Best Race You've Seen In Person

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

Spectacular Bid setting a track record at Santa Anita @ 1 1/4.

Or Spectacular Bid winning the Florida Derby on sheer horsepersonal determination.

Ronnie Franklin got him stopped two or three times, and almost fell off.

But, Spectacular Bid still won the race.

I was trackside by the winner's circle for that one, as the late afternoon thunderclouds had darkened the South Florida sky prior to post.

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

1979 Ohio Derby...Smarten set a track record that still stands today at venerable junk heap T-down! Of course that was my only visit to a thoroughbred track!! For some reason talked my dad into taking me for my 13th birthday and he did...increased my birthday payroll just a tiny bit with my 10 dollar win bet on Smarten...(low odds though!) Good horse, destroyed the field!! Seen lots of good quarter horse races, but those don't count.

Kudos for finding and remembering an Ohio race to rightfully toss into this circle!

Whodathunkit!

(I cut my teeth on the old Akron-Cleveland area tracks......most of which disappeared and were consolidated into "modern day" Thistledown just before you were born)

[slotdirt]

Smarten....definitely one of the more underrated stallions of the last 25 or 30 years.

[Honu]

Mine would be the Breeders Cup race between Johar and High Chapparel, the day was already unbelievable , once in a lifetime deal , but watching Johar and High Chapparel hook up inside the 16th pole and grind it out to the wire was just heart stopping. To be honest all the races that we ran in that day were like nothing I had seen before ,never did I think in my whole life would I ever get to be a part of something that most likely will never be repeated.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Honu

To be honest all the races that we ran in that day were like nothing I had seen before ,never did I think in my whole life would I ever get to be a part of something that most likely will never be repeated.

I assume you were involved with team Bobby Frankel---and are talking about his amazing accomplishment of starting four beaten favorites in the Breeders Cup that year.

Mandella had a little better day I guess.

[Buffymommy]

Empire Maker's win in the FL Derby. Loved it!

[disappearingdan_akaplaya]

Originally Posted by Buffymommy

Empire Maker's win in the FL Derby. Loved it!

buffy i like ya but EMPIRE FAKER LOL.........cmon now!!!!!!!!!!!

[Honu]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I assume you were involved with team Bobby Frankel---and are talking about his amazing accomplishment of starting four beaten favorites in the Breeders Cup that year.

Mandella had a little better day I guess.

Why would I be talking about Bobby Frankel?

[brianwspencer]

I think that it would probably be Gorella's victory in the Beverly D. at Arlington this August. I love the move she made, and it was electrifying in person.

A close second, would be the other race visually scorched into my memory with the same move....Vacare's maiden race at Arlington this summer. Breathtaking move.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

I think that it would probably be Gorella's victory in the Beverly D. at Arlington this August. I love the move she made, and it was electrifying in person.

A close second, would be the other race visually scorched into my memory with the same move....Vacare's maiden race at Arlington this summer. Breathtaking move.

Surely Brian you have seen more than a few breathtaking races at Portland Meadows in your day.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Surely Brian you have seen more than a few breathtaking races at Portland Meadows in your day.

Hey, Slewicide Cruise turned in a pretty wicked performance on opening day of 2005.

That's the most memorable of all the races I ever saw there. Nothing breathtaking, but you already knew that.

Originally Posted by DaHoss9698

Reading the other thread I forgot about You/Carson hollow in the Test. One hell of a race.

I remember that one well. "...and You's in sooo tight." "It's a photo finish that doesn't deserve a loser."

Another Carson Hollow race--this one against Xtra Heat in the fog at Laurel. It wasn't an especially close race, but it was one of the prettiest races I've ever seen. The fog was so thick that Dave Rodman declared he couldn't call it. We saw Heat and Hollow get lost in the fog into the first turn. It was an otherworldly sight--quiet and ghostly-- seeing Xtra Heat emerge when she rounded into the final stretch, well ahead of Carson Hollow. It was like seeing spectral images of horses. Very magical.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by byaneck

I remember that one well. "...and You's in sooo tight." "It's a photo finish that doesn't deserve a loser."

Another Carson Hollow race--this one against Xtra Heat in the fog at Laurel. It wasn't an especially close race, but it was one of the prettiest races I've ever seen. The fog was so thick that Dave Rodman declared he couldn't call it. We saw Heat and Hollow get lost in the fog into the first turn. It was an otherworldly sight--quiet and ghostly-- seeing Xtra Heat emerge when she rounded into the final stretch, well ahead of Carson Hollow. It was like seeing spectral images of horses. Very magical.

I always tried to beat You when I bet and I never seemed to guess right on her.

[Thunder Gulch]

Just thought of another..Kona Gold's track record sprint in the BC at Churchill had the crowd buzzing afterwards.

[randallscott35]

Val Royal's BC Mile is honorable mention. What a beast that day.

[packerbacker7964]

Lil E Tee and Pine Bluff in the Ark Derby noses apart at the wire. 2nd would be Cigar winning the Oaklawn Handicap after getting hit in the face from Silver Goblins jockey and he just kept coming for Jerry Bailey.

The Breeder's Cup Sprint where Xtra Heat pasted herself to the rail and almost made it to the wire on a rocket fast break, sheer determination and guts. That mare knew how to WORK. She was nipped in the final strides by a fast closing Orientate.

[cal828]

Originally Posted by packerbacker7964

Lil E Tee and Pine Bluff in the Ark Derby noses apart at the wire. 2nd would be Cigar winning the Oaklawn Handicap after getting hit in the face from Silver Goblins jockey and he just kept coming for Jerry Bailey.

I saw that one also and a lot of other "greats" or near greats at Oaklawn going back a pretty long way, but to tell the truth a lot of these races I don't remember so well, but one that I do remember was the last time that Azeri won the Appleblossom when she and Take Charge Lady battled the length of the stretch and she barely prevailed. Another race that sticks out in my mind was when Demons Begone won the Southwest. It wasn't a close race. It was just the way that he did it. When the horses hit the top of the stretch he circled the whole field in a jaw-dropping move and won going away. Later on he won the Arkansas Derby in what seemed like a walk over, and everyone was excited to see him go to the KD, but he bled and I think may have finished last.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by byaneck

The Breeder's Cup Sprint where Xtra Heat pasted herself to the rail and almost made it to the wire on a rocket fast break, sheer determination and guts. That mare knew how to WORK. She was nipped in the final strides by a fast closing Orientate.

You mean the race that Squirtle Squirt won. Xtra Heat drew the rail that day at Belmont.

Sorry....yes it was SS who broke my heart.