Showing My Age

[richiebee]

Secretariat--the prototype of all stallions to follow (he retired at the end of
his 3YO season). 16/21 lifetime, won 5 stakes as a 2YO, DQ\'d in the Champagne.
Won 2 turf stakes against older at the end of his 3YO year. Triple Crown winner,
champion 3YO, champion male turf horse. Stakes records in Ky Derby and Belmont.
Fact that Sham\'s second place finish in Louisville is second fastest
Derby of all times, fact that Forego was born same year prevent \"weak crop\"
comments. Great Horse

Seattle Slew-- 4/6 as a 4YO. Champion 2YO, Triple Crown winner, champion older
horse. Great Horse.

Affirmed-- 7 for 9 as a 2YO. Triple Crown winner. 7 for 9 as a 4YO, champion
older horse. Great Horse

Spectacular Bid-- Horse of the year, 2YO, 3YO, 4YO. Set 4 track records as a
4YO. Great Horse.

Big Brown (giving benefit of the doubt)--won maiden race, allowance race, Fla
Derby, Triple Crown. Retires an undefeated Triple Crown winner, 6 for 6
lifetime. Great Investment.

And of course BB will be retired after the Belmont should he win. Win or lose
in the Belmont, I would enjoy seeing him returned to the turf and contesting
the Arlington Million and BC Turf Classic, matching Secretariat\'s Triple Crown/
champion turf male double if he were able to go out undefeated.

The early retirements are bad for Racing, and when elected I promise to combat
this by barring any stallion from breeding until they reach 5 years of age.
Also,the national stallion roster should be pruned, weeding out unraced
stallions and eventually those who have not won a graded race.

[Themig]

Well you will then get my vote Richiebee. If this (BB) horse is \"the one\", then not allowing him to show off his talent will take away from racing not to mention keep us seriously wanting more. I do not have another 30 years to wait for another BB.
Today\'s article in the NY TIMES had Dutrow making promises of a win in the Belmont(Nobody stands a chance), running in the Travers and then on to the Breeders Cup. In another artilce, he is making it a point to jab at Prado(this is the first I heard of this) for his ride in the Preakness. It is still a long was from post time in the Belmont. Will he run out of things to say???

[miff]

\"And of course BB will be retired after the Belmont should he win. Win or lose
in the Belmont, I would enjoy seeing him returned to the turf and contesting
the Arlington Million and BC Turf Classic, matching Secretariat\'s Triple Crown/
champion turf male double if he were able to go out undefeated\"


Bee,

There are actually firm plans to race BB after the Belmont. As long as he is perfect, they will aim for the Travers and BC and a shot at Curlin.Rumors of BB\'S unsoundness are vastly exaggerated. His hooves are brittle and prone to popping quarters but there are no other major things right now.He will have to be perfect to keep racing, the slightest thing puts him in stud.

These owners are pretty game and look forward to taking on Curlin with a more mature BB in the fall. Robbie(bad trip) Albarado had some unkind words for BB which irked BB\'s connections esp the one from Brooklyn and Tricky.They feel BB should be mentioned with the great all time 3yr olds if he wins the Belmont.

If it should all happen it will be great, even on synthetic.


Mike

[fkach]

I think BB is going to have to move forward from here to beat Curlin.  The TG figures might suggest they are similar or that BB has been faster, but I\'d take Curlin in a heads up match at even money right now. Curlin has run fast and beaten the best horses in the world in extremely deep fields. BB is beating sub par 3YOs so far. As good as BB is right now, not all 3YOs move forward in the summer and fall the way Curlin did last year. Curlin is a fully mature \"tank\" even if BB was/is the better spring 3YO. Of course, I would change my opinion if BB looks better to me later in the year.