Chuckamy Road:
Give K-Mac credit, he\'s a smart enough horseman to realize that RTR, with
her trip to New Bolton and her missed workouts over the summer, may have been
vulnerable, especially carrying 7 extra pounds. He made the same sort of
judgment that TAP made in entering RTR in the Belmont Stakes, a judgment based
as much on the vulnerability of the competition as anything else.
Enough with the \"faster than given credit for\" line. You\'ve already shouted it
from the mountaintop. The board has already discussed the uncertainty built into
a number assigned to the only 1-1/2 mile race on the card, the only race of the
day when the clubhouse turn was raced over.
In an article wrapping up the Saratoga meet titled \"What a Difference Two
Decades Makes\", Steve Crist noted that the breed was far from improving. Set
against this stark reality, you have a filly sired by a Belmont winner and out
of a mare who produced a Belmont winner. Said filly won, in addition to the
Belmont Stakes,3 other Grade 1 stakes against her own gender,dominating all 3
races.Call it what you want-- class, quality, superiority-- if you love Racing
you hope that if Racing survives and flourishes as something more than a
carnival sideshow, this filly becomes a foundation for champions in many
generations.
Not only did her Belmont win reaffirm her pedigree, it also reaffirmed a lesson
we have all learned about racing-- that when any animal, no matter how good, is
pitched into a tough spot (ie, at an extended distance, a filly against colts,
against classier competition) said animal may win the day but will have to pay
the price in the future. I think the terminology on the other board is \"knock
out race\". On that level, even with the time off RTR was given,
Saturday\'s result was not shocking.
I think even Jerry Brown, Len Friedman and Barry Irwin could agree that RTR is
a brilliant specimen, though Len and Jerry probably wouldn\'t agree as to how
fast she really was. Given a consensus such as this, your subtle attempts to
discredit this runner create the possibility that you will have credibility
problems on the level of a certain current administration.
Although most of us have shamefully had to adjust our standards for \"Greatness\"
in thoroughbreds, there should be no shame in acknowledging greatness when we
encounter it. Based on her five race, six month campaign which culminated on
June 9th, I have no problem recommending RTR to the Greatness Committee for
consideration.
Need sleep now. An early tee time Tuesday, and Robert Trent Jones is waiting in
NJ to kick my tush.
Gotta go, love ya, bye.
