Triple Crown
 

Not looking good for the first one in 36 years. Rumblings this morning that California Chrome may withdraw from the Belmont in 3 weeks due to New York not allowing horse nasal strips outside of harness racing. 2 years ago I'll Have Another decided to run without one in its bid for the Triple Crown and got smoked. CC owners have stated they will wait and see but if asked to take it off, they will pull out.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...4474495f_m.jpg I would like a pack of the Kool mentholated nose strips, please

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...mile_often.jpg HA! I need fly screen for my nostrils

Horses are the biggest ass, you know...
they have the biggest hind end, of all the equines
you have to run at least a 1/4 mile, just to get around that huge butt

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...d10/youass.jpg

Well, Game On! The NY boys decided to start allowing them for all horses. I said it after the Derby and I'm sticking to it, if 2nd and 3rd place show up at the Belmont, CC is in trouble. Belmont is the longest, Derby is mid and Preakness was shortest. Coming down the stretch of the Derby CC was being pulled back, another 100 yards and he loses. Neither of those 2 horses ran the Preakness..........

come on… sing it with me...

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...d10/donkey.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...olvingNote.gif

"The Campptown ladies sing this song,
Doo-da, Doo-da
The Camptown racetrack's five miles long
Oh, de doo-da day
Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the gray.."


​HeeHaww … HeeHawww
Heee Hawllllways does this to me… and now that song is stuck in my head… :D

California Chrome, got polished at Belmont. :)
Oh well, he ran out of gas it looks like.

I wouldn't say he ran out of gas, the 3 in front of him and horse he finished tied for 4th with all had 1 combined Triple Crown start this year. Wicked Strong was the only horse of those 4 to have raced, he ran the Derby. Wicked Strong finished tied with CC, after taking off the Preakness. The other 3, this was their first race. CC co owner, Coeburn called it after the Derby win. He stated it would be tough to win it because of hired guns being brought in to purposely keep it from being won along with others taking off the Preakness. Preakness only had 3 or 4 from the Derby run. Belmont, only 3 or 4 again had run all the races, CC smoked them by a bunch........... For this happening every year, until the rules are changed, no Triple Crown will ever happen in my lifetime. 15 years ago, I didn't mind seeing the hired guns brought in to knockem off. Over the last 15 years I've become more understanding of just how tough/impossible it is to win. I agree with CC's owners, don't allow the hired guns unless they run all 3 races.

yep… and we will never see a white woman win Miss USSA ever again, either.


​(USSA… United Socialist States of Amerika)


​

Mr. Ford, I disagree with most of what you said. I don't know much about horse racing, but AFAIK, horses have always been allowed to compete in whatever races they want to. This ain't the NBA. You don't need a season "record" to get into any of the Triple Crown races. Some horses might be "trained" more or exclusively for longer races. Maybe, CC should have trained more for the longer length. And I don't see any competitive advantage to taking off either of the first two races. It's not like CC was plum tuckered out after racing a few times weeks earlier.

Coeburn came out and apologized for his disgraceful display of sour grapes and poor sportsmanship after Belmont. And rightfully so.

Winning the triple crown IS very hard to pull off, but I don't know of any rule change in recent years. I've seen TWO of them (that I know of) in my lifetime. Don't give up hope.

He did apologize but every horse enthusiast and expert was in complete agreement with him and his comments. It is hard to win but when you have a horse who has been racing and traveling over a month and a half vs several who have been sitting in Belmont Park doing very light training and resting during the same time period, you know where to place your bet.

Look at Wicked Strong, he got smoked by CC in the Derby. Took the Preakness off and was able to finish in a dead heat with CC at Belmont. There is your advantage with a horse that had already run against CC.

All that has to be done is say, if you want to run any of the races then you must run all 3. Make it more of a level playing field.

I agree with Coeburn.

I did 50/100 mile Endurance Racing, back in the day, with my awesome Polish Arab named "Tucson"
our grand race of the year was the 100 mile Tevis Cup Race, starting at Lake Tahoe, and following the old Pony Express trail over the mountains.

Our whole sport was started to preserve the True Grit, of the old Pony Express riders. They were the best riders, America ever had.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...d10/Tucson.jpg

We had similar shenanigans, and people looking for every advantage, even at the risk of both horse and rider.

In short track racing, much more corruption, as big money involved.
You'd be surprised how much people are willing to cheat, even for just the fame and glory, and a silver & gold belt buckle. :)
I can just imagine you throw in big $$$ and the back stabbing is relentless, from all sides.

This is a very extreme level of athleticism Hobo.
Both rider and horse have to be trained to their peak. You can't sustain that over long periods in this short track racing.
You are constantly healing something. The stress on the mind is also difficult, and the horse has to have the heart to want to be doing this.

These horses are burned out quick, and many aren't worth much afterward, unless they have any stud value.

OK Hog, you got me curious, how'd you do in those races?

I did pretty good, and had a great time. I was never going to be a champion, because I was too big for the sport. Most of the horses were half the size of Tucson, and most of the riders were half my size.

Arabian horses dominate the sport, and other breeds that do well are the appaloosa, or the mustang. Most of the riders were females, or smaller males than me. I was buffed and at my fighting weight, and could run 5 miles of the most rugged terrain, but more mass and muscle is going to slow you down, in this sport. At my most lean, I was 195/200 and my competition was mostly 100/110.

I needed an exceptional Arabian horse to handle my weight. Most Arabs are 14.3 which is pony size, and they were the ones that did the best. Same deal, the bigger the horse, the more it works against you over long distances. My Arab was a Polish Arabian, which was bred for the Polish Army, and were much bigger Arabians. Tucson was 16.1 hands which would be a small Thoroubred size horse. He was a perfect match for me.

I had a lot of prior experience with horses, and was an excellent breaker/trainer. I was good with horses, and tried all the equestrian sports, but was a cowboy type and most comfortable with the Rodeo type horse people. I got involved with the Show Horse crowd, and some of the Race Horse crowd, but saw these people as unfit to own any animal, not even a hamster.

I got introduced to Endurance Riding through a girlfriend. I was lucky to have been in with the right crowd to begin with, too. These were world class riders, and I got to train with them, and learn the sport through them, and I fell in love with trail riding.

I broke up with that girlfriend, but had helped her and her horse for a year going to several 50 mile Races and the 100 mile Tevis Cup, and felt this was what I wanted to do, too. I set out to find my perfect horse, and it took me 10 months of hard searching, and looking at hundreds of horses, until I found Tucson. He had the size and the most perfect confirmation of a horse I had seen. His feet were perfect, and that was the most important part, to start with. Also his age was perfect. He was 4 1/2 years old, and that is the perfect age to start breaking and training an Arab. You shouldn't mess with them until that age and maturity. The people I got Tucson from had tried to have him green broke before they sold him, but had a couple trainers quit, telling them he was too rank, and unbreakable.

hahaha… I got him cheap because of that…. but when i first met Tucson (his name at the time was Dill) he was raggedy from fighting with all the other horses, and had most of his main and tail hair torn off, but his legs and feet to me were so beautiful, and he seem to like me like love at first sight sort of thing. The owners had a couple guy's bring him in, and were cautioning me, but I looked this horse in the eye, and knew he was fine. We spent a little time together, and he was calm with me the whole time. I bought him immediately, and felt like I just won the lottery.

I spent a week with him just leading him around in a closed arena. When the day came to saddle him, he was calm through the whole deal, mounting and riding, everything. A week or so later is when WWIII started, and he began to challenge me. His spirit was everything I had hoped for, but we had to go through hating each others guts, and hurting each other for a long time. Then the love came back, and his bucking became "happy bucks" and when we would go to head out on the trail, he no longer resisted going out… he started to resist coming back in.
By the way, I never put a bit in this horses mouth, ever. He wore a Bosal, and after training, he was the lightest touch, and I mostly commanded him with my legs.

He was a gelding, but his spirit was so feisty, he would always be picking fights with other horses, so I had to keep him separate like if he were a stud. :D

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...onkikinass.jpg

Odd I would think a taller horse was better, easier on the strides like a human running. Less strides means less exertion at least for humans running which means you can push harder. Not so in horses you say though. Get the weight thing completely, even in short track racing that is what you see, smaller jockies that carry small weight.

You might like checking out the Tevis Cup site. It is our Datona 500 or our Super Bowl. There are some nice videos to show you some of the trails. The Tevis Cup

If you look at the race results, every race back to '55 was won by an Arabian. Years '59 and '60 some guy's won it with a Thoroughbred cross and a Mustang. Tevis Cup Winners

You will see Mules do well, also Appaloosa's and Mustangs, but Arabian horses are superior by far.
I'm not going to get into all the reasons for why the Arabian horse is superior by far, because that is a big subject, but the short answer is they are genetically superior, and have natural abilities no other breed has…. like look at this natural "floating gait" and the spirit you sense with this horse tossing his head held high.
Tucson had a wild head toss he liked to do to release his energy, one reason I wouldn't submit him to a bit harness. He always ran with his tail held high too, and was exciting to be with.
I didn't want to contain Tucson, just control him, when I needed to. A good trail horse is almost an equal partner out there, and you end up relying on each other and work as a team. A stupid dull horse will get you killed out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2-QwZIqbyo The Arabian horse is the only true hot blood, with the Thoroughbred a direct decedent also considered a hot blood.
All other breeds are warm bloods bred for certain qualities.