You mean like the one for the Schylerville?

Not so sure about that. Colonel John may end up the male counterpart to Ginger Punch. His slowness aside, CJ has twice now shown shades of his sire's tenacity when looked in the eye by hard-charging rivals. He rebroke nearing the wire in the Sham when El Gato Malo tried to inhale him this winter at Santa Anita. Now he's fended off Mambo In Seattle after Gomez pulled him to the middle of the track to engage MIS in the final 1/16th of the Travers.

Mr. Harty's name is actually spelled "Eoin" by the way...

Neil Howard is a 100% class act. I too spoke with him, simply to congratulate him on an excellent job in getting this horse ready for the Travers. I think he did an incredible job. He was humble and extremely confident -- yet silent in his confidence -- going into this race. This horse was training like a monster. Neil is also an excellent horseman.

He took the defeat and exuded class by saying he got beat by a better horse. No excuses, blame, gripes, etc., and that race probably cost them about $5 million or so, but that had no bearing on his post-race feelings.

Eric

Maybe they'll erect a statue of the class act at the entrance of toga.

I'm a Mambo in Seattle fan, but he had every chance to go by Colonel John and the Col. wouldn't let him. Colonel John deserved the win.

"Deserved" the win? That's an odd distinction. Would he have still "deserved" it had the photo gone the other way? They were inseperable. While I personally had more invested in Mambo in Seattle and thought he came off as the horse that looked the better of the two, I wouldn't say either was more 'deserving'.. They both ran great.

Yeah...but Pyro will get them next time :p

ps good show today!

Of course they both ran great, I just don't agree that Mambo lost because of some lousy trip and would've been a clear winner with a 'better' one. Not saying that you said that, but I think the differences in trips were minimal and I was wowed by how the Col. refused to let Mambo pass him.

What race is everyone watching? MIS was AHEAD of CJ BEFORE and
AFTER the wire. CJ was just lucky to get his nose down at precisely the right time in a ridiculously close photo. Same applies to Ginger Punch.

Look close at the photo. Mambo is ahead even at the wire! Just not his nose. Ginger Punch shows more tenacity than Col. John ever has.

Mambo did pass him though. He was half a head in front inside the final 20 yards and Col. John just happened to have the perfect bob at the wire.

I understand, but at about the furlong pole, I thought Mambo was going to blow by him. That it was so close was surprising to me, and I thought it was a gutsy last eighth by Colonel John.

And I wasn't trying to make any 'distinction', as Steve suggested, I was merely trying to say that I didn't think Mambo had it much worse - if at all - than Col. John and that CJ was just as deserving a winner. My point was that I thought Mambo had every chance to be the clear winner, but ended up in a near dead heat.

I agree and was going to post that exact thing. I don't remember seeing that close of photos in huge races two days in a row.

Wasn't the point. MIS had him collared at the 1/8th pole (he was AHEAD of him there, too). CJ was "game", "all heart", "laid his body down", "will not be denied", whatever...

Same applies to Ginger Punch.

I just got to watch the race for the first time and the thing that stuck out for me was the amount of contact that Gomez and CJ caused on the turn. He absolutley took Macho Again out of the race. Plus it also looked like Tizbig (who was backing up anyway) and Harlem Rocker got slammed pretty good. As far as the finish, CJ dug/hung in long enough to get the bob. MIS was wide, but he was clear (just like Visionaire). I thought he was going to go right by, but it just wasn't the case.

...and don't forget Tyson Gay :tro:

Thanks, been looking for that photo. Racereplays.com decided not to post it.
As good of a ride Robbie gave, he badly misjudged the wire.
Guess he felt he was in front and it didnt matter.

I missed the race, except for hearing it over my cell off a friends tv.
Good thing I was made to go to a wedding, instead of KY Downs, because at 5.5-1 Mambo would have been a major win bet. Wouldve had no chance in getting saved thru the exacta, because I thought CJ was a non-contender.

no it's not. it's "owen". just because he's been spelling it wrong his whole life is no reason for the rest of us to be enablers.