Legends swing into gavel action

[Indian Charlie]

Maybe they should rename the group, Legends with Alzheimers, after they purchased a Closing Argument yearling for 300 or 330k today.

[cakes44]

Recent butcher jobs by DWL:

Folklore
Pegasus Wind

Both of these horses went into their 1st races off lengthy layoffs with I believe only 3 workouts, and neither ran after their comebacks.

[Linny]

Originally Posted by cakes44

Recent butcher jobs by DWL:

Folklore
Pegasus Wind

Both of these horses went into their 1st races off lengthy layoffs with I believe only 3 workouts, and neither ran after their comebacks.

So he "butchered" them by training them to lightly?

Is Todd a butcher because horses like Ravel, Monba and others have not lived up to pedigree and expectation? What about Mott? Riley Tucker was named for Mott's son, so clearly there was the expectation that he'd be an outstanding colt. McLaughlin? He won the Belmont with Jazil who never won again. Butcher job or just a slowish colt who met the right (even slower) bunch at what is today a freakish distance?

Or are these good horsemen with horses that didn't live up to expectations for various reasons?

Of the 3 "Legends" trainers, IMO, Nick has the best record of maximizing horses with "mid level" valuation, as determined by sale price. Yet even Nick has seen several of his good babies from the last few years failed to train on. That said, several of these are still around and running but for other trainers in more modest races. (Irish Majesty comes to mind.) A few years ago a partnership I'm connected to claimed a horse from Asmussen that he had taken from LaPenta/Zito. He was G1 placed at two and when he looked like he wasn't going to be a graded winner at 3 he was dropped in for a tag. He win 2 allowance races for the partnership and ran until he was 6, when a neck injury of all things, ended his career. It's a testament to Zito's training style that so many of his former "potential" starts are still knocking around at 6 or over and winning races.

[cakes44]

He butchered them by racing them in big races off layoffs when they weren't in shape to handle it. Just my opinion, of course. I've never trained a horse.

[VOL JACK]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Maybe they should rename the group, Legends with Alzheimers, after they purchased a Closing Argument yearling for 300 or 330k today.

I dont know if they are picking out the purchases, or if it is Gaines-Gentry.

Thats Bafferts new niche, picking out 5k sires offspring and paying mega-bucks. Wouldnt be surprised if some money wasnt being moved 'under the table.'

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by Scav

Baffert had that Mr. Sekatichi horse I think. I can't think of many if any from zito, he doesn't seem to spend these crazy amounts....

It was Mr. Sekiguchi named after FuPeg's owner who probably handed Baffert this horse on a silver platter. I'm sure they don't like turning down an owner willing to send them an expensive horse if only for the gamble that a long term professional relationship could result not to mention that never-dying notion they have that the most expensive might somehow end up being worth it. He did the best he could (the horse was no The Green Monkey, he was just not as good as his price would suggest not that he didn't try hard from what I remember reading). Hideyuki Mori bought him on behalf of Sekiguchi so when did Baffert enter the scene? The colt ran a 1:08 2/5 for 6 furlongs but got a tibia injury. I'll assume he was training in California and this all happened prior to the synthetic installation didn't it? I wonder if that would've affected his longevity, given how fast Baffert works his young'uns.