who do you think are the two best horses in the country right now? at a mile and a quarter. any age, any sex. the older division seems to be pretty weak right now. and amazingly the two best horses in the country may both be fillies. Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra. which is very remarkable. are there any older horses that im forgetting about? maybe they havent raced yet this year. but from what im remembering most retired. and im not gonna put Commentator above the two fillies. so whos the top two in your opinion?
also, if the two fillies are the best or even amongst the best then why is it not a foregone conclusion that the Breeders Cup Classic be their ultimate goal for the season? i heard Zenyatta is pointing towards the distaff. why?
Einstein deserves a big nod here… a horse that wins on any surface and he’ll really battle to the wire. He’s better on the turf than dirt and wasn’t good enough to beat Curlin on the dirt, but he’s at the top of the older male category this year. The 3 year olds last year were weak and they’re 4 year olds this year which makes the older male category pretty weak. As such, the fillies are the best this year.
Zenyatta is staying within her own division and she has nothing to prove, so if Rachel wants to be Horse of the Year, she needs to come after Zenyatta. The Zenyatta connections actually had an article in the newspaper this weekend about why they were keeping Zenyatta against other mares… it was about their opinion on how to keep a mare like this racing at this caliber… how to maintain a mare at this level of performance. I guess they think putting her against males would take too much out of her. And I think a horse like Einstein would hook up with Zenyatta and really sprint to the wire, giving Zenyatta a run like she’s never faced before.
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:06 am
Einstein is awfully good, but it is a weak division. Commentator is question mark if he can regain his old form. Tiago does everything but win, but he might have a Classic in him. The four year olds generally don’t impress me. Pioneer of the Nile, I think maybe he’s raced too much too soon (he is a Baffert, after all) and could come back and be a threat in the fall. And Stardom Bound could come out from a freshening strong. If I owned Zenyatta, I would be thinking about the classic–Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Moss own her, though, and I think they are pretty conservative about racing her against boys. But the weakness of the division may prove enticing, who knows? If they don’t think it’s Tiago’s race, they could go with Zenyatta.
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August 23rd, 2010 at 9:48 am
Thomas Edison, and Rachel Alexandra
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August 23rd, 2010 at 10:23 am
Einstein And Zenyetta
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Thats me.
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:30 am
I agree with you. Rachael & Zenyata !!
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August 23rd, 2010 at 11:14 am
NICANOR,TO BARBARO’S FANS.
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August 23rd, 2010 at 11:30 am
I don’t think there are two clear best at 1-1/4 miles. Zenyatta hasn’t raced at that distance yet, although she certainly appears capable and her pedigree looks good for it. So I would rate Zenyatta as the best maybe for 1-1/4 miles.
I still think Dunkirk could end up among the best at 1-1/4 miles by the time the year’s over. I don’t think he should be judged by the Derby. He had a rough start, bad ride, and didn’t have enough foundation.
It’s starting to look like Rachel Alexandra’s will skip the Breeder’s Cup. This morning her owner said it’s "questionable" that she’ll run any Breeder’s Cup race this year because he doesn’t like artificial surfaces.
His quote about the BC is in the second to last paragraph of this article: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/50939/rachel-alexandra-works-no-belmont-decision?id=50939
The good news is Zenyatta may run the BC Classic. This article says her trainer is hinting that she’ll take on colts soon, maybe in the BC: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dwyre-zenyatta24-2009may24,0,7688526.column?track=rss
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August 23rd, 2010 at 11:41 am
Einstein deserves a big nod here… a horse that wins on any surface and he’ll really battle to the wire. He’s better on the turf than dirt and wasn’t good enough to beat Curlin on the dirt, but he’s at the top of the older male category this year. The 3 year olds last year were weak and they’re 4 year olds this year which makes the older male category pretty weak. As such, the fillies are the best this year.
Zenyatta is staying within her own division and she has nothing to prove, so if Rachel wants to be Horse of the Year, she needs to come after Zenyatta. The Zenyatta connections actually had an article in the newspaper this weekend about why they were keeping Zenyatta against other mares… it was about their opinion on how to keep a mare like this racing at this caliber… how to maintain a mare at this level of performance. I guess they think putting her against males would take too much out of her. And I think a horse like Einstein would hook up with Zenyatta and really sprint to the wire, giving Zenyatta a run like she’s never faced before.
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August 23rd, 2010 at 11:46 am
Right now? Rachel Alexandra’s workout of 4f in 50 wasn’t too fast and reports are she was "laying down alot in the stall" after the Preakness, not too uncommon for a horse who is tired after a race. But you have to consider her at this point for what she has accomplished so far, hopefully won’t go flat like Stardom Bound did. Don’t know how she’d fare in the Belmont, I really thought Winning Colors would control the pace and win it as a filly some years ago but did not - is Rachel as good as her? IDK yet, but at a mile and a quarter she deserves top billing, at this time.
Mine That Bird - Preakness proved he was the real deal - he showed up and ended up in the winners circle at Louisville on the first Saturday in May convincingly.
There is your Preakness exacta - the two horses everyone was talking about going into the Preakness and after the Kentucky Derby and Oaks, yet the betting was so widespread in the Preakness the exact came back at a very generous $39.20.
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