Belmont Stakes….

Viejo Dinosaur

Viejo Dinosaur

EOG Master
Couple major changes to this years race…will be run at Saratoga and at a mile and a quarter instead of a mile and a half…10 horses are entered with the two favorites drawing the ninth and tenth starting gates…
 
V

Valuist

EOG Master
raycabino said:
Why the switch from a 1.5 miles? Too many injuries? Too me the 1.5 miles is the only thing that makes this race special.
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I don't think the Saratoga oval can accomodate 1 1/2 miles on the main track.

This Belmont is a prep for the Travers.
 
V

Valuist

EOG Master
Maybe to casual fans, the Belmont was special because of 1 1/2 miles. But unless a Triple Crown is on the line, its really an irrelevant race. The only horses meant to run 1 1/2 miles now are grass horses. Some very mediocre horses have won the Belmont over the past 20 years or so.
 
mr merlin

mr merlin

EOG Master
Valuist said:
Maybe to casual fans, the Belmont was special because of 1 1/2 miles. But unless a Triple Crown is on the line, its really an irrelevant race. The only horses meant to run 1 1/2 miles now are grass horses. Some very mediocre horses have won the Belmont over the past 20 years or so.
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Yup, it's hard, that's good..

As far as "meant" goes, they're horses, horses are supposed to run and can be trained to do a lot. Some are naturally better at long distances just as human athletes.

Surely one major race of an extra quarter mile can exist as the ultimate test.
 
Viejo Dinosaur

Viejo Dinosaur

EOG Master
Valuist said:
Maybe to casual fans, the Belmont was special because of 1 1/2 miles. But unless a Triple Crown is on the line, its really an irrelevant race. The only horses meant to run 1 1/2 miles now are grass horses. Some very mediocre horses have won the Belmont over the past 20 years or so.
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Will never, ever forget Secretariat’s trip in the Belmont….gives me goosebumps every time I see it…
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
I was at Belmont Park the day Victory Gallop denied Real Quiet a chance at horse racing immortality.

I swear the grandstand shook when the two horses hit the wire together in the 130th Belmont Stakes.

Victory Gallop was 9/2 and Real Quiet was 4/5.

The year was 1998.
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
The great announcer Tom Durkin on the call...


He's coming to the eighth pole! Twenty years in the waiting, one furlong to go! But here comes his rival, Victory Gallop, as they come to the final sixteenth! Kent Desormeaux IMPLORING Real Quiet to hold on! Victory Gallop a final surge! It's going to be very close! Here's the wire...IT'S TOO CLOSE TO CALL!!!!!!!!!!! Was it Real Quiet, or was it Victory Gallop? A picture is worth a thousand words...this photo is worth five million dollars! Oh no! History, in the waiting, on hold, until we get that photo finish!"
 
Viejo Dinosaur

Viejo Dinosaur

EOG Master
John Kelly said:
I was at Belmont Park the day Victory Gallop denied Real Quiet a chance at horse racing immortality.

I swear the grandstand shook when the two horses hit the wire together in the 130th Belmont Stakes.

Victory Gallop was 9/2 and Real Quiet was 4/5.

The year was 1998.
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I had Real Quiet in the Derby that year….gave him out to the staff at Olympic Garden in Vegas…he paid 26 and change if I remember right…didn’t pay for drinks or VIP privileges for a few years whenever I was visiting Vegas from offshore…
 
V

Valuist

EOG Master
mr merlin said:
Yup, it's hard, that's good..

As far as "meant" goes, they're horses, horses are supposed to run and can be trained to do a lot. Some are naturally better at long distances just as human athletes.

Surely one major race of an extra quarter mile can exist as the ultimate test.
Click to expand...

Breeders will admit they breed for speed. That's what brings in the most results and money. How many graded stakes are run in the US at 12 furlongs or longer? Very few. And with good reason.
 
mr merlin

mr merlin

EOG Master
Valuist said:
Breeders will admit they breed for speed. That's what brings in the most results and money. How many graded stakes are run in the US at 12 furlongs or longer? Very few. And with good reason.
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No one is forced to enter their horse, however the purse is huge, the crowd is large and it's a national event.

Take away what makes the belmont special and it's just another stakes race that only horse bettors care about(a dwindling breed).

I'm ok with losing it this year if the belmont track is improved, I just wish they would make it maybe a 16th longer than the derby. is that really impossible.
 
V

Valuist

EOG Master
I will admit the full card at Saratoga for Saturday is excellent. Loaded with stakes races.

I think the Met Mile will have to be run around 2 turns as the Sar chute isn’t big enough to accommodate a mile race. NYRA should’ve run the Met at Aqueduct on Memorial Day.
 
R

Rockfish

EOG Addicted
Viejo Dinosaur said:
Sasha the owner treated me like a King…even before the Derby….had some great times in that place…
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Ha! Ha! That is a name i haven't heard in a long time. Tall guy Nick also worked up front wearing his $1500 suits not a hair out of place. Not the friendliest guy.

Old guy owner (can't remember his name)Sasha and Nick were related to also owned one of the cab companies in Vegas. Two of biggest cash business's one could have. God only knows how much cash was skimmed from those two companies and sent back to Greece.
 
blueline

blueline

EOG Master
Valuist said:
Breeders will admit they breed for speed. That's what brings in the most results and money. How many graded stakes are run in the US at 12 furlongs or longer? Very few. And with good reason.
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Beyond 10 furlongs on the dirt most of the time it becomes a stagger-fest.
Unless you have a horse that you can be confident can deal with 12 furlongs , no incentive to try unless a Triple Crown is at stake.
As you pointed out horses are not bred for "staying" on the dirt.
You can gut/ruin a horse getting it fit and running 12 furlongs inJune of its 3yo season.

The colt that won last year was a nice colt...think he retired...dont know why...after the Travers.
 
mr merlin

mr merlin

EOG Master
blueline said:
Beyond 10 furlongs on the dirt most of the time it becomes a stagger-fest.
Unless you have a horse that you can be confident can deal with 12 furlongs , no incentive to try unless a Triple Crown is at stake.
As you pointed out horses are not bred for "staying" on the dirt.
You can gut/ruin a horse getting it fit and running 12 furlongs inJune of its 3yo season.

The colt that won last year was a nice colt...think he retired...dont know why...after the Travers.
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We have a track here(Canterbury downs), way back in the day they had a 2 mile race near the end of the season. they might still have it, I dont really go there anymore.
 
Willy Loman

Willy Loman

2
John Kelly said:
I was at Belmont Park the day Victory Gallop denied Real Quiet a chance at horse racing immortality.

I swear the grandstand shook when the two horses hit the wire together in the 130th Belmont Stakes.

Victory Gallop was 9/2 and Real Quiet was 4/5.

The year was 1998.
Click to expand...
Was there that day as well John.
 
2

2W2P2S

EOG Dedicated
John Kelly said:
I was at Belmont Park the day Victory Gallop denied Real Quiet a chance at horse racing immortality.

I swear the grandstand shook when the two horses hit the wire together in the 130th Belmont Stakes.

Victory Gallop was 9/2 and Real Quiet was 4/5.

The year was 1998.
Click to expand...
Just featured on Day at the Races. What's lost in history is that if Real Quiet had won the race, they would have been forced to DQ for the interference deep stretch when Desormeaux swerved out on Victory Gallop. Would have been mayhem.
 
V

Valuist

EOG Master
On Derby Day, I pointed out Mindframe. Given Pletcher's success in the Belmont, Mindframe will be a major player. And 12/1 on Honor Marie? I don't imagine he goes off anywhere that high.
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
2W2P2S said:
Just featured on Day at the Races. What's lost in history is that if Real Quiet had won the race, they would have been forced to DQ for the interference deep stretch when Desormeaux swerved out on Victory Gallop. Would have been mayhem.
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I forgot about the potential interference.

I wonder if the stewards were rooting for Victory Gallop to win the photo?

#OffTheHook
 
2

2W2P2S

EOG Dedicated
John Kelly said:
I forgot about the potential interference.

I wonder if the stewards were rooting for Victory Gallop to win the photo?

#OffTheHook
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Yes, they feared for their lives. The reason the photo took so long to put up was because the stewards had already started review of the incident. It was clear on the head on Real Quiet came out and interfered, and they said they would have been forced to DQ.
 
Ray Luca

Ray Luca

EOG Master
Valuist said:
I’ve decided to fade Mindframe. He might end up being on of the top 3 YOs…..just not today. Resilience ran a sneaky good race in the Derby; big move wide into the fastest part of the pace.
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Yeah short odds too. 7/2 ML.
Would need higher than that
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Little Andy Serling...often wrong but rarely in doubt.

He's a mix of Steve Crist and Andy Beyer with a dash of Harvey Pack.

Knows NYRA, as VALUIST wrote.

New Yorker through and through.
 
Ray Luca

Ray Luca

EOG Master
Valuist said:
On Derby Day, I pointed out Mindframe. Given Pletcher's success in the Belmont, Mindframe will be a major player. And 12/1 on Honor Marie? I don't imagine he goes off anywhere that high.
Click to expand...

Track is souped up...need to rethink race
 
mr merlin

mr merlin

EOG Master
Every time some long shot wins a big race you look at his record and you say "you know, he is pretty good, how come I didn't consider him"?
 
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