PDA

View Full Version : Call to the Post!



PirateLover
05-03-2008, 01:46 PM
:play:
Anyone like to play the ponies around here? My brother is a horse racing nut. This is his favorite time of the year, with the Kentucky Derby going off today, Preakness two weeks from now, and then the Belmont stakes shortly thereafter.

I first really got into horse racing with the Smarty Jones in 2004. Almost every year since then we've had a horse with a local connection, but this year there isn't one.

I don't pay attention to the odds so much as I go with gut instincts on numbers and names. I played the $5 trifecta boxed on Pyro, Big Brown, and Eight Belles. This is actually the first time I'm laying money down, usually I just pick for fun.

Anybody have a favorite?

chick20679
05-03-2008, 02:34 PM
I'm betting on Big Brown. :spend:

:D

Scar
05-03-2008, 02:40 PM
I'll take Affirmed to win and Alydar to place. ;)

Jeff G
05-03-2008, 05:51 PM
Without looking at the odds I placed $10 on Pyro based on Def Leppards Pyromania being my favorite album of all time.

Ian
05-03-2008, 06:40 PM
I'm betting on Big Brown. :spend:

:DGood move!


Without looking at the odds I placed $10 on Pyro based on Def Leppards Pyromania being my favorite album of all time.Bad move! ;)

kakn7294
05-03-2008, 09:16 PM
Too bad I didn't bet - I would have picked Big Brown.

Scar
05-03-2008, 09:23 PM
That was very weird watching the celebrations after what happened to 8 Belles.

I won $15.

I was at my parents for dinner with my Brother, SIL, and niece. I decided to be "The House", and took all $2 bets. Easy money. :D

kakn7294
05-03-2008, 11:45 PM
I just found out about what happened to Eight Belles. How tragic! My DD's will be devastated when they find out - and I won't be able to keep it from them.

PirateLover
05-04-2008, 01:53 AM
At first I was pretty happy with the results, despite the fact that Pyro didn't place.... my bro profited +1600 from the trifecta. I was only missing Dennis of Cork....
But yea I was a huge fan of 8 Belles. I ran to the lavatory right after the race and when I came back my fiancee told me she had to be put down after the race. I literally just starting hyperventilating and bawling, I felt so bad....

PirateLover
05-04-2008, 08:46 AM
. I literally just starting hyperventilating and bawling, I felt so bad....
I also wanted to add that I am just a huge animal lover, horses in particular. They are majestic animals. I struggle all the time about whether I should be a racing fan or not. It's very exciting but when you see what happens sometimes, it makes you question:(

ftwildernesskid
05-04-2008, 02:36 PM
Glad to see people outside of Louisville lovin' the Derby! It's a great time! I highly reccomend it to anyone at least once in their lives. My sister was in the box in front of Big Brown's owner and friends. They weren't planning on betting on him, but then felt like they should after meeting everyone. Good thing!

kakn7294
05-05-2008, 04:07 PM
I also wanted to add that I am just a huge animal lover, horses in particular. They are majestic animals. I struggle all the time about whether I should be a racing fan or not. It's very exciting but when you see what happens sometimes, it makes you question:(You know Maryanne, this is probably the one time in sports I can agree with you (you being from Philly and me being from the 'Burgh) - I'm not sure whether to be a fan or not. It's a glamorous industry but for all the animals in the spotlight that we see who are treated well, there are hundreds more that are not. The sport is hard on these animals - young and healthy animals who don't have what it takes are often euthanized, mares are used year after year as baby factories even long after they shouldn't be breeding anymore, living conditions and training methods are sometimes deplorable, and the accidents and injuries are sometimes devastating. I hear now that PETA wants Eight Belles jockey suspended pending an investigation - they feel that something happened to the mare early in the race and he kept running her anyway. I've heard conflicting stories and I'm not sure what really happened.

Scar
05-05-2008, 04:19 PM
... they (PETA) feel that something happened to the mare early in the race and he kept running her anyway.How would they know? Early in the race? :confused: She finished second.

SBETigg
05-05-2008, 04:31 PM
My dad took me to races when I was young and I love watching. I was so sorry to see Eight Belles down. Heartbreaking. I liked Pyro, Court Vision, and Denis of Cork. My DH picked Big Brown. We never put money on it, though.

kakn7294
05-05-2008, 04:36 PM
How would they know? Early in the race? :confused: She finished second.I know, I'm confused by that too. I wouldn't think that she would have been able to finish the race much less come in second. I've heard conflicting complaints including that she injured herself at the beginning of the race but was whipped to keep going and that's how she ended up with both front ankles broken - they thought perhaps she would have had a much less severe injury (and thus could have been saved) if the jockey had pulled her up at the start. I also heard that it happened just after she finished while they are still running.

Advnt05
05-13-2008, 09:59 AM
Prefacing my comments with that I'm a sideline fan, watch the triple crown and that is it for the year. I enjoy watching the races (dog races too for that matter but that's another thread). I am troubled by the number of horses that I see injured in the three races each year that I watch. I have trouble wrapping my mind around how a horse breaks both legs running on a dirt track. Don't they run naturally in the wild? My only guess would be that they run them too hard at a young age. Would the excitement be any less if they waited until the horses were 1 year older to run? Maybe they would be a little slower but they possibly wouldn't break legs either. I guess I don't understand it all.

PirateLover
05-14-2008, 12:08 AM
I have trouble wrapping my mind around how a horse breaks both legs running on a dirt track. Don't they run naturally in the wild? My only guess would be that they run them too hard at a young age. Would the excitement be any less if they waited until the horses were 1 year older to run? Maybe they would be a little slower but they possibly wouldn't break legs either. I guess I don't understand it all.
I'm with you here. There was some rumor going around that 8 Belles had a sprained ankle ahead of time and they shot her up, not with steroids, but with another kind of pain reliever that is legal so she could still run on it. Never found out if that got substantiated though. I don't blame the jockey. If something was amiss, I'd blame the owner. Something just doesn't smell right about this whole situation.

Scar
05-19-2008, 03:36 PM
Anyone watch the Preakness?

I think Big Brown has a great shot at winning The Triple Crown. He has just been so much better than any other horse he raced against. That burst he had coming out of the last turn was amazing.

PirateLover
05-19-2008, 06:06 PM
I didn't get a chance to watch or bet, which is somewhat unfortunate because those were the 3 horses I picked. I did see the final few seconds on the news, Big Brown really pulled away. My brother says there are a few horses that were held off from the other races that could possible play the spoiler in the Belmont, but Big Brown does look pretty dominant.

SBETigg
05-19-2008, 06:12 PM
Watched the Preakness. Big Brown was amazing. I liked Ichabad Crane. I've picked third place in both races. Let's see if I can do it at the Belmont, too. I want Big Brown to take the Triple Crown, though.

Scar
05-20-2008, 09:36 AM
My brother says there are a few horses that were held off from the other races that could possible play the spoiler in the Belmont, but Big Brown does look pretty dominant.The main one I'm reading about is Casino Drive. He'll have one extra weeks rest, but he will also need a new jockey as Desormeaux rode him too, and I have a feeling he'll chose Big Brown over Casino Drive, just a hunch. ;)

PirateLover
05-25-2008, 01:08 PM
The main one I'm reading about is Casino Drive. He'll have one extra weeks rest, but he will also need a new jockey as Desormeaux rode him too, and I have a feeling he'll chose Big Brown over Casino Drive, just a hunch. ;)

Yea, actually now he is pretty certain we'll have a triple crown winner this year. If you remember what happened with Smarty Jones, there was a horse in that race whose sole purpose for running was to make Smarty lose by getting him to break too early. There is a lot of elitism in racing and Smarty was not the favorite of that crowd. His breeding, the track he came from, and his owners were not "esteemed" if you will. However with what happened to Barbaro and now Eight Belles, the negative side of racing is in the spotlight. I don't think anyone is going to outrightly look to spoil Big Brown's run for the triple crown, so it's his race to lose. Racing needs a triple crown winner.

SBETigg
05-25-2008, 03:24 PM
Big Brown is injured, cracked hoof. It won't keep him from racing, but I fear it could hurt his triple crown chance.

PirateLover
05-25-2008, 10:09 PM
I don't know anything about hoof injuries, but at least he has a decent amount of time to recover. The trainers say it is enough time and he'll be fine, but would they really say differently? I hope they are being truthful.

Coach48
05-28-2008, 08:13 AM
Big Brown is our local star here on Long Island.We are all rooting for him.

Scar
05-28-2008, 02:16 PM
Big Brown on track
Injured foot passes test

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

BY TOM LUICCI
Star-Ledger Staff

Big Brown didn't have to put his best foot forward yesterday, just his left front one.

Once the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner did that shortly after 7 a.m. at Belmont Park, going for a mile and a half jog with exercise rider Michelle Nevin aboard, a collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout thoroughbred racing.

Sidelined since Friday when a quarter crack was discovered inside his left front hoof, Big Brown had been confined to Barn 2 on the Belmont Park backstretch until yesterday's surprise visit to the track.

The unbeaten colt, seeking to become the sport's 12th Triple Crown winner a week from Saturday in the Belmont Stakes, made a speedier-than-expected recovery from his foot injury. Quarter cracks, the equivalent of a split fingernail for humans that goes up through the cuticle, can take anywhere from several days to months to heal depending on the severity.

The fancy footwork by hoof specialist Ian McKinlay had Big Brown back on track sooner than anticipated.

"We were concerned when the quarter crack was first discussed," said Michael Iavarone, co-president and CEO of IEAH Stables, the majority owner of Big Brown. "But Ian McKinlay had told us that this was a straight-forward quarter crack. He has been on top of it ever since."

On Monday, McKinlay treated the quarter crack, using steel sutures to repair it. The absence of any infection, McKinlay said, was one of the keys to the quick healing process.

Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. was satisfied enough that he took Big Brown to the track yesterday, a day earlier than planned. The son of Boundary has had a history of foot problems, but they were unrelated to the latest injury.

"I felt him going to the track was not only good for his conditioning but also good for his mind," Dutrow said. "He's been kind of aggravated. He doesn't know why he has not gone to the track (since Friday). He just doesn't understand why he's not doing it and we can't explain it to him.

"So we let him go out there and take the edge off. He's just getting too rough around the barn."

Dutrow said the brief time off won't have any impact as Big Brown tries to negotiate the demanding mile and a half distance of the Belmont Stakes.

"There's no way in the world that four, five, six or seven days of him missing on the track is going to affect his outcome or his racing ability when he runs the Belmont," Dutrow said. "There's no way this can affect him. He's not going to get tired because he missed a few days."