Comments on Handride: No One Gives Credit

Jess Jackson is being Jess Jackson, that is he wan...

2009-08-27T10:13:04.132-04:00

Jess Jackson is being Jess Jackson, that is he wants the easy money. Its not like the stakes condition book was published a week ago. He knew very well that the Woodward was only $500,000 and the Travers was $1 Million.

And I just loved what Steve Assumen said about why Rachel is running in the Woodward: "Legacy." Oh really? If thats the case, why didn't he enter her in the Travers, a far and way more historic and prestigous race than the Woodward.

The "vicious cycle" may be caused by the fact that...

2009-08-25T16:41:31.071-04:00

The "vicious cycle" may be caused by the fact that the best horses are retired to stud after their 3 year old campaign and no longer competing at age 4 and beyond. The "older horse" division is filled with second tier horses with minimal credentials and name recognition. How many horses from this year's Travers (or the Triple Crown races for that matter) will show up for next year's Woodward? Perhaps that is the reason for the purse differential.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see where...

2009-08-25T15:38:04.871-04:00

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see where any of the prospective Woodward horses can touch this filly. Bullsbay ran a 107 in the Whitney, by far his highest career Beyer; Macho Again has never run higher than a 103; Cool Coal Man ran a career best 107 in his last with a perfect setup in a crappy field. Who else are we talking about here? Da Tara??? The filly just ran a 116 just for fun. No question in my mind they picked the easier spot....Quality Road could be any kind (though I plan to stand firmly against in the Travers).

As far as Jackson goes, I think 'tacky' is more suitable than 'greedy' in this case..

There's no question that the speed figures are hig...

2009-08-25T11:26:44.734-04:00

There's no question that the speed figures are higher in older-horse races, so it's to be expected that the Woodward is a tougher race. The weight advantage -- which she wouldn't get in the Travers -- helps, but it makes sense, since fillies as a rule are 6-8 Beyer points slower than males. Obviously, Rachel is an exception, but does that mean she shouldn't get some sort of break? Maybe the weights are just another argument for making all our stakes races weight-for-age.

I've actually seen alot of the media/bloggers give...

2009-08-25T09:21:07.044-04:00

I've actually seen alot of the media/bloggers give plenty of credit to Jess Jackson.

I don't see where this years Woodward is a harder race than the Travers for RA, the Travers is at a longer distance (which might give RA trouble) and loaded with talented horses, especially 2 (the birds) who seem to love the distance. Plus RA has a huge weight advantage only carrying 118 lbs on her back in the Woodward