Breeders Cup/Keeneland

chaumi said:
I was trying to explain to my wife what this meant both before and after the race. But some will just never get it. There are probably plenty that don't.

We're lucky.
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Not sure I dare ask what was going on during the race. Yikes!!!
 
I have to say I feel this has been an exceptional Breeders Cup.

A wow performance from the Champion we were promised
A tear-jerking story which actually resulted in the very best outcome
We Europeans annihilated the yanks in the turf races
Horses didn’t run on Lasix (for me this is huge!)
There was really good coverage....the ITV team did a great job with thorough explanations and I thought Mark J summed it up well at the end, saying he hoped that it showed that US racing can be exciting (for me it was). His contribution was superb as I felt he explained so many things which helped understand the racing over there.

I really enjoyed it all....not least the spotty pony, Harley :<3:
 
I watched the race a moment ago.

I look forward to seeing if SR does a sectional analysis. It looked to me like Flightline wasn't ridden to best effect, chasing an over-fast pace. The leaders were about 12 lengths clear towards the end of the back straight but the chasers had closed Flightline down to about six lengths at the furlong pole. He was going too well for it to have been a concern but if he had been ridden more conservatively in the first half of the race he could have won by a long, long way.

Then again, if I'd backed him he'd probably have been pulled up or jinked and unseated the jockey...
 
Retired? Seems a bit like they are backing out a bit surely? 6 races, were they all All Weather too?
 
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EC21 said:
Retired? Seems a bit like they are backing out a bit surely? 6 races, were they all All Weather too?
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According to Mark Johnson it’s to do with insurance. He’s currently worth in excess of £100million and it would be impossible to get cover for him to continue racing at that value. It’s a shame as he will always have his doubters but hey, he produced the performance on Saturday that we all were told to expect so hasn’t got much more to prove.
 
I wonder why that insurance thing didn't apply to Frankel too Jinnyj? I have no doubt he is a monster, but I just know the turfmeisters won't be thoroughly convinced. Imagine if he had been doing his winning at Southwell lets say. I know, I'm being a bit of an arse here, but I feel a bit short changed.
 
Are horses more likely to be injured running on dirt than turf? I only wondered because I find it a bit scary seeing horses running on dirt/all weather tracks.
 
Dirt is what is referred to as Super-Optimized and is regarded as being very safe.

Turf is more likely to produce hidden pot holes I would have thought
 
Tanlic said:
Dirt is what is referred to as Super-Optimized and is regarded as being very safe.

Turf is more likely to produce hidden pot holes I would have thought
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That would depend if the hard core below the dirt surface gave way due to some water issue. I would say I have seen more horses break down on the turf than the All Weather, no evidence for that, just from watching races.
 
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I think horses are more likely to get injured on dirt than grass because they are training around the turns on a daily basis so putting more strain on their limbs than we do over here where virtually all training is done in a straight line and often on a slight incline thereby putting less stress on the front end. Certainly I saw far more injuries when I was based in the US than over here.

However things may change as medication rules have been tightened over there. Lasix (the anti bleeding drug) is now banned in many states and I think Bute too. Which is a massive plus in my opinion. How can you possibly think it’s OK to mask a lameness and continue to train an athlete? At some stage that weakness could implode. Likewise if a horse bleeds...why is it bleeding? Why not treat the cause rather than mask it?

I don’t know why the insurers weren’t prepared to just hike up the premiums...and I have no idea how much Frankel was insured for....insurance is not my forte. I’m sorry we only got to see Flightline run six times but bar going for a second Classic or a World Cup, from a value point of view, they’re not going to increase it hugely and the threat of injury is always there. I will be interested to see how he does as a stallion...I briefly looked his dam and grand dam up and it’s not the strongest pedigree....not as strong as Frankel and I personally like to see a really solid black type family all the way through.
 
Quite unusual for horses to be insured when they are racing as premiums are ridiculous. When I worked for a very rich owner he didn't insure them when they were racing and not many when they retired to stud. He did ensure one of his superstars to the tune of $150million dollars when his stud career started, which was paid out after one covering season when the horse died. All of that was given to charity.

I tried to insure my mare when she was racing and the monthly sum was ridiculous comparative to her value. I insured her when she retired which was a very wise move. No one will insure foals under 30 days old. Well no one in this country anyway. I tried when BBB was born and was turned down everywhere. He cost me nearly £6000 in vet bills before he was a month old, which is a reason why no one will insure foals in the UK anyway as they are at their most vunerable. The entire reason I only had 2 foals as just couldn't afford/risk that happening again the following year, or the following year, with all the other associated costs with coverings etc. was because of what he cost me before he got to a month old. Even then if I had tried would have had to exclude the issue with that leg so if any reoccurence he wouldn't have been covered anyway.
 
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Puts the horses value at $184million apparently. Undisclosed client according to the agent.
 
You know if someone created a Flightline NFT (and they may already have), it would likely sell for $x million.

A business idea for someone here who is artistically competent, perhaps.

Rules me out, for sure.
 
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