Thoughts on the Preakness?

[kbsooner21]

[KazDog]

It seems as though every great horse that wins the Derby, wins the Preakness too. I can't remember when a horse won the Derby and then lost the Preakness. I think I remember it happening once or twice. It's the Belmont where they get shut out....

I wonder if the field is generally weak in the Preakness just to hype the Triple Crown? I know owners hold their best horses out of the Preakness so they can challenge in the Belmont. That's been factual....

[jcindaville]

Pharaoh is the real deal. IMO

[kbsooner21]

Pletcher being a pussy and not running any of his horses I see.

[jcindaville]

Lots of pussies don't run, want a fresh horse to win the Belmont.

That's why the trainer last year got all belligerent when California Chrome got beat in the Belmont by a fresh horse, he called them cowards

[kbsooner21]

I guess the Belmont pays more?

[KazDog]

I guess the Belmont pays more?

Well. You run in the Derby. If you lose, you rest him for a race and hope you hit the Belmont when the others are not rested from the Preakness. I would imagine winning any of the big 3 is gonna get you a chunk of change.

[kbsooner21]

I realize that. I'd run all 3 if my horse was healthy and get my shot at the money in all 3. But I'm not a pussy

Or a horse guy

[jcindaville]

I realize that. I'd run all 3 if my horse was healthy and get my shot at the money in all 3. But I'm not a pussy

Or a horse guy

Tired horse doesn't have much a chance of winning in 2 weeks
Most of these horses would only normally run once every 4-6 weeks, the Preakness is 2 weeks after the derby.

There's a reason there hasn't been a triple crown winner in forever

[kbsooner21]

I agree. The trainers are pussies though

[KazDog]

Tired horse doesn't have much a chance of winning in 2 weeks
Most of these horses would only normally run once every 4-6 weeks, the Preakness is 2 weeks after the derby.

There's a reason there hasn't been a triple crown winner in forever

Exactaly!

[oakas]

Victor Espinoza gets results. How he gets those results, however, have the jockey under fire.

Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah was examined by 12 state-approved veterinarians after concerns were raised over the frequency with which Espinoza whipped the horse down the stretch at Churchill Downs. Although no marks were found, the whipping bordered close enough on abuse to warrant an inquiry.

Not to mention, it might have crippled the horse’s chances at the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the vaunted Triple Crown.

“From a tactical standpoint, Espinoza did what he thought necessary to get American Pharoah home and that is his job,” wrote Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer. But “it looks bad when a rider keeps after a horse,” Darrell Haire, regional director of the Jockey’s Guild, told reporters.

“It might not be all that good for the horse, either,” Ford notes.

Espinoza whipped American Pharoah 32 times down the stretch of its Derby win, despite one of the slowest Derby races in the last decade and a half. Beyond concerns of animal abuse, there’s the practical upshot of leaving the horse spent before the gun ever fires at Pimlico Race Track on Saturday.

Espinoza, despite (or perhaps because of) ample success on the track, has a history, too. He has been fined earlier in his career for improper use of the whip, according to Ford, and was fined $300 last Friday for breaking Stellar Wind’s skin at Santa Anita Oaks in Arcadia, Calif.

[kbsooner21]

Pussified world we live in these days will be banning the whip before too long.

Whip the shit out of those fuckers. Win the race. That's what it's all about right?