Michael:
Sorry to hear that Benny the Bull was retired on Wednesday. He was fun to watch. Closing sprinters are always fun to watch.
But this is not a condolence note. You’ve made a good deal of money with Benny and there’s more out there. Bone chips in an ankle aren’t exactly life-threatening and you can probably skip the surgery and save the money. They won’t hurt his breeding career.
This is a reminder that the best horse in your stable now that Benny is retired is not the best horse in the world on dirt and you can stop suggesting races to which Jess Jackson might send Curlin, who is the best horse in the world on dirt. Ask Timeform. Ask anyone you’re not paying.
It works like this. Curlin is the champ and Big Brown is the No. 1 rated contender. This puts all the options in Curlin’s court, not yours. You’re the one, remember, with something to prove. Curlin has already been Horse of the Year once and if he wins the Woodward on Saturday and the Jockey Club Gold Cup next month, there’s no way he will not be Horse of the Year again.
Now, if you aspire to make Big Brown the Horse of the Year, you have to go somewhere where Curlin is running – and that isn’t on grass at Monmouth Park. What are you thinking about?
You can do what’s right and skip the Monmouth thing and show up at the Jockey Club Gold Cup – a race that means something – and play the game like a man in long pants. We’d even be willing to forgive that ridiculous match-race idea and, by the way, the Clark Handicap idea is equally absurd.
Now, he’s your horse and you can run in any race you wish. But unless you show up to face the champ on dirt and beat him, this is a moot point.
So please, show up or shut up.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
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8 comments:
NYRA has treated the slicksters with the contempt they deserve. So Mikey and the crew will not run him there. NYRA should take all the stall space from Dutrow since he won't run BB at a NYRA track. Who wants those slime balls in NY anyway?
NYRA needs to step up, you can bet if a small time trainer had BB stabled in NY and didn't run him there, he would have his space taken away.
Paul, re: A note to Iavarone. I used to be in full agreement with your assessment of the ducking act being pulled by Big Brown's camp. But rumination on the subject has me wondering how we fans-who-sit-in-judgment are letting Jess Jackson slide on his decision to not run the champ, Curlin, on that bad ole Santa Anita syn-track. Would Jackson not have sent Curlin to Louisville for the Derby if he thought that he couldn't handle that strip? The BC Classic is "The Race", regardless of venue. The Euros come each year after running solely on turf and take their chances on our US dirt courses... No cojones, Jess? C'mon, show up in October at Santa Anita. p.s. I don't like your wine either.
ajv,
Unfortunately, the BC Classic has too often determined the Horse of the Year simply because it was the only meeting between the contenders. Do you think that's an ideal situation worth continuing? If Curlin and Big Brown miraculously do get down and dirty (pun intended), why do it on a surface that might compromise one or both? How definitive will the victory be if the loser has an excuse? And why risk injury to either horse in uncharted territory where many fear a October surprise for this politically incorrect Breeders' Cup exercise?
Nobody's a shoo-in for HOY just yet. Colonel John, Mambo in Seattle,and/or Pyro may just be ready to give Curlin a tussle in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. If so, BB might be better off showing what he can do in that event rather than wait and test proven polytrackers like Go Between, Well Armed, and Colonel John in the Classic.
If either Go Between or Colonel John were to win the JCGC, either Gomez or his replacement would be seem to be sitting in the catbird seat. But I have a hunch that distinction will belong to the jockey who replaces Albarado on the still-improving son of $250,000 fee stud Kingmambo. Would you deny Mambo in Seattle HOY honors if he were to win both the JCGC and the Classic?
If Curlin were to lose the JCGC, his appearance in the Classic would suddenly acquire urgency. If BB were to win the JCGC, he'd have nothing more to prove. It is Mr. Iavarone who must now prove he is astute enough to hand his hoof-hearted hero the opportunity to sieze the day in what is shaping up to be the race of the year.
Wow Paul, get down get down, love it!
I hope Santa Anita's pro-ride works out' but it will be so virginal, I would not put my horse in a race of such magnatude on it either.
Curlin rules!
Iavarone and Dutrow just can't seem to do anything with class or grace. Every time you can forgive them for their attitude, they do something dumber to remind you why it's just impossible to like them.
From his lies about being a pro-baseball prospect (ok Mike- all 150lbs of you?) to his lies about how Greg Martin would be his trainer still..... Even though he already moved his best horses to the Dutrow barn months before the Martin incident,the man just can't tell the truth. And he has legions of fans in the media, like DRF and Newsday, and even cranky Indian Charlie.
Dutorw is equally as sleazy yet the truth has been known to occasionally leaves his lips unlike Mike Iavarone.
oops, magnitude...know what you mean William, I give up.
Michael Iavarone and Drug Dutrow have a horse with hoof problems. The Haskell was proof enough for Big Brown being life and death to beat a $32,000 optional claiming horse, and thinking the really achieved something. Unfortunately, the year is winding down and Iavarone and Drug Dutrow have a horse that can't beat much. Therefore, they will use the tried and true tactic of hoof in mouth disease to try and talk their opponents and those of Big Brown into submission. These are deluded people.
Well said Paul, Iavarone is a bucketshop, boileroom broker who is extremely lucky to have BB in his stable. Hopefully he fades to black after BB retires. He wants to play this game to pretend he wants to face Curlin; but he probably wishes he retired BB after the Preakness.BB has not faced any horse like Curlin faced as a 3yr old - not even close. We need more true sportsmen in the game like Jess Jackson.
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