Posted on 06/05/2018 4:25:10 PM PDT by Libloather
Poor old Sham ran the race of his life,
...
Sham ran a lot of good races. He picked the wrong year to be born.
“It was where Nack did much information-gathering for his book “Secretariat,” which remains the consummate piece on the horse many consider the greatest of all time.
Belmont also was where Nack, fresh from writing “Secretariat,” became wrapped up in the amazing but tragically short career of the filly Ruffian.
A filly so fast and powerful that Secretariat’s trainer, Lucien Lauren, was quoted as saying, “As God is my witness, she may be better than Secretariat.”...”
http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20070609/news_1s9horsecol.html
They later learned Secretariat had an abnormally large heart.
Yep. That went along with his huge chest and neck. I’m sure his lungs were magnificent, too.
man..look at those fractions for the Grade 1 “Spinaway” at Saratoga....a 1:08 3/5 for 6 furlongs....yowza!. That’s delivering the mail my friend....
Ruffian and Forego were both huge.
Hell of a decade to be around Belmont racetrack then. Not only Ruffian and Forego, but THREE Triple Crown winners. All, like Ruffian and Forego, were based at Belmont. Secretariat of course was ‘73. Then Seattle Slew in ‘77, and Affirmed in ‘78. My crazy bad luck was to have worked there in the “in-between” years, ‘74-’76. And so never got to see and be around any of them.
Contrary to what lots of people think, speed often holds up in long races like the 1-1/2 mile Belmont Stakes. Many if not most Bel S winners, at least in the past several decades, have been on or near the pace.
Believe it or not, I’ll be going with what looks to be the longest shot in the race, Freedrop Billy, at least for the Exactas and triples. That is, if I can gather some money together before then.
Ruffian was about the same height as Secretariat, but look at her legs, they do look delicate. Beautiful horse, though, and a terrific record.
One of the most incredible racing stories was that of the gelding John Henry. Horse started out in the mid-claiming ranks, then suddenly became a champ of champs, receiving Horse of the Year honors twice.
The horse was named after the folk hero John Henry. As a colt, John Henry had a habit of tearing steel water and feed buckets off stall walls and stomping them flat. This reminded his owners of the legendary John Henry, who was known as a “steel-drivin’ man”.[citation needed][2]
He was gelded both for his temperament as well as his lack of good breeding, which meant that he would have been unlikely to be in much demand as a breeding stallion.
John Henry was a Golden Chance Farm foal. His sire, Ole Bob Bowers, was sired by Prince Blessed and his dam, Once Double, was sired by Double Jay, a graded stakes race winner.
John Henry was back at the knee (a flaw in conformation that generally makes a long racing career unlikely), undersized, and plainly bred. He was sold as a yearling for $1,100 at the Keeneland January Mixed sale to John Callaway who is credited with giving John Henry his name.
Racing record
John Henry had a series of trainers, and earned money in minor stakes, allowance races, and mid-level claiming races. In 1978, New York City businessman Sam Rubin and his wife Dorothy paid $25,000 sight-unseen for the three-year-old John Henry.
Racing under the Rubins’ Dotsam Stable banner, he was first conditioned by trainer Robert Donato. Under him, John Henry won 6 of 19 starts and $120,000, starting the year as a cheap claimer and finishing it as a stakes winner.
In 1979, John Henry was given to a new trainer, Lefty Nickerson. Under him, John Henry won 4 of 11 races in 1979. When the grass season was over in New York, Rubin decided to send the horse to California under trainer Ron McAnally. Under McAnally, John Henry won six stakes races in a row.
Racing through the age of nine, John Henry won the 1981 Santa Anita Handicap and repeated in 1982 after Perrault was disqualified. He is one of only three horses with back-to-back victories in the race’s 72-year history.
He also won the Arlington Million Stakes twice and won three renewals of both the Hollywood Invitational Handicap and the Oak Tree Invitational Stakes, two Grade I turf stakes in Southern California.
He won one of America’s most important races for older horses, the 1981 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, at 1½ miles on the dirt. This victory clinched his first Horse of the Year title.
A bronze statue called Against All Odds, created by Edwin Bogucki, stands on a balcony overlooking the paddock at Arlington Park. It commemorates one of John Henry’s most famous finishes; in 1981, at the inaugural Arlington Million, John Henry won over 5-year-old The Bart in a photo finish.
On December 11, 1983, John Henry became the first racehorse to surpass $4 million in career earnings when he won the Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes with jockey Chris McCarron at Hollywood Park Racetrack.
John Henry’s last race was the 1984 Ballantine Scotch Classic at the Meadowlands.
As he took the lead in the stretch, Meadowlands track announcer Dave Johnson exclaimed, “And down the stretch they come! The old man, John Henry, takes command!”
He pulled away to his 39th career victory and his second Horse of the Year title. The final time of 2:13 equaled the track record for 1-3/8 mile.
John Henry was a late entry into the Inaugural Breeders Cup in 1984 but a strained ligament in his left foreleg caused him to be withdrawn from the race and retired.
John Henry’s final race record stood at 83 starts, 39 wins, 15 seconds, and 9 thirds with $6,591,860 in earnings.
He was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984; 1981 being the first unanimous election of the winner.
That feat was not repeated until 2015 when Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was also elected unanimously.[3]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(horse)
To answer your questions about why I don't like or trust Baffert, I lived in the Los Angeles area for 40 years before moving away three years ago. During that time I was involved in thoroughbred racing and know what the man is like. And I became aware of problems of trainers doping horses. Baffert was caught giving all of the horses in his barn the drug thyroxine, a thyroid drug. He never even checked to see if any of his horses had thyroid problems. Around 2013, seven of his horsed dropped dead of unexplained causes during a brief period of a few months.
If Justify is tired going into the race I don’t think his speed will hold up. And I think that was his problem at the Preakness. He was tired going into the race. But looking at the odds, the bettors don’t think he has much competition in the Belmont.
I remember John Henry. It seemed liked he raced forever. He was the opposite of Secretariat when it came to being physically gifted, and he looked odd when he walked. I see he lived to 32.
Wow, hadn’t heard that before.
More on the story here...
Big longshot Free Drop Billy can run all day. Not sure what happened in the Derby, but he is certainly better than that. May well go off at 40 or 50 to one in the Belmont. Definitely worth including in the triples and Exactas. And/or a show bet.
Here’s a link to the past performances for this year’s Belmont Stakes.
Totally free.
https://www.scribd.com/document/380062659/Belmont-Stakes-2018-past-performances
Not sure what happened in the Derby, but he is certainly better than that.
...
Maybe he was bothered by all the mud.
He won a race in the slop by 11 previously. Could have had something to do with the huge 20-horse field in the Derby. Getting banged up and bumped around, etc.
Current forecast here in New York is 60% rain for Sat. Don’t know what time of day it might happen.
Exactly right. If the Preakness had been 10 yards longer Justify would have lost.
Secretariat broke the mile and 5/8s record while slowing down after crossing the mile and a half finish line. Think about that one for a while...
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