The Preakness

[Lisann]

Agree, Mahubah. And, I would just like to say what everybody seems to have trouble saying....IHA is just the better horse.

Exactly. Bodemeister ran a good race. It just happened there was a better horse in the race. I thought the race was exciting, and Horse Racing sure could use a TC winner right now. I'll be rooting for IHA in the Belmont, and hope these next couple weeks go smoothly.

I've watched the race replay a couple times. I don't think Mike Smith lost the race. I'd love to see Bodemeister at a flat mile.

[Lisann]

You don't need to graduate high school to earn over $100k in 2 weeks in this game. And this has been proven over and over again..

Sad but true.

I find this snobbish. I am a college graduate, but have plenty of respect for those who succeed in life without a lot of formal education.

[Crystal]

Mario G.
Calvin Borel
and I'm sure plenty of other jockeys..

An Athlete will always have more of an opportunity to make more money over an highly educated person. It is why pro athletes make more money than teachers, etc.

[madelyn]

That's kind of simplistic... Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Steven Jobs were all college dropouts. It's a rare combination of intelligence, talent, drive, ambition and opportunity that creates wealth, in my opinion. Education can't guarantee it, only pave the way.

Back to the races... I haven't been this excited since 2004 when I had a "Smarty Party" for the Belmont. We've continued to have a Belmont party every year - and this year it's the "I'll Have Another Party"!!!

[Jorge]

Wow, in the case of Bodemeister, he ran his race (Preakness) with more relaxed fractionals and the results was the same. The only ordinary explanation I can find is that albeit the fractionals were slow the track was far more deep that during the Derby and thus it would be a fiction to believe than under those fractionals he was not rushed. Opinions on this angle.

[jagger]

We had a Belmont party too that year. It was notable because in an attempt to turn the sound up above the din of the party, I hit the wrong button and we missed almost half the race, only to see Birdstone come flying at the end and spoil the Triple Crown. My wife wanted to kill me. The disappointment of losing the Triple Crown made worse by my remote control blunder. From then on, we went to other people's Belmont Party including yours, Madelyn, where we had a wonderful time watching Rags to Riches get the job done. We may have another Belmont Party this year and if so, I will not have charge of the remote.

[DDT]

I disagree with the notion that Bode did not expend as much energy setting the pace in the Preakness as he did in the Derby. You must remember that the track at Churchill was extremely fast whereas the track at Pimlico was playing slow. Bode ran the fastest 6 furlongs in the Preakness as any other horse ran in the other 3 distance races on the main track. In addition, he ran the second fastest mile by .08 hundredths of a second. Smith was not trying to rate the horse and he did open up a 3 length lead at the top of the stretch. He was passed by I’ll Have Another at roughly the same distance as he was in the Derby. I think Baffert has had enough and will not run Bode in the Belmont, and if he goes in the Belmont he will more than likely finish off the board.

DDT

[jagger]

Could not agree more with your assessment, DDT, and I think it is official that Bodemeister will not run in The Belmont. I predicted that very thing that he WOULD NOT GO TO THE BELMONT but if he did that he would not hit the board. Current thinking now is, he (Bodemeister) could still have a shot at HOY... he wins a few more G1's over the summer and meets IHA at the Breeders Cup and assuming that he did not win the Triple Crown, beats him in the Classic...voila...HOY. Baffert/Bodemeister are in damage control mode now.

[Patuxet]

I haven't been that emotionally involved in a classic since Rags To Riches won the Belmont.

Andrew Beyer's take on the race: "Bodemeister ... hit the half-mile mark in 47.68 seconds - a soft pace that should have given him an insuperable advantage. It was the slowest half-mile in the Preakness since 1982, when Aloma’s Ruler went in :48 and proceeded to lead all the way.

The racing strip at Pimlico Saturday was relatively slow, but the track was no slower than last year, when Shackleford vied for the lead in 46.87 and went on to win.I’ll Have Another’s final time of 1:55.94 was a super effort considering the slowness of the racing strip. He and Bodemeister earned preliminary Beyer Speed Figures of 109, which would be the fastest Preakness performance since Curlin."

There's talk of bringing Frankel over for the BC Classic. Now there's a notion to pump some more energy into the sport!

[ratherrapid]

Wow, in the case of Bodemeister, he ran his race (Preakness) with more relaxed fractionals and the results was the same. The only ordinary explanation I can find is that albeit the fractionals were slow the track was far more deep that during the Derby and thus it would be a fiction to believe than under those fractionals he was not rushed. Opinions on this angle.

would have been interesting had B runs same Derby fractions. might have won, eh

[Jorge]

Wow, in the case of Bodemeister, he ran his race (Preakness) with more relaxed fractionals and the results was the same. The only ordinary explanation I can find is that albeit the fractionals were slow the track was far more deep that during the Derby and thus it would be a fiction to believe than under those fractionals he was not rushed. Opinions on this angle.

Let me explain my comments a little more. What I am trying to suggest is that although the Preakness fractionals were slower than those clicked in the Derby, the unsustainable effort to repel I'll Have Another suggests that, most probably, Bodemeister was running again under a highly rushed pace that was being masked under so-called slow fractionals ---that really didn't occurred. It seems that, due to the deepness of the Pimlico track that day, in reality, Bodemeister was clicking the equivalent of :22 and change and :45 and change for the initial four 4 furlongs. In that sense, once again, he ran too fast.

I am under the impression that if he is runs in the Belmont, in a more mid-pack position, he may well surprise us with a good performance. He seems to remember me the racing style that Holy Bull exerted during his Travers' victory; or Bold Forbes' Belmont. For me Bodemeister showed a good dose of stamina during the Derby, which he reinforced with a fine stamina effort when compared with Creative Cause during the Preakness.

[bdw0617]

i still think mike smith just thought he would have enough to out kick any horse that came up to him and was wrong. he never seriously put any distance between him and the field and never attempted to.

what i really do not get is people who keep saying he "ran his race and just got beat". going 23 and 4 47 and 3 is not BM's race and never will be. just beucase he went to the lead and got soft fractions doens't mean it's "his race".

you know that's like saying.... that's like saying Dullahan "ran his race and got beat" becuase he went to the back of the pact and the pace was 24-48-1:12 and "just got beat".

I mean he got beat, but to say he ran his race and got beat is just flat out wrong. he's much faster than that and neve really used his speed to his advantage.

[Mahubah]

Back to the races... I haven't been this excited since 2004 when I had a "Smarty Party" for the Belmont. We've continued to have a Belmont party every year - and this year it's the "I'll Have Another Party"!!!

Are you serving cookies?

[jagger]

We'll bring the cookies WHAT kind would you like Mahubah?

[wangkw]

Dullahan Party !...if not, there will be a 3rd party.