re: Preakness discussion- California Chrome with the win.

call me crazy but does this appear to be similar to Seattle Slew's story?

even the kentucky derby and preakness looks close to the same run

Not speaking of record so much, more of the price of him and the owners being average joes and not many people gave him much of a shot until winning the larger races

I think he means dirt in his face, but I could be wrong.

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I think he means dirt in his face, but I could be wrong.

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That could be true, my only thing is I don't know of any race he has run where he's had a ton of dirt in his face to even show he doesn't like it.

I think California Chrome is legitimately good and will probably have a long successful racing career barring any injury, but I also felt that most of the horses he faced in the Derby and the Preakness aren't really capable to win or be able to handle the longer distances of the Triple Crown races. I'd love to see CC run in the Breeder's Cup to see how he stacks up to horses like Mucho Macho Man and Game On Dude.

I said he doesn't like dirt in his face. i never said he doesn't like dirt. lol the derby, preakness, santa anita derby are all on dirt lol.

Not convinced that CC wants to tackle the older horse division just yet. Game on Dude in Socal is pretty legit and Mucho Macho Man is pretty good.

He had to ditch him for Rachel.

A. He'd been committed to her for her whole career

B. he took the better horse. MTB made a good run at her, but don't forget he never won again.

Calvin didn't have much to say about his filly today on NBC. He was struggling to come up with something to say and I think was annoyed they were comparing her to Rachel.

Okay, my biggest fear when it comes to triple crown horses is always the Belmont. It's a 12F dirt track. It's the only 12F dirt track in america and most jockies that run in the derby don't have experience with it. Stewart Elliot moved about an 8th of a mile too soon on smarty jones becuase he timed it on the turn just like you would on a normal track. Calvin Borel I remember when He had mine that bird and he had never ran on belmont's track and he said pre race "oh i ran once yesterday yep, I'm good to go now I get it" yeah he did the same thing lol.


Jockies who don't run at Belmont a lot, generally don't win the Belmont Stakes. Vic Esponiza is a died in the wool Socal boy. Santa Anita / Hollywood Park / Del Mar. That's my concern. He's gonna hit the turn, move too soon and lose by a head to some also ran.'


The last jockey to win the Belmont that was not a Belmont normal rider was Jermey Rose on Afleet Alex, and I mean, he was on a horse that was so good he literally feel down, got up and still won by 7.


A True, West Cost Jockey has not won the Belmont since Eddy D with AP Indy in 1992. Mike Smith won it but Mike Smith is really bicostal and has raced a hell of a lot in NY.

I guess I just like a good underdog story. The 50-1 longshot gelding who was purchased for less than the price of a used car pulls away to win the Kentucky Derby by a half dozen lengths, and in dramatic fashion. He then goes on to have strong showings at both Pimlico and the Belmont. He certainly was far from a perfect racehorse but he had a great story.

You're 100% correct. Not only is the distance the issue in the Belmont, but the dirt surface is different from other tracks. It's sandier. Belmont can be compared to running on a beach while other tracks are like running on normal ground. That sandier surface wears the horses out quicker. I can see a horse like Wicked Strong winning the Belmont over CC. I'd actually like to see General a Rod run in the Belmont as well. I kind of feel like he will improve as he gets a few more races in him. Kind of like Palace Malace from last year.