Mazel Trick - even Frank Lyons doesn't remember him

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I was watching TVG's telecast of the Triple Bend Handicap and the Hollywood Gold Cup which I DVR'd.

The most amusing part was where Frank Lyons told his 464th career on-air Bobby Frankel story. He regaled the viewers with how Frankel was at Woodbine for the Queens Plate and his horse Mizzen Mast was running in the Triple Bend that same day. Frankel asks "how'd he do?" and Lyons tells him "not only did he shatter the track record for seven furlongs - but he also broke it for six furlongs."

Of course, Mizzen Mast never ran in the Triple Bend and Lyons was talking about Frankel's undefeated on dirt freakish 4yo Mazel Trick.

I've always viewed the Mazel Trick Triple Bend win as the start of an incredible reign of terror Frankel took over the sport. The win was in mid year of '99 .. and if someone told you Frankel would win 4 straight Eclipse awards for outstanding trainer from '00 to '03 .. you'd think that person was beyond clueless. He just didn't have the pieces to even threaten someone like a Baffert, Lukas, Mandella, Zito etc.

It was like Mazel Trick got the first taste of the special sauce. He was Ghostzapper in his only two starts as a 4-year-old. He beat great competiton, was off the charts visually - and ran gigantic 118 Beyers in both races ... and he didn't seem to get the benefit of the doubt with either of the 118's as both of those figures easily could have been in the 120's. He broke down training for the Pac Classic and is pretty much forgotten.





The competition he oblitereated in his two 4yo starts: