2014 G1 Belmont Stakes Test of a Champion

[The Tin Man]

Freaking Matterhorn ... a horse with ZERO realistic chance to win ... Even Pletcher all but exclaimed that leading up to the race ... Steps on Chrome's foot the instant the gates open ... and the racing gods have bypassed another Triple Crown ...

Sucks.

Tried to post the picture showing it, but it says my "upload folder" is full ... whatever that means ... so it won't let me.

[The Tin Man]

Also ... wanna know the key to hitting a $3,400 Belmont trifecta?

Just toss any horse that ran in The Preakness and box the others.

Really could have hit it for 6 bucks by doing that. Anyone in their right mind would have tossed Matterhorn and Matuszak ... So that only left Tonalist, Commissioner and medal Count ...

Easy 6 buck trifecta box paying $3,400 bucks.

Next year in The Belmont, I'm tossing ANY horse that ran in The Preakness and only using the others in my trifecta ... I bet I'll hit it too.

[Delamont]

Freaking Matterhorn ... a horse with ZERO realistic chance to win ... Even Pletcher all but exclaimed that leading up to the race ... Steps on Chrome's foot the instant the gates open ... and the racing gods have bypassed another Triple Crown ...

Sucks.

Tried to post the picture showing it, but it says my "upload folder" is full ... whatever that means ... so it won't let me.

Agreed.  CC just didn't seem like 'himself,' and since he had been training so well, I wondered what had gone wrong.  Didn't know about the injury until later. 

[The Tin Man]

Agreed.  CC just didn't seem like 'himself,' and since he had been training so well, I wondered what had gone wrong.  Didn't know about the injury until later. 

Getting a gash in your foot and slamming it down hard in sand non-stop for a mile and a half could definitely affect the way one runs ... I would say ...

As it was, even with that, he only officially lost by 1 3/4 lengths ... that's pretty damn impressive to me ... The racing gods are not kind.

[The Tin Man]

And all of the high dollar breeders breathe a HUGE sigh of relief .... a 2500 dollar breeding winning THE TRIPLE CROWN most certainly would have put a big hit on the high dollar breeding fees, as others realize that you CAN win it all without paying a mint.

Bet those cats are VERY relieved that CC didn't win all 3.

[Delamont]

Courageous animal.  I hope he recovers well and goes on to win more major stakes.

[Man o Taz]

Agree all around.

I thought I had hit the superfecta thinking that Medal Count was the one that dead heated with Chrome and not Wicked Strong.

Oh well.

I did pick the exacta...horses in my top 4 which I always box - Tonalist and Commissioner.

The Chrome certainly showed his heart, courage and determination in managing a fourth place finish despite his injury.

I cannot imagine the pain - or a human enduring a similar injury and continuing on for 12 furlongs.

And all of the high dollar breeders breathe a HUGE sigh of relief .... a 2500 dollar breeding winning THE TRIPLE CROWN most certainly would have put a big hit on the high dollar breeding fees, as others realize that you CAN win it all without paying a mint.

Bet those cats are VERY relieved that CC didn't win all 3.

After he wins the Breeders Cup Classic this year and next they will still have to contend with him. 

Darn it. I'm back to using emoticons. I love these guys/gals.

The one reality that you get with California Chrome is durability.

Rarely have I seen a horse with the durability that he has demonstrated in a Triple Crown run.

Sorry we will not see him again this year (out East), but hope to see him next.

I think that Chrome's connections were treated well in NY. Better than in Kentucky. So, I hope they will consider returning next year. 

[serenassong]

And all of the high dollar breeders breathe a HUGE sigh of relief .... a 2500 dollar breeding winning THE TRIPLE CROWN most certainly would have put a big hit on the high dollar breeding fees, as others realize that you CAN win it all without paying a mint.

Bet those cats are VERY relieved that CC didn't win all 3.

One of the first things that I thought about in watching the race and realizing that there would be no TC- was you Tin Man. I am sorry that we did not get to see this. It would have been wonderful. It reminds me of being at Belmont Park with Smarty- they loved him as well- and when that same point came- you could have heard a pin drop. 

You cant take away what he has already done and will continue to do. Onward and upward.

[curtis]

Also ... wanna know the key to hitting a $3,400 Belmont trifecta?

Just toss any horse that ran in The Preakness and box the others.

Really could have hit it for 6 bucks by doing that. Anyone in their right mind would have tossed Matterhorn and Matuszak ... So that only left Tonalist, Commissioner and medal Count ...

Easy 6 buck trifecta box paying $3,400 bucks.

Next year in The Belmont, I'm tossing ANY horse that ran in The Preakness and only using the others in my trifecta ... I bet I'll hit it too.

This year perhaps, It wouldn't have got you a dime last year.

[Man o Taz]

Freaking Matterhorn ... a horse with ZERO realistic chance to win ... Even Pletcher all but exclaimed that leading up to the race ... Steps on Chrome's foot the instant the gates open ... and the racing gods have bypassed another Triple Crown ...

Sucks.

Tried to post the picture showing it, but it says my "upload folder" is full ... whatever that means ... so it won't let me.

I was listening to Mike Francesa on the 660, The Fan talk about this.

Francesa is dangerous because he owns horses and as a result thinks he knows about the sport, and many listeners respect his point of view on horse racing.

He has again proved his lack of racing knowledge.

He kept saying over and over again how horses get cut all the time in these races and that California Chrome's injury was no big deal and had no impact on the race result since he was in perfect position coming down the stretch and he just came up empty.

Now, he is correct that many horses to get cut in the gate and often these injuries are superficial. I know that California Chrome's injury us also a common one - grabbing a quarter - ...but the injury was more than just a cut...and the fact that he did not know when the injury occurred (it has been verified that it occurred coming out of the gate) as you note...the injury was not superficial and as a farrier notes further down the page via comments - a grabbed quarter has a serious impact upon a horse's ability to compete.

http://www.drf.com/news/california-chrome-grabbed-quarter-during-belmont

The folks on Paulick think the number one reason he lost was the injury at the start...

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/triple-crown/santa-anita-horsemen-reflect-on-california-chromes-belmont/

[The Tin Man]

One of the first things that I thought about in watching the race and realizing that there would be no TC- was you Tin Man. I am sorry that we did not get to see this. It would have been wonderful. It reminds me of being at Belmont Park with Smarty- they loved him as well- and when that same point came- you could have heard a pin drop. 

You cant take away what he has already done and will continue to do. Onward and upward.

I appreciate the thought Serena ... and yes ... while extremely disappointed ... I'm very, very proud of Junior and look forward to meeting him one on one soon ... 

Just wish his foot wouldn't have been stepped on 1st jump out of the gate ... We may have been singing a very different song post race.

Racing gods suck ... sometime ... 

[The Tin Man]

Fantastic article and I agree with it wholeheartedly ...

If only Steve had stated it this way, nothing would have changed, but maybe people would have at least realized how salient his point is ...

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/racinghub/archive/2014/06/08/whoa-nellie-maybe-coburn-s-right.aspx?rnd=635378505524948750&CommentPosted=true#commentmessage#ixzz345lUv68R

Also ... Keep in mind that the average size of Belmont fields for Triple Crown winners was 5.4 horses ... Not 11 like in CC's Belmont ... Heck ... He faced more "new shooters" than horses were in the average Belmont fields of TC winners.

[Man o Taz]

I was listening to Mike Francesa on the 660, The Fan talk about this.

Francesa is dangerous because he owns horses and as a result thinks he knows about the sport, and many listeners respect his point of view on horse racing.

He has again proved his lack of racing knowledge.

He kept saying over and over again how horses get cut all the time in these races and that California Chrome's injury was no big deal and had no impact on the race result since he was in perfect position coming down the stretch and he just came up empty.

Now, he is correct that many horses to get cut in the gate and often these injuries are superficial. I know that California Chrome's injury us also a common one - grabbing a quarter - ...but the injury was more than just a cut...and the fact that he did not know when the injury occurred (it has been verified that it occurred coming out of the gate) as you note...the injury was not superficial and as a farrier notes further down the page via comments - a grabbed quarter has a serious impact upon a horse's ability to compete.

http://www.drf.com/news/california-chrome-grabbed-quarter-during-belmont

The folks on Paulick think the number one reason he lost was the injury at the start...

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/triple-crown/santa-anita-horsemen-reflect-on-california-chromes-belmont/

And that's how the polling closed...

http://www.paulickreport.com/pollsarchive/

[Man o Taz]

And here is more regarding grabbing a quarter being particularly painful to the horse...

http://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/California-Chrome-s-Crown-hopes-clipped-5536899.php

http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/California-Chrome-finishes-4th-in-Belmont-5536674.php

"Maybe that foot got to stinging him," Art Sherman, California Chrome's 77-year-old trainer, said as he walked briskly back to the barn on the Belmont backstretch. "It's just hard to run on a track when you grab your quarter. Very painful. We might have an excuse."

Of course, here the suggestion is that he did it to himself...

http://longshotsblues.wordpress.com/2014/06/08/california-chrome-injured-out-of-the-gate-at-belmont-and-there-went-history/

But here we see Matterhorn running into him...

What the heck was Joe Bravo thinking? Did he want to run along the rail from the 3 position? I can't imagine it was intentional. I find it hard to believe with his attention to detail, but perhaps Mr. Pletcher's horses need better gate schooling. We were at Monmouth Park on Sunday and one of his horses flipped over in the gate and needed to be scratched.