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#21
08-04-2009, 07:30 PM
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Well, that might have had a little something to do with it.
Even though 9.5 furlongs is a perfect distance for her and 12fs isn't .. it would have been tough to win a race like the Preakness on just 24 hours rest. I'm just glad she saved us from a Lukas triple crown winner. 
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#22
08-04-2009, 07:34 PM
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#23
08-04-2009, 08:50 PM
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#24
08-04-2009, 09:27 PM
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Her lone loss was a hard fought second to the hugely underrated Sardula in the Kentucky Oaks over a miserable track. Her three year old debut was on Jan. 08 in a nw1x allowance. The splits were 22.67, 45.14, 109.16 and the final time was 121.34! Her BSF was a 103. Compare that to Cardmania's race two races earlier on the card, which had splits of 22.12, 44.64, 110.86 and the final time was 121.23! His BSF was a 106. Keep in mind that it was Cardmania that had just won the Breeders Cup Sprint just two months prior. Quote:
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Lakeway had a far tougher crop than either of these other two and had the handicap of being trained by one of the all time butchers, Gary Jones. Her two last races before being sacrificed by Jones (she nearly died after running sick in the Alabama) were two races for the ages. In the Mother Goose she set fractions of 23.14, 45.35, 108.65, 133.54 and the final time an amazing 146.58. In second, 4.5 back was the decent filly Cinnamon Sugar with future superstar filly Inside Information another six back in third. Next, in the Hollywood Oaks, she was on or near the lead with fractions of 23.62, 46.99, 110.08, 134.28 with the final time in 146.93. That makes her last three fractions of 23.09, 24.20 and a final furlong in 12.65. In this race she avenged her lone defeat in the Kentucky Oaks by trouncing Sardula by 4, with like another 15 lengths back to third. The Beyer? 117. I think we'd be all very hard pressed to find a three year old filly that could do what she did up to this point.
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#25
08-04-2009, 09:38 PM
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She had big races for sure.
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#26
08-04-2009, 10:01 PM
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#27
08-04-2009, 11:32 PM
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#28
08-04-2009, 11:42 PM
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#29
08-05-2009, 01:21 AM
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Yeah, she was near death the day after this race.
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#30
08-05-2009, 09:54 AM
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I was a huge fan of SBD, and vividly remember standing at Churchill when she was asked to run in the Oaks and being awestruck at how easily she cruised past the front runners. I'll always believe she would have won that Derby, and was mad that Baffert entered the wrong filly in the wrong race.
With that said, Rachel has done more to this point by virture of going where no other fillies dared. While SBD could have (would) won the Derby or Preakness, Rachel did win the Preakness. SBD's wins that followed were very impressive, but RA stepped out again to take the Haskell vs the colts by open lengths. Either way you want it, they are the two best 3yo fillies I've seen in my 20 years of closely following the sport.
__________________
Do I think Charity can win? Well, I am walking around in yesterday's suit.
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#31
08-05-2009, 12:42 PM
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Beating "the boys" is nice, but I'm not sure how many "points" it earns her in a comparison with Silverbulletday because the boys she beat weren't exactly outstanding. Just because they're colts, doesn't mean they're good.
She obviously can't control who she faces, but if injuries hadn't gotten in the way, and she had won a race like the Preakness or the Haskell with horses like I Want Revenge, Quality Road, and The Pamplemousse entered.....well that would be a very different story. On the whole I think the two are pretty close if you compare their careers up to this point which is a complement - not an insult - to Rachel's career. Given the dip that Silverbulletday took after this point in her career, RA certainly has the talent to move well past her in terms of a total career.
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#32
08-14-2009, 03:12 PM
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In honor of SBD's induction, Crist posted her lifetime PP's on his blog:
http://cristblog.drf.com/crist/
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#33
08-14-2009, 03:20 PM
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What about Zenyatta versus Silverbulletday
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#34
08-14-2009, 03:47 PM
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With Beyer figs being a so called measurement, does this mean Rock and Roll's 121 makes him one of then greatest horses of all time?
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#35
08-15-2009, 01:53 AM
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Rock and Roll's 121 came with an uncontested early lead - over a sloppy speed favoring Belmont Park race track. He won by 14 lengths under just 112lbs in track record time. Getting 8.5 furlongs in 1:39 2/5ths. Simply, that number only means that when Rock and Roll is allowed to loaf on an uncontested early lead under 112lbs over a sloppy speed favoring track - he's capable of beating a lot of outstanding horses. Assuming those outstanding horses don't have the speed to press him - or have jockeys who give R&R a free pass on the lead. The horse who ran 2nd to him beaten 14 that day was 2nd by 5 to the very good Coronado's Quest less than a month later. It really would take monumental stupidity to suggest that final time speed figures are not the best overall measurement when comparing horses from different time periods throughout the last 15 years or so. To suggest that they aren't even a measurement at all is something you'd expect to hear from Sumitas when he's on PCP.
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#36
08-15-2009, 02:15 PM
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Which is why I bring it up. Anyone that uses Beyer figs to compare who is the better horse is a moron. Each race is unique, no two races are run the same. To use Beyer figs as any type of comparision between horses, especially great horses, is a disservice to the horse. While Easy Goer had the consistently higher Beyer figs, Sunday Silence had the 3 - 1 record over him in 1989. You want to compare Rachel and SBD, don't use the Beyer figs, just look at their record and accomplishments on track.
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#37
08-15-2009, 03:02 PM
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To suggest being able to run fast isn't important is laughable. And if someone can't analytically factor the circumstances of a race with how fast a horse ran ... they're simply not a very good handicapper. Quote:
That is the kind of stupidity that gets Favorite Trick voted horse of the year over Skip Away. It's the same kind of stupidity that made people insist Stardom Bound was way better than Rachel Alexandra. It's the same kind of stupidity that made bettors bet Justwhistledixie to favortisim over Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks future pool in late March. Here I am saying Rachel Alexandra is the best 3yo in the country - male or female - back in Mid Feb. after she won the ungraded Martha Washington Stakes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P007YXgCvE You have a filly who was 3-for-6 as a 2yo, with just one stakes win - and just won a 50K stake against bums in her 3yo debut... Are you supposed to pretend that she's somehow not as good as Stardom Bound .. because Stardom Bound is a champion who won 5 straight Grade 1 stake races? Like that means anything at all. Rachel Alexandra's Golden Rod was unarguably the best two turn route race by a 2yo last year - male or female. In the Martha Washington, she ran 3.5 lengths faster than Eight Belles did when EB won that race by a pole the prior year. AND .. unlike Eight Belles, Rachel Alexandra came into that race off of a layoff for a trainer who's not a very good layoff trainer. But yeah, it's a disservice to Stardom Bound and her amusing 5 straight Grade 1 wins and championship .. to say that she's inferior to a horse (RA) who is unquestionably open lengths better than Eight Belles. Think this one through a little bit. By your half baked theory .. Stardom Bound and her 5 straight Grade 1's and championship in 7 lifetime races drowned Rachel Alexandra's much more modest resume through her first 7 races.
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#38
08-15-2009, 03:12 PM
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In my half baked theory I would never have said Stardom Bound is "superior" to RA because with my own eyes I can see how Starbom Bound was regressing and RA was moving forward. As we all know, 2 year old form doesn't always translate to 3 year old form. We can argue for or against who deserves awards, HOY, who is better etc. and we all have some validity. I'm just saying, Beyer figs or any type of figs in general shouldn't be used as a major source of comparision between horses. BTW, I wouldn't have made Justwhistledixie the favorite in Oaks future wagering either, that was probablty made by the West Point owners.
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#39
08-15-2009, 03:22 PM
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Heck - if race record and accomplishment is all that matters ... we're even supposed to ignore a hell of a lot of other handicapping factors that are far more important than race record and accomplishment. I don't blame people who bash final time figures from a betting standpoint - because they're priced into the odds .. and sometimes figuremakers get them wrong. However, when comparing horses from the last two decades ... there is without question no better starting point than asking 'how fast is the horse .. and how were his figures earned.'
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#40
08-16-2009, 11:17 AM
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__________________
Do I think Charity can win? Well, I am walking around in yesterday's suit.
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