HOTY: If Zenyatta wins the Classic...

[alysheba4]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

RA did not stay on the East Coast. She dominated horses at Fair Grounds, Oaklawn Park, and Churchill Downs. While RA was racing in Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maryland, and New York, Zenyatta left the comfort of LA to travel 120 miles down the road to San Diego.

Of the 19 top Beyers this years for dirt races over a mile, RA owns 5 of them. You can't find Zenyatta on this list with a searchlight.

Zenyatta's late rally was impressive, but then again, most turf races end in such fashion. No wonder turfers Gio Ponti and Twice Over felt right at home.

zenyatta would go by RA at 10 furlongs on dirt,turf,syn,or glass........stevie wonder could see that.

[Danzig]

i can see that making a third set of awards would make sense, but i don't think poly will be around in future to make it worth the trouble. chrb has already said they jumped the gun, that it wasn't what it was billed to be, and that the tracks out there can return to dirt at any time. of course the cost would be prohibitive at this point.
at any rate, rather than argue who beat whom....who won more gr 1's? what do the stats for the year for both tell us?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by alysheba4

zenyatta would go by RA at 10 furlongs on dirt,turf,syn,or glass........stevie wonder could see that.

maybe, maybe not.

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

The fact that the turf male of the year finished second ahead of the good natural dirt horses is pretty telling, IMO, particularly considering Gio Ponti's one other synthetic try was pretty mediocre.

I thought sending Summer Bird to the Classic and not to a race like the Clark was a huge mistake before yesterday.

Gio Ponti has won a grade 3 on synthetic.
Summer Bird outran proven synthetic horses yesterday.
Gio Ponti could be good on dirt but since he's never attempted, he is,and should be labeled a turf horse.
Einstein has proven himself on every surface and was outrun by Summer Bird.
Girolamo was the only dirt horse in the field who had never tried synthetic and ran poorly.
RVW was the only turf horse in the field who had never tried synthetic and ran poorly
Regal Ransom was the only dirt horse in the field who had previously tried synthetic unsuccessfully.
Zenyatta is a proven dirt horse who happens to be located in synthetic surroundings.

It is a myth that turf runners are better on synthetic than dirt horses.The fact is that more turf runners attempt synthetics than dirt runners.

Summer Bird was not good enough to win yesterday.It is much too convenient to use the surface as an excuse.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by Port Conway Lane

Gio Ponti has won a grade 3 on synthetic.
Summer Bird outran proven synthetic horses yesterday.
Gio Ponti could be good on dirt but since he's never attempted, he is,and should be labeled a turf horse.
Einstein has proven himself on every surface and was outrun by Summer Bird.
Girolamo was the only dirt horse in the field who had never tried synthetic and ran poorly.
RVW was the only turf horse in the field who had never tried synthetic and ran poorly
Regal Ransom was the only dirt horse in the field who had previously tried synthetic unsuccessfully.
Zenyatta is a proven dirt horse who happens to be located in synthetic surroundings.

It is a myth that turf runners are better on synthetic than dirt horses.The fact is that more turf runners attempt synthetics than dirt runners.

Summer Bird was not good enough to win yesterday.It is much too convenient to use the surface as an excuse.

Zenyatta's a proven dirt horse because of one race at Oaklawn? Zenyatta is a synthetic horse who proved she can run on dirt.

Zenyatta would make an awfully fascinating Dubai World Cup winner on the new synthetic surface in the inaugural running at Meydan.

NT

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

Zenyatta's a proven dirt horse because of one race at Oaklawn? Zenyatta is a synthetic horse who proved she can run on dirt.

Zenyatta would make an awfully fascinating Dubai World Cup winner on the new synthetic surface in the inaugural running at Meydan.

NT

Well she certainly can't be labeled a turf horse.
My point is that Summer Bird (or any proven dirt runner) could be a successful synthetic runner if he was given more opportunities.
Zenyatta runs her races in her locale which happens to be synthetic.If she was given more opportunities she could as she did in her only attempt be as good or better on dirt.

[2Hot4TV]

Zenyatta would of beat them on dirt too.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Although I respect Jerry Bailey and think he does a great job on TV, I thought he was way off when he said Rachel and co. ducked the tougher spot when they chose the Woodward over the Travers shortly after the Classic.

I completely disagree. The Woodward field was a bunch of proven subpar older horses. The Travers was against two (at the time you could say 4) up and coming horses who already were running figures better then the Woodward field. Not to mention the distance factor which further makes the Travers the tougher spot. I thought Summer bird and Quality Roads performance in the Gold Cup even further vindicates the notion that the Travers was not only tougher but much tougher than the Woodward.

[letswastemoney]

No one can say Zenyatta can beat RA on dirt because the match up will never happen!!!!!

How quickly people forget RA's accomplishments

People only remember the last thing to happen. I am not saying Zenyatta wouldn't be a worthy HOY, but it's a bit presumptuous to assume Zenyatta would thump RA on dirt based off one dirt race.

[copying]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

Zenyatta's a proven dirt horse because of one race at Oaklawn? Zenyatta is a synthetic horse who proved she can run on dirt.

Zenyatta would make an awfully fascinating Dubai World Cup winner on the new synthetic surface in the inaugural running at Meydan.

NT

Sherriffs is already on record as saying Zenyatta is better on natural dirt than poly.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by copying

Sherriffs is already on record as saying Zenyatta is better on natural dirt than poly.

Well then case closed.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I completely disagree. The Woodward field was a bunch of proven subpar older horses. The Travers was against two (at the time you could say 4) up and coming horses who already were running figures better then the Woodward field. Not to mention the distance factor which further makes the Travers the tougher spot. I thought Summer bird and Quality Roads performance in the Gold Cup even further vindicates the notion that the Travers was not only tougher but much tougher than the Woodward.

This really is a poor opinion.. Where is Summer Birds big race on anything but slop.. QR at 10f's was a complete toss.. Summer Bird might be just ok on anything but slop and as we already know Rachel destroyed him in the slop. The Travers field has been hardly flattered nor has the Woodward field but the seasoned horses that made up the Woodward at least were triple digit BSF animals. How many in the Travers will ever be triple digit horses at 9 or10fs again?

[Cannon Shell]

Regardless of all the HoY bs I think it has been understated just how good of a ride Mike Smith gave her yesterday. That was flawless. Mike has been knocked a lot over the last few years and in some cases deservedly so, but that was one of the all-time money rides.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by freddymo

This really is a poor opinion.. Where is Summer Birds big race on anything but slop.. QR at 10f's was a complete toss.. Summer Bird might be just ok on anything but slop and as we already know Rachel destroyed him in the slop. The Travers field has been hardly flattered nor has the Woodward field but the seasoned horses that made up the Woodward at least were triple digit BSF animals. How many in the Travers will ever be triple digit horses at 9 or10fs again?

The Travers field produced the first two finishers in the Gold Cup (a pretty fair race) while the Woodward field has done ........what have they done exactly?

Bullsbay?
Macho Again?

Yeah right freddy, Summer bird and Quality Road arent better than the Woodward field.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Regardless of all the HoY bs I think it has been understated just how good of a ride Mike Smith gave her yesterday. That was flawless. Mike has been knocked a lot over the last few years and in some cases deservedly so, but that was one of the all-time money rides.

She really was a lot better then these Chuck..She gave Smith the ride all he did was stay out of the way.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The Travers field produced the first two finishers in the Gold Cup (a pretty fair race) while the Woodward field has done ........what have they done exactly?

Bullsbay?
Macho Again?

Yeah right freddy, Summer bird and Quality Road arent better than the Woodward field.

Both those horses were pointed for the Woodward.. QR is a best at 8 or 9 and SB is may just be a slop colt.. What makes you think he is so good..

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by freddymo

She really was a lot better then these Chuck..She gave Smith the ride all he did was stay out of the way.

I give up.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Both those horses were pointed for the Woodward.. QR is a best at 8 or 9 and SB is may just be a slop colt.. What makes you think he is so good..

Like i said i give up.

SB may not be Seattle Slew but he is far better and more accomplished that Bullsbay or macho Again or any other from that bunch.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I give up.

I give him credit for winning with the best horse..Arent you suppose to win if you have clearly the fastest horse?

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Like i said i give up.

SB may not be Seattle Slew but he is far better and more accomplished that Bullsbay or macho Again or any other from that bunch.

Lets see him win a dry track then you can laud the great Summer Bird..