Would IHA Have Won?
Seemed quite an exciting TC season. Query which is worse: IHA injury or IHA in the Belmont finishing up the track? Would IHA have won the race???
The fractions were a bit slow, Union Rags even in victory hardly looked the part of a TC champion. However, did anyone get a look at that track. On Paulick report Sat. Morning-- Paulick and Migliore--take a look at the 2:27 mark on as deep a track as I've seen. And, again, do have training injuries on such a track? This looks like galloping over an egg carton:
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/triple-crown/video-exploring-the-unique-challenges-of-riding-at-belmont-park/
My take--a healthy IHA given the training would have struggled to stay with the top three in the stretch. Doubtful one can gallop a horse but a mile over a three week period and expect the horse to go all out over 1.5 miles on race day without tying up breathing or muscles somewhere around 1.25 miles, particularly on this deep track with these turns. More appropriate training? IHA likely blows them away imo
IHA training, as Lamar Simic has commented, might well have been compromised by the physical condition of the horse despite O'Neill's seemingly sincere denials. With the points Simic makes, if you've trained a horse, and considering this carefully, is there any way that IHA comes out of the Preakness off that training with "ice cold legs", or off his Belmont training effort having, as Simic noted had his trainer fail to appropriately adapt the horse to the deep surface and the turns, is there any way that horse around June 1 and before would have had ice cold front legs? Highly highly doubtful.
Tough spot for the trainer, of course, even if it's a weekend race at Eureka. It's embarrassing when you're horse starts showing tendon heat. Reflects on your training and decision making. In O'Neill's case, having listened to the fellow for 4 weeks now there's likely some rationalization there, or maybe it all falls in the "would fail to recognize the truth if he saw it in Church on Sunday morning category." High IQ, seemingly sincere--but did that TV feature on NBC Belmont with O'Neill and Reddam looking like the bobbsey twins put one a little on guard.? Unable to link that one, unfortunately.
Let's conclude with the Q how many times O'Neill has likely had to manufacture excuses to his owner victims for injuring horses. Must be second nature. I feel another Doug O'Neill interview coming on. Here's the one from a few years back:
http://ratherrapid.blogspot.com/2008/11/doug-oneill-interview.html
The fractions were a bit slow, Union Rags even in victory hardly looked the part of a TC champion. However, did anyone get a look at that track. On Paulick report Sat. Morning-- Paulick and Migliore--take a look at the 2:27 mark on as deep a track as I've seen. And, again, do have training injuries on such a track? This looks like galloping over an egg carton:
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/triple-crown/video-exploring-the-unique-challenges-of-riding-at-belmont-park/
My take--a healthy IHA given the training would have struggled to stay with the top three in the stretch. Doubtful one can gallop a horse but a mile over a three week period and expect the horse to go all out over 1.5 miles on race day without tying up breathing or muscles somewhere around 1.25 miles, particularly on this deep track with these turns. More appropriate training? IHA likely blows them away imo
IHA training, as Lamar Simic has commented, might well have been compromised by the physical condition of the horse despite O'Neill's seemingly sincere denials. With the points Simic makes, if you've trained a horse, and considering this carefully, is there any way that IHA comes out of the Preakness off that training with "ice cold legs", or off his Belmont training effort having, as Simic noted had his trainer fail to appropriately adapt the horse to the deep surface and the turns, is there any way that horse around June 1 and before would have had ice cold front legs? Highly highly doubtful.
Tough spot for the trainer, of course, even if it's a weekend race at Eureka. It's embarrassing when you're horse starts showing tendon heat. Reflects on your training and decision making. In O'Neill's case, having listened to the fellow for 4 weeks now there's likely some rationalization there, or maybe it all falls in the "would fail to recognize the truth if he saw it in Church on Sunday morning category." High IQ, seemingly sincere--but did that TV feature on NBC Belmont with O'Neill and Reddam looking like the bobbsey twins put one a little on guard.? Unable to link that one, unfortunately.
Let's conclude with the Q how many times O'Neill has likely had to manufacture excuses to his owner victims for injuring horses. Must be second nature. I feel another Doug O'Neill interview coming on. Here's the one from a few years back:
http://ratherrapid.blogspot.com/2008/11/doug-oneill-interview.html
posted by rather rapid at
10:52 AM
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7 Comments:
Union Rags looked like a very tired horse when they led him into the winner's circle.He probably was not appropriately trained for this race and he won it mostly on class and talent,like you mentioned he is big,long striding horse with a nice action and his natural advantage was obvious at the finish.From some pre-Derby and pre-Belmont clips,it is hard to say that Matz has ever sent him on the track for any 2 mins mile and like you mentioned his speed work was very infrequent.But he was simply naturally equipped to take this kind of race against this group of horses.In some other races fractions were pretty fast over the racetrack that day so the slow final time in this year's Belmont is more the evidence of the inadequate fitness,lack of class,or the combination of both in some entrants.
Plus guys, no one every takes into account the fact that UR ran 1+ miles under heavy cover - especially on the final sweeping turn; he had 4 horses in front of him cutting through the air like buzzsaws.
UR and Dullahan have to get every single break in order to win, otherwise it's excuse-city.
Bodemeister and Paynter both had superior metabolic/physiological efforts in trying to go wire-to-wire, in my opinion this earns them the right to cut off that damn rail during the final F if they see fit!
I think that IHA even with his inadequate preparation leading up to Belmont,still could had been in a position to be a huge factor in this race,for the same reasons UR has won this race-class and talent,IHA also has the stride that helps him to go the distance and he probably had more natural stamina than any other horse in this race.Even if his leg has fired up right after the Preakness, his trainer had some other options to finally bring him up for the Triple Crown run instead of bowing him.I am sure that these half mile bursts every single day did less for the horse's fitness and more for breaking up of that vulnerable tendon fibers than any other training protocol that O'Neill was able to choose.
DO you remember Captain Bodgit? He really had a huge runs in Derby and Preakness with a bowed left front?
Bill is 100% right here,UR has benefited here from the huge drafting effect and in one word,his jock did a wonderful job.
And it's no question that Baffert's horses were trained superior when compared to most of the other 3yos in this TC series and the proof were their big efforts.I guess that if we see TC winner in the next couple of years it will probably come from Baffert's stable because he still has some high profile owners to support his operation with good colts.
Nice job! How do u pass the vet exam with a bowe?
Mr Rapid,I still haven't introduced myself,I am from Serbia where I had both racing Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.I am also a vet here. My country is not so big and rich but we have some interesting races here and I think that horses here are trained more appropriately than in the USA.Here we usually breeze a horse 6 days before the race at the racing distance or just a furlong shorter (at speeds expected in the race or just slightly slower). Then,he will be blown out again two days before the race a fast quarter.
How the racetrack vets examine horses before the race to allow them to run? Do they only watch them trot in front of them or also palpate and flex their legs? I guess that with this kind of bow IHA would not show any lameness,some tenderness can be found out with palpation.
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