As usual Alan at Left at the Gate is dead on with his analysis of Stardom Bound's win in the Santa Anita Oaks yesterday. Dana from from Green but Game chimes in with similar comments. Both were perplexed with the criticism of Stardom Bound's win. On the one hand, that is what makes this game so great, the constant back and forth on why a horse won and the debate on what will happen in the next race.
I am always amazed as the widely divergent opinions out there on a outcome of a race. If Brett Favre in his Green Bay Packers days shrugged off 3 sacks and 2 interceptions to lead the Packers on a 97 yard drive to win the game with 2 minutes left in the 4 quarter it is called a "gutty" win and Favre is described the next day in the media as a "winner" a "true champion" a "never say die athlete". Only in horse racing does a gutty athlete get knocked.
This leads to the great paradox of our game-the athletes don't talk.
Did anyone interview Stardom Bound after the race? What did she say? Did she have aches and pains that slowed her up, was she feeling out of it, was she distracted early, did she learn anything off this race? Is she confident going forward? Does she think she can beat the boys? What is her mental state?
I never fully trust a handicapper, owner, trainer or fan when talking about a horse, because he/she never asked the horse. Until someone actually hears the talk horse, a 3rd party opinion is just that, a 3rd party opinion. Until then, all we have is the scoreboard and the scoreboard for Stardom Bound says "Win".
1 comment:
She found a way to win and overcame a wide trip, but the competition will get tougher. It'll be interesting to see where she goes from here. She's the type that you can't count out of any fight.
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