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Thursday, April 01, 2010

Guilty as charged!

Why do I always find myself in the middle of some kind of controversy?

The forum thread that began as a synopsis of weeks 23-24 morphed into a discussion on how Gradient won the Belmont so easily.  Then deliberation began on how close or far Photo Finish was from horse racing reality.  And finally, it reached it's climax with me defending the travel schedule of War Machine during his Triple Crown winning 2006 racing season.

In the thread, I merely said I was amazed at the way Gradient came from so far back, on a track he hated, to win.  I said his comeback was improbable and that was certainly how things looked at the 7-8 furlong mark while I was watching it.  None of that is an indictment against Gradient.  I love the horse.

But somehow, my comments spurred an investigation into War Machine's history and the conclusion reached was that his entire 3yo season was improbable.

Yeah, maybe it was.  Almost everything in Photo Finish is improbable.  That's why I like to suggest rules changes like travel restrictions, rest mandates, and a host of other things.  I'd like things to be more realistic.  But that's just me.  Others, many others, like things just the way they are.

OK.  I'm ready to move on.  As long as no one brings up Nightwing's race history in 2003, I'll let this whole topic go.....for now.

5 comments:

Amanda O'Brien said...

If the fillies were that super how comes my uberfilly Dancing Delaware could only beat WM once?! Most of the time its sour grapes and jealousy talking.

Keep doing what you are doing big buddy otherwise the forum will die!

Jim Webber said...

Well as great as DD was, and she was one of my favorite all-time fillies, she was born before whatever glitch created the super-fillies in 2005.

DJ thinks it's not a matter of the fillies being super in 2008; it's just the colts being below average. I disagree. There must have been something amiss, otherwise Laurie would not have agreed that "toning down" the fillies was necessary.

Retribution had more earnings, but I think Union Jack was the best colt in that batch, and yet there were not just 1 or 2, but at least 7 or 8 fillies that he simply couldn't compete with.

As far as the forum goes... you know you can't shut me up Mandy. :) If someone doesn't stir the pot, the Forum gets very stale. I happily shoulder that burden occasionally.

Jim Webber said...

I said, "DJ thinks it's not a matter of the fillies being super in 2008". Of course I meant 2005.

Anonymous said...

How much do you want for Starfire "cash"
Sunset Ranch

Anonymous said...

Retribution said he doesnt like you anymore. -RBO