Comments on: Sea the Stars cements legacy; Summer Bird and the Iceman winneth

By: Kevin Stafford

Kevin Stafford — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:12:12 +0000

Mike – sorry I didn’t respond earlier to your qeustion – Mine That Bird is actually racing this Saturday in the Goodwod at Santa Anita – his final tune up before the Classic. He took some time off for throat surgery but evidently seems good to go now.

By: Kevin Stafford

Kevin Stafford — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:15:37 +0000

Sadly, I think there’s much truth in your assumptions, St. Paddy. I think you hit the reasoning dead on though – we simply don’t get much exposure to the better European runners unless there’s a chance they might come to the Breeders’ Cup. There are diehard fans who would follow the Arc (and other prestigious races) closely regardless of any future BC implications, but they certainly don’t get as much attention as they should.

On the positive side of things though, I’ve got to say that some of the more memorable scores I’ve had over the years have been on 1st time shippers from Europe that for whatever reason have been overlooked by the betting public. Of course, that’s a two way street as sometimes (the Del Mar meet this summer comes to mind) the Euros are consistenly hammered down to miniscule odds just by virtue of being Euros.

Don’t worry too much though – here in the States most Americans don’t even know there’s horse racing going on HERE (let alone in Europe) outside of Kentucky Derby day.

By: St Paddy

St Paddy — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:03:18 +0000

I did like this particular blog message.
What amazes me is the reponse to your main theme. Your two comments are about dirt favs in the USA.
Horses i would fairly guestimate are not that good when a name like Sea The Stars is mentioned.
I struggle as a diehard horse racing fan that the american public are so blinkered or just maybe not allowed (TV stations) to see extreme brilliance.
The main argument this side of the pond is how good Sea The Stars truly is/was.
So many great horses have emerged in the last 40 years (Dancing Brave, Mill Reef, Nijinsky, and dare i say probably the greatest ever horse Sea Bird II) none of these horses are fairly treated in the US as potential greatest ever.
My assumption is that media situations in the US are not prepared to even think that horse racing takes place any where other than the US.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:53:28 +0000

Right on Big Man, Summer Bird now has 3 Grade 1′s in his cap including the Belmont Stakes. Yes he loves the off track, but he won on a dry , fast track also. He has really matured into a fine horse

By: mike

mike — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:05:28 +0000

I don’t hear much on Mine That Bird. Is he still racing? Summer Bird took over it seems. That was a great race he ran this weekend. He loves the off-track just like Birdstone did. He got a 111 Beyer it looks like.

Did you see Lookin at Lucky yesterday? He looks almost like Pioneerof the Nile did at that age. He has the muscles showing on him Funny, same jockey and trainer also. I guess he is my replacement for Pioneer.