Most Underrated of 2006

[Sightseek]

Horse -
1. Invasor, it seemed most people held Sun King against him (and possibly the layoff) going into the Breeder's Cup.
2. Gorella, pity this late flying mare will likely be passed up for the Eclipse. Ouijia Board put together an exceptional global year, but only one of those races was in the U.S. beating the same fillies Gorella had.

Trainer -
While Pletcher was breaking every record out there McLaughlin had an outstanding year.

Jockey -
Prado, just the all around great sportsman.

Race -
The Whitney

Horse - Thor's Echo

Trainer - Helen Pitts

Jockey - Jon Court

Race - Whitney

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Horse -
1. Invasor, it seemed most people held Sun King against him (and possibly the layoff) going into the Breeder's Cup.

Trainer -
While Pletcher was breaking every record out there McLaughlin had an outstanding year.

Jockey -
Prado, just the all around great sportsman.

Race -
The Whitney

I agree with all of this.

[Gauchos0522]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Race - The Whitney

I have gone the past 2 years and it has been 2 tremendous renditions of the race.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I don't really understand how a horse that is about to recieve Horse of the Year honors can also be considered "the most underrated" horse in training.

Discreet Cat just toyed with Invasor in late March (I know, it was on foreign soil)---and he has pretty much toyed with everything else he's run against. The lowest figure he's ever run in his entire career, a 106, came in August when he debuted as a 2-year-old.

He ran a faster adjusted final time, in that race, his 2-year-old debut....than did a 9-for-9 (at the time) King's Bishop winner named Lost in the Fog on that same card. Discreet Cat's maiden was also run in faster adjusted final time than the Hopeful Stakes, also run on the same card, a race which featured First Samurai, Henny Hughes, and Too Much Bling as it's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers. That's the kind of stuff you never see from a debuter.

They took DC to Dubai for the winter---and several very sharp people came right out and said it spelled the end of him. "He would be ruined", etc. He survived silly mismanagement...just as he will survive another winter of silly mismanagement while stabled in Dubai.

Discreet will win no year-end honor...but, he would be bet to favortisim over any horse in the country, at any distance, ranging from 6.5 furlongs on dirt-to-1 1/4 miles on dirt. I wouldn't call DC "underrated" though---as his ability and talent is obvious...and he's had A LOT of hype.

DC is coming back, If Barbaro doesn't win an Eclipse award...an outstanding case could be made that he is one of the all-time most talented horses to never win a championship. Barbaro is the one American 3-year-old turf horse I've seen during my lifetime, who had the ability to be considered an almost certain winner of the Epsom Derby. He was jaw-dropping on turf....and, perfect stalking trip or not, his performance in the Kentucky Derby was totally outstanding.

Barbaro obviously couldn't be labeled "underrated" though.

In my opinion, the most underrated horse in the country might be Any Given Saturday. He's never won a stake race, his accomplishments are modest, and his talent is pretty big.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I don't really understand how a horse that is about to recieve Horse of the Year honors can also be considered "the most underrated" horse in training.

Discreet Cat just toyed with Invasor in late March (I know, it was on foreign soil)---and he has pretty much toyed with everything else he's run against. The lowest figure he's ever run in his entire career, a 106, came in August when he debuted as a 2-year-old.

He ran a faster adjusted final time, in that race, his 2-year-old debut....than did a 9-for-9 (at the time) King's Bishop winner named Lost in the Fog on that same card. Discreet Cat's maiden was also run in faster adjusted final time than the Hopeful Stakes, also run on the same card, a race which featured First Samurai, Henny Hughes, and Too Much Bling as it's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers. That's the kind of stuff you never see from a debuter.

They took DC to Dubai for the winter---and several very sharp people came right out and said it spelled the end of him. "He would be ruined", etc. He survived silly mismanagement...just as he will survive another winter of silly mismanagement while stabled in Dubai.

Discreet will win no year-end honor...but, he would be bet to favortisim over any horse in the country, at any distance, ranging from 6.5 furlongs on dirt-to-1 1/4 miles on dirt. I wouldn't call DC "underrated" though---as his ability and talent is obvious...and he's had A LOT of hype.

DC is coming back, If Barbaro doesn't win an Eclipse award...an outstanding case could be made that he is one of the all-time most talented horses to never win a championship. Barbaro is the one American 3-year-old turf horse I've seen during my lifetime, who had the ability to be considered an almost certain winner of the Epsom Derby. He was jaw-dropping on turf....and, perfect stalking trip or not, his performance in the Kentucky Derby was totally outstanding.

Barbaro obviously couldn't be labeled "underrated" though.

In my opinion, the most underrated horse in the country might be Any Given Saturday. He's never won a stake race, his accomplishments are modest, and his talent is pretty big.

That's exactly why I think Invasor is underrated. Going into the BC all you would hear about is Bernardini and Lava Man. Then Invasor beats them and is grudgingly given Horse of the Year by the Bernimaniacs and now all we hear about is how wonderful Discreet Cat is. Once the first paper champion was defeated a new one sprung up in his place. I'm looking forward to this one being exposed as well.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Discreet Cat has been my very own paper champ for a long, long time....

Hopefully Invasor makes a much better account of himself against him the 2nd time around.....I'm sure he'll at least offer him a test of some sort this time.

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Discreet Cat has been my very own paper champ for a long, long time....

Hopefully Invasor makes a much better account of himself against him the 2nd time around.....I'm sure he'll at least offer him a test of some sort this time.

I've been a huge Discreet Cat fan since the maiden win at Saratoga but the way so many people jumped from Bernardini to him cause they couldn't respect Invasor was pretty annoying to me.

If you think that was anything remotely close to the real Invasor that ran in Dubai then you think a lot more highly of Testimony and Flamme De Passion then I do.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Gauchos0522

I have gone the past 2 years and it has been 2 tremendous renditions of the race.

Premium Tap was short coming into that race.

Invasor ran a Herculean race to win....overcoming a wildly pre-mature move, and turning back a 2nd place finisher who fell into a dream tactical trip.

Any race that features Sun King 2nd, West Virgina 3rd, and We Can Seek 4th will be quickly dismissed by me when we talk "most underrated race of the year." That is for sure.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Horse -
1. Invasor, it seemed most people held Sun King against him (and possibly the layoff) going into the Breeder's Cup.
2. Gorella, pity this late flying mare will likely be passed up for the Eclipse. Ouijia Board put together an exceptional global year, but only one of those races was in the U.S. beating the same fillies Gorella had.

Trainer -
While Pletcher was breaking every record out there McLaughlin had an outstanding year.

Jockey -
Prado, just the all around great sportsman.

Race -
The Whitney

Not to be disagreeable but since when are Invasor, McLaughin,Gorella, Prado, and the Whitney underrated?

[Cannon Shell]

I mean you have to dig a little deeper......

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Not to be disagreeable but since when are Invasor, McLaughin,Gorella, Prado, and the Whitney underrated?

100% agreed.

However, I still say Sightseek is our most underrated poster on this board.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Not to be disagreeable but since when are Invasor, McLaughin,Gorella, Prado, and the Whitney underrated?

I think the odds on Invasor speak that he was under-rated. The big boys were believed to be Lava Man & Bernardini, and DrugS explaination of the horses behind Invasor & Sun King explain why I think the race was under-rated, which may have affected what people thought of on Invasor. (that and the Suburban field wasn't all that hot either)

Maybe I need a better word for McLaughlin, Gorella & Prado...over-looked perhaps? Guess we'll wait to see on Eclipse day.

[Gander]

Gorella is not underrated. Neither is Fernando Jara. You put any number of jockeys on Invasor and Jazil and they will win the same amount of races. Hes a good rider but so are many others.

The most over talked about trip of all time is the one she had in last year's BC Mile where she was shut off and couldnt get past Artie Schiller.

True, it has validity but she lost and you cant say for sure she would have been the winner with a clean trip. Others in that race had less than ideal trips too.

She was all out to beat Karen's Caper with a perfect trip in the race before the BC. At Arlington this summer she was pretty amazing winning the Beverly D but if you watch Film Maker's trip that day. Brutal and not just in one spot.

[Bravado2112]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I think the odds on Invasor speak that he was under-rated. The big boys were believed to be Lava Man & Bernardini, and DrugS explaination of the horses behind Invasor & Sun King explain why I think the race was under-rated, which may have affected what people thought of on Invasor. (that and the Suburban field wasn't all that hot either)

Maybe I need a better word for McLaughlin, Gorella & Prado...over-looked perhaps? Guess we'll wait to see on Eclipse day.

Don't forget that Invasor was a bit higher in price than he might have otherwise been as a result of getting sick and missing the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Recall that he was coming into the race off a 3-month layoff which was *not* by design. He was coming off a recent illness, missed his prep race, and missed a few days of training. All of those factors raised questions about if he'd be able to deliver a peak performance and definitely contributed to his being the forgotten horse.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I think the odds on Invasor speak that he was under-rated. The big boys were believed to be Lava Man & Bernardini, and DrugS explaination of the horses behind Invasor & Sun King explain why I think the race was under-rated, which may have affected what people thought of on Invasor. (that and the Suburban field wasn't all that hot either)

Maybe I need a better word for McLaughlin, Gorella & Prado...over-looked perhaps? Guess we'll wait to see on Eclipse day.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't he the 2nd choice in the biggest race in the country?

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't he the 2nd choice in the biggest race in the country?

3rd choice at 7-1 which is insane odds on the only horse besides Tom Fool to win the Pimlico Special, Suburban, and Whitney in the same year.

[horseofcourse]

Better Talk Now is underrated I guess...a former BC winner who again went off at 20-1 plus didn't he?? He darn near pulled another huge upset in the BC turf. Won a couple nice races this year and did also run some pretty pedestrian ones in the Arlington Million and UN. Pretty consistent old guy nonetheless.

[Cajungator26]

Speaking of Premium Tap...

I think he was quite underrated this year.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

Speaking of Premium Tap...

I think he was quite underrated this year.

i remember a race where he was "underridden"