i dont know...
i guess he's not as good then, if everyone else says that, i must be wrong

he is INCREDIBLY fast in the right situation- like maybe in a workout or with a loose lead or something- but in real races he always spits the bit. . . that's why he's not great

So knowing that Commentator will likely be gone if he's loose on the lead, the connections of other horses should just let him go?

If Commentator can't rate, THAT'S A MAJOR FLAW, and that's his problem, not that of the other owners or trainers. Their jobs are to win the race, not run second because it's "bad for the game" not to let a one-dimensional speed horse win every race he enters.

I thought what Dutrow did was excessive, but the premise isn't unethical. It's smart.

It is nice to see someone actually take a reasonable approach to this horse.

PG85,
As you can see in this thread I have already defended Commentator, but to say that the horse is going to have a "monster year" is ignoring this horse's entire history. He has major health concerns, and the odds are he won't even make enough starts to have anything that could reasonably called a monster year. Also, as others have pointed out, if he starts running in G1s, he can be neutralized by the connections of others entering rabbits.
He could probably still win a two-turn stakes race at 8.5f, or maybe even 9f, but he would have to find the ABSOLUTE right spot (i.e. no other early speed) for that to happen.

You disagree?
You said you like horses that are "consistent, mature, versatile horses who continually run their race, no matter what." If you really have seen a lot of horses that fit that description running at a G1/G2 level in the last five years....congratulations. You have been watching a different sport than I have been.

That's the ideal horse. But in this context, I'm speaking relatively..

When I say versatile, I don't mean the horse can either go wire-to-wire or close from the clouds, a la Ghostzapper. I just mean the horse doesn't have to have everything his/her own way to run his/her race.

i like the mention of ghostzapper....
dont the number say that commentator is the fastest horse since ghostzapper ? even faster then curlin and anyone else.

Except Ghostzapper earned his numbers against the best dirt horses in the world, as does Curlin. Commentator gets his numbers mostly against mediocre allowance horses.

Hell, Lawyer Ron earned a few huge figures, and he faced better horses than Commentator did when he did it.

commentator would have cooked ghostzapper... they would have compromised each other.... if ghostzapper tried to rate, he never would catch commentator, unless there was a rabbit involved

You really are out of your mind. Ghostzapper would have ripped Commentator's heart out of his chest. I'm done with this.

:)

Dude, seriously?

It's at time like this that I'm particularly pleased the Derby Trail forums have flood control.

yeah, this is when you need to back away from the computer for a little bit.

Trying to have a serious horse racing discussion with you is like a blind man in a dark room trying to find a black cat that isn't there.

congratulations, you have topped even yourself with this one. you're reaching new levels of buffoonery all the time.

This would make perfect sense if the BC Classic Ghostzapper won was the only race you had ever seen of his and had no clue as to his versatile style and the fact that he won and looked flashy from several different spots in a race setup.

Then again, that probably is the only race you've ever seen of his, because you don't strike me as the type to really dig into anything before spouting off and playing expert.

Oh, please Commentator isn't in the same zip code as Ghostzapper.

"OH MY GOD"