Re: California and Florida Breeders Cup Sites, for years the European horses faired poorly and they attributed it to the warm weather. I don't know what the temperature was at Arcadia last year but I'm guessing not too unseasonably warm because the European horses did well.

The previous Breeders Cup held at Santa Anita was 1993. It was horribly hot and fires threatened the running. Horses missed training is what I recollect, due to the smoke. The Euro Horses didn't fair well that year.

I think Santa Anita is an important track in American Racing History, but I don't think its an ideal Breeders Cup track. The warm weather for one, the generally extra firm turf and general speed bias of the dirt track as well. I don't know if Del Mar can handle the crowd, but that is the California Track I'd most like to see get the Cup. Once every ten years combined for Hollywood and Santa Anita is plenty.

Other venues with deserving fans:

Arlington (finally)
Saratoga
Pimlico
Oaklawn
Suffolk/Rockingham
Fair Grounds
Keeneland

There should be no permanent site nor permanent rotation and no track should get an inordinate number of events. Its a race fan's day and it needs to move around to where the fans are, provided the track is safe and fair to all horses.

This got me to thinking about the Breeders Cup and the strange streaks that emerge in horseracing. Does anyone remember Patrick Byrne? He has saddled six Breeders Cup starters and won three times. He swept the juvenile races in 1997 and the next year took the Classic, now he's an afterthought. How does that happen? Just pure luck or fate? Remember Burt Bacharach (sic?) He gets Soul of the Matter and Afternoon Delights in two consecutive years and then what? Bev and Bob Lewis had lightning strike twice with Silver Charm and Charismatic but the Phipps people can't win the Derby. Isn't it odd?

And to revisit another subject, Dosage.

Here are the prospects for the Derby that exceed the limit:

WIMBLEDON (Wild Rush) 5.00 1.08
THE CLIFF'SEDGE(Gulch) 4.00 1.00
THAT'S AN OUTRAGE 5.67 0.97
SARATOGA COUNTY 5.00 1.11
PURGE 4.14 1.00
MINISTER ERIC 4.14 1.11
FIRE SLAM 4.60 1.21
MR. JESTER 4.78 1.00

Purge and Minister Eric are grandsons of A.p. Indy and horses by Crafty Prospector, Boundary and Belong to Me are well qualified. Theres a few on this list that have a chance if they continue to move forward. The Dosage vampire is already dead but it sure would be fun to drive a couple more stakes into its rotting corpse.

I remember when horses had dosage with 7 and 8, now they are ALL borderline 4 and 5's..lol

One last time for Romans..."you can't calculate accurate dosage without true distance races being run any longer."



Post Edited (03-24-04 21:05)