Top 5 greatest failures I've seen among racehorses
 

My top five horses who had a race and the probability for projected improvement that put them on a justifiable path to greatness ... only to see said horse hang around for more than a few races and never improve.

#1. Afternoon Deelites. A Dick Mandella trained West Virgina bred who was being advertised as the next Seattle Slew or Spectacular Bid after his incredible win in the Hollywood Futurity.

He did end his career 5-for-5 with 4 Graded Stakes wins in sprint races ... but suffered humiliating defeats in the Kentucky Derby and Santa Anita Handicap to horses he toyed with early on in his career.


#2. Pulpit. A Frank Brothers trained son of A. P. Indy. Won his debut going 7fs at Gulfstream with a 107 Beyer.

When you're a son of strong finishing marathoner like A. P. Indy - and you win a debut sprinting like he did. If you don't eventually make the Hall of Fame you're probably a gigantic failure.

He never panned out after the debut win - but was productive enough to win the Blue Grass and run a soundly beaten 4th in the Derby in his final two starts.


#3. Arazi. Won the Breeders Cup Juvenile with just about the most visually devastating sustained move you'll ever see.

Insanely impressive performance for a Euro shipper making his dirt debut - he had won 3 straight Gr 1's with ease in his 3 prior starts in Europe.

Could only manage an 8th place Derby finish and flopped as the favorite in the BC Mile on turf in his next two Euro visits. But did win a Gr 2 in Europe very nicely - and his middle move in the Derby was very impressive even though he hung badly.


#4. Lil's Lad. Neil Howard took over the training of this horse as a 3-year-old and his four races at Gulfstream Park in the winter of '98 were about as scary as anything you'll see from a newly turned 3-year-old.

He took his first start in an alw sprint by 16.5 lengths, in hand throughout, with a 109 Beyer. He took his 2nd start in an alw route by 6 lengths with a 106 Beyer. The camera guy couldn't even keep up with him .. Halory Hunter finished 2nd in the alw race .. he later won the Blue Grass and was 4th in the Ky Derby.

Lil's Lad dominated Coronado's Quest in a 113 Beyer Fountain of Youth win in his 3rd GP start. He was DQ'd from victory in the Florida Derby in his 4th and final start of the meet .. probably the greatest losing performance I've ever seen in a Ky Derby prep.

After leaving GP he was 2nd in the Blue Grass at odds of 2/5. Was sidelined and had to miss the Derby. Other than a nice 4yo debut he pretty much stunk it up after that.


#5. Badge of Silver. http://www.airdriestud.com/pdf/badge_pp.pdf

Won his first three races like he was the best 3yo in America at any distance ranging from 4 furlongs to 14 furlongs. Just sensational visual performances that also got big figures.

Injury issues plauged him though. He did have a few good moments later on. Including a 3rd place finish in the Breeders Cup Mile while making his first start off of an 11 month layoff .. a very tough thing to do. He also won a Graded Stake on dirt over Commentator and Dynever with a 111 Beyer.


* I didn't include Favorite Trick even though he won Horse of the Year as a 2-year-old ... because basically he always sucked.

* I also didn't include Discreet Cat because he didn't fall off the path until his 2nd winter-long Dubai trip. He was scratched from his World Cup prep race at the last second and basically became of claiming horse ability after that.

If I can use one word to describe your list of "failures". Absurd.

Agreed. How can multiple stake winners be considered great failures?

This topic should begin and end with the Green Monkey..........
$16 mil with a $10,200 return

And how about Zippy? 0 for 100

Why?

I'm not talking about horses who sold for $16 million because they fooled someone in an undertack show .. or sold for $11 million because they fooled someone with looks.

I'm talking about horses who were actually on the path to greatness - and had logical reasons to believe they would improve - and they certainly didn't come close to achieving greatness.

Drugs. First line of Slewboppers post verbatim is my reasoning.

Drugs, what about Sweet Catomine?

Easy. Multiple stakes winners can be great failures - to me anyway - because they were cut out to be all-time greats and they didn't achieve it.

Tough to consider her a failure considering the circumstances though, no?

If I had to do females ... she, along with Halfbrideld would be very high on the list. She didn't race long enough though afterwards to get a top 2 or 3 ranking though.

I think that grey Canadian horse (i think a stronach) that won the Withers I believe and everyone was saying he was going to be the next Bernardini. I think he would qualify.

Harlem Rocker?

I really enjoy your various lists. Thank you for posting them. One thing I will note about the above list is all the horses had competent trainers. Their detours from the path to greatness were the results of circumstances more than boneheaded training decisions. That might be a good topic for a future list-budding superhorses ruined by their trainers.

yes

Harlem Rocker crossed the wire first in the Cigar Mile the last time he raced. The Cigar is the same track and distance as the Withers. I would say he was a failure ... but no way did he ever appear on the path to greatness.

Getting back to Afternoon Deelites ... the 111 Beyer he got in the Hollywood Futurity is, to the best of my knowledge, the fastest two-turn dirt number ever published for a 2yo on a fast track.

I think most people would have guessed Street Sense's 10 length BC Juvie win would be the fastest .. but that was only a 108.

It's not just the figure for AD though ... that was his first lifetime start in a route race. He won the race with disdainful ease in 1:40 3/5ths and looked like routing would be his thing and not sprinting. 2nd place was beaten 6.5 lengths. 3rd place beaten 16.5 lengths.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c08XH52OHc


The winner was being compared to Seattle Slew ... but it was the obliterated 2nd place finisher who would sweep the Fla Derby, Ky Derby, Belmont, and Travers as a 3yo the following year.

Yeah - a lot of trainers have sabotaged some pretty decent horses.

I think you'll see a lot more of that now than before ... the reason is because of synthetic surfaces. You'll see horses who are much better on one particular surface wasting away on a surface that isn't there preferred surface.

Neil Howard and competence is a questionable combination.

Geesh Discreet Cat has a well documented throat problem after returning from Dubai, I would hardly call him a failure. I also look for him to have a hugely successful stud career, he was a very nice horse.

I think he will be a very good stallion as well.

War Pass is another who I think might rank top 5 on a lot of lists. I wasn't as big a fan of his good races as the huge numbers would suggest ... but he still was an outstanding 2yo - who came apart at 3.

Two of my all-time favorite races ...

Lil's Lad's Florida Derby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUqQepcYSXA


Arazi's BC Juvie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzbPhYfiCNo

who are this years greatest failures?

Fresian Fire & Stardom Bound... though i guess its not really fair with injuries and all.

Not even mentioning Arazi had surgery just before his three year old season is a bit disingenuous. He was never the same horse after.

Badge of Silver fractured a leg after his maiden win - and I didn't mention that. I think he fractured another one later on as well.

Still didn't stop him from running 3rd in the BC Mile off of an 11 month layoff... and yet .. he's a failure.

When injury and stupidity on the part of ownership stops you from being as good as you can be, as in the case of Arazi, I don't think you belong on the list. Other than that, I think the list is good. There are other worthy candidates but the ones you listed are good ones. It always amazes me how some people don't understand the term "relative". The Lakers could win 75 games this year and if they don't win the title, the season would be considered a failure. The Knicks can win 40 games and not make the playoffs and the season could be considered a success.

Drugs, what do you think about horses like Dinard and Event of the Year?

Dinard was a very talented horse, a bit scrawny and undersized but he could run.

Event of the Year was outstanding through his first four starts ... but an injury basically wiped him out for a long time. He was a very good horse for most of his starts when he came back though.

So, even if you want to say EofY was on the path to greatness ... I don't think he did anything to hurt his repute when he came back. An excellent 2nd ahead of Silver Charm in the Big Cap is not shabby.

Dinard was '91, that was a little before we started getting Southern Cal races on cable TV everyday.

Yep.

And this is not a "most overhyped" list. I think it would take me weeks instead of minutes to think up a most overhyped list with all the overhyped horses I've witnessed.

These 5 are horses that really seemed to have something special ability wise - and just badly fell off the path to greatness.

Unbridled's Song for the sire he became and for his race in the BC Juvenile would be one that is near the top of my list.

UBS was certainly a great talent ... though I thought his Florida Derby win was WAY better than his BC Juvie win.

He actually ran the highest figure of his career - in his final career start ... anyone remember who his trainer was for that race?

Empire Maker would certainly be a good argument for a Top Fiver who didn't live up to hype.

Richie Suttle?

A slight improvment from him - Nick Zito.

He was 1st or 2nd 7 out of 8 races (all stakes but his maiden win). Not to mention his first three races were not anything great.

Virtually all these horses were injured at one point. I dont know about Afternoon Deelites.

I thought it was a trick question

He at least was pretty solid ... there have been some pretty hyped horses that were downright terrible.

I would the say most overhyped horse - that actually turned out to be a great horse - was without question Xtra Heat.

She would be the opposite of this list. I was so sick about people blabbing about her - and swore Victory Ride would kill her in the Test Stakes.

VR won the Test ... but Xtra Heat was light years the best horse in the race the way it was run .. and she just basically became the Godzilla of female spritners from that race on.

It kind of was ... that owner's had a lot of low profile more obscure type trainers than most big owners.

He actually has had the same guy calling the shots for years. Him.

He's an interesting example whereas I think he was more hyped based on his breeding rather than his actual performances, any son out of a great broodmare Toussaud would have had unfair expectations placed on them at that time. Still given the memory of the highlight moment of his career when he broke up Funny Cide's triple crown bid, he left you with the feeling he could have done more in his career.

I think Dinard bowed a tendon prior to the Ky Derby. They never seem to come back as good after that.

He was a monster though and probably would have won the derby that year, if not more.

I'll always remember Paulson being excited after his first big win, saying that he was all pumped up about having a son of his prize stallion, Strawberry Road, being able to stand stud.

That's when he found out Dinard had been gelded already.

By the way, are horses like All Slewped Up eligible for your list?

Or this one: