Since when does it matter?
Rule number 1) When folks resort to semantics about minor details, it means that they have no real basis to defend their standpoint.
:)

Can you ****ing READ?

Yeah can you?

It doesnt appear to be the case. Anyone that followed the thread and wasnt just looking to be an ******* could comprehend what i typed.

Kentuckyrosesinmay asked if i had seen any of BR's races BEFORE the Wood. I said yes and none of them were earth shattering. Then i stated that the Wood was the most dominating prep i had ever seen.

They must give GED's out easy these days.

the attacks on the talent of bellamy road are ridiculous. he was one of the most talented horses in the last few years. i would equate him with terrell davis of the broncos. hall of fame talent that never got to hang around long enough.

Maybe not for you, but I thought some of his previous performances were awesome. He just didn't do them in the national spotlight.

Revolution I believe that we have found common ground about something.

For the record, i never attacked his talent. Just questioned the term "great" being assigned to him thats all. The horse is obviously very talented.

My Rule #1 ...

What a horse does in actual races is all that really counts; "woulda/coulda/shoulda" doesn't count for squat.

probably because it is impossible to say he was not talented. he is often attacked based on his mediocre pedigree. if he was a storm cat nobody would question his talent. the fact that he is a FL bred also is a reason people like to knock him. talent is talent though. you can not argue with it.

My God, BB, if we stick to horses we generally see eye to eye.

Everyone in the business thought BM's Travers performance was awesome under the circumstances. Everyone I talked to thought that race vaildated what a good horse he was.

Everyting you said is correct. He had been off for a while, he only had a few works, there's no way he was ready to go the distance, he set fast fractions and not only that he was still injured. He had all those things going agaisnt him yet he still ran a good 2nd to a good horse in Flower Alley.

It was an awesome perfomance under the circumstances.

exactly, but two races in the wood and travers are efforts that only a great horse is capable of. shug thought he was one of the best horses in years and obviously he had nothing to do with him.

I know great when I see it. And believe me, if anyone asked me about great performances by horses, Bellamy's Travers is in the top 3. That one was one that raised goosebumps.
Of course you need a knowledge of the circumstances to understand that.

Top 3 in the history of the travers you mean?

No, I mean what I said, ever.
Someday when you understand training, if you ever do, you will realize that what he did was the equivalent of a tennis player who hadnt played a match in 4 months, and had only hit balls 4 times, push the eventual winner of Wimbledon to 5 sets in the finals.

There has to be some sort of standard for evaluating quality and/or greatness in race horses. This was discussed extensively on a thread a few weeks ago.

If we dwell on the hypothetical ... we'll get nowhere.

Hoist The Flag may have been the greatest race horse in the history of the world ... may have been ... but he wasn't. He won two stakes races as a 2YO ... and one as a 3YO ... not enough to reach any sort of threshhold.

Stick to what they actually do in races ... and never mind how good they looked walking around the shedrow.

I guess then what it comes down to how you define "great". For me, it takes more than two efforts in restricted races. Its obvious he had the talent to be a great horse. The Wood was, again, the most dominating prep ive ever seen.

For me, it takes more than just two races. For me, they have to beat the best around and do it consistently.

BB,
you are way off base here. His Wood and travers were not theoretical. I watched one on tv, and saw the other one live. I'm quite sure they happened. How many times do you have to see great before you know a horse is great.
Ask anyone who ever saw landaluce run if she was great.

Well, I'll keep that in mind. And that performance wouldnt make my top three. It just wouldnt.