no way he should have been that long a shot...:D and the horse was a great story ...

And a great payoff!:)

I think Miesque's Approval had a better resume going into the BC than Nobiz does. Nobiz should have to win the BC Mile and the Hollywood Derby to get serious consideration.

i think hes smart not to run..the euros will most likely bring a ringer..and english channel loves mon.. though i will try to beatem at the windows.e.c

Artie Schiller. And Gorella. And Megahertz. And.....well, I think the point is clear.

Kind of hard to talk sense with a mouth full of owner in it. Tagg has to speak to the uninformed everyday, this day is no different.

Artie Schiller had an excellent turn of foot....but remember his most impressive races were against the 3YO's of 2004 (set the track record in the Jamaica, and looked equally as impressive as Nobiz doing it). He had an excellent 4YO season, but he didn't beat up on the competition like he did as a 3YO. If you throw out his 2004 Breeders cup, where he had a disastrous trip clipping heels and getting stuck behind a wall, he never ran a bad race.

The point I am trying to make is that when you face older horses, it is a whole new ball game. Look at showing up last year in the Man O' War. He ran a good race, but was not ready for that competition. Im sure Tagg feels that he probably won't win the mile, but has a good shot at it next year with a healthy horse, and probably can get an easy GI win at Hollywood just like he did with Showing Up last year.

What happened with Showing Up last year (a horse that I think would have had a huge shot in the Mile) illustrates that you often need to strike while the iron's hot. Tagg said that he didn't want to run a 3YO against his elders and would wait to his 4YO season to take a shot at the BC. Then, Showing Up gets hurt in 2007, and he misses a chance to win a Cup race in both years. It's hard enough getting a horse to a race 12 days from now, let alone 12 months from now.

I also think that at this time of year a good 3YO can certainly beat their elders. In the past few weeks, we've seen it done by Curlin, Hard Spun, Panty Raid and Idiot Proof, and the BC Mile is full of 3YO winners. War Chant, Lure, Six Perfections, Ridgewood Pearl and Miesque (the last three of whom were 3YO fillies) come to mind off the top of my head. I'm not saying that NoBiz is in their league, but the notion that we shouldn't run because he's only a 3YO makes little sense to me. (If he's just ducking the race because he knows his horse would not be competitive there, that's another story, but then don't complain that the horse is underappreciated.)

Artie was one of my personal favorites, but man did he have bad luck in photo finishes!

There's about a 0% chance of it happening, but let's cross our fingers that Showing Up comes back from injury 100%. That is one nice horse when right. I don't think people realize how good his Lexington-Derby-Cnl Turf Cup was off of TWO career starts prior.

Three year old turf horse is one of the few cases that it can make some sense to skip the BC since you have the Hollywood Derby as an option. Of course it would be great to see Nobiz go in both but that is a lot to ask under the modern day "fresh horse" training practices.

Tagg should run him in the Classic. The horse is coming into his own right now and he'd have a legit shot. He was too immature back in the spring and finally is maturing. If he doesnt run well he can point him towards a turf campaign next year. Winning the Hollywood derby isnt going to do much for his stallion prospects since he's by Albert the Great so missing that race wouldnt be that big of a deal.

Hard to take him seriously when he implies English Channel is the most likely winner of the Turf.

I don't think running him in the classic would make a lot of sense. I don't think he would have a "legit shot."
As for the larger question, Tagg seems to be one of the few trainers that simply refuses to let the stupid Breeders' Cup dictate everything he is going to do with a good horse. For that I applaud him. He didn't send Funny Cide to the Juvy in '02. Showing Up last year. Now Nobiz. Unlike a lot of these other morons that treat the rest of the year like it is only some series of preps for the BC, Tagg seems to view the Breeders' Cup races as just some more G1 races. Frankly, I agree with him.

Because he's by Albert the Great, who's by Go For Gin-not the most fashionable stallion line. If he were by Storm Cat, Street Sense, A.P. Indy, Dynaformer, Gone West etc.....then it would be a big benefit. Same thing is true for Showing Up. Yes he's obviously better on the turf, I agree, but this year's Classic is a great spot for him to take a shot back on the dirt. He'd be 20-1 and would have a great shot. I think thats why Tagg was saying if he wins the BC Mile he still wouldnt be top 3yo maybe hinting to the owner that they should take a chance in the Classic. Winning the Classic would add a alot of appeal to him as a stallion prospect.

It's easy to see the appeal of the BC Mile considering both the weak field and NoBiz's terrific performance this weekend, however Tagg is pretty conservative, and considering his success level it seems more than unfair to suggest that any of us know better than he. From a fan's standpoint obviously we wish NoBiz was in the mile but I will defer to the judgement of someone who clearly knows better than any of us.

Running him in the Classic makes little to no sense. He's already proven to be vastly inferior to the competition he would face in that race. Perhaps next year if the handicap division is weak Tagg could conceivably take a shot on the dirt again during the year but my guess is once he races a horse successfully on the grass he is loathe to switch surfaces. Unlike Showing Up, who had feet issues which kept him on the grass, NoBiz could at least physically make the switch. Perhaps Chuck can answer this but it is my understanding that trainers usually don't like moving from one surface to another especially after establishing success on one.

As far as a Grade 1 on the turf increasing his value, well he already has a Grade 1 on the dirt, so I suppose this is possible, but I'm sure he will have ample opportunity to do so in the future without this year's BC Mile. Not only is the Hollywood Derby a Grade 1 but next year may look like a Grade 1 tree of ripe fruits if it's anything like 2007.

hey andy, while you are doing that video with drugS, ask him what he thinks about putting slobiz back on the dirt. he'll give you a 2 hour earful why he thinks that he'll be a star when he's moved back to dirt! Seriously!

I intend to not give DrugS a lot of rope to hang himself.