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#61
05-06-2009, 12:07 AM
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http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/o...cky_Derby_run/, Vineyard Haven alone cost $12 million. And no one here seems to comprehend that entire focus of Team Dubai's dirt breeding and training operation is to win the Derby--anything else that falls out of the process is gravy. We are talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade or so. Here's an interesting flashback: http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/...from_duba.html And here we get the update: http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/0...-1st-derby-win Quote:
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#62
05-06-2009, 12:11 AM
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By the way, am I the only one who remembers this book?
http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Derby-B...1582849&sr=1-1 Apparently.
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#63
05-06-2009, 01:06 AM
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I guess I'm alone in that I hate Sheikh Mo, hate Pletcher, but love what Sheikh Hamdan has done for the game. And even after seeing the Derby I still believe that anyone betting a Pletcher horse not named Dunkirk was far more foolish than anyone betting a Dubai horse. As was anyone betting the winner.
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#64
05-06-2009, 02:30 AM
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Yeah, at least my computer doesn't have 2500 viruses and have some robotic sounding German chick screaming at me when I boot up. How many times must I repeat myself. NO MORE PORN SITES! And when it happens yet again in another week don't go blaming the software I told you to use that successfully cleaned it up the last time. To prevent these future 'between the keyboard and chair' errors: 1. Stop going to your fetish porn sites. 2. Learn to use bit torrents. Maybe Pants here can explain how.
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#65
05-06-2009, 05:04 AM
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#66
05-06-2009, 10:03 AM
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--Dunbar
__________________
Curlin and Hard Spun finish 1,2 in the 2007 BC Classic, demonstrating how competing in all three Triple Crown races ruins a horse for the rest of the year...see avatar photo from REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
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#67
05-06-2009, 10:07 AM
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Thread of the Year nominee...
__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans
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#68
05-06-2009, 10:50 AM
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#69
05-06-2009, 10:59 AM
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I still say that if you have $5 in you pocket and you offer $1 for a candy bar.......and I have $1000 in my pocket and offer $5 for that same candy bar.......you offer was a bigger offer than mine because it was a higher percentage of what you actually have. I was just offering up pocket change. You were offering up a significant amount of all you had. That's the way I look at their purchases. You may look at the amount and think they are spending way too much. I look at it and say they are spending relatively nothing for them.
__________________
The real horses of the year (1986-2020) Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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#70
05-06-2009, 11:18 AM
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US writers are convinced that Sh Mo has a single mindled desire to win the Derby at all cost. His buying horses like VH seem to confirm it. But what most of them don't realize is that his US buying/racing is small compared to his worldwide splurging. It's not just winning the Derby, it's winning his way, via Dubai. As long as he tinks he can do it, he'll buy horses and send them to th meat grinder at Al Quoz.
Had Midshipman, VH, RR and DP all stayed in the US with their original trainers he might have had an overwhelming shot. (This assumes that Midshipman and VH would have trained on.) Sh. Mo is more committed to his plan than to winning the Derby.
__________________
RIP Monroe.
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#72
05-06-2009, 02:29 PM
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NT
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#73
05-06-2009, 03:05 PM
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That is, unless you are discounting the two year olds he wrecked before they turned three.
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#74
05-06-2009, 03:09 PM
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NT
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#76
05-06-2009, 06:39 PM
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Been off the map for a few days - but a delightful read here.
For the person who said they hate Sheikh Mo and Todd Pletcher, but LOVE Sheikh Hamdan, I'm interested in hearing that rationale. I still do not think you can deny that the preparations of Desert Party and Regal Ransom this year were the best of any previous Godolphin attempt. It wasn't enough, nowhere close. I bet both of them, in a variety of fashions, and lost. But ANYONE talking about mocking others for whom they bet in the Derby...c'mon. Before the race - mock away. After Mine that Bird won? Really? Everyone I know who hit something in the Derby won because of hitting the "ALL" button or making a mistake (guy next to me meant to bet 'that Pop-Pop horse' aka Papa Clem, but hit the 8 instead - had the exacta for $2 as a result). Call it what you will, but horse racing in Dubai is hot, and it's not just the weather. It might not yield a host of Kentucky Derby champions (and they will certainly try, although I believe the long-reported "obsession" is overblown), but Dubai is one of the VERY few places in the world where racing's influence is expanding, not contracting. Godolphin has won a bunch of big races, they will continue to, and surely there will be some they don't get. Many, many big time horsemen have tried to land the Derby and failed. WinStar, Vinery, Padua, Phipps, Stonestreet, Zayat, Winchell, Juddmonte, Peachtree, West Point, Reddam, Melnyk, Wygod, Stonerside/McNair, Whitney, Shadwell, and Godolphin. Some will keep trying, some won't. For most all of the people who are in the position to buy these horses, they know that no matter what big races they win, they will almost always spend more money than they win. It is a sport of many losers and few winners. We can't deny, however, that the money these big wigs flow through racing with their big-time purchases help keep the sport running. Like em or not, it's true. There are few people who dislike seeing the "little guys" take home the big prize, at least in this country. It's a typical American story and position. As for Dubai, the home team has the biggest support. They are rabid for the success for Godolphin. So - where does this leave us? Same place we started I suppose.
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#77
05-06-2009, 07:08 PM
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As for me telling you who, your apathy towards the whole thing has affected me too.
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#78
05-06-2009, 07:48 PM
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Below is a list of 2YO he's started on the NYRA circuit during that time: Armament Barbican Barcola Beholden Bellevue Belle Bemused Chambermaid Changing Weather Desert Party Dixie Lyrics Elusive Schemes Exotic Story Golden Manna Hatta Flower Imperial Reign Incriminate Keep Thinking Marietta Maxey Boy Media City My Golden Opinion Northern Pick Positive Force Reynaldothewizard Rondo Sahara Heat Stormy Blessing Sweet Ariette Tates Queen Testimony Unification It's fine if you think he has ruined 2YO I just would love to know who, my apathy for CA racing aside. NT
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#79
05-06-2009, 10:15 PM
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Please , which of that list would have been legit TC candidates? About half were fillies. Several others were sprint or miler bred and unlikely to get 10f in G1 racing. Others appeared to be OK but many were taken away and sent to Dubai.
Several on that list were described to me as "not much" by people within the Darley/Godolphin training operations, so don't kid yourself into seeing all those horses as classic prospects. As for Desert Party, he won a graded race at Saratoga before getting hurt in the fall. The brain trust at Godolphin took him to Dubai and planned out a schedule for him as a sprinter even though he's by Street Cry from a mare by a Belmont winner. They never really considered either RR or DP as Derby colts until the UAE Derby.
__________________
RIP Monroe.
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#80
05-06-2009, 10:18 PM
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Linear Mode
