Nashoba's Key races

[The Indomitable DrugS]

It's amazing that none of Nashoba's Key's synthetic races are on YouTube.

She's easily our 2nd best synthetic female of all-time and arguably our 2nd best Synthetic horse ever - male of female.

She was 4-for-4 lifetime on Syn - with two Grade 1 wins and two Grade 2 wins - all of which were stylish and came with very strong figures.

The big match-up with undefeated Zenyatta was supposed to come on March 9th 2008.

$300,000 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (gr. I, Race 9, 4:30 p.m.), Fillies & Mares 4 & Up, 1 1/8 Miles (All Weather)
PP. Horse, Weight, Jockey
1. Sweet Belle (KY), 114, Tyler Baze
2. Double Trouble (BRZ), 117, Rafael Bejarano
3. Good Mood (IRE), 113, Michael C. Baze
4. Say You Will (IRE), 114, Joseph Talamo
5. Dawn After Dawn (FL), 116, Victor Espinoza
6. Zenyatta (KY), 116, David R. Flores
7. Down (MD), 113, Martin Garcia
8. Nashoba's Key (CA), 122, Garrett K. Gomez

Nashoba's Key was the morning line favorite - but lightly raced Zenyatta was going to get 6lbs in a 9 furlong Handicap and I thought she was every bit as good as NK.

The match-up never happened.

March 10, 2008|Bob Mieszerski,

Those who were looking forward to a showdown between Nashoba's Key and the undefeated Zenyatta will have to wait for another day.

Saying the 4-year-old Street Cry filly wasn't 100% ready after missing some training, trainer John Shirreffs scratched Zenyatta, who is three for three for owners Jerry and Ann Moss, from the $300,000 Santa Margarita Handicap on Sunday at Santa Anita.

With no Zenyatta - Nashoba's Key took the Grade 1 race by 4.5 lengths - a big margin of victory considering Zenyatta's never won by more than 3.5 lengths in any one of her 15 lifetime synthetic wins.

I was tar and feathered after the race for saying Zenyatta probably still would have beat her anyway. Shirreffs just scracted because he wanted to prove to everyone he's more cautious than even Bobby Frankel.

Obviously Nashoba's Key died in a stall accident right after the race and the big match-up never happened.

Here are links to videos I found on DRF of two of Nashoba's Key's four syn wins.

* The Zenyatta-less 2008 Santa Margarita: http://www.drf.com/displayVideo.do?t...=D&country=USA

* Her amazing win over Zenyatta's half sister Balance at Del Mar. Victor Espinoza trapped her behind an impossibly slow pace and she rolled home despite a terrible setup: http://www.drf.com/displayVideo.do?t...=D&country=USA

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

* Her amazing win over Zenyatta's half sister Balance at Del Mar. Victor Espinoza trapped her behind an impossibly slow pace and she rolled home despite a terrible setup:

In terms of fast/slow pace she got a 'terrible' setup. But this is only a minor part of the equation, as 'setups' is a larger set than numeric pace. In terms of 'setups', she got the best trip in the race. Talamo has her outside of Balance on the 1st turn and early backstretch. Then he moves her inside, and Balance keeps her hemmed in, and behind horses, until after they enter the stretch. So, while Balance is trying to run on the outside at the leader, at a key juncture in the race, NK is drafting and waiting. She got out a relatively 'fresh' horse. Given this setup, she's supposed to win the race.

It's interesting that you gave a detailed writeup of the recent Gold Cup, where Awesome Gem got, essentially, the same trip as NK, yet appear to have missed this one. Appears that while you're on top of the ground loss issue, you've yet to come to grips with when/how a horses moves within the context of the race.

Hope you don't take this as criticism.

Come on DrugS: you're better than that.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

TFM, when the fractions are 25.93 - 51.07 - 1:16.37 in just an 8.5 furlong race and you are trapped in behind horses ... it's a terrible setup. Nashoba's Key was able to find room and unleashed a 5 and change final 1/16th of a mile over a dull surface to win going away. By comparison, the fractions in the Clement Hirsch the next year were 23.34 - 46.53 - 1:10.75. They were 23.86 - 48.84 - 1:13.64 last year when Zenyatta was life and death to make up the needed ground on Anabaa's Creation while closing in that race.

As far as Awesome Gem goes - the pace was a pokey 1:15.12 going 10 furlongs - but he was always saving ground and was just 1.5 lengths back after six furlongs. He didn't have his main rival trying to trap him behind a tiring horse.

Saving ground on the turns is always a good thing - being patient is always a good thing - but when a race is basically reduced to a trot for 7 furlongs and an all-out sprint for a final 1.5 furlongs - I'd rather be in the clear if I'm on the best horse.

Nashoba's Key beat the piss out of Balance in all 3 synthetic meetings anyway. Different tracks and different pace scenerios - it didn't matter. Poor Zenyatta never got to enact revenge on Nashoba's Key for what she did to her sister.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

$300,000 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (gr. I, Race 9, 4:30 p.m.), Fillies & Mares 4 & Up, 1 1/8 Miles (All Weather)
PP. Horse, Weight, Jockey
1. Sweet Belle (KY), 114, Tyler Baze
2. Double Trouble (BRZ), 117, Rafael Bejarano
3. Good Mood (IRE), 113, Michael C. Baze
4. Say You Will (IRE), 114, Joseph Talamo
5. Dawn After Dawn (FL), 116, Victor Espinoza
6. Zenyatta (KY), 116, David R. Flores
7. Down (MD), 113, Martin Garcia
8. Nashoba's Key (CA), 122, Garrett K. Gomez

This was actually the last time David Flores would ever be named to ride Zenyatta. A few weeks later Zenyatta ran in the Apple Blossom on the same day that Flores mount El Gato Malo was favored to win the Santa Anita Derby.

[richard]

Quite the commanding presence over that surface . Even with her unorthodox ride at Delmar she just dominates . She seemingly intimidates her opponents too by setting up right off them , letting them know what's in store .

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

This was actually the last time David Flores would ever be named to ride Zenyatta. A few weeks later Zenyatta ran in the Apple Blossom on the same day that Flores mount El Gato Malo was favored to win the Santa Anita Derby.

I thought it was Bob Black Jack he rode but yea it was the SA Derby.

Flores only got the initial mount by luck anyways when Smith was on vacation (think that was it), they wanted a route race to go at HP and it did not fill so they went 7/8ths a week later. Mike had worked her for a long while before the first race.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

I thought it was Bob Black Jack he rode but yea it was the SA Derby.

The Mig rode BBJ in the SA Derby.

The worst part is that I don't think Flores retained the mount on El Gato Malo when he won his next start after the SA Derby in the Lone Star Derby.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

The Mig rode BBJ in the SA Derby.

The worst part is that I don't think Flores retained the mount on El Gato Malo when he won his next start after the SA Derby in the Lone Star Derby.

Nope he didn't, Bejarano rode him at LS.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I'm sure Flores has to feel really good about that.

The amusing thing about the Nashoba's Key VS Zenyatta match-up that wasn't - was that I was all prepared to root for Zenyatta like a loud rowdy 9-year-old girl would. I would have pulled for her with every fiber of my being. I loved Shirreffs as a trainer, my E-mail and some passwords are old horses he trained about ten years ago - I really liked her first three wins and most of all Nashoba's Key's fans annoyed the living hell out of me and Zenyatta didn't have a single annoying fan yet that I witnessed.

Those two would have taken turns beating each other. Zenyatta would have probably taken a few more even though stylistically NK would have been a match-up problem and seemed to like Del Mar better than Z.

Just the gridlock it could have caused dividing those fans would have been wonderful.

[asudevil]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Nope he didn't, Bejarano rode him at LS.

It's ironic because The Mig was second on Cerin's horse named Leonides. He rode a great race.

[miraja2]

Nobody says "Zenyatta isn't that good and is ridiculously overrated" quite as skillfully (and indirectly) as DrugS.

[smuthg]

When did Joe T. lose the mount on Nashoba's Key?

[letswastemoney]

Originally Posted by smuthg

When did Joe T. lose the mount on Nashoba's Key?

When she lost a race sometime in January 2008. It was a turf race and the pace was slow. Nashoba's Key couldn't overcome the slow fractions for this one (I forget the winner's name) and finished 2nd. Gaines wasn't happy.