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am i the only one who had a chuckle when hawk wing got stuffed today. i went to Ascot hoping to see THE best horse in the race ROCK OF GIBRALTAR but as i feared he didnt run but amazingly was at Ascot to gallop after racing. i belive not to run the ROCK just to give HAWK WING a group one stuck two fingers up to the racing public . just imagine if they had both run it would shown coolmore in the greatist light possible. today following on from them being to scared to run HIGH CHAPARRAL in the king george just makes me yearn for proper racing to begin in november. but anyways a big well done to the connections of WERE OR WHEN. it was really good to be there and see it.
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
Can’t stop laughing really.
Now the ground was "falling away underneath him" and "he needs a fast pace".
Pacemaker? The poor colt Sholokhov who does the donkey work for nobody again.
Funny how people can bust their gut laughing at Hawk Wing giving his all yet take pity on poor Sholokhov who incidentally has had only one more run than Hawk Wing.??
"We don’t even know whos going to run until O’Brien and his yes men have walked the course and talked on their mobiles" despite O’Brien telling the media on Wednesday that ROG would only run granted rain?<br>
As a racehorse ,this horse has given his all in all his races and looking back you have to say as a three year old ,this horse held his own in the best company. This horse only negative is the hype that the press and Ballydoyle gave for it and expected so much, i was caught up in the hype mainly due to the comments of the trainner and jockey especialy when the rock was winning and they never wavered in their assesment of the horse . If he stays in trainning we will see a top class horse giving his all who may never live up to the hype but should win some decent races along the way.
I agree on the points thedarkknight made – I love racing and essentially I love most people and horses involved but with Ballydoyle they do tend to overrate their horses if you like – I thought Mills was overrating WOW but I was proved wrong. The multiple entries confuse me more than anything and a lot of their 2nd and 3rd strings could be winning Group/Listed races – why don’t they employ some pacemakers that just aren’t good?
Tino,
an exceptional first post, sir; I look forward to more of the same.  I simply can’t agree with thedarkknight’s analysis of coolmore and I’m disappointed, if not surprised, that Meshaheer has jumped on that particular bandwagon. Who exactly are O’Brien’s "Yes Men" exactly?
It seems to me there are 2 choices available for Coolmore regarding Hawk Wing’s future.
1. Put him away until next year, and hope that whatever is ailing him, mentally or physically, goes away after a winter’s break.<br>Downside: He might turn in no better performances next year than this, or even go backwards. It may be that this is just about how good he is.
2. Go for broke on the "Retire him as a champion at 3" plan, by running him in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Lasix and Bute, perhaps adorned with a hood as well.<br>Downside: It might be a disaster, with Coolmore ending up with a stallion that can’t be satisfactorily marketed in the manner they hoped for, and a horse that can’t be raced again.
I hope Hawk Wing does get a chance to make it as a four year old, it certainly hasn’t done Golan any harm.<br>If the worst comes to the worst maybe Rory has a point, HW could just be the next Arkle-in-the-making! :laugh:
I agree with Rory about Tinothephantom’s post. I have given up worrying about criticisms of Ballydoyle/Coolmore. It’s old hat anyway- Ted Walsh was at it in the 80s with his statements about the lads from Dubai being sportsmen (Shareef Dancer, Nashwan, Lammtara Ted?) and the Coolmore axis being businessmen etc.
Of course they are not in it primarily for the sport. But neither is Sheikh Mo – he uses Godolphin as a loss leader to promote Dubai, helping to market the place to outside investment as an alternative source of income when the oil dries up. Or at least I hope he does. It would be disgusting to think that he has wasted so much money, entirely for the purpose of satiating his ego.
I find it "interesting" that so many people criticise Coolmore for operating in a manner designed to ensure that it continues at the highest level for as long as possible, whereas Sheikh Mo’ is celebrated for spending hundreds of millions of pounds in a manner that would not be tolerated in a Western ruler.
Why dont Godolphin ever run Grandera and Sakhee together in the King George?? Coolmore have run their top horses against each other this year Godolphin have not.
<br>I would think Aidan O’Brien sometimes has to run horses where he doesn’t want to run them because of the commerical element.
If you were training Galileo, would you have gone for the Arc or the Breeders’ Cup Classic?
Although Coolmore may claim otherwise, I think most people agree that Galileo was run in the Classic for commercial purposes. They certainly hoped he’d win but I severely doubt O’Brien thought Galileo would win.
Hawk Wing ran against High Chaparral in the Derby despite the ground being against him……..regardless of the ground Sakhee was never going to take on Grandera. Or for instance why not last year,Fantastic Light versus Sakhee. Was never even mentioned as a possiblity so why should Coolmore feel obliged to run their best against each other?<br> Rob yes in hindsight Galileo should maybe have gone to the Arc. But wouldnt it be utterly boring to have the same campaign for every horse every year? Why not give Galileo a chance on the dirt. His action was far from a typical Sadler’s Wells,he might have gotten away with it. By most others Desert King would NEVER have ran over 1m4f. But that is what is different about Aidan O’Brien……..he is more than willing to take a different route or style. Everyone says it is John Magnier who rules the roost and I am sure he makes the final decisions. But a man of his intelligence would be stupid to ignore O’Brien’s obvious wisedom and I dont believe he does. Look back at O’Brien’s NH techniques with horses…………they were anything but typical.
Aidan you seem to find an answer to all of O’Brien’s tactics and decisions etc. Some of what you say is right but it’s so obvious that most of their decisions are based around the commerical side of things although some are daring and exciting.
BallyD and Godolphin can be as bad as each other sometimes when it comes to not facing horses against each other. I find Sheikh Hamdan is always very reluctant, i.e Sakhee and Nayef for example.
There are flaws where all big money is concerned and money does get in the way of perhaps sound and even obvious decisions, but Aidan, I can admit where Godolphin go wrong as I know they do, but you seem to get just a little over worked up if someone constructively criticises O Brien etc, although it would be fair if we all attacked their policies.
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