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Link to watch the full card, hopefully available outside the US https://www.youtube.com/live/Q9v5f8QfrpY?si=NxJZUyAUo5k_WO7V
First post in about 45 minutes…
“If, as they say, they say they still don’t know how good he is maybe they should keep him in training for another year to find out? They’re just desperate to get a stallion for the American market aren’t they.”
Being out of a Galileo mare CoT (and Auguste Rodin) will have a limited pool of Coolmore’s own Galileo-heavy mares so he’ll need significant support from outside breeders. Coolmore is in some ways a victim of its own success, as in Europe these breeders also have a lot of Galileo mares…but American breeders do not.
During a drought in Maryland several years back a number of timber races were held on ground officially labeled “hard” – nobody scratched because of it, none of the horses seemed worse for wear. But it’s typical for timber horses to do road work (that is, walking/jogging miles on country roads) and gallop over firm ground so perhaps their hooves are tougher for it.
Epsom Derby/St Leger winner Iroquois got his name onto a prestigious hurdle stakes in Nashville, TN because he stood at stud at Belle Meade just up the road from the racecourse.
The race predates the existence of Belmont Park (both it and the track are named for the same man August Belmont) and was ran at Aqueduct for a brief time as well. It’s been ran at distances between 9 furlongs and 13 furlongs, left- or right-handed, at different times of the year, and it excluded geldings for a time. Most older American races have similarly meandering histories.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tard#English It’s an offensive term for someone with an intellectual disability.
“No wonder you have so many fatal breakdowns over the jumps: Longer races, more weight and no proper sire with a NH background.
You’ve just described American timber racing. The 2024 Virginia Gold Cup winner is by Tiznow and the 2024 Maryland Hunt Cup winner is by Caspar Netscher; both races 4 miles with horses carrying 11st 11lbs. And yet there’s been no spate of fatalities therein.
In the US flat horses are carrying less than they have in the past. The 126lbs they traditionally carry in the Kentucky Derby (which was standardized many decades ago) is the maximum that most of them will carry in any other race in their lives. Handicap races have all but disappeared on the flat and those that do exist rarely have horses carry above 124. And yet…well, you can check those statistics for yourself.
Accusations of his progeny “not training on” aside I have heard Justify has already been having issues with fertility and this season so it probably won’t be him. The key to finding the next Galileo isn’t just being a great stallion, it’s being able to handle the 200+ mares (plus however many are bred for the Southern Hemisphere) Coolmore tasks their top stallions with for season after season.
Montpelier is James Madison’s estate, later owned by the DuPont family who were generous patrons of steeplechasing. The great Battleship trained at Montpelier prior to his Aintree Grand National victory. You can see how it would help build up a horse’s stamina!
Also hundreds of unraced TBs are adopted out to pleasure/sporthorse homes by aftercare organizations and by individual trainers/owners in the US every year.
“Got to be some of the worst commentating I have ever heard. Off the final bend into the stretch Mystik Dan barged through the inside and clearly hit the front but the commentator was calling the two in second and third. Was he blind.”
Agreed, and Larry Collmus didn’t do well the last few Derbies either. The Churchill Downs announcer Travis Stone nailed it, though https://twitter.com/KentuckyDerby/status/1786912646056353840
My pick is Catching Freedom but I’m hoping West Saratoga can pull off a miracle, his trainer seems wonderful.
Great race. Vintage Vinnie had a large lead for most of the race and looked like he might repeat his 2021 and 2022 performances but his 15 years caught up with him. Blackhall passed Vinnie over the final fence and battled Shootist and Goodoldtimes in the stretch to win by a head.
Blackhall had two previous Maryland Hunt Cup tries, but this is his first victory over timber. He is one of just three foals by the subfertile Caspar Netscher and the only one to race.
15 minutes to post…the live stream is a little janky (it always is) but the race should be a good one
