Quote from: Zenyatta on November 02, 2013, 06:21:44 PM
Beholder and Will Take Charge.

Yes, as well.

Quote from: peeptoad on November 03, 2013, 10:53:10 AM
I think Wise Dan should get it. He was more of a standout in his division than any other horse all year (or at least more than the dirt males).

Agree.

Quote from: Zenyatta on November 03, 2013, 10:10:58 AM
Oh shut up. I was typing it on my phone. So now Tinny and myself have Dumbphoneitis.

No fair, you corrected the title of this thread from "Who is HOT now" to "Who is HOTY now."

Quote from: Zenyatta on November 03, 2013, 08:09:41 AM
After what I've seen of Beholder in her last 2 races, now that she's matured and calmed down, she IMO could be on a par with Azeri.   This is why I sure hope she runs at 4 and proves my assertion.

Maybe she has the potential to be as good as Azeri, but that will be no easy task.  HOY once and older female horse three times for Azeri, 17 for 24 lifetime, and for of those losses happened after she got hurt and the owners transferred her to D. Wayne Lukas, who then started running her in the wrong spots?

Azeri was some horse.

Quote from: Zenyatta on November 03, 2013, 09:46:34 AM
Thanks for the lecture , Dave. Going forward I will simply enjoy my favorite sport from the comfort of my own home. So I guess Royal Ascot is out because one can only I bag Ine the security required to protect the queen.

According to some of the security people there were a lot of pissed off patrons because procedures were so much different than in previous years.

When I fly, it's something I have to do so I have gotten the security stuff down to a science; when I go to the track it's for my own enjoyment, so the BBC has lost my tiny bit of business. I'm no big time handicapper, I'm sure they won't care.

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You are welcome for the lecture! 

And sounds like they did goof up if they didn't adequately publicize their changes in security prior to the event.

But don't deprive yourself of the thrill of live horse racing for the rest of your life because of this one bad experience.

Just travel light when you go to the track.

You can still probably sneak diet coke into movie theatres!   

Quote from: Zenyatta on November 03, 2013, 10:02:13 AM
Can't bet against Wise Dan. The only misstep he took was on a sloppy track in a race taken off his favorite surface.

Oh, do you mean "who is horse of the year ("HOTY")" now, as opposed to who is HOT?

I was going to say Penelope Cruz is HOT, but that's just one man's opinion!   :chickendance:

Quote from: Zenyatta on November 03, 2013, 09:55:06 AM
Life is full of Monday morning QB'ing, Dave. My 2 ex-husbands are perfect examples of that.

There is a wonderful book by a psychiatrist I read once that sums it up:  title is something like "Old too soon, wise too late."

Certainly true in my case, and I am not so sure about the "wise" part either.

Quote from: Zenyatta on November 03, 2013, 07:50:43 AM
Great weather both days:

Breeders' Cip Day 2

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/slideshows/slideshow/2013-breeders-cup-world-championships-day-2/2013-breeders-cup-world-championships--day-2

Breeders' Cup Day 1

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/slideshows/slideshow/2013-breeders-cup-world-championships-day-1/2013-breeders-cup-world-championships--day-1

While I couldn't complain about the weather,  the security was inconsistent.  What I'd posted about what you were allowed to bring through the gate was in contradiction to what happened at the front gate.  The end result? I left after 3 races, and didn't wager a penny, after at least 3 different security people all contradicted each other and one of my cohorts at the track had brought in items that he hadn't had confiscated but I did. 

While I understand the Boston Marathon bombing had something to do with the increased security, that's not my point; my point is that what the BC and SA indicate as contraband on their web sites agree with what happens to patrons at the gate. I don't, at this point, have any desire to attend the event again. I will happily watch it on TV and wager online if I must.

And was parking always $10? It seems to go up every year.

I'm sorry, Zenyatta, but . . . .

. . . so there was a disconnect between what was on the web site and the extra security they hired for the gate as to what could and could not be brought in.  It happens.  You lost two cans of diet Coke?  We live in a world where higher security for sporting events is now the norm, especially after the Boston Marathon.  Come to a sporting event, bring nothing but the essentials in your purse.  San Diego State basketball --- going back to last year --- allows only very small bags, just larger than a small purse, for men or women.

And you think parking was unfairly overpriced at $10?  That is actually lower --- and in some cases significantly lower --- than for most other professional sporting events.  Cheapest parking for regular season San Diego Chargers games is $25, and if you want to park much closer to the stadium entrance, it costs you up to $75.

Quote from: mchorseracecall on November 03, 2013, 06:09:09 AM

Quote from: Ballerina on November 03, 2013, 05:29:16 AM
I appreciate listening to Larry instead of Trevor.

Ballerina, this is what Trevor said when he called the Breeders' Cup Classic:

"Mucho Macho Man just keeps on finding on the lead, Will Take Charge, a late run, woooah, that's close!
Mucho Macho Man, the more they asked, the more he gave, Will Take Charge was right there, as was Declaration of War, in a classic Breeders' Cup Classic!", (Denman, Breeders' Cup Classic 2013 for the on-track and HRRN broadcast).

By looking at the words from his quote, Ballerina, Trevor gave a very powerful description while calling the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic for the on-track and online radio broadcast.

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I'm with Ballerina on this one.

As a SoCal resident, I have long enjoyed Trevor's calls.

But I now prefer others to him, most notably Collmus, who is top notch.  I also think John Dooley of Arlington is terrific.

It is just a matter of taste for different styles.

Quote from: Ballerina on November 03, 2013, 05:25:49 AM

Quote from: Dave in TJ Mex on November 02, 2013, 07:53:24 PM

I never called him a bum; instead, I called him a "terrific" horse.

And he is.  He has won a lot of races and a lot of money.

But usually in California, against small and inferior fields.

His three biggest races in the last two years? 

12th in the 2012 Dubai World Cup.

7th in last year's BCC on his home track.

9th in this year's BCC.

He was overhyped and overrated.

A terrific horse, just not a great horse.

I never said you called him a bum.  I didn't quote what you wrote.  Others posted their thoughts, as well.   

I just find it puzzling that it takes a disappointing loss for people to say he's "overhyped and overrated".  More frustration than reality.  More Monday morning QB'ing than prediction.  Up until yesterday, he was the front runner for HOY.  I wish some of the old threads were still around with people's comments on just how good this horse is/was.

He did good work for the benefit of racing fans.  He's not perfect, but what horse is?  I think it's a shame that all the good work gets pushed aside for a what has he done lately mindset.
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Just as Zenyatta's final BCC was a defining moment for "proving" just how good she was --- or wasn't --- I think yesterday's BCC was a similar defining moment for GOD.  We could throw out his poor performance in the Dubai World Cup in 2012 (travel); we could throw out his poor performance in last year's BCC (poor start, never got all that close to the lead); but yesterday he had no excuses, again on his home track.  Its not that he lost, its that he spit out the bit at the quarter pole for a second straight year and did no running down the stretch.

I agree with you Ballerina: before the race the Horse of the Year award was his to lose.  And he was perfect for the year.  Like Zenyatta, he raced almost exclusively in SoCal, and his detractors do hold that against him.

Zenyatta ran a great race --- arguably her best ever --- in losing by a long nose to Blame on an "away" track in the 2010 BCC, and in doing so, lost little stature.   GOD's second straight flop in the BCC, coupled with his dominant performances the rest of the year in SoCal suggest that he faced virtually nothing in most of those other races.

And you are right, Ballerina, about this being Monday Morning quarterbacking, or hindsight.  But that is the nature of life.

Think some people have recently changed their former opinion about Obamacare (from two years ago) based upon what has happened in the last month?  Probably so.

Recent events do result in "revisionist history," as we reevaluate the opinions we once held months or years ago, in determining whether they were valid and accurate.  And our formerly-held inflated view of Game On Dude's quality was --- in retrospect --- probably not warranted.

Again, he is a terrific horse.  You can still make a credible case he is HOY.

But a victory yesterday against that field would have been the crowning moment of a great year.  Too bad it didn't happen.

Quote from: Zenyatta on November 03, 2013, 08:30:20 AM
58,000+ yesterday, which is on a par with the Zenyatta BC triumph year of 2009.

All of those people heard Kristin Chenoweth butcher "The Best Is Yet To Come." Ack,

Someone told me she was lip syncing, An off-key lip-sync??/?

Well, almost nobody sings live at sporting events these days, but I don't know for a fact that Kristin Chenoweth lip-synched.  Its very rare.  Too many things can go wrong, technically.

I didn't really listen to her, but I find it difficult to believe a singer of her renown was off-key.

Quote from: The Tin Man on November 02, 2013, 08:50:38 PM
Seems maybe he's an excellent horse if he's on the lead ... but if you look him in the eye ... he's not down with that.

True 'dat!

Quote from: Ballerina on November 02, 2013, 07:37:10 PM
I don't get it.  I just don't get it.  Game on Dude was touted as a monster, a shoe-in for HOY, bitter fans because he didn't win HOY last year.  He loses a race, and instantaneously he's a bum.  Why is it people build pedestals for what they want to be their heroes and then kick it out from inunder them when they prove to be imperfect?@!  One day you're a star; the next day it gets ripped off the door.

I just don't get it.

I never called him a bum; instead, I called him a "terrific" horse.

And he is.  He has won a lot of races and a lot of money.

But usually in California, against small and inferior fields.

His three biggest races in the last two years? 

12th in the 2012 Dubai World Cup.

7th in last year's BCC on his home track.

9th in this year's BCC.

He was overhyped and overrated.

A terrific horse, just not a great horse.

. . . I thought Strong Mandate ran huge, given he was rushed to the lead, went about 6 wide on the first turn, and set a strong pace.

Not sure what happened to Havana.  Did he tire or just stop running after he made the lead?

New Year's Day will never get a better trip.  His win was nowhere as good as it looked, IMO.

The offspring of Zenyatta in a few years?   

And the offspring of Giant Oak in a few years?

Those horses will WANT 10 furlongs!