A Crock of 4yos

[RolloTomasi]

Why can’t I get one of these jobs? I’m good at writing drivel…

Historical appraisals require at least several years for a proper analysis, but it's becoming more and more likely that in time the foal crop of 2018 may deserve special recognition.

It takes years, but we’re going to base our opinion on a few days worth of evidence…FAIL.

Just like the foals of 2004, which included Curlin , Street Sense , Hard Spun , and the filly Rags to Riches who had a profound impact on the racetrack and breeding shed, the current crop of top 4-year-olds are proving to be highly special.

We're including breeding recordss, but we’re going to base our opinion before a single offspring is born…FAIL.

First off, Street Sense, Hard Spun, and Rags to Riches all failed to start as 4yos. Secondly, although all 3 males have been good stallions, none has lit the world on fire. Rags to Riches has been decidedly unimportant as a broodmare, unless you consider the Serbian and Hungarian breeding industries significant factors in your analysis.

The retired Essential Quality was the 2-year-old male champion in 2020 and is likely to be the Eclipse Award winner as a 3-year-old. Yet if that voting took place Jan. 30, what happened a day earlier in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by 1/ST BET (G1) at Gulfstream Park, would have shifted the scales.

The 2021 Eclipse Awards are based on performances in 2021, but we’re going to include performances from 2022…FAIL.

A scintillating and decisive 3 1/4-length victory in the Pegasus over expected 2021 Horse of the Year and Longines World's Best Racehorse honoree Knicks Go surely pushed the 4-year-old Life Is Good into a position of leadership among his crop and status as the early favorite to emerge as 2022's best horse, especially with Knicks Go heading to the breeding shed.

“Especially with Knicks Go heading to the breeding shed”? He was always retiring in early 2022. Wouldn’t it make more sense to make the nonsensical pronouncement that Life is Good is the “early favorite” to be 2022’s best horse because Flightline sits on the sidelines and awaits only a Grade 2 sprint over 5 weeks from now?

"If they voted today, you would have to say Life Is Good would be 2022 Horse of the Year," said Brad Cox, trainer of both Pegasus runner-up Knicks Go and Essential Quality, "but there's still 11 months left in the year and horses have to stay sound. That can be tough."

I learned a lot from this quote. 11 months left? Thanks for explaining I was worried I was going to have to dig up my old kindergarten notebooks.

Incidentally, if we have 11 months left in 2022, what does that mean in terms of number of starts for these “superstars”? 3…4 races tops?

There are indeed many months and miles to go and given the quality of the 4-year-old crop and its new superstar, there should indeed be some highly exciting times ahead.

Many months and many miles, but ironically not many races to go…

New superstar?…horse has been hyped up since his Del Mar debut.

Much of the excitement will center on where Life Is Good pops up next, and that's likely to be in the Middle East at a yet to be determined locale.

Yeah right. He’s not going to run in Saudi Arabia on a 4-week turnaround. The question becomes, do they want to see him run 10 furlongs before the BC Classic?

Trainer Todd Pletcher said all options are on the table for the son of Into Mischief, pending how he recovers from his victory in 1:48.91 in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus. While that could mean the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) on Feb. 26 may be in play, prior to the Pegasus Pletcher's conversations with the ownership group of WinStar Farm and China Horse Club centered on the turnaround for the Saudi Cup being a bit short. The final flight for Saudi Cup horses is expected to leave the United States for Saudi Arabia Feb. 16.

Yeah, he ain’t runnin’ there.

If it's a no-go for the Saudi Cup then the March 26 $12 million Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airlines (G1) would be the likely choice.

I’ll be waiting with the anticipation of an indentured servant building luxury condos on an otherwise empty man-made island off the coast of Dubai trying to make enough money to buy back my passport and smuggle my way out of my host country and back home…

The foreign races reflect the strength of the 4-year-old class as two of the main players for the Saudi Cup are Hot Rod Charlie , who won last year's Pennsylvania Derby (G1) at 3 and was second in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), and Mandaloun , who was second in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and was awarded the victory in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) when Hot Rod Charlie was disqualified for interference.

Oh yeah, Hot Rod Charlie and Mandaloun; and the the strength of the 1987 crop was reflected by the exploits of Chief Honcho and Defensive Play…

Then there's Flightline , a 4-year-old who has the kind of freakish early speed that makes him a worthy and exciting rival for the equally speedy Life Is Good.

I guess it would be exciting if there was some sort of Fantasy League for horse racing…

The son of Tapit trained by John Sadler is 3-for-3 in his career and is targeting the March 5 San Carlos Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park .

The San Carlos? Makes sense as a starting point for a route horse after a long 2021 campaign…or if you are trying to keep the reputation of a hyped up lightly raced horse intact ahead of a lucrative stallion career…

I guess Brickyard Ride might make him run for a ¼ mile at least, unless Sadler buys Ax Man off of Baffert to soften up the formidable Cal-bred runoff…

He was last seen romping by 11 1/2 lengths while capturing the seven-furlong Runhappy Malibu Stakes (G1) in a blistering 1:21.37. Based on that performance alone, a Life Is Good vs. Flightline matchup is the race that most racing fans have atop their wish lists for 2022.

Wait, didn’t Flightline beat Stilleto Boy by 13 lengths in the Malibu, widening with every stride? Stilleto Boy was only 4 lengths behind and actually gaining on Life is Good at the end of the Pegasus.

These horses don’t need to run against each other; it’s a foregone conclusion that need only be contested on paper in their respective stallion adverts…

"I hope and I'm sure Life Is Good's people hope that at some point in the future Flightline and Life Is Good will be in the same starting gate," said Terry Finley, president and CEO of West Point Thoroughbreds, which owns Flightline in a partnership with Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, and Woodford Racing. "People will be talking about that race for generations to come."

I like how all these quotes about these 2 hyped up speed horses have this dream-like quality about them; romanticizing about them just making another start, never mind actually running against each other.

This Finley guy is the dude who bought a minor piece (with other people’s money, mind you) of Always Dreaming the day before the 2017 Kentucky Derby, then hogged the post-race interview immediately following the race, chiding the nation (or at least that’s who he presumed who his audience was) that if they just worked hard enough, all their dreams would come true.

America got up from the couch and got its collective self another beer…

Beyond Flightline, consider such 4-year-olds as multiple grade 1 winner Jackie's Warrior , the only horse to beat Life Is Good, Midnight Bourbon , and even Stilleto Boy , who was third in the Pegasus, and you have an outstanding group of active runners from a crop that also includes classic winners Essential Quality, Rombauer , who has also been retired, and Medina Spirit, who passed away in December.

The DEPTH of this CROCK…er…CROP!

Jackie’s Warrior…the “active runner” currently recovering from joint surgery.

Midnight Bourbon…who I believe ran 3rd in a match race last year.

Stilleto Boy…the richest also-ran in the country.

Rombauer…conquering of fillies on synthetic surfaces (and Midnight Bourbon).

WTF…

"It's a really strong group of horses," said Pletcher, who also trains the favorite for the champion 3-year-old filly crown, Malathaat , "and Life Is Good is a very special part of it."

He might be the only part of it…

Cox, who trains Mandaloun, says he's eager to face Life Is Good with Juddmonte Farms' grade 1 winner and sees a wide array talent among the 4-year-olds that are indeed some historical parallels.

"This could be a group like the Curlin, Hard Spun, Street Sense group, who were tremendous racehorses that made an impact on the breed," he said. "It takes a few years for that to develop but this seems like a good, very, very deep group and we were fortunate to have our hands on a few of them. It's an exceptional crop and a horse like Rombauer might have been a champion in a different year."

I knew I was right when I said that both Mandaloun and Rombauer made more sense than Life is Good as 2021 champion 3yo…

Time will, of course, tell, but given the quality, consistency, and durability of the leading members of the 2018 crop and the brilliance that Life Is Good has displayed in winning six of his seven career starts, history should be their friend in the years to come.

Durability? These geniuses realize that Medina Spirit, Rombauer, Essential Quality (you know, all the classic winners from the crock?) are no longer racing? We’re left with a bunch of bridesmaids and two horses that in years past would have been fine replacements for Jolie’s Halo or Old Trieste.

Even more importantly, with all of the court cases and negative publicity surrounding the sport, a year of phenomenal matchups on the racetrack would be manna from heaven.

Match-UPS? Did this mook really just use the plural? Blood test this fool…he’s on dope.

"I think I can speak for everyone in the industry, after all we have been going through lately, we need a great year on the racetrack," Finley said.

At least no one’s cracked open any scandals in the syndicate business recently…

With some luck, it just might happen.

We don’t need luck, we need sportsmanship…