I remember Cigar quite fondly. But I wonder about what breeders are doing to thoroughbreds - they were much more durable in carrying weights not that long ago (sorry, I remember the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 2 miles, and Kelso).
Also, wasn't Cigar found to be sterile? makes you wonder what some of these meds they have to give to the horses to keep them sound might be doing to them in the long run.
That said, GO FUNNY CIDE in the MASS CAP!
Unfortunately, Mineshaft, Congaree and Medaglia D'Oro are all retired, and none of them really seized the public fancy as Holy Bull, Cigar and Skip Away did in their heyday.
There are lots of good foreign horses, but a foreign horse has had most of its great victories outside the US, so they don't really appeal to the US skate fan.
Sunline(NZ) was one of my favorites. 48(32-8-3) $8,400,189 USA dollars. She could run on different surfaces, tracks, countries, against the boys and still win. I remember getting butterflies listening to her last Cox Plate win. I would get so mad when some of my fellow American racing fans said she wasn't great unless she came over here and ran at Belmont Park. Grrr......
Orientate was another recent horse who was very good. A sprinter, he won his last six starts.
Azeri, the chestnut filly who was voted Horse of the Year. She has quite a following.
How did I miss this until 5 minutes ago? Azeri vs Storm Flag Flying!
Belmont Park - June 19th, 2004 - Race 9
Ogden Phipps H. - Grade: 1Estimated Local Post Time: 5:15 PM
Race Type: Stakes
Breed: Thoroughbred race
Age Restriction: Three Year Old and Upward
Sex: Fillies and Mares
Purse: $300,000
Distance: One And One Sixteenth Miles
Surface: Dirt
Post Horse Name Age Sex Weight Jockey Name
1 Azeri (KY) 6 Mare 123 Pat Day
2 Passing Shot (KY) 5 Mare 116 Richard Migliore
3 Sightseek (KY) 5 Mare 120 Jerry D. Bailey
4 Storm Flag Flying (KY) 4 Filly 117 John R. Velazquez
Storm Flag at 117 vs the mares!. It's been a long slump but if she can shake it off it should be a great race!
Any AP Indy fans? His 2000 half brother, Eavesdropper, finished 4th today in a 1 mile allowance at Belmont. Kiaran P. McLaughlin is the trainer.
Azeri last!
order of finish Ogden Phipps H. :
3 Sightseek (Bailey, J.D.)
4 Storm Flag Flying (Velazquez, J.R.)
2 Passing Shot (Migliore, R.)
1 Azeri (Day, P.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
order of finish, Mass Cap:
1 Offlee Wild (Prado, E.S.)
7 Funny Cide (Santos, J.A.)
2 The Lady's Groom (Karamanos, H.)
4 Gygistar (Bravo, J)
8 Evening Attire (Bridgmohan, S.)
5 Sarava (Castellano, J.)
9 Rogue Agent (Chavez, J.F.)
3 Basil's Rhythm (Bush, V.)
6 On the Game (Rojas, R.I.)
Last edited by Johar; 06-19-2004 at 06:20 PM.
Too bad horses can't change trainers on their own the way skaters can change coaches. I think Azeri and Funny Cide might be raising their hooves to that
None of my horses are winning as of late. Canadian Triple Crown winner Wando is the latest in the string....
King Edward Breeders' Cup H. Grade: 2
Purse: $300,000
order of finish:
3 Slew Valley (McAleney, J.)
1 Shoal Water (Kabel, T.)
5 Surging River (McKnight, J.)
2 Wando (Husbands, P.)
4 Remind (Ramsammy, E.)
It's a shame that Paulson took Azeri away from the trainer and jockey (Laura de Seroux/Mike Smith) where she had her great successes and gave her to Wayne Lukas. Since she's been with Lukas, Azeri has won just one race, and has finished last in her last two races. Lukas tends to run his horses too frequently, and that's what he's done with Azeri. She was a great champion, and she was retired last year and should have stayed that way. It will be a great disaster if Lukas runs her one time too many and she has a fatal breakdown.
Don't give up too soon on Funny Cide. Many geldings don't hit their stride until their 5th or 6th year. He may not have won a lot of his races this year, but he has finished in the money.
I have never liked Wayne Lukas because he seems to have no real concern for the horses he trains or the jockeys he uses.
When the jockeys were complaining because of the very low weight they are expected to maintain (112 libs) and wanted the minimum raised by 2-3 lbs, Lukas wasn't the least bit sympathetic, and said all the physical problems the jockeys endure due to purging, steambaths and starvation were just part of the game and they had no right to complain.
When Charismatic broke down during the Belmont (he was trying to win the Triple Crown), Lukas didn't seem to care at all about the horse. He never went back to the barn afterwards to see how the horse was. He seemed to be highly annoyed that he had not become a Triple Crown winning Trainer, and that's all.
I guess so many of his horses have broken down and had to be destroyed that it meant nothing whatsoever to him personally.
One positive thing from my point of view is that many of the owners who used to routinely send their 2-year-olds to Lukas to train have stopped doing so. Apparently too many of them either never made it to the racetrack or broke down early on. That's why Lukas hasn't had many quality Kentucky Derby entries in the past few years.
D. Wayne Lukas.
He ran Azeri 4 times this year:
1. Won the Apple Blossom w/Mike Smith - usually when a horse is reassigned from a previous good trainer, he/she wins the first race.
2. Humana Distaff: lost, ran 2nd, with Smith in the saddle.
3. Metropolitan: finished 8th of 9, with Pat Day in the saddle.
4. O Phipps: finished 4th and last with Pat Dat in the irons.
It seemd that as in figure skating, one training style clearly does not suit all champions (equine or human). The problem is, the equines can't speak up to say what the issue is. (Hmm, maybe Azeri wants to be on the Russian bus with Johnny Weir?
Hmm. The Apple Blossom was April 3, and Azeri won. The Humana was on May 1st--she finished 2nd. Then the Met Mile, May 31, running against older males where she finished 8th of 9. So after that bad race, why did Lukas run her less than 3 weeks later in the Ogden Phipps? And why with Pat Day again?
Under Laura deSeroux, Azeri was a monster horse, and she loved competing. It seems as if she doesn't want to do it any more, so why is Lukas pushing her so hard?
The latest about Smarty's summer/fall schedule.
Looks like the Jockey Club Gold Cup against older horses is out and the Pegasus (at the Meadowlands) is in.
http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=23076
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