The massively overrated Game On Dude. . ..

[Dave in TJ Mex]

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.

[Zenyatta]

I'm gonna be a meanie and just for the big races dub him"Game On Dud."

[jjacks1]

That's how autocorrect does it on my phone - Game On Dud 

[The Tin Man]

I'm gonna be a meanie and just for the big races dub him"Game On Dud."

Or ... Game Off Dude.

[Man o Taz]

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.

Exactly.

He showed up in tough races.

Ron The Greek was coming off his career high Beyer Speed Figure of 115 in his Sunshine Millions victory and he was bested by Game On Dude.

In this year's Charles Town Classic he faced the previous year's winner Caixa Eletronica and Ron The Greek again and bested him.

He also won in the Pacific Classic impressively this year after missing it two previous years.

Mr. Baffert said before the race that Game On Dude needed to have no one immediately in front of him and Mike Smith did not follow those instructions. I think he should have been allowed to go to the lead. He was not. He was held back. In training it appeared that they were trying to get him to rate during the works - working with other horses - but Jerry Bailey said if you take a horse out of his natural comfort zone sometimes you do not get the best result. The connections over thought the race and paid the price.

Personally, I did not think Game On Dude would win because I thought he needed a race before the Classic like the Awesome Again. I would have skipped the Pacific Classic rather than the Awesome Again.

Then again, so many stellar performances by him throughout the year might have taken their toll.

And there is likely a reason why no six year old horse or older has ever won the Classic...but it does not mean that the six year olds competing were not quality horses.

There is no route horse this year who had a more dominant season in the US. He is a deserving Older Male Eclipse Award winner.

[Blue Jeans]

After the race, bet ol' Dude laughed all the way back to his barn!  W. C. Fields was right!  A horse would never bet on people!  Horses are too smart. 

Dude:  I fooled 'em again!   

Tin Man, I like that "Game Off Dude".   

[Islandgirl45]

Exactly.

He showed up in tough races.

Ron The Greek was coming off his career high Beyer Speed Figure of 115 in his Sunshine Millions victory and he was bested by Game On Dude.

In this year's Charles Town Classic he faced the previous year's winner Caixa Eletronica and Ron The Greek again and bested him.

He also won in the Pacific Classic impressively this year after missing it two previous years.

Mr. Baffert said before the race that Game On Dude needed to have no one immediately in front of him and Mike Smith did not follow those instructions. I think he should have been allowed to go to the lead. He was not. He was held back. In training it appeared that they were trying to get him to rate during the works - working with other horses - but Jerry Bailey said if you take a horse out of his natural comfort zone sometimes you do not get the best result. The connections over thought the race and paid the price.

Personally, I did not think Game On Dude would win because I thought he needed a race before the Classic like the Awesome Again. I would have skipped the Pacific Classic rather than the Awesome Again.

Then again, so many stellar performances by him throughout the year might have taken their toll.

And there is likely a reason why no six year old horse or older has ever won the Classic...but it does not mean that the six year olds competing were not quality horses.

There is no route horse this year who had a more dominant season in the US. He is a deserving Older Male Eclipse Award winner.

I read one article in which Baffert said he knew GoD was in trouble when they were going too fast on the backstretch, yet isn't GoD's signature a high cruising speed?
It seems as if he just doesn't like to be challenged by another horse, and he folds if that happens.

[Charlie]

I'm not sure it's the challenge part he doesn't like but the crowding part he dislikes. In previous races he's shown to be able to handle pressure with a high cruising speed, but doesn't do to well when other horses are all around him.

[The Tin Man]

I'm not sure it's the challenge part he doesn't like but the crowding part he dislikes. In previous races he's shown to be able to handle pressure with a high cruising speed, but doesn't do to well when other horses are all around him.

Good point!

Now that youve brought that up, he does seem to be pretty cool with the one on one challenges ... it does seem to be while in a cluster of horse, he mails it in.

[Ballerina]

Horses have been known to be claustrophobic.

[Vic in Chicago]

Horses have been known to be claustrophobic.

If that's true for The Dude, and it may be, he must have been very uncomfortable coming around the far turn, wedged between Ft. Larned and MMM.  Maybe that explains why he just folded.

[Dave in TJ Mex]

Any or all of these explanations --- excuses? --- may be valid.

What they show is that GOD is nowhere as consistent, solid, or tough-minded as lots of us thought he was.

If he doesn't make an easy lead, if some other horse is in front of him, if they go too fast early, if he is caught between other horses, he may just spit out the bit at the quarter pole and be nowhere at the finish.

That's the mark of a horse who is dynamite when everything goes his way, and below average (as a purported top-flight stakes horse) when things don't go his way.

I won't criticize him for losing.  It happens to the best of them.  It is the margin of his losses that bothers me.

I think his three way-up-the-track performances (2012 Dubai World Cup; 2013 BCC; 2013 BCC) show that this horse just quits when things don't go his way.  He doesn't fight and run hard when facing adversity, he just seems to completely quit.

The best horses run well --- maybe not win, but run well --- even when they face adversity and stiff competition.  GOD simply does not seem to have the grit that most of his competitors at the top of the racing game have.

[peeptoad]

Any or all of these explanations --- excuses? --- may be valid.

What they show is that GOD is nowhere as consistent, solid, or tough-minded as lots of us thought he was.

...not sure how you can argue that he's not consistent. If nothing else at all he has been consistent this year, up until the BC that is. You can argue that he may not have been consistent if he had shipped more often, etc. but as it stands he is the most consistent of all the older main track males.

[peeptoad]

Well, Dude may get a shot in a rare G1 outside the golden state... he and Will Take Charge are possible for the G1 Clark later this month. I noticed that Wine Princess is also on the possible list. Would be interesting to see her try the males...probably up against it though.

[Man o Taz]

I read one article in which Baffert said he knew GoD was in trouble when they were going too fast on the backstretch, yet isn't GoD's signature a high cruising speed?
It seems as if he just doesn't like to be challenged by another horse, and he folds if that happens.

Yes. I thought this was strange.

If you look at the fractions he has one with before where he has been on the lead - these fractions did not appear too quick.

I used to think that Game On Dude was challenged if the splits were faster than 24 second furlongs, but his Santa Anita Derby this year and his 2011 one suggest that's false.

Here are his splits from past Santa Anita Handicaps he won and this year's BC Classic.

2011 - Final time - 1:59.47

22.95, 46.73, 1;10.73, 1:34.80

2013 Final Time - 2:00.14

23.64, 47.19 (in front by 2 1/2 lengths after a half-mile), 1:10.97, 1:35.24

2013 BC Classic Final Time - 2:00.72

23.39, 46.36, 1:10.23, 1:34.84

This year's Classic was a touch faster than those other efforts where he won the races. But the final time was a half to a full second more. And he was not on the lead.

I still think the notion of getting the horse to rate in training screwed up his effort.

This and Mr. Baffert indicating that he needed a clear view and Mr. Smith had him behind horses.