posted Oct 6, 2008

pundits get carried away too easily, but this filly COULD be a true great, it was a good field, the good horses ran well and she overcame a bad start - to get that 'great' ranking she'll need to stay in training and win the Arc again, but isnt it great to have that hope!!!

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posted Oct 6, 2008

It was a great performance,up there with the Dancing Brave performance.

To the earlier posts,I can remember Dancing Brave at the BC. He never ever looked at ease on the tight track and I can never see why owners/trainers of very good classic winners like Dancing Brave (Ok he was only 2nd in the Derby but we all know who's fault that was....Don't we Greville ??) take them to the BC after a long hard season. I know the prize money is good but surely the travel,different weather conditions etc are more a risk to potentialy destroying a good stud fee/reputation.

I hope she dosn't go and have to admit a Zarkava/Sadlers Wells off-spring could be something very special !!

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posted Oct 6, 2008

Dancing Brave did NOT flop. He did not win, but that doesn't mean he "flopped"- these are after all animals, and as some days we dont want to turn on the PC at work some days things make the horse not want to race as freely as we expect them to. What would be a greater shame than this talented mare "flopping" would be that she get hurt.
That is the ultimate price of owner/trainer greed.
As an aside- would there be a flat race far enough for a Sadlers Wells/Zarkava cross- especially if the ground was soft?

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posted Oct 6, 2008

Actually, Dancing Brave ran in the Classic, i.e. on dirt, not the Turf. As well as the surface, the turns were tight (is that more typical of US courses?) and I've also read that the heat was a problem. I also recall that he finished the race blind in one eye (temporarily, presumably!), which I guess was down to kickback from the dirt.

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posted Oct 6, 2008

Actually your wrong

Dancing Brave's racing career ended on a disappointing note in the United States, finishing fourth behind Manila in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita Park

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posted Oct 6, 2008

Well, I was going from (false?) memory of twenty-two years ago, because that was the first time a flat horse took my imagination (from reading about it, I must add, not seeing it). It seems odd that I should remember dirt kickback and his blindness on finishing. Also, you may have researched it on the net in which there are admittedly several articles that describe it as the Turf (and you’re correct about the Turf winner of that year). However, there are also several articles that describe it as the Classic! Maybe I’ll have to do some more digging…

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posted Oct 6, 2008

Zarkava, that's the best horse of recent times, right there ... a once in a generation superstar!

Hey and certainly put Coolmore in their place, didn't it?

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posted Oct 6, 2008

Scott-ally is god,
The reason a horse like dancing brave would go to the breeders cup is that if you win the breeders cup classic then your stud fee would go form around a 50000guineas fee to around 500000 dollars since the americans are only interested in dirt horses. This is not relevant for Zarkava therefore I'm guessing she will not go....

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posted Oct 6, 2008

A very good performance from Zarkava. The filly did really well to to produce a real turn of speed to see of the field (but perhaps Youzmain left his finish too late once again to chase down the leader?). I saw a remarkable photograph in the Telegraph the other day where Zarkava looked to be 'flying' with all 4 hooves off the ground.

Anyway, one question I have is: At the end of the race, as horse and jockey were making their way back, the jockey took off his riding hat and threw it into the crowd. Assuming he wasn't handed it back (it was reckless and stupid anyway), how would this been seen in at the weighing in? He would have come back 'lighter'?

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posted Oct 7, 2008

KingstonAl, I've just watched, as opposed to read about the Turf In 1986, there was no Kickback, grass tends not to!

Go to the Breederscup site, you can actually see all the races from the last 20 years!

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