Was JB feeding this info to Frankel in an earpiece (although I think he speaks to sheets numbers)?....Looks like 5 weeks in between races isn't enough for the greatest horse on earth??? CtC any thoughts???


Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel said that reigning Horse of the Year and Metropolitan Mile winner Ghostzapper came out of his sparkling effort Monday in good shape, but he would likely pass on the July 2nd Suburban.

"He looks good and he's eating good, but I want to give him a little more time because he ran so hard," Frankel said. "The Suburban would be coming back soon after he just had a long layoff. I want to do the best thing for the horse."

Frankel believes that in general horses are running faster now than in previous decades and that is one reason why they can't make as many starts.

"It's not the weakening of the breed," he said. "Horses are running faster now than they were 20 years ago. If you look at sheet numbers back then, horses like Seattle Slew ran 7s. Horses run so fast now that they're here and they're gone."

Better medication and feed are a couple reasons why Frankel thinks horses run faster now. The racetracks, he said however, were faster then than they are now.

"In the old days the tracks used to have a 2 -inch cushion, now they have a 4-inch cushion," Frankel said. "The horses are running faster and that's why I can't come back and run him too often. They're running so fast they're legs can't handle it. The faster they go, the better chance they have of getting hurt. It's simple physics."

The only thing that upset Frankel concerning the Met Mile was a lack of national television coverage.

"You've got the best horse you've had in the last 20 years running around here and you don't have it on television," said Frankel, who added that the TV schedule for Ghostzapper's future appearances is lacking. "The Woodward isn't even on television. The Whitney is on espn2 the next day."

"He's the best horse in America and nobody knows about it. If you're not a hard-core bettor, you don't know who he is. I know he doesn't run that often, but if he runs three more times this year, those races should be on TV. This horse should have a huge fan following."