Arena Equestrian/Horse Racing Discussion

Tiz the Law with the Belmont win.

But the real exciting showing was Gamine with her record-setting run in the Acorn, wow!

 

Horse racing is having a moment because of all team sports being MIA. You hope they can take advantage of it long term and become relevant again.

 

Well the Triple Crown has always been relevant. But yes I hope it draws more people in for sure.

 

Hard to say, given that the Kentucky Derby is the most well - known of the Triple Crown Races and with that and the Preakness pushed back to the fall, many people may not have realized the Belmont was still happening.

 

I'll be at dinner until about 6:30 so I'm only gonna be back to my hotel just in time for post time. I am definitely getting a mint julep though.

 

Baffert said he's fighting the drug test.

So I guess no Triple Crown this year either way, though.

 

Wow. That's pretty crazy about Baffert. I vaguely remember not long ago that the same thing happened with one of his horses during one of the Triple Crown races. He should probably call it a career by now.

I remember seeing him live once. I went to the final leg of American Pharoah's Triple Crown at Belmont several years ago and saw him walking towards his fancy car in the parking lot with his entourage.

 

I couldn't think of any other place to share this piece of solemn news.

RIP PIE-O-MY: TONY SOPRANO’S HORSE HAS ASCENDED TO THE BIG STABLE IN THE SKY

I vaguely remember the episode(s) involving Tony's beloved horse.

Spoiler

One of his cohorts apparently decided to cash in on a large insurance policy he had on the horse, so he started a fire on the barn. This was Tony Soprano's beloved horse, mind you (the video below shows an ending scene where the horse was recovering from an illness).



I also vaguely remember what happened to that cohort. It's one of those things that in hindsight, if he had to do it over again.....

 

Medina Spirit stripped of Kentucky Derby victory; trainer Bob Baffert suspended 90 days

The suspension will keep him and his horses out of the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

 

Wow that is massive news. I don't quite know what to think..it still seems like it was accidental contamination.

 

80-1 Shot. Wow. Unbelievable. And I remember Giacamo. I checked and it's the second biggest odds in the history of the derby for a winner.

 

It was freaking incredible! It looked like all the favorites had a terrible start, then by the start of the back stretch, the favorites had gotten up to the front, and you are expecting one of them to make all the experts look smart...and then...

RICH STRIKE!

Awesome.

One of my rooting interests along with Crown Pride. Who doesn't love an underdog?

Rich Strike was dead last at the first turn. Which means in a race running at record pace, he worked his way through an entire field as they tired, and still had enough to overtake the best horses in the world at the end.

Not a sport that captures my attention often, but stories like these keep me coming back the first Saturday in May.

 

The one thing that this pretty much guarantees is that there will most certainly not be a Triple Crown this year. I mean hats off to the Derby Winner, but that would really be unprecedented if the horse sweeps all three legs as an underdog.

There was no super overwhelming favorite for the Derby anyhow. It was a couple of horses that were at close odds with each other; and those were the two that Rich Strike passed by in that final stretch.

 

So in advance of the Derby today, 2 horses were pulled out of their earlier races and euthanized. The favorite "Forte" was also scratched for the Derby. There are about 18 horses in the race today, and about half of them are owned by two families. Maybe there should be some sort of monopoly rule. I guess that's what made Secretariat's story so memorable; a single family without any significant racing experience produces the gold standard of horses for the Triple Crown.

 

Between the familiar owner collectives...the almost yearly suspensions for drugging horses...the suspension of familiar owner collectives for drugging horses...the off-track drama of horse racing can match any of the bile all major sports carry.

But for 2 minutes a year, I forget it all and love this sport.

 

Trainer Todd Pletcher suspended for Forte positive drug test

This isn't really a surprise. Forte was the favorite for the Derby before he was pulled for an "injury", and now of course we know why.

 

It's interesting that they're showing all of the minor races before the Stakes. Stinks for them that they couldn't have a potential Triple Crown running in their first broadcast.