2010 Two year olds

One of the best times in the flat season as the potential 'stars' emerge - pity Godolphin don't experiment and leave their best horses in the UK over the winter - how many good Godolphin 2 year olds go on a sunshine holiday and are not at their best in the early classics? Will Saamid oblige?
 
Easy run from SAAMIDD - horse ran with total focus when asked. The close-up shows him ears back, head down, really tuned into Frankie. Beautiful to see such a professional effort, even if he did need double-quoiting to get in the stalls!
 
Pathfork did really well to win that - conditions nearly took their toll on him. Great effort from the Halford horse on just his second start.
Zoffany was disappointing.
 
Did Zoffany have any form on soft ? As much as I thought Pathfork would win Z looked all at sea.

Frankel looked a complete monster to me - not surprised he did a good time . Wouldn't back anything against him
 
Does it not show what a load of bollocks Racing for Change and the idea that the two year old races should be excluded from the end of season bash . The really exciting race for me in prospect of this year's Champions Day is the Dewhurst .
 
Ardross said:
Did Zoffany have any form on soft ? As much as I thought Pathfork would win Z looked all at sea.

Frankel looked a complete monster to me - not surprised he did a good time . Wouldn't back anything against him
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Perhaps Zoffany has had enough for the season - a busy old time of things. Certainly much better than Samuel Morse who finished on his tail today.

Frankel does look good but it would simply be stable bias or preference if the likes of Sammidd lines up and you wouldnt consider him a major threat.
 
Galileo - pot and kettle when it comes to talking about stable bias.:D

Pathfork and Strong Suit are more of a worry than Saamidd to me . Very good performance today but Approve was given a poor ride - Saamidd got first run and was giving 3lb .

I am sure these horses are serious threats but I would not oppose Frankel who clocked a time 1.5 seconds faster than Saamidd and there has been little rain since apparently .
 
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Ardross said:
Galileo - pot and kettle when it comes to talking about stable bias.:D

Pathfork and Strong Suit are more of a worry than Saamidd to me . Very good performance today but Approve was given a poor ride - Saamidd got first run and was giving 3lb .

I am sure these horses are serious threats but I would not oppose Frankel.
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I hope King Torus or Strong Suit does not turn up - then you'll be really torn.

I have no problem with stable preference or bias - but you knock absolutely everything that comes from Godolphin. Clearly they have issues but Saamidd travelled like a top class horse today and certainly has achieved more than Frankel has on the racecourse.

Saamidd did not get "first run" on Approve...he quickened up and Approve could not go with him. Then Approve started to stay on towards the end but that was due to his inability to respond when Saamidd picked up. Approve was giving him 3lbs but by the end of their respective careers I am pretty sure there will be a near 10lb difference in their two - it was Sammidd's second start...you dismissed him before the race as being a terrible price at least give the horse some credit for proving you wrong.
 
He was a terrible price . He won well but his time was not in Frankel's league and I think he was flattered by the ride given to Approve who was running under a penalty .

As for Godolphin - any organisation with such resources but such poor results is failing . Kite Wood another horse sent into reverse. It has nothing to do with bias all to do with results and recent experience of their horses .

Gal - we know how biased you are in favour of the AOB horses , your green tinted glasses are legendary so it is a bit rich you making that point .
 
Ardross said:
Gal - we know how biased you are in favour of the AOB horses , your green tinted glasses are legendary so it is a bit rich you making that point .
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You should read my post again - it has nothing to do with favouring Cecil, Hannon etc...I clearly stated that.

He was a terrible price . He won well but his time was not in Frankel's league and I think he was flattered by the ride given to Approve who was running under a penalty .
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Oooo a time buff now are we? Flip the two horses and you would be saying Sammidd proved nothing in a 3 runner race while Frankel did well to win a Group 2 on just his second start against proven performers.

For the record I think Frankel is a top colt in the making.
 
A real corker, neo05 - any doubts lingering about his elevation by Gosden must surely all be well swept away now.
 
Buick is a superb jockey no question - bizarre he has ridden so few winners this season. Other trainers should be falling over themselves to book him .

As for Frankel - a horse that does a time faster than standard in a three runner race utterly unchallenged without coming off the bit is something out of the ordinary - you do not need to be a time buff to realise how impressive that is especially when it is 1.5 seconds faster than a Group 2 !

Godolphin did incredibly well for a number of years - in recent years however their results are poor and their 2 year olds disappear and turn up late in the year at 3 in listed races if at all . If Saamidd were with Stoute I expect i would indeed consider him more of a serious classic contender but that is due the results of the Godolphin team rather than the fact I deprecate their methods
 
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Ardross said:
He was a terrible price . He won well but his time was not in Frankel's league and I think he was flattered by the ride given to Approve who was running under a penalty .

As for Godolphin - any organisation with such resources but such poor results is failing . Kite Wood another horse sent into reverse. It has nothing to do with bias all to do with results and recent experience of their horses .

Gal - we know how biased you are in favour of the AOB horses , your green tinted glasses are legendary so it is a bit rich you making that point .
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You got it wrong about Saamidd so at least admit it and leave it at that. We all get plenty wrong but for you to continue to put down a very decisive group 2 winner is nonsense.
 
I know he's oft decried, but Matt Chapman did voice the hope that he wouldn't be sent to Dubai this winter, as he agrees with many people's opinion that they don't come back any the better for it - in fact, far from it.
 
I agree sending them to Dubai has turned out to be a disaster in recent years . Do they not have to do that though to say they are trained in Dubai ?

Hamm - I suggest you go back and read my post . I said he needed to improve a great deal as the Newbury form was poor but that he was visually very impressive and could do so (The Newbury form is poor the runner up was turned over at Goodwood this afternoon too)

His price was absurd on that form -his price was all due to his reputation .

It was a good performance today but not breathtaking . Frankel to me was breathtaking . On form I do regard Pathfork and Strong Suit as greater threats . Saamidd may well continue to improve and is a serious contender for G1 races this autumn (I just prefer the other three) - judging by Godolphin's record since Dubawi I doubt he will be next spring .
 
I don't know, Arders. Did they always do it? (Memory has failed on that.) It doesn't seem to do what everyone thought would be good for them, avoiding the harsher British winter weather. It might perk up tourists for a week or two, but it seems to dull the horses.
 
They've not had the material for a Guineas since Dubawi (who was beaten by the hard ground) so I think an Arabic winter and it's effects is being overplayed.
 
The thing they'd miss would be the natural adjustment to the change of season they'd have here, Euro. They would be maintained in what would, at worst, be mid-autumnal temperatures, and I don't know if anyone's done any studies on how animals which shed and grow coats seasonally fare when their normal rhythm is interfered with. We don't grow more fur but even humans become more interested in eating nonstop and dozing a lot more in wintertime, as horses would do in a more natural state (building up fat reserves to see them through months of frost, icy ground, etc.). A horse's natural state would be to do all that during seasonal cycles. Arabian horses don't grow winter coats in the way that TBs do because the winters are so relatively mild to Europe's. They don't switch to pork-out mode and want to eat and not move a lot.

I'm only chucking some thoughts around here, though. It won't surprise me to find that someone with a Ph.D in Animal Science decides that moving horses on the cusp of one season to another country where they experience an endless version of that season doesn't do their rhythms any good. But I'm just throwing out ideas here - until there's a lot more study and evidence with other horses, that's all they're likely to remain, too.
 
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