Anyone Follow Horse Racing?

[mbison]

dont follow it much but am intersted

[klinkman]

dont follow it much but am intersted

Okay, then I'll start posting some of my thoughts. These will be in no particular order, and will be updated whenever I get a moment.

Tale Of Ekati:
Top Perfomances: 1st in the Wood Memorial [G1], 4th in the Kentucky Derby[G1], 4th in the Jim Dandy [G1], 1st in the Futurity [G1], 4th in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile [G1]

Notable Misfires: 6th in the Belmont[G1], 7th in the Travers[G1], 6th in the Louisiana Derby

Although seemingly talented as a 2 year old, Tale of Ekati has failed in his last 3 starts, only cashing in the Jim Dandy, and his win in the Wood Memorial was in a slow time against an injured 2nd place horse. He has seemed to be consistent, cashing in several big races, but has not seemed to be able to win. He will likely be pointed to the Breeder's Cup Dirt Mile later this year, but has little chance of winning it in my opinion.

[klinkman]

Macho Again

Top Perfomances: 1st in the Jim Dandy[G2], 1st in the Derby Trial, 2nd in the Preakness Stakes [G1]

Notable Misfires: 5th in the Belmont Stakes[G1], 6th in the Travers Stakes[G1]

Macho Again has shown to be a talented 3 yr old, finishing 2nd in a triple crown race to Big Brown, and beating a strong field in the Jim Dandy. The Travers is a throw out in my opinion as he ran into a wall of horses and clipped his heels when he tried to rally in that race, and the Belmont had no pace which hurt his chances. Mark my words he will be a force to be reckoned with later this year.

[klinkman]

Mambo In Seattle

Top Perfomances: 2nd in the Travers[G1], 1st in the Henry Walton [not graded]

Notable Misfires: None that I can find.

He's lightly raced, but has performed well when he has. His time in the Henry Walton was faster than Macho Again's in the Jim Dandy, on the same day at the same track over the same distance. He lost by half a nose in the Travers, and had to circle the field to get to the lead, costing him precious ground. He could very well be the next big thing, and be up to taking on Big Brown in the BC Classic.

[mbison]

mambo sounds good,please explain what G1 means for me ty

[klinkman]

mambo sounds good,please explain what G1 means for me ty

When I say G1, I mean Grade 1. Stakes races are graded on the quality of horses that have run in them or won them in the past. A grade 1 race is generally the cream of the crop of horses that run in them. A grade 2 tends to have a slightly lower class of horses, but some top horses have run in them. A grade 3 is the lowest grade of a graded stakes race, but still has had enough talented horses in the past to set it apart from an average everyday race at a racetrack.

[klinkman]

Pyro

Top Performances: 1st in the Risen Star[G3], 1st in the Louisiana Derby[G2], 2nd in the Jim Dandy[G2], 3rd in the Travers[G1], 2nd in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile[G1], 2nd in the Champagne Stakes[G2], 1st in the Northern Dancer [G3]

Notable Misfires: 8th in the Kentucky Derby[G1], 10th in the Toyota Bluegrass[G1]

Pyro's come from behind style makes him less consistent than horses who are on or close to the pace, and Pyro has 2 notable misfires on his resume. Furthermore, if he were as talented as some people seem to think he is, there is no reason why he couldn't have won the Jim Dandy or the Travers. His run at the field always seems to be too little to late. Furthermore he really failed on his one race on polytrack, which the Breeder's Cup dirt races will be on later this year.

[klinkman]

Colonel John

Top Perfomances: 1st in the Travers[G1], 1st in the Santa Anita Derby[G1], 1st in the Sham Stakes [G3], 2nd in the CashCall Futurity[G2]

Notable Misfires: 6th in the Kentucky Derby[G1], 3rd in the Swaps Stakes(out of 4)[G2]

Colonel John is something of an enigma to me. As soon as I had written him off as a Polytrack only horse he goes and wins the Travers. His win in the Travers proves that he is the real deal. And with the Breeder's Cup being run on polytrack this year he is in great shape to run in the classic or the dirt mile, whichever he ends up being pointed at. However I think that other horses may be better on dirt, most notably Mambo in Seattle and Macho Again. But there is no doubt that he is talented and will be huge at the end of the season.

[klinkman]

Da' Tara

Top Performances: 1st in the Belmont Stakes[G1], 2nd in the Barbaro Stakes [Not Graded]

Notable Misfires: 7th in the Jim Dandy[G2], 5th in the Travers[G1], 5th in the Derby Trial[Not Graded], 9th in the Florida Derby[G1]

Da' Tara seems to need a lot of things to go his way in order to win a race. He got to jog for the first mile in the Belmont, which allowed him to stay in front of the come from behind horses. When pressed on the pace, as he was in the Jim Dandy and the Travers, he fades at the end. He does have one thing going for him-he beat Big Brown in the Belmont.