Inspirational and depressing at the same time

[justindew]

I found this over at DRF.com. I think this horse got robbed of Horse of the Year in 1997. He faced Skip Away six times, and beat him in four of those races.

112 debut Beyer? Will we ever see that again? And he raced nine times in 1997, racing at least once a month from February through September.

One of my favorites of all time.

http://community.drf.com/formblog/files/formal_gold.pdf

[slotdirt]

Son of one of my all-time favorites. Trivia question - how many Breeders Cup race winners are currently standing in West Virginia?

[philcski]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Son of one of my all-time favorites. Trivia question - how many Breeders Cup race winners are currently standing in West Virginia?

Black Tie Affair stands there, as does Prized... so I'd guess 2.

[justindew]

Formal Gold's record in races at distances under 1 1/4 miles was 12-8-4-0. His worst defeat was 3/4 length.

[slotdirt]

I always liked the way Black Tie Affair won route races. Get the lead, guns blazing, and dare someone to catch you. He was Commentator with moxie.

[slotdirt]

A personal favorite of mine. I'm hijacking justin's thread, and proudly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiMml...eature=related

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by justindew

Formal Gold's record in races at distances under 1 1/4 miles was 12-8-4-0. His worst defeat was 3/4 length.

He was getting weight from Skip Away in every race except the Woodward, in case you didn't notice.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

He was getting weight from Skip Away in every race except the Woodward, in case you didn't notice.

And his Woodward was his best race and easiest victory over Skip Away. Thank you for pointing out what I have said all along.....weight is meaningless. Much appreciated.

[justindew]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

He was getting weight from Skip Away in every race except the Woodward, in case you didn't notice.

I don't have Skip Away's PPs in front of me, and it's been 10 years. But other than his win over Cigar at Belmont, I seem to remember his biggest victories coming against suspect fields.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by justindew

I found this over at DRF.com. I think this horse got robbed of Horse of the Year in 1997. He faced Skip Away six times, and beat him in four of those races.

112 debut Beyer? Will we ever see that again?

I agree that he should have won Horse of the Year in 1997. I was at the Woodward that year, and he smoked Skip Away.

On the debut Beyer question, the only horse that I can think of off the top of my head is Rodeo. He broke his maiden at Belmont by something like 14 lengths, getting 6F in 1:08 and change.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

I agree that he should have won Horse of the Year in 1997. I was at the Woodward that year, and he smoked Skip Away.

On the debut Beyer question, the only horse that I can think of off the top of my head is Rodeo. He broke his maiden at Belmont by something like 14 lengths, getting 6F in 1:08 and change.

Rodeo didn't get that kind of number.

Meadowlake ran one of the highest debut numbers of all time ( somewhere between 109 and 113 I believe ). Chilluki ran around a 108 at 4 1/2 furlongs at CD.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Rodeo didn't get that kind of number.

You're right. According to his page on the farm in LA where he stands, Rodeo ran a 104 Beyer in his debut, which they claim was the fastest of any 2YO that year.

[slotdirt]

I don't know, Louis Quatorze has had a couple of nice runners, and Black Tie Affair, of course, is the sire of Formal Gold. Free House, well, he died, so I'm not going to hold that against him. Silver Charm wasn't exactly given a chance domestically; we'll see how he works out in Japan.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

I don't know, Louis Quatorze has had a couple of nice runners, and Black Tie Affair, of course, is the sire of Formal Gold. Free House, well, he died, so I'm not going to hold that against him. Silver Charm wasn't exactly given a chance domestically; we'll see how he works out in Japan.

I realize that some have had a few nice horses, but with the exception of Touch Gold and Skip Away, these horses have been relegated to serving regional markets. Consider how they have done versus some of the other horses that entered stud in either 1998 or 1999 (many of which had far less distinguished racing careers and started at very modest stud fees in comparison): Arch, Benchmark, Distorted Humor, Elusive Quality, Grand Slam, Indian Charlie, Langfuhr, Northern Afleet, Pulpit, Smoke Glacken, Stormy Atlantic, Tale of the Cat and Valid Expectations.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by justindew

I found this over at DRF.com. I think this horse got robbed of Horse of the Year in 1997. He faced Skip Away six times, and beat him in four of those races.

112 debut Beyer? Will we ever see that again? And he raced nine times in 1997, racing at least once a month from February through September.

One of my favorites of all time.

http://community.drf.com/formblog/files/formal_gold.pdf

A colt who actually went thru his conditions how novel a thought