Rockport Harbor

liberty · Postby **liberty** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:13 am

Does anyone think his connections should forget about the Derby and point for the Preakness or Belmont regardless of the outcome today?

jim10366 · Postby **jim10366** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:38 pm

I think they can forget about the Preakness and Belmont as well after today. He ran next to last. The horse seems to have much more serious issues. Blood clots in the brain?

The horse made 1 start in 5 months. I had serious doubts he was going to manage 2 starts in 2 weeks anyways.

ZiaLand · Postby **ZiaLand** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 3:13 pm

This is such a disappointing development. Rockport Harbor seemed to be showing some real potential as a major contender. I was really hoping for lightning to strike twice for John Servis. Possibly he has an excuse like Afleet Alex did before the Arkansas, but I agree, with only two weeks to go...the clock has probably run out for this nice colt. Maybe we'll be hearing more from him in the future.

Laurie

FOS · Postby **FOS** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:27 pm

hi guys

Can Rockport Harbor's disappointing performance be blamed 100% on a 'sloppy' track?...possibly. But it's difficult to ignore that prior to the race (over the sloppy Keeneland track) Servis expressed confidence in what we might expect from the colt.

When one considers trainer Servis' prerace comments...then takes into account RH's poor performance...a number of questions arise. For starters...has Servis not evaluated his horse properly...and/or is something not right with the colt etc etc etc.

Post race...Servis offered that jockey Stewart Elliot said that RH couldn't handle the track. Maybe so...but Rockport Harbor arguably showed very little...any part of the race...even from the gate.

Maybe we'll know something sooner...rather than later.

Respectfully

louis finochio · Postby **louis finochio** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:27 pm

Rockport Harbor is trying to tell us something, when our TB talk to us we must listen. Derby or not the well being of the TB is 1st.

This has been proven over and over again by Hall of Fame trainers.
Its time to find RH problem and go back to the drawing board.

austique · Postby **austique** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:36 pm

The horse looked to travel over the track fine to me, but Keenland is a funky track for a lot of horses. He looked flat and not fit. I think you saw a horse who has had a million setbacks who just hasn't been given time to heal properly. They kept trying to patch and train. I absolutely hope they skip the Triple Crown and give this horse time off or he is going to end up like his daddy.

Mahubah · Postby **Mahubah** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 5:12 pm

I thought he never looked really comfortable over the track, but then big, long-striding horses often have a lot of trouble with those sorts of surfaces. At any rate, I would think the Derby's out of the question now.

Des · Postby **Des** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:26 pm

This is a classic case of a ruining a very nice horse trying to make the Derby...... I would really and truly like to know if the owners were pushing the trainer to make the Derby or is the trainer just nuts....This horse has been telling him he need TIME off for a long while.. Let's see his next move now....

StrawberryFelidos · Postby **StrawberryFelidos** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:55 pm

I really hope that they give Rocky a nice, long break to mend and to mature and basically just get back on stronger terms. Pushing him to make this Derby seems like it's been a nightmare and I don't think it can get any better. He needs to get a breather or this whole process seems like it's going to crush him. At some point it just isn't fair to anyone to keep pushing the issue.
Did anyone else feel a sudden wave of nausea when, post-race, the camera focused on Rockport and he stumbled over his own feet? That was a very scary moment for me. He looked either drained or injured and I thought he was going to fall :oops:

Someone, Please Give This Horse A Break!

llbean · Postby **llbean** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:21 pm

Did anyone else feel a sudden wave of nausea when, post-race, the camera focused on Rockport and he stumbled over his own feet? That was a very scary moment for me. He looked either drained or injured and I thought he was going to fall
Someone, Please Give This Horse A Break

I thought the horse was going to go down as well.

Even before he stumbled I was wondering if he was injured during the race and when he stumbled I thought it was the end of him for a moment.

-llbean

Denise · Postby **Denise** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 6:16 am

IMHO, with those bad feet, he should never have been sent out to run on that track yesterday. He had enough graded earnings for the Derby, and to discourage the horse like that could mean more setbacks down the road.
In the local Philly paper this morning, Servis indicated he may rest him and point toward the Travers.