Afleet Alex Great but beats a mediocre field

[henthorn]

Duplicate, sorry.

[louis finochio]

Man o War had some walkovers, as he scared his competition away.

[louis finochio]

When a TB gets excited or works up a sweat before and during the race this flipped palet can happen.

[Racerx]

There are only 3 horses now that have won grade 1 stakes at 6f and 1 1/2m, Secretariat, Affirmed and Afleet Alex. I was curious if the last time a tc winner was crowned they had a 20 horse field in the derby? If there had been 15, giacomo and closing argument wouldn't have qualified I don't think. I have been reading alot of blaming of Rose about not winning the derby my blame goes to the greedy owners of Bandini who entered SC just to soften up the front runners. That kind of racing is just classless, the best horse should win cause hes the best horse he shouldn't need a rabbit or a bailey to destroy the pace.

[sb]

I have been reading alot of blaming of Rose about not winning the derby .

I don't think Rose can be blamed or the horse or anybody else for not having won the Derby. I can't see him having made a major mistake, and it could have happened to anybody, so the blame speakers would do better to do something more constructive. It is up to the trainer to analyze the race and the jockey who actually sat on the horse, lol.
With so much money and presige at stake, the Triple Crown series are also part of 'horse racing.' ......

SB

[wilf]

For Petes Sake, Alex is the real deal!!!!!!!!! He has the temperament and ability to relax in a race and then turn it on when asked to. He is a GREAT REFLECTION of what we all seek in a racehorse. All you naysayers remember this...he is the last horse standing at the end of a gruelling campaign called the triple crown, if he beat nothing then where was everyone else in a trail that is coveted in every racing country on this earth.??

[Sam]

You know the thing that always amuses me when people use the "He ain't that great, he didn't beat anyone in [x] race" is that they can never name who he SHOULD have beaten in [x] race.

I'm not going to make an argument for or against Alex's perceived 'greatness' BUT he was beaten by two horses in the Derby and finished ahead of last year's 2yo champion and this year's "Hot horse" (Bellamy Road) as well as a handful of other highly regarded 3yos.

He then went on to beat the Derby winner TWICE (as well as the other horse who narrowly beat him out for 2nd in the Derby) and again beat last year's 2yo champ.

So, if Alex "beat nobody" ... then just who do you consider "Somebody"?

Who SHOULD he be beating?

Sometimes a horse 'beats nobody' because THERE IS NOBODY. Take Seattle Slew for instance. Far as I'm concerned, he 'beat nobody' as a 2-3yo because his contemporaries (at that time) WERE 'nobodies' (of the few from his foal crop who became 'somebodies', they generally did so as older horses). Slew had no real competition until he was a 4yo.

If you are going to yell that a horse beat nobody, you better damn well be able to cite SOMEbody and back it up or accept the fact that maybe the horse 'beat nobody' because there isn't anyone else of the same caliber. Right now, Alex's only competition is his contemporaries (the other 3yos out there). He doesn't have to beat an older horse to be "Somebody", he just needs to dominate his own division ... which he seems to be doing quite effectively.

[Keith]

The Derby was filled with tough horses and with a 20 horse field sometimes the best horse does not win. The Preakness even was a decent field but the Belmont did not offer much for competition. Nothing to take away from his achievement in the Belmont Stakes but other than Giacomo and Afleet Alex most of the horses were easily beaten in Grade II races. This years three year olds would not compare to years that included Alydar and Affirmed or a year that included Sunday Silence and Easy Goer. It is too early to crown Afleet Alex and Smarty Jones as one of the great horses of all time. Smarty Jones retired too early and he may have been one of the all time greats but he never ran against older horses. Hopefully Afleet Alex goes on to be one of the great horses and wins Horse of the Year. It would be awesome to see Afleet Alex to face off against Declan's Moon or Lost in the Fog later this year. Even to see Afleet Alex go up against Roses in May would be great. Horse racing needs a horse like Afleet Alex to carry the sport. It is too bad he did not win the Triple Crown. Maybe the Kentucky Derby should cut down the size of its race.

Keith

[Sam]

See, that is where my philosophy differs from others.

I don't like to compare horses to the past in the "He's as great as..." context because I find it to be a meaningless waste of time.

A horse can ONLY be justly compared to the horses he races against.

As I said, I don't believe Slew had ANY competition until he was a 4yo. So, had he not raced at 4, I would not consider him a great racehorse, even WITH him having won the triple crown.

[sb]

[quote="Sam"]

I don't like to compare horses to the past in the "He's as great as..." context because I find it to be a meaningless waste of time.

I agree with you to some extent. There are, however, things which can be compared as in running style, strategies, way of winning, and time factors.

Afleet Alex put in two very interesting races in which he proved that he has a terrific turn of foot. HIs performances in the Preakness will make him a very special horse regardless of all other accomplishments.

SB

[bcassidy]

I am a huge fan of Northern Afleet and Afleet Alex. Alex is a great horse but to be fair about his contemporaries, I believe this was the foal crop when MLRS hit Kentucky very hard.
Second point, I have said this under another post but on the day of the Derby, CD had a very dead rail and I think it affected Alex's race big time. He should have won the TC.

[Green Hills]

I am a huge fan of Northern Afleet and Afleet Alex. Alex is a great horse but to be fair about his contemporaries, I believe this was the foal crop when MLRS hit Kentucky very hard.
Second point, I have said this under another post but on the day of the Derby, CD had a very dead rail and I think it affected Alex's race big time. He should have won the TC.

Shoulda...Coulda...Woulda....uhmmm...Didn't. Potential vs Reality. That's how it goes sometimes.

[sb]

. He should have won the TC.

Yes, but he didnt and that's what racing and the Triple Crown is all about.
Fame aside. it won't hurt the horse's reputation in the long run, and when you realize that not too many of the Triple Crown winners went on to become prominent or big money making stallions, it's all Happy Ending for Afleet Alex and his connections which appear to be the more humble ones in all of that.

SB

[bcassidy]

Green Hills and sb; coulda, woulda, shoulda for sure but why does the horse get blamed for not being good enough? Let's suppose, a jockey more familiar with CD rides him that day and recognizing that the rail was dead doesn't race an inside path? He only lost by a length and watching his performances in the Preakness and the Belmont no one can say Giacomo is a better horse. Racing luck absolutely comes into every good performance and sometimes bad racing luck comes into a loss. I contend that with a more experienced rider at CD, and/or (coupled with a better pace scenario) Alex wins the derby. I am not making excuses for Alex just trying to point out the circumstances that prevented Alex from being a TC winner.

[sb]

Here is an aftertrhought article by Steve Haskin with which I agree 100%.

http://tcm.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=28630

As far as I'm concerned, case is closed, and I'm looking forward to the next races and hope, there will be more thills to come. All total, I think we had a couple of good years in which the public had a chance to get involved with uncommon background stories, and getting the betting public involved in posibitve aspects of racing, is just as important as the horses which make it happen.....all of them, even the nameless claimers.

SB