the winner twice before, so you'd have to say she wasn't in the same form as she has been the previous 3 years. St Nicholas Abbey was impressive, and no suprise to see another Chester winner succeed in America. I don't think it was the strongest race in the world, Turf races in America never are, but it was still an eye catching performance. So You Think again proved that he's a very good horse, but he isn't quite good enough, when he faces the very best. The Dirt probably wasn't ideal, but I wouldn't say that was the only reason for his defeat. Wrote was impressive, and won with plenty in hand, though once again he has proved just how dire the American Turf form is. Wrote 3rd in a G2 last time out at Newmarket, then romps home in the highest profile 2yo race on Turf, in America. Whilst the Breeders Cup does have it's plus points, none of those Turf races, are "World Championship" events, never have been and never will
Interesting absolutely yes, but i must start asking questions when horses priced 50/1, 33/1 and 20/1 are winning supposedly 'championship' races. The track is so bloody tight that you need a lot of luck. Union Rags ran well but should have won easily. Strong Suit never got a chance. The list goes on. I agree that it's a great meeting but you couldn't have picked some of the winners if you'd been given 6 picks.
Great point Zenyatta.......The tracks over there are a joke, whilst part of winning the race is down to the ability of the horse, the other part of it, is down to sheer luck. They worked out Union Rags had ran 9 lenghs further than the winner, how can they run supposed "Championship Races" on tracks, that the outcome of most races, is largely decided on the draw, and luck in running. Even Goldikova drawn low, had to make a dangerous move across horse's to get a run, and I recall 2 jockeys having a scrap in the paddock last year, after one was forced to make a dangerous move across horse's, just to get a run. There is a good reason why Chester doesn't hold any G1 races, in this country. Maybe the Americans should take note and start building some proper tracks
Zenyatta, those were the British bookies' starting prices. Classic winner Drosselmeyer paid 15/1 locally, although it would be fair to question how good a race it was given that the winner had not done anything worth mentioning since the 2010 Belmont Stakes. Not sure why the Europeans will be looking forward to it now that it has been renovated. Interesting Classic fact that I read (post race, I admit): Aidan O'Brien has fielded ten horses in the last eleven years, eight of which have started at 10/1 or less and his average finishing position has been seventh. I should have opened an Exchange account and laid So You Think all week and cleaned up. Some people are easily impressed. On a strict line through the runner-up, St Nicholas Abbey really is just ordinary if you take away the Coolmore hype.
O'Brien loses, QM gloats. O'Brien horse wins, QM just says the horse or the race itself isn't all that.
QM, in response to your comments; I am fully aware that they are British bookie prices. I do apologise for understating the fact because if we are to use US Tote prices then it just emphasises my point even further. For a $2 stake: Afleet Again returned $85.20, Wrote $25.20, Amazombie $17.80, Caleb's Posse was $15.60, St Nicholas Abbey $15.60, Hansen $16.20, Court Vision $131.60 and Drosselmeyer $31.60. I think this just goes to show that the well fancied horses didn't come to the fore as you would expect in a championship event. I am not suggesting that Santa Anita will be any better for the Europeans, especially as it has reverted to a dirt surface. I am just saying that i am looking forward to the 2012 BC, which i am. I think its a great meeting and offers something a bit different. If you don't think St Nicholas Abbey was impressive then i don't know what race you were watching. He had Sarafina, Midday, Sea Moon, Await The Dawn, all good horses comfortably in behind him. He won the race with a devastating turn off foot so i fail to see how it cannot be described as impressive. I am not suggesting it was a brilliant performance but it absolutely was an impressive one.
When you have a twelve horse race in the breeders, all have a chance to win, unlike the the grade 1 races in the UK ,where your lucky to get more than 6 horses running , and only two with a chance. Regarding the breeders, a great weekend for the tipsters., excellent payouts, good racing, thats what keeps people coming back for more. Europeans did not win all the turf races,and nothing on the dirt, so may be the elite of European racing are not that elite, when the so called second level horses do nothing in the breeders,The Europeans should have won everything on the turf, and at least a couple on the dirt. But the Uk form did not stand up. IF north American racing is so poor, it just shows that UK racing is sliding down the ladder also and proof is in the results. Another thing to ponder is , Maybe North American Jockeys are better than what you have in the UK?
QM.....It's not easy for AOB to win the Classic, particularly as none of his runners, had ever tackled dirt beforehand, it's like a top class hurdler, making there chasing debut in the Gold Cup. Giants Causeway was the one that should have won, he was trapped wide the whole way, and ran alot further than Tiznow, who was down by the rail. Giants Causeway was still not at his best on dirt, but he was that good on turf, that he was able to still perform well on dirt. He was one of the gamest horse's I have ever witnessed, he was well off the bridle early on in that classic, well before Tiznow, but he just kept on finding for pressure, and was only just narrowly denied. Everyone knows that with a lower draw Giants Causeway would have won. You could also say the same about Sakhee, who was also trapped wider than Tiznow, the whole way round. St Nicholas Abbey was impressive, whatever way you look at it, there were some good horse's behind him. Don't forget how impressive Sea Moon was the last time he ran over 12f in the Great Voltiger, then you had Midday, Sarafina, and Await The Dawn, all decent horse's
Islanderpei.....You realy have no idea. None of the top European horse's in any of those divisions ran at the Breeders Cup. As for the big price winners, the reason has nothing to do with the racing being more competitive, it is all to do with the fact the tracks are incredibly bias, and so tight that traffic problems are almost guaranteed in every race. They worked out that Union Rags had run 9 lenghs further than the winner, what sort of supposed "Championship races" are held on crappy tracks like Churchill downs. On fair tracks the best horse's will win. Is there a top American track that can't be described as, left handed, tight with a short straight? Thats why another Chester winner in St Nicholas Abbey bolted up
Churchill is tight, i agree,Explain bias to me shergar, i think alot of numbers won over the weekend, that why i said that the North American Jockeys are better, they know how to handle close quarter racing Of course there is no track bias on any UK tracks, because they are perfect.
