What horse(s) do you think have had the most unfulfilled potential? i.e. Whose careers were cut too short due to early retirement, injury, or death, who could've been great if they'd had more time?
Obvious examples I could think of are Ruffian and Landaluce in the early death category, and Bernardini in the premature retirement category.
Anyone have any other favorite could've-beens?
Most Unfulfilled Potential
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RuffianT21
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unfullfilled potential
Fappiano, Dr. Fager, Secretariat come to mind. Cigar, I guess.
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Playwithfire
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halfbridled
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xfactor fan
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xfactor fan wrote:Domino. Such a shame he died so early in his stud career.
True, but BOY did he ever leave his mark!
From a genetic perspective, it might have been a good thing.
He was so prepotent that we might have had an "overload" of Domino blood.
Purely speculation, of course.
I agree about Landaluce...
She was a bonafide freak and her family went on to be major producers.
What a loss...
Re: Most Unfulfilled Potential
hi dray33...hi jagger
Candy Ride was (to my way of thinking) one heck of a gifted racehorse...arguably a talent extraordinaire.
As for Vindication, although he was certainly a very nice 2-year-old, I did NOT sense that he was (by any stretch of the imagination) a talent extraordinaire...or woulda/coulda (if you will) become a talent extraordinaire (at least not as a classics/two turn threat).
I got a strong sense that Sanan had his doubts (about the colt's ability) too. I was (and still am) convinced that Sanan carefully/defensively managed his champion 2-yo brilliantly...much more brilliantly than the colt performed.
In all fairness..."V" did have a tendon issue...but even prior to that coming to the fore the colt first broke his maiden (6 f) in a so-so 1:10 3/5 at Del Mar...followed by an allowance win (also at Del Mar) in a slow 1:11 2/5...then was shipped east to run at Turfway Park where he won the 1 1/16 mile G3-Ky Cup Juvenile in what might be referred to as a rather pedestrian time of 1:46 3/5.
Yes (to his credit) "V" did win the BC Juvenile over 2nd place finisher Kafwain (a nice G2 winner)...but a look at the top seven finishers (for example) and how the race unfolded, didn't leave me with the feeling that V's future was particularly bright. Think about it...1st/ Vindication, 2nd/ Kafwain, 3rd/ Hold That Tiger (who NEVER won a race on the dirt in 6 attempts), 4th/ Bull Market (who NEVER won a stakes-race in his 13 lifetime starts), 5th/ Van Nistelrooy (who NEVER as much as placed on the dirt), 6th/ Most Feared (G3 winner), 7th/ Listen Indy (who never won a stakes in his 28 lifetime starts) etc etc etc.
When I watched Vindication run, I never got a sense that he was, or would (even could) become, a talent extraordinaire. Doesn't mean he wasn't a nice 2-yo though.
Sanan's a businessman, and (in the thoroughbred game anyway) seems to have learned to play a good game of Deal or No Deal.
I'll second Fappiano (xhales ). Seemed to me that he was well on the road to a HUUUUUGE future as a highly successful racehorse sire...before his untimely death.
I'm kinda surprised nobody mentioned Barbaro...and what he might have been.
Respectfully
dray33 wrote:RuffianT21 wrote:What horse(s) do you think have had the most unfulfilled potential? i.e. Whose careers were cut too short due to early retirement, injury, or death, who could've been great if they'd had more time?
Obvious examples I could think of are Ruffian and Landaluce in the early death category, and Bernardini in the premature retirement category.
Anyone have any other favorite could've-beens?
Vindication and Candy Ride
Candy Ride was (to my way of thinking) one heck of a gifted racehorse...arguably a talent extraordinaire.
As for Vindication, although he was certainly a very nice 2-year-old, I did NOT sense that he was (by any stretch of the imagination) a talent extraordinaire...or woulda/coulda (if you will) become a talent extraordinaire (at least not as a classics/two turn threat).
I got a strong sense that Sanan had his doubts (about the colt's ability) too. I was (and still am) convinced that Sanan carefully/defensively managed his champion 2-yo brilliantly...much more brilliantly than the colt performed.
In all fairness..."V" did have a tendon issue...but even prior to that coming to the fore the colt first broke his maiden (6 f) in a so-so 1:10 3/5 at Del Mar...followed by an allowance win (also at Del Mar) in a slow 1:11 2/5...then was shipped east to run at Turfway Park where he won the 1 1/16 mile G3-Ky Cup Juvenile in what might be referred to as a rather pedestrian time of 1:46 3/5.
Yes (to his credit) "V" did win the BC Juvenile over 2nd place finisher Kafwain (a nice G2 winner)...but a look at the top seven finishers (for example) and how the race unfolded, didn't leave me with the feeling that V's future was particularly bright. Think about it...1st/ Vindication, 2nd/ Kafwain, 3rd/ Hold That Tiger (who NEVER won a race on the dirt in 6 attempts), 4th/ Bull Market (who NEVER won a stakes-race in his 13 lifetime starts), 5th/ Van Nistelrooy (who NEVER as much as placed on the dirt), 6th/ Most Feared (G3 winner), 7th/ Listen Indy (who never won a stakes in his 28 lifetime starts) etc etc etc.
When I watched Vindication run, I never got a sense that he was, or would (even could) become, a talent extraordinaire. Doesn't mean he wasn't a nice 2-yo though.
Sanan's a businessman, and (in the thoroughbred game anyway) seems to have learned to play a good game of Deal or No Deal.
jagger wrote:Fappiano, Dr. Fager, Secretariat come to mind. Cigar, I guess.
I'll second Fappiano (xhales
). Seemed to me that he was well on the road to a HUUUUUGE future as a highly successful racehorse sire...before his untimely death.
I'm kinda surprised nobody mentioned Barbaro...and what he might have been.
Respectfully