Great Preakness -- hopefully the start of a great seasonal rivalry

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by Danzig

Why? Seemed to have it his way today and couldnt hold off iha. How could he going even longer than in the last two?

Doesn't matter now

Apparently Bode is being replaced by Paynter in the Belmont.

Optimizer the only other Preakness starter to go to the Belmont.

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i also have issues with the connections...but what can you do?

Hope he loses? That's all I got.

[GPK]

It would be a great story for Mario and I have nothing against the horse (although his last lunge to get Bode at the wire yesterday just crushed my soul), I just personally find it hard to root for a guy like O'Neil.

[3kings]

I hope he wins the triple crown because it would be great for racing. The horse only sold for $35,000 which makes potential owners see that you don' t have to spend millions to have a quality horse. The connections aren't great but at least it isn't one of the mega-trainers. O'Neill is personable,very good with the press, and is making himself available to just about anyone who asks. He has a few skeletons in his closet but so do many in this industry.

The owner is the concern. That's potentially a media disaster.

[3kings]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

The owner is the concern. That's potentially a media disaster.

Coach, why because he is a legal loan shark or some other reason?

[somerfrost]

To paraphrase the Clinton campaign....It's the horse stupid! I have nothing against O'Neill, seems like a good guy to me but even if I did, I would still root for this ultra-game horse to win the TC. I've been waiting for a TC winner for a long time, been fortunate enough to see three of them and the elation is like nothing else. Racing needs a TC winner and we've been disappointed so many times.

Originally Posted by 3kings

Coach, why because he is a legal loan shark or some other reason?

That's the reason. It might be overlooked though. Human lives being destroyed are far less important than lasix.

[clambeau]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

That's the reason. It might be overlooked though. Human lives being destroyed are far less important than lasix.

It may be worse than that...Reddam might take Lasix himself !!!

[fpsoxfan]

You can't always have it both ways. Last year everyone hated Repole, before that it was all of the connections of Big Brown. It's horse racing. Good luck finding the "cookie cutter" Owner/Trainer combination. It's actually pretty hypocritical.

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

You can't always have it both ways. Last year everyone hated Repole, before that it was all of the connections of Big Brown. It's horse racing. Good luck finding the "cookie cutter" Owner/Trainer combination. It's actually pretty hypocritical.

Not everyone hated Repole. And there have been a few times in recent years where the owner/trainer/jockey combo of a potential Crown winner were pretty likeable. I don't think anybody hated any combo of the Funny Cide team. Same with Afleet Alex (at least at the time) or Smarty Jones. It's perfectly conceivable in horse racing to find connections that are at least mostly vanilla.

[King Glorious]

I was too young and not even into racing when the last three TC winners ran so I can only go by what I've read. All three were highly regarded horses prior to the Derby, hardly surprises. Not the same with I'll Have Another. Maybe it doesn't make sense but if a horse is going to become immortalized by winning the TC, I want it to be a star and this horse doesn't fit that for me. Not saying he's not a good horse because he is and there hasn't been anything lucky about his wins. He's deserved them and if he wins the Belmont, he'll deserve that too. It just bothers me that in the future, he'll be looked at as one of the sport’s greats because of the accomplishment and people won't take the time to understand that circumstances and timing often play a bigger role in making history than actual ability. People will remember I'll Have Another before Alysheba ,Sunday Silence, Risen Star, Point Given, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, and others. For that silly reason, I want him to lose.

[Grey Lag]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I was too young and not even into racing when the last three TC winners ran so I can only go by what I've read. All three were highly regarded horses prior to the Derby, hardly surprises. Not the same with I'll Have Another. Maybe it doesn't make sense but if a horse is going to become immortalized by winning the TC, I want it to be a star and this horse doesn't fit that for me. Not saying he's not a good horse because he is and there hasn't been anything lucky about his wins. He's deserved them and if he wins the Belmont, he'll deserve that too. It just bothers me that in the future, he'll be looked at as one of the sport’s greats because of the accomplishment and people won't take the time to understand that circumstances and timing often play a bigger role in making history than actual ability. People will remember I'll Have Another before Alysheba ,Sunday Silence, Risen Star, Point Given, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, and others. For that silly reason, I want him to lose.

By that logic there will never be another deserving TC winner since horses don't have anything like the schedules that Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed had as two and three year olds. Horses today don't race enough prior to the triple crown races to compile a resume like those horses. Secretariat had 12 races prior to the Kentucky Derby.

If I'll Have Another wins the Belmont Stakes he will have won 4 Grade I and 1 Grade II races this year while only a couple of other 3-year-olds have even won a single GI.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I was too young and not even into racing when the last three TC winners ran so I can only go by what I've read. All three were highly regarded horses prior to the Derby, hardly surprises. Not the same with I'll Have Another. Maybe it doesn't make sense but if a horse is going to become immortalized by winning the TC, I want it to be a star and this horse doesn't fit that for me. Not saying he's not a good horse because he is and there hasn't been anything lucky about his wins. He's deserved them and if he wins the Belmont, he'll deserve that too. It just bothers me that in the future, he'll be looked at as one of the sport’s greats because of the accomplishment and people won't take the time to understand that circumstances and timing often play a bigger role in making history than actual ability. People will remember I'll Have Another before Alysheba ,Sunday Silence, Risen Star, Point Given, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, and others. For that silly reason, I want him to lose.

I once shared that mindset, for various ridiculous reasons. I even rooted against Alysheba, the first horse I ever saw with a chance to win the TC, in the Belmont because I didn't think he was worthy. In fact, Sunday Silence and Silver Charm were about the only two possible Triple Crown winners that I believed were worthy.

Our sport is battered and bruised. It has gone the way of boxing, and most Americans care little about it. It desperately needs something that makes it relevant to most Americans, even if for a short time. A Triple Crown winner will provide that relevancy.

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

I once shared that mindset, for various ridiculous reasons. I even rooted against Alysheba, the first horse I ever saw with a chance to win the TC, in the Belmont because I didn't think he was worthy. In fact, Sunday Silence and Silver Charm were about the only two possible Triple Crown winners that I believed were worthy.

Our sport is battered and bruised. It has gone the way of boxing, and most Americans care little about it. It desperately needs something that makes it relevant to most Americans, even if for a short time. A Triple Crown winner will provide that relevancy.

Wonder how many folks will be saying that if the horse somehow wins the Belmont and is retired by year's end.

[OldDog]

I'll Have Another is reminding me a bit of Charismatic, in that no one gave him much respect until he won the Preakness. I'll Have Another will likely be a huge favorite in the Belmont. With whom will you bet against him?

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Wonder how many folks will be saying that if the horse somehow wins the Belmont and is retired by year's end.

He said "if even for a short time."

The fighting about whether we can cheer for the horse is a microcosm of why racing has been relagated to the same popularity level as cycling.

[slotdirt]

Folks can cheer for whatever horse or connections they want. I'll be rooting against it, but if the horse wins on the 9th, my life won't be effected one way or the other.