He was "BIG" with some....not me! ;)

You're lucky Andy, you get to see the "people's horse" on Saturday (Evening Attire) that's better than anything on the "left" coast.

Thorn Song ????? OMG

Wake me when you actually pick a winner.

I hope we're both right on this one, how bout that?

I hate Whatsthescript, not because of the horse but the trainer. I'll barf at the next Cost of Freedom he comes up with.

I really wish they would make this a one day event again. A horse like Zenyatta deserves a marquee slot in front of the biggest audience.

How is that possible if people will be at work??

That's what I thought you said too. Thorn Song = nice horse, no shot here.

he beat the worst bunch to Euro's to ever run in the turf. Only Soldier of Fortune and Conduit are considered G1 there, and it might be a stretch to call Conduit G1, though he won the St Leger. Since Henry (miler) and Duke (maybe past his best) are in the Classic, the Turf is more wide open and RR does have a shot, IF Soldier and Conduit (and even Eagle Mtn) fail miserably. Also, RR has scratched from the Sword Dancer and didn't go in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (his intended prep) which is a concern. When was the last time Hennig won a G1, 12f grass race off a 3 1/2 mo. layoff.

Throat, you are right about GC. I was OK in Europe but he faced a pretty poor bunch (relatively speaking) in Rail Link and Red Rocks. Look at what RR did in his recent tries w/G1 Euro's in Europe. He like firm and Lasix, and the easier company here..

If it's that important, take a sick/personal day.

I don't see any problem with discussing the races or horses in a general way either. I had no problem with the original poster's decision to bring up three specific horses who he believed merited some discussion. That's fine.
My only point was that hrfan seemed to have decided that he was tossing a bunch of a horses already from a lot of races. That struck me as rather unproductive given the fact that we don't even know who is in the damn races yet.

Hurricane Run was in the BC against Red Rocks in 2006.

They weren't top Group 1 horses over there, but even their ranks have been pretty thin the last few years in the distance Group 1s, and both were at least marginally competitive.

I heard an old Saratoga show and turned the channel. He had a show today?

Works for me.

That's exactly I did.

Understood from Casey said there was a connection issue for a couple minutes early on... Sorry.

No problem. Listening on the net now. MNF muted.

Well, you guys more than made up for the technical problems Steve. The show with Ms. Miller in particular was great! I'm sitting there at work going through the Euros already, her information was wonderfully helpful.

Those that missed or thought there was no live show should catch the stream at ATR website, the replays tomorrow or the archives for Kate Miller of famed British bookmaker William Hill, providing an overview of EVERY Euro running in the Cup. Invaluable opinion, especially on the lesser-known imports in the under-covered races.

Does she have nice teeth?

She's from the UK that means United Kingdom, not the University of Kentucky.

fits in a 50 claimer. this is a 2 horse race, maybe 3 if you want to throw in a speed horse that "could" stay.

Street Boss and Midnight Lute....

good show
had to take notes word for word for comparison

Kate Miller is a soft speaker, so the first couple of times i had the volume way up - and then Steve Byk came on with an ear shattering question :eek: :D

i think overall the Europeans are not as strong this year, and maybe are horse are a bit better, especially in the mile, where i love Daytona, War Monger and Kip

i really wish i could remember where i saw the article about the 'euro turfers better than us tufers' thing being far from true. stats don't back it up at all. the top turf horses there run on very soft, very deep turf. not all horses like that, and come here to find firmer ground. and of course running on lasix helps as well. comparing their best turfers to our best could be the apples vs oranges type comparison-kind of like when you have curlin vs the top euros. how do you really decide who's better, since a top turf horse generally won't face a top dirt horse?

I'd really like to see that article cause I think the stats do support that the Euro turfer are better than the US turfers even on firm ground.

Miesque, High Chaparral, Fantastic Light, Theatrical, Kalanisi, Daylami, Pebbles, Lashkari, Pilsudski, Red Rocks, Shirocco, Barathea, Miss Alleged, Tikkanen, In the Wings, Ouija Board, Islington, Six Perfections, Banks Hill, Domedriver, Spinning World, Ridgewood Pearl and Last Tycoon, not to mention Rock of Gibraltar, Bago, Azamour, etc. would all like to see this article.

Not too many complaints when the second best 3yo router (Proud Spell) had to run on the Friday before the Derby.

Attachment 1042

I'm sure you meant the best.

it wasn't just in reference to the bc, but all turf racing here.
hey, i didn't write the thing. but i do remember reading it.

been searching, but haven't found that article yet...

but i did find one, in late october '06. it states that the euros as of then had won 12 of 22 bc turf races. that's one more than half. now, how is that domination? they are just ahead in the stats at that time, seems evenly split, not the domination i keep hearing about.

Big Brown???

Keep in mind, on average, I'd guess the BC Turf draws 4-5 Euros and 9-10 Americans, so being >50% is a definitive statistical advantage.
(I guess they're 13-24 now with Red Rocks and English Channel added now... although with the dead heat in '03 I think they'd have to count a win for both)

That being said, they rarely send their top stock. It always seems to be their 2nd tier group, this year no different.

That was soooo last week.

:rolleyes:

After today, I have the next 4 days off from work. I think I am more excited about betting Belmont tomorrow and Thursday than the BC this weekend

Considering the ship, change in climate (when racing in SoCal, FLA) the fact that most Euro's are beyond their best races when they get here etc, I think it's a fine record. Also, while those listed above all ran well in BC races, several, Domedriver, Lashkari, Tikkanen and don't forget Arcangues were not considered the very best in Europe.
As for all Euro's liking soft going, it's a myth. Dylan Thomas was undone by the soft going at Mon. Remember, they almost scratched because he didn't like soft. Daylami did his best in Europe on firmer going and when Euro's go to the Mid-East and Asia they often get rock hard turf and still win. This myth is like the one that holds that all Euro's are routers. Guess what, they've been runing G1 sprints on grass in Europe for ages now! I just wish that some of their sprinters would come here for the BC. I'd have thought the SA course might have suited them, though most as used to to a straightaway sprint.

If my memory is correct, Arcangues is the only European horse to go turf to dirt to win the Classic, ironically it was at Santa Anita hunch players. :$: