wrong again, on both counts.

You previously were very sharp, so unless you recently enrolled, that's not likely it.

My best guess would be a strong bias. Say, against the horse, connections, etc.

Second guess would be traumas, be it emotional or some sort of head trauma.

Third would be you are an imposter, not the real Rollo. Maybe you've channelled the old pg1985, smooth operator, or even Somerset.

It was 8pm..sober left the building at 6pm

Right, and I'm pretty sure Real Quiet was thinking to himself, "If only I'd been 2-yr-old Champion", while they were looking at the photo.

I agree it's nonsense. Similar to many of the Derby "angles" that are coughed up each year. I only quoted it to show there was nothing in it about "deserving" to be a TC winner that I could find.

--Dunbar

Ridiculous. Just re-read this thread from the point after the Preakness was run.

The first comment on the race was someone saying that Mr. Z. made $45k running 5th. You come on with the second comment on the race. It is completely out of left field, whining about all the excuses being made for the also-rans and how AP should get a huge Beyer but probably won't (you know, because the whole universe is against him!). No one had even commented on the running of the race at that point.

Later, you come back on with a rant about weak crops and perfect setups and how everyone is accusing you of chest-thumping. The only Preakness comment in between is something about Martin Garcia helping out by keeping Dortmund off the lead.

So, again, I ask you: where are these ridiculous comments about American Pharaoh that you are crusading against?

I thought that was required to post here. Aren't we all sitting around in white undershirts and pants waiting around for Nurse Ratched to turn on TVG?

Oddly, the only one to bite with a response to your hysterics is a poster (NavalOrange---the dam of Cryptoclearance) who posts even less frequently then I do.

Hmmmm. Imposters you say...

One might have just flown over the cuckoo's nest...

[quote=RolloTomasi;1027780]Ridiculous. Just re-read this thread from the point after the Preakness was run.

The first comment on the race was someone saying that Mr. Z. made $45k running 5th. You come on with the second comment on the race. It is completely out of left field, whining about all the excuses being made for the also-rans and how AP should get a huge Beyer but probably won't (you know, because the whole universe is against him!). No one had even commented on the running of the race at that point.

Later, you come back on with a rant about weak crops and perfect setups and how everyone is accusing you of chest-thumping. The only Preakness comment in between is something about Martin Garcia helping out by keeping Dortmund off the lead.

So, again, I ask you: where are these ridiculous comments about American Pharaoh that you are crusading against?


I thought that was required to post here. Aren't we all sitting around in white undershirts and pants waiting around for Nurse Ratched to turn on TVG?



Oddly, the only one to bite with a response to your hysterics is a poster (NavalOrange---the dam of Cryptoclearance) who posts even less frequently then I do.

Hmmmm. Imposters you say...

One might have just flown over the cuckoo's nest...[/QUOTE]


i wonder about that adage...because cuckoos don't nest. they lay their eggs in another birds nest after kicking out that birds eggs, and get the other bird to raise their kids.

That's exactly what Indian Charlie is doing. His "ridiculous comments" are his eggs that he is trying to force upon us so that we hatch them and raise them so we can keep talking about American Pharaoh and he can strut and preen like a proud mama up and down these Derby Trail pages.

Don't be fooled.

Now get back on the bus....

Now you've done it Danzig.

Rollo is going to revise biology and tell you what you said isn't right.

Damn, he already did it in the few seconds available to me.

Well, actually (pauses to push nerd glasses up on nose) only about 40 percent of cuckoo species worldwide are brood parasites. The rest do build their own nests.

(pause)

(push glasses back up nose)

I liked that book.

good lord that bus is garish

lol

:tro:

I can certify that the man posting under the name Rollo is indeed the famous notorious and genuine Rollo. Only he would know I cried when Orb lost the Preakness.

the viking duke of normandy?! that's awesome!

Perhaps he's possessed by the spirit of PG1985 past?

I preferred Sometimes a Great Notion.

I look at this from a different angle.

Of course a horse doesn't need to be the 2yo champ to win the TC as their have been a number or near misses. However, when a 2yo champ makes it to the Belmont with a shot, they have all proved to be exceptional horses. Those exceptional 2yo champs have a record of 6 wins and 1 loss...that loss being Spectacular Bid.

The other 27 horses that went to Belmont with a shot at the TC that weren't 2yo champs has produced 5 winners, with a number of near misses.

The fact there have only been 7 was surprising to me.

This entire thread gives me SO MUCH happiness. Freddy, Rollo, BTW, like old times. (You know I cried too, Fred.)

I cried too....but I dont know if it was because Orb lost or the fact that I didnt have a dime bet on Oxbow

i'd wager it was due to the latter.

Cannot get the image of Louise Fletcher watching Todd Schrupp and Paul LoDuca out of my head now.

:D

scary, ain't it?

One who flew over the Derby Trail?

:tro:

Much better book.

All the infighting aside, Haskin's "profiling", etc., it strikes me it is MUCH, MUCH harder to win the TC than in days past due to:

1. Changes in the breed
2. Changes in preferred training methods (largely a function of 1)
3. Changes in trainer tactics as to which races to participate in (largely a function of 2)
4. Field sizes

The Derby winner is being asked to do things that no other quality horse is ever asked to do today. Meanwhile, everybody else picks their spots and can adhere to a far more normal regimen, even though they are asked to go what is now a freakish distance in the Belmont.

Any horse that ever gets across those 3 wires first in only 5 weeks has done an unbelievably difficult thing in our present time--which, until equine-accommodating time machines are built, is the only time in which they can race. What is the most sensible bet is not something that can be determined until there is a live tote board. But I assume every racing fan is rooting for this horse.

:tro:
This fan certainly is.

Suddenly there are requirements for what horses one must root for in order to be considered a racing fan?

I hate to tell you, but one of the very best things about this great game is that the above is the very opposite of true.

I hate to agree with you, but I do.

However, he's probably referring to the casual racing fan.

i don't think it's changes in the breed. the best is still going to be the best. changes in training-again, across the board. tactics, see one and two.

field size, imo, is the number one reason it's gotten more difficult.
we all know that overall the number of horses faced each year by a potential tc winner is greater than what it was in days passed. there might still have been new shooters, but a four horse field would conceivably be easier to conquer than a 10-12 horse field...and don't even get me started on the 20 horse field we now see regularly in ky.
one other you didn't mention-jockey tactics. used to be jocks rode their horse-now they tend to ride the favorite and take turns going after him. they don't ride to win, but to make the other 'lose' because they don't think he deserves it i guess.

i'm becoming damned sick and tired of hearing about casual fans. it's like having only express lanes open at the store-shouldn't you cater to the folks with a full buggy who are spending lots more money and keeping the lights on?

What's that -- like those of us who occasionally wear shorts to the track?

Most fans start as casual fans, I guess.

If you are actually asking me who I'd cater to, well, attendance would be quite small.

I get what you mean though. I'm just not sure what relevance who you are catering towards has on cheering for AP to win the TC.

Yes, and the occasional wife beater shirt to go with those shorts.

I'm no occasional wife beater.

I am going to bet whatever makes sense to bet. But if somebody is seriously considering what is best for racing, you are out of your self-absorbed effing mind if you think it is NOT a TC. Playing "Lucy with the football" on the general public has gotten old--try listening to something other than an echo chamber such as this one. There is a larger world out there.

If you don't give a crap about growing the game (or even seeing it wither away less slowly), wish for whatever the hell you want--nobody can or will take away your petty miserableness. Enjoy it, instead of a life.

Not sure this is the forum to brag about beating your wife regularly.

Well said Mark!

I have no doubt everyone wants the game to grow. We love it, thats how we keep it around.
that said, many think having a shot at a tc generates more interest than actually getting a winner would. That interest sould go down in the first years after a winner. Id love to find out if thats true!

And ic, it doesnt have anything to do with it. Just tired of any criticisms being met with 'well, casual fans.....'

I thought he got caught because he realized he was by Elusive Quality out of a Smile mare..