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Agree with your assessment of the Belmont classic, Ian. The filly did try hard, but the winner was just too much and best on the day…
The Met Mile, along with the Queen Anne, are my two favorite 8F races. Some of the greatest of the greats dirt and turf horses run in these races.
However, what everyone was buzzing about, at least in the media, was the “comeback” dominant performance of Jack Christopher in the 7F Woody Stephens (G1). He was a very promising 2-yo last year and was injured just prior to the Breeders’ Cup. Here’s what Chad Brown, his trainer, had to say:
“This horse is an exceptional talent,” said Brown. “This is my 15th year of training and I’ve never had a dirt horse with this much pure brilliance. He reminds me a lot of Ghostzapper when I worked for Bobby Frankel. He’s a brilliant horse that can probably run any distance.”
Have a look:
That’s one of the main reasons, and a key metric, why the rating system can never be considered as being “scientific”…it’s purely subjective, with no one definitive and accepted standard.
“These players have made their choice for their own financial-based reasons,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan wrote in a memo to the tour’s membership. “But they can’t demand the same PGA TOUR membership benefits, considerations, opportunities and platform as you. That expectation disrespects you, our fans and our partners. You have made a different choice, which is to abide by the Tournament Regulations you agreed to when you accomplished the dream of earning a PGA TOUR card and — more importantly — to compete as part of the preeminent organization in the world of professional golf.”
CANADIAN OPEN
I’ll go with one of the Canadian boys, Corey Conners. He’s grouped with Rory and Justin Thomas.
Rory is the defending champion (2019) who, arguably, was in his best form in years having flirted with a 59 in the 4th round.
Should be a fun one to watch.
Good luck all…
“She’s not that big and won’t tower over them like Acapulco did…”
I chuckled when I read that, as I recall Ryan Moore saying that he thought she was a 4-y-o when he first saw her…
The $25 million, 54-hole event starts this Thursday and will be played at London’s Centurion Golf Club. No doubt, one of the least admirable of all human traits, “greed”, is the motivator. Johnson is reportedly getting $125 million to join the league. Have not seen any numbers for Michelson, the bookmakers “dream boy”, is officially in and Rickie Fowler’s participation is “imminent”. What’s interesting, is that the players are resigning from the PGA Tour to join the LIV in order to avoid any apparent lawsuits. They first asked for exemption from the PGA, but were denied…
This fiasco and tit-for-tat reporting in the mainstream media is causing quite a stir and, frankly, is becoming a real distraction to the main tournaments and players. Yesterday, I read where Greg Norman was quoted saying that Saudis have offered Tiger “mind-blowingly enormous” sum in the “high nine digits” (guess who still moves the needle?).
Another example is Greg Norman slamming Jack Nicklaus as a “hypocrite” for Jack’s stance on LIV….
Doesn’t this remind you of the recent attempt by Euros biggest football clubs to breakaway and form another league???…Greed???…how long did the “dream” last?
I’ll be watching this renewal with keen interest to see whether or not Rich Strike, the Kentucky Derby winner at odds of 80/1, is for real or an outlier and I hope it’s the former. The connections skipped the Preakness, the second jewel of American “Triple Crown”, just have RS rested and ready for this race. But, it should be a really interesting race given the presence of Nest (Curlin) the filly who was a beaten favorite in the Kentucky Oaks a month ago.
Curlin brings memories of one of my favorite Belmonts ever, the 2007 edition and his epic battle with Michael Tabor’s filly Rags to Riches. Here’s the link, it’s quite good…
Following this race, Charlie Appleby identified a couple of targets in the US for Modern Games; either the Belmont Derby (10F) in July, or the Saratoga Derby (9.5F) in August. Seems he’s taking the same route to the Breeders’ Cup as Yabir did last year. I think it’s a good move as MG does show a preference for Good/Firm ground. Plus the purses are large, with less competition.
Well done to those who backed Vadeni, a very nice colt indeed, who looked like he could extend further…
First of all Ian, are you absolutely sure that I’m a “sir”?…LOL! Seriously, I take your point very well. You gave a fictional example, ok. So here’s my own: 15 runners in the Derby or the Oaks and all are maidens, class race? Extreme example, yes. Highly improbable, yes. But random events do occur in this world…
Ian,
You know as well as anyone else, in the world of horse racing “never say never”. That’s the beauty of the sport we all love!
The winner may turn out to be a very good horse indeed as this was only his 3rd start, but let’s don’t get carried away here. He beat a 150-1 chance by about 3 lengths. Nothing to rave about this particular performance…
“An absolute joke”
You can say that a thousand times over, CAS. The flagship race of UK’s flat racing season which was also beamed to a world-wide audience failed miserably from the delivery point of view…
Seventeen runners and not one G1 winner among them. In fact, Stone Age is the only one that placed in a G1 race having accomplished that feat in last year’s Criterium. When was the list time this has happened?
On this backdrop, I’ll go with Piz Badile. There’s nothing really to fear here…
