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.
