You can Run, but you Can't Hide

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Carl Nafzger has turned tail and run.

Nack where are you? You can add Carl \"Old Man Slight of Hand\" to the category inhabited by Careful Running Todd Pletcher.

A horse gets one chance in the Modern Era to display why he is deserving of being called \"Champion\". Carl Nafzger is dodging that opportunity like playing the Shell Game. \"Now you see the pea, now you don\'t\".

Carl the Creator has now come up with a \"Quadruple Crown\". According to Nafzger it is:

1. The Breeders Cup Juvenile
2. The Kentucky Derby
3. The Travers and
4. The Breeders Cup Classic

How convenient for him to skip the Test of Champions at Elmont and arrange a litany of races where the farthest his colt has to run is at a distance test he\'s already passed.

Congratulations upon the Courage you and Mr. Tafel exhibited Carl. What tremendous emissaries for the sport the two of you make in tandem. Calculating Sportsmen of the highest order. In the process however you have diminished your horse.

You were NEVER going to win the Belmont anyway, but I still wanted to beat you there.

Chickens

Bawk, bawk, bawk

 http://www.drf.com/news/article/85422.html

You would think the belief they were going to win the Triple Crown and the \"devastation\" of getting run down in the Preakness after \"relaxing\" on the lead would inspire them to dispatch Curlin in the Belmont and prove Street Sense was of Triple Crown Caliber. But Tafel and Nafzger have voted to deny Street Sense the opportunity to prove he was the best horse to not win the Triple Crown.

The truth of course is that they are scared shitless. Curlin had some problems in that Preakness and they were celebrating when Street Sense got outgamed in what is the shortest race in the series. They fear for their lives now and with that fear they have imposed their low confidence upon their horse . Nafzger stated the horse is fine. How unnoble of them.

[basket777]

you are kidding?  the horse has won the bc juvie  tbay derby and the kentucky derby.  any  owner in the world would give there right nut for one of these. they have all 3 and with the wonderful way there managing this horse they should have more when all is said and done.  sory how may big races have your horses won?   you not are officially a joke.

[BB]

... but I agree with Chuckles.

What they are doing is trading the Belmont for the Haskell or the Jim Dandy. I think I saw that Nafzger said - in essense - they could make the Belmont, but that would mean training up to the Travers. So - instead of taking the challenge of winning the Travers off the bench - they stop on him now, get an easy shot at a million dollar purse in NJ (getting a trip over the BC course), prepping nicely for \"the 4th classic\"; then, having the pick of your soft 750K spots leading up to the BC.

It\'s a smart plan, don\'t get me wrong. If money and results were your only concern, I have no argumnent.

But there are only three of these races a year. And there have been three wonderful horses separating themselves from the rest of their generation these past few months. The other two are making this dance and it\'s a shame that Street Sense is being taken off his game. This may be smart. But, like Chuckles says, it sure ain\'t sporting.

And I don\'t mean to say this like I am any expert at managing horses or understanding the impact of efforts on developing horses ... I\'m just saying this as a fan. I\'ll lay 1/5 right now that Street Sense never sees a starting gate as a 4YO, so what are we really talking about?

He has four more races in his career. The Belmont/Haskell tradeoff, the Travers, the BC prep and the Classic. It may be smart to pass the Belmont, in this case. But they really are denying Street Sense the chance to show that the Preakness was a fluke.

It stinks for the fans. It stinks for Street Sense. And it makes financial sense for an 83-year old guy who has already cashed a $30 million ticket. This does seem very ... 2007. It stinks.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

basket777 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> you are kidding?  the horse has won the bc juvie
> tbay derby and the kentucky derby.  any  owner in
> the world would give there right nut for one of
> these. they have all 3 and with the wonderful way
> there managing this horse they should have more
> when all is said and done.  sory how may big races
> have your horses won?   you not are officially a
> joke.

To be great you have to win the Belmont. To be worthy of acclaim and expensive stud fees a horse has to prove that he is durable and the Triple Crown is that test.

Lukas didn\'t run from the Triple when Tabasco Cat lost the Derby. He didn\'t make up a new Triple Crown when Thunder Gulch was beaten at Pimlico. Lukas ran in the Belmont with those two and he won. Lukas also ran Winning Colors in the Belmont. She was overmatched but at least Lukas and Klein had the courage to strive for greatness. It\'s likely Winning Colors fate awaited Street Sense, but competitive courage is a character trait that Nafzger and Tafel have proven is not present in their beings. They are after all, very old men.

Besides Nafzger proved with Unbridled he doesnt have a clue about how to win the Belmont.

[marcus]

i found the horses defection from the belmont mildly surprising and have my questions about whatever reasons were given for not runnung . imo - that last tg figure has him pairing up , and despite alot of late season 2 yo development , it still might be an ideal spot in his pattern to move forward off of now at this time of year as a 3 yo   ...

[miff]

If SS was knocking the barn down, he would run in the Belmont.Got a feeling he may be a tad off his very best now and the break is in order.


Mike

[PapaChach]

Can I get a bet down w/any casinos on SS not racing again?

The 3YO season will follow the tired script it always does, the names and some of the particulars change but the storyline holds...SS will be laid off for a few weeks, they\'ll work him once or twice, after which they\'ll discover some \"minor, you can barely see it on the scan\" injury...and while he could, with a bit of rest, recover and be \"perfectly fine\", in the \"best interests of the horse\", they just don\'t want to take any chances, \"he\'s been so good to us oh by the way we just signed a zillion dollar stallion deal with buttercup farms, see y\'all\", yadda yadda yadda...

meanwhile Curlin romps in the Belmont, after which he gets turned out...he works once or twice and, well, just see above paragraph...

Sightseeing nips NoBizLikeShowbiz in a six horse Travers, with a tired Hard Spun just holding off a late-closing Imawildandcrazyguywithareallylongname for the show...the survivors go on to get crushed by their elders in the BC, Curlin wins 3YO title, and Tafel/Nafzger act like they got jobbed because they won \"the big one\" and woulda coulda shoulda won the Preakness...

[marcus]

miff , i can accecpt that view - your probably right on the money . spotting SS with anything less than % 100 in the tank would be  \"crazy\"  . i\'m always concerned however that there\'s more to the story ( as papa c\'s suggesting ) and  perhaps the horse stretched something out - or is about too   ...

[cubfan0316]

this is tough, bbuutt i have to agree with up-chuck.its a shame.

[BitPlayer]

Miff -

One clocker agrees with you.  Here\'s a link to his unfavorable impressions of SS\'s gallop on Monday of this week:

http://horseplayerdaily.21publish.com/CLOCKER-1/archive/2007/05/28/belmont-stakes-works.htm

[MO]

Horses these days are not bred for distance. They are glorified sprinters/milers. No one in their right mind would bother with the Belmont unless a Triple Crown was on the line. I told you all a while back that SS would not be entered at Belmont. Nafzger is one of the \"last of the Mohican\'s\". He\'s making ABSOLUTELY the right decision.  Go to the Haskell and see if he likes the track, and if he does, he\'ll finish 2nd to Hard Spun, (if the latter hasn\'t broken down by then) and then on to the Travers and then the Breeders Cup.

[alm]

Wayne Lucas made exactly the same decision in racing his horses in those races that Carl Nafzger made in not racing his in this Belmont.  He did what the horse was telling him to do.

Nafzger is only trying to win the races he enters.  He probably believes SS is ready for a regression.  Everyone on this site should respect a trainer who would step back from putting his horse into what he believes would be a collapsing pattern.

What would be the point of putting SS into a losing situation if that\'s the case? He wouldn\'t achieve greatness and he would possibly destroy himself.

And since when does Winning the Belmont automatically confer greatness?  Was Lemon Drop Kid great?  Really?

[cubfan0316]

so the belmont is becoming a race for also rans and fresh horses. the next time it will be worth watching is the next time somebody has a triple crown chance.

[NoCarolinaTony]

Maybe it has something to do with the DARLEY MANAGEMENT TEAM is now planning the rest of the year for their new Star Stallion...He will be seeing his buddy HARD SPUN in a stall or two over.....

NC Tony