Yeah, well, I'd love to see Z take on a decent horse that was in good form and race ready.

Not gonna see either happen, now are we?

You must've missed Z's last (record-setting) race where she had to spot nine pounds to a real nice mare.

At least Steve D. was impressed…

You musta missed the bolded part of my post.

what record did she set?

The one for number of meaningless watered down Grade I victories propped up by internet mouthbreathers as great accomplishments.

i figured he meant wins in a row, but she didn't set a wins in a row record. pepper's pride, much as bloodhorse, tvg and zenyatta fans wish to pretend otherwise, holds the modern-day wins record.
it's pretty bad when they have to come up with some convoluted 'wins in a row by a horse not running in restricted races...er, restricted to state bred races... record. oh, don't forget 'modern day'...passed cigar and citation-but somehowe mr frisky and hallowed dreams usually don't get mentioned! it's hilarious.

Hence

the term

Zenyattard.

http://startelegramsports.typepad.co...the-grade.html

an interesting article by gary west about rachels next race. make sure you read the comments section as well, with GW going into more detail about past racing...

Great read. Thanks for finding that.

Lol … yeah, IC, Trinians ran like crap … probably should've skipped the G1 contest and run in half-a-dozen fake races (like RA) before taking on the big mare … LOL.

Mitch had her ready for a big effort in the V … which she clearly delivered.



By the way, Danzig, how many Breeders' Cup races did this Pepper horse win? LMAO

I think this spot for Rachel is total comedy and I have lost all respect for the connections, any respect that I had left is now gone.... Even if she ran in the Whitney and got smoked it would still say more then running in this spot, this is a joke and its pathetic. If not the Whitney why not go 10f at Toga, why not an easy prep and defend your Woodward title, again even if you get beat it still says your willing to run, I dont see how any Rachel fans can bash Zenyattas connections after the Rachel camp settles on this spot. I hope she gets crushed at Monmouth and then retires, so we dont have to talk about it anymore.

I've lost all respect for Jackson as well. I hope he can sleep at night.

I have gained respect for you over the years.... Just thought it was a good time to let you know.

Pretty sure this West guy backed RA for HotY … so it's beyond hilarious to see him now saying that it's all about the competition … and not the Roman numeral next to the race name.


Uh, West, who exactly were those killers that RA beat last year … Macho Again … Bullsbay? LMAO

yeah, i know....pepper's pride, such a pretender(but she's still the record holder, not zenyatta). she ran in all restricted races, so they shouldn't count-right?
based on that logic, zenyatta is 1/1.

no, i'm pretty sure what he was saying is that many races that are graded shouldn't be...and that historically, horses in top form didn't only run in graded races. and he's right on both points.

monmouth reached out to the mosses to run in this race as welll, they were turned down. no doubt because it's not graded. :rolleyes:

If you are going to criticize grade 1's as being watered down, atleast have the integrity, consistency, or honesty take your pick I don't care... and recognize the Woodward field was a watered down mediocrity last year.

So now your saying this, like what the umpteenth time that Zenyatta has ducked RA?

Huh?

The way MTH played the past two (racing) days, it's back to the MTH of old. So, RA gets a uber speed favoring track (while at CD last out she only got a speed favoring track) wins the race and runs fast. Her fans are happy, speed freaks in general are happy, the DRF/BEYER camp is happy, all the Z bashers (headed by Mike the EUNUCH --- with DaHoss his primary minion- over at PA) are happy. And, more importantly, 5 years from, DrugS is able to do one of those BEYERIAN historical writes up of his where he lauds the ability of RA --- 'she was FAST, the BEYERS prove it", DrugS will write (while off his medication). It's all ****in' good. :rolleyes:

I'll give you props for this, I said it last year JJ was an opportunist that many wanted to believe he was actually sporting. It's not really sporting when you are the 3/4 favorite in supposed gr.1 race against older horses. I think this year we are seeing just what JJ's true intentions are. Turns down big money to race in the Apple Blossom against Zenyatta, yeah I know the supposed reasons but goes to Monmouth for the money...It's bizarre, but not a surprise to me he has chosen this race with how she has looked this year and the campaign she has been on in 2010. No grade 1's yet, if they would only commit to the BC in the fall and race in the Classic I would cut her some slack, but that's not happening. We all should know this by now, since the BC is not out west and not on pro-ride it should be fun seeing what excuses JJ invents this year to not face top flight competition or run past Sept 5. Should be entertaining...

How about "CD couldn't guarantee me a SUPER SPEED FAVORING track with NO OTHER frontrunner"?. Does anyone really think that RA has a shot in the Classic. Come on man, she's cooked. Can you imagine what BLAME (for example) does to her going 10F at CD. Jackson figures that anyone with a remote CLUE about the game knows she's done. He's just trying to keep some interest in her from the 'peripheral' followers of the sport, who just love it that a filly beat males.

The irony of it all is if she never came back this year, alot of experts would have hailed her as one of the greatest fillies the game has seen off of her wins in the Preakness over Mine That Bird(winless since), The Woodward(nuff said) and the Haskell. If they didn't know then, they surely should know now.

West's points are not exactly valid. First of all if someone would tell me why the added money is a big deal I could stomach it a little better. Just taken at face value considering the horse and owner it looks a little greedy. I am not against anyone making money and can't knock a track for adding money from its own pocket to entice a big draw but as Freddy would say, 90k is a drop in the bucket for Jackson. Come out and say you want to try to break the record for earnings for a filly if that is the goal. Of course he may not want to say that in case Zenyatta winds up with that title. Acting as though Monmouth didnt pander by not only raising the purse but date of the race and distance is well typical from this writer concerning anything Asmussen related.

The comparison to Kelso was incredibly stupid. Top horses of that era often tuned up in non stakes races between starts, you know sometimes like 5 or 6 days, not weeks, before the next race? The fact is that not only was there no grading system then, there were also a whole lot fewer stakes and transportation was a lot more complicated than it is now. For horses of that era, 17 starts was a season, not a career.

The other cases are laughable. How many horses did Damascus duck? Why wouldnt Holy Bull start his campaign in a sprint stake? That was how it was done then. Favorite Trick? As a 3 year old? LOL. He was a punching bag by that point. The irony in bringing up FT is she is certainly challenging his 3 year old campaign as the weakest by a returning horse of the year.

Plus Gary West is a sourpuss. He's a dial turner.

:tro:


Too funny, man

The interesting thing to me is going to be who is going to run in this race? I would assume any half way decent horse will be running in either The Ruffian or the Del Cap, why ship to Monmouth for an ungraded stake that was custom ordered for Rachel?

No one is going to run in this race...is it even a handicap?

Obviously nothing more than a paid 9f workout for RA

A few Jersey rats will show to vie for that second money

Absolute joke of a start for a reigning hoty


Hilarious watching her defenders try to spin this thing, tho…

I'm going to kill myself.

I don't understand what that has to do with it. That was 2009, when she ran a great campaign. There really is no defense for this race except, it's a new year and she just might not be as good as she was last year.

If all you care about is HOY then stop worrying about RA and start focusing on your continual bashing of Quality Road. Because as long as Zenyatta continues to stay at home he is going to be your biggest competiton for the prize at the end of the year that you cherish oh so much.

I'm going to love it when QR stays home for the BC this year and still wins
HOY over Zenyatta.

Couldn't care less about hoty

Looks like it's QR's to lose at this point (which I hope he does, btw)


Really all about the BCC for Z

Odds are clearly against her … but it would be incredible if she can throw a Tiznow at the great race…

lmao


these threads full of irony today.


yeah, right. you sure reference it a lot for someone who doesn't care about it!

Wouldn't you really rather have him show up for the 10F, either refuse to get in the gate again or start looking for some oxygen as he enters the stretch? Pletcher's elixir will have run out by then and it's not like Warrior's Reward will come running after him late.:rolleyes:

If there is a God Zenyatta will get beat next out...

She's going to duck her way to 20.

you lose.

all good points. i don't think the money matters to jackson-except insofar as adding to rachels overall money won. his bottom line is healthy whether she runs for 200k or 500k, or more.

i'm just trying to find a good reason for them starting her here. i haven't figured out the logic behind it yet, and thought west presented some valid points. it is true tho that horses of the past didn't start only in graded races, but as you say, there weren't a lot of them, and travel wasn't as easy then. horses didn't have works between races, they raced to stay fit.
so, why is jackson going here? why is he so chicken with her this year, after going so far with her last year? it seems a lukewarm effort, and one that makes no sense. he at least tried other things with curlin-he isn't trying anything new with rachel. seems a waste of her talents. her legacy would have been better had they just retired her last year.

No, horses did work between races then as well. I stand by my reasoning that he hates to lose more than he likes to win. Don't forget that she was odds on in all those tough races last year. And the Woodward was an awful weak edition last year. He is simply looking to run a layup drill a la Zenyatta though he is much more demanding that the Z crew. At least they recognize the competition is terrible and they dont need to resort to having races created for them.

Do they though? If Shirreffs can call Rail Trip "the highest mountain" with a straight face, I doubt they're being honest with themselves about the slugs she's beating.