Strong Pretender Excuses Thread
 

Here you go, let the excuses begin for Strong Pretender. I'll give you some ideas. The distance was too short. He wasn't cranked up for a big effort. Oh wait, here's a good one. How about the horse just isn't that fast and was hopelessly overrated by a 32 point Beyer adjustment in the Dwyer.

He ran terribly. There is no excuse. He didn't run a lick.

That was ugly.

By the way, who the hell is Chatain?

By Forest Wildcat out of a Red Ransom mare-- only loss in a NW1X to Showing Up in March. Huge NW1X score last out in Jersey.

Thanks, maybe he'll be one to watch moving forward.

Haven't watched today's race yet, liked Sweetnorthernsaint -- but Chatain had room for improvement off the layoff and being very lightly raced could still be any kind with the talent he showed early in the career.

They're going to say Strong Contender wasn't ready, that he's a big colt, and needs more time to "get things going." Well, he ran horribly, and I wouldn't even consider the race as a paid workout...because he ran too slow!!

Where is your Sweetnorthernsaint excuse thread? U did rate him as the fourth best older male in the country.

SNS showed up with front wraps for the first time ever today. I figured that was probably a bad sign.

Well SNS certainly did not look his best, but he at least hit the board and seemed vaguely interested in the race. Strong Contender never lifted his feet off the ground.

interesting. thanks for that tidbit, not sure i would have noticed with just watching the replay after work.

Does he really need excuses? First off of a layoff of more than 6 months, on a speed-favoring track, at distance that is probably less than he wants to show his best. Sounds like second was a good return race. You have to know they didn't have him fully cranked up for this one anyway. It was a preparatory race to get him ready for the better races later. Honestly, only very special horses win every time; even great horses lose now and again (Kelso was 39 for 63, Round Table was 43 for 66, Secretariat was 16 for 21), and Jazil isn't a great horse.

Jara took him late. He closed to within 2 lengths and had they went another 1/16th we would be talking about some amazingly bright 4yo campaign ahead of him. Don't kick dirt on him yet....He's got alot to show

I'm sorry I didn't just delete this thread the minute I saw the title...

Instead of looking to attack the 6, 9, 11 horses that finish behind the SINGLE winner of these stakes, how about some credit for the performances of those that won?

Chetain emerged today as a real nice horse... Classic Campaign won a thrilling turf stake... And people are looking to create negative attributes towards ones that 'didn't win'...

I don't get it... And I frankly, hate it.

Race fans complain UNENDINGLY about premature retirements, and here you have a handful of horses BACK for their 4 year old seasons and they're immediately decried as useless off single starts. It's ridiculous.

Jazil got back to the races after a 6 month layoff to start a season off an the same injury that ENDED Smarty Jones' career... Maybe you'd prefer he just be sent off to one of Shadwell's stud farms? Strong Contender, and Saint for that matter, have bigger objectives on their itinerary than the Mr. Prospector. And all three trainers of these horses made it very clear what was on their minds going into these races.

Why is any discussion of a loss these days labeled under 'excuses'?... Defeats in racing are far more frequent than wins. There are all kinds of reasons that races go the way they do. What possible complaint would anyone have with the performances of Saint and Greeley behind Chatain today? What complaint would anyone have with Johannesburg Star's performance? Etc... 'Seasons' and 'careers' are bodies of work. Not single snapshots.

well said Steve...

and for the record NONE of them can use the excuse that my money was on them...I didn't bet the race:p

Hoss - just going by the replay...the field was subpar at best and Take the Bluff had all he could stand. The fact that we couldn't even see the pace until the head on (for the fog) leaves alot to conjecture. I wouldn't bet against him against the same field going 1 1/8th or better.

Excellent points. And I was happy with how SNS ran. Even being 3rd, he should move forward off this....But yes, positive threads on horses should outweigh these ones.

good points by several on here.
i'm just glad they're all racing. we should all know by now that horses don't always run at their best.
also, chatain may be a star in the making, after missing a lot of racing due to various injuries.
it's only january, hopefully many more races to come from all these.

I have no strong opinion on Strong Contender beyond the fact that he's a talented and inconsistent horse who occasionally throws down huge efforts (I think the Dwyer figure is pretty legit), but I think the Ward's comments BEFORE the race were pretty telling:

Chatain making only his 4th career start was certainly eligible to improve and had raced well over the surface in March.

I thought SNS ran ok, but was not sure what to make about the front wraps

Sir Greely came on late to just miss.

The race attracted a good field and horses that figured did hit the board. Looking forward to races with older horse as the year continues, we may see some great rivalries developing. I think it's way to early to dismiss Strong Contender off from this race

And people calling horses "dogs" or "goats" are a positive thing?

Personally, I think it's funny that Sniper started this thread... Sir Greeley didn't finish in the money either. :rolleyes:

Is second not in the money?

it was a very good race and im glad to see it..very exited about this years races..keep it positive people.....:D

Personally I'm very upset about the bad name goats seem to be getting around here.

No... (You write that as if I endorse calling horses dogs or goats...) But I would say that the trainer of the animal so named in one post the other day, helped address that silliness better than anyone else could have... with his response online and Pink Viper's on track.

He definitely did, but I thought it was a rude thing for someone to say when the horse was under the care of a poster....it's rude to say of any horse really. It's one thing to debate the talent of a horse, and with the Derby a few months away I hope we all do just that, but name calling is ridiculous.

I should add that I don't think you condone that behavior either, I just felt bad for the guy who had to read that about his horse.

I bet Mr. Klanfer didnt feel to bad when PV crossed the line 1st today:D

He did...and he was kind enough to call me while I was at the OTB and remind me. $5 ex was about the only thing I hit all day..

when they start paying 3 of 4 in pick 4's and 2 of 3 in pick 3's...GPK will be one very rich man..:o

Almost stayed and played The Big M tonight...but after my bet in the 1st (#8 D. Miller was in the bike I think) finished about 7th...I knew it was time for me to get out quickly.

I'm sorry you took this thread the wrong way and I apologize for posting it. I tried telling everyone before the race that the horse wasn't as great as he was being made out to be, backed it up with facts, and was just told how wrong I was. It wasn't like I just called the horse a pig and didn't give any basis for that opinion. After the race I was headed out to watch the NFL games so figured I would set up this thread so we could have one central place to argue Strong Contender rather than have it contaminate the threads about the race that should have been about the impressive performances in the race. Apparently that was wrong of me. I'll tone down my posting here and only focus on the positives and leave my negative posts for other forums. Although I still don't understand how a thread saying that a horse isn't fast is bad but calling jockeys "gnomes" is OK.

This thread is completely ridiculous. After one race you people can actually just forget about a horse. I'm not denying the fact that Strong Contender may not be able to compete in this high a level (make no mistake, this field was much more competitive than many grade I's). All of this aside, he is still a very nice horse, and one that I'm sure that anyone would love to own. Every horse can't win every race. Strong Contender finished in the money in every race prior to this one. I don't care what level you're running at, it is still impressive. To tell you the truth, I was very impressed with the way that Sweetnorthernsaint ran. Even though he was third, I truly think he ran against the toughest horses in his career (aside from Bernardini). I am definitely looking for him to move forward from this race, I think he will be a major contender in this year's classics. Sir Greeley on the other hand ran a terrific race, and it looks like we are going to have a great year with him. He gave 6 pounds to the winner, and got beat an inch. What more can you ask for? I'm sure as hell not gunna give up on him.

I'm just glad to see some successful 3 yos come back to race at 4.

Not every horse wins every race. In fact every horse does not.

Opinions about which horse is no good or not good enough can be expressed best at the wagering windows.

Doesn't make much sense to denigrate a horse on a message board.

I was glad to see them (SNS, SC) back running as well as seeing Declan's Moon trying to come back as well.

I was also glad to see Kelly's Landing run huge (tho I didn't bet him). 5 yo is the 6F track record holder at Churchill. I wonder how many 6F races have been run at CD. Thousands? Tens of thousands? No one has run as fast there than Kelly's Landing and to see him come back strong yesterday was something special.