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The home of intelligent horse racing discussion

Ex RubyLight

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Viewing 17 posts - 18 through 34 (of 5,337 total)
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  • in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768333
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    It’s funny that, despite all their success, Coolmore have never had a true champion.

    That’s so true. I still rate Giant’s Causeway as one of their all-time greats. Apart from the staying G1 races how many four year olds (and older) have won G1s for him in GB? Highland Reel was a KG winner at four, but how many more did he have?

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768325
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    If we could get some quality in return. Maybe I’m just too naive, but racing was much more fun when you had to guess which horse would be a proper Derby candidate. Nowadays it’s like CAS and other pointed out, the Lads get their share of darts and once every 2-3 years they hit the bullseye.
    But ask them about the 3-yo hierarchy within the stable and they’ll get wrong almost every single time.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768322
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    ‘‘Twas wet and windy – and they were strung out like three mile chasers in several races – but Derby Day is still special to me, as a (relatively) local lad.

    Nice to hear that. A pity that even the Coronation Cup had such underwhelming result. Francis-Henri Graffard was quite upset about himself after letting Calandagan run after all.

    A Derby without Aga Khan, Godolphin or John Gosden owned/trained runners just doesn’t feel the same. I also miss Sir Michael Stoute in this race, he had more winners than Godolphin in the past 26 years.
    Good old days….. long gone.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768320
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    p (lower case) denotes capable of better
    P (capital) means capable of a lot better

    Thanks for the explanation, Gladders. I hope you enjoyed your day out at the track.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768319
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    Whelan joins McNamara and Beggy as a Ballydoyle work rider who has ridden a Derby winner.

    Back in 1997 we laughed at Willie Ryan being a Derby winning jockey.

    Coolmore are obviously good at what they do. But this was another year when they didn’t really have a star and just threw a few darts at the board and hoped they hit the bullseye.

    With their darts the bullseye becomes bigger every year. But, you have to give them credit for winning it even with lesser horses. I wonder what the Godolphin operation is thinking right now.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768300
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    Couldn’t agree more BHL. Timeform has given the winner a rating of 123p. I think the ‘p’ stands for something like open to improvement?
    The experts will know a bit more about that. But he is just a very mediocre winner and how bad is this for Godolphin with no horses in both Epsom Classics?

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768297
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    I have my doubts about them being successful at recruiting new fans over the last two days. But yes, they have to be informed better. It’s not an easy game to understand.

    Let’s see were the winner and the placed horses go next. BC surely must be a definite runner at The Curragh.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768295
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    Ruby, Number 1 lesson of punting, and I always tell newcomers, don’t throw your ticket away until they have announced “Weighed In”.

    Spot on, rob. But on Derby day, you have plenty of newcomers who aren’t that familiar with such rules. Apart form that the horse wasn’t involved in the finish, the Enquiry affecting him seemed rather unlikely.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768292
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    Absolutely right, though you can’t blame them for the weather. What makes things worse is that the Lads never seem to be satisfied when winning a big one like the Derby. It’s just like another day at the office for them. I’m quite sure that Christmas Day wasn’t the one meant to win.

    I have to turn the mute on when Aidan starts mentioning all those names of the people involved with the winner and responsible for all the horses at Ballydoyle…..

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768287
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    Agree Ruby 100%. Didn’t see your post till after I’d had my rant or I’d have mentioned you!

    No problem, Tonge. But the entire situation looked pretty bad, with no one understanding why the Stewards’ Enquiry was called in the first place. The started should have the option of communicating with the track announcer and make such decisions public right after the start. People placing bets with the Tote might have thrown their tickets away right after they went past the post. What happens with those tickets now?

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768277
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    That’s why I suggested the screen Tonge. Otherwise you need no one on the rostrum with a flag in his hand.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768261
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    None of the Racing TV pundits realized why the claxon went on for the Stewards’ Enquiry.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768259
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    Nathan:

    The rule was brought in after Harry Angel lost his chance in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2018 when he became upset in the starting stalls, got a hind leg trapped over the gate’s running board, and completely missed the break when the gates opened.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768252
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    Okay, this is how Flat Racing works from now on:

    The starter has a huge screen in front of him and when every horse has entered the stalls he takes a short look to make sure no one has it’s legs on the shelf. Then he let’s them go, otherwise I’ll declare every start a (possible) false one.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768249
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    But the stewards then held an inquiry to look into whether he had a fair start. Overhead television footage appeared to show that his near hind leg was on the shelf in the stalls when the gates opened and he was deemed a non-runner.

    This surely wasn’t the first time such a thing happened in the history of the sport. Why did no one react in the past? Somehow this looks an excuse just to make sure BC’s stud value doesn’t decrease too much after his rather dismal performance. Ryan didn’t know the horse was deemed a NR once they jumped out, I guess he ran a “true” race.

    in reply to: Derby 2026 #1768244
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    I’m pretty pissed about it to be honest. I have proof of every winner in that post. No call for deleting it!

    I know and I just wonder who came up with that stupid idea.

    in reply to: Epsom #1768243
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    Well, well, well…. the meeting has become quite a farce due to the poor weather conditions with the strange “withdrawal” of Benvenuto Cellini being the icing on this cake.

Viewing 17 posts - 18 through 34 (of 5,337 total)