Most Impressive BC Winner?
Moderators: Roguelet, hpkingjr, WaveMaster
Most Impressive BC Winner?
There were some pretty impressive performances today. Some marred by other incidents in the race and some unexpected but all had something impressive about them. I was going to do impressive performances regardless of winning but there's too darn many so I had to limit it somehow.
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana"
Asi Siempre's run was by far the best non winning performance....it was an impossible task with the trip she had...and was then DQ'D..watch the replay and watch her and you will agree......she recieved the trip from hell. 
A great man cannot help himself," "He can see things that other men cannot see themselves, and his greatness lies in doing whatever is necessary to make his vision real
Funny, no one seems particularly impressed by Invasor's win compared to the others on the card.
I guess I'm slightly biased as I was more impressed by Bernardini's effort in defeat than I was by Invasor's in victory.... I'm one of those 12 that voted for Street Sense though.. that was a bloody impressive move down on that rail.
I guess I'm slightly biased as I was more impressed by Bernardini's effort in defeat than I was by Invasor's in victory.... I'm one of those 12 that voted for Street Sense though.. that was a bloody impressive move down on that rail.
Sam wrote:I'm one of those 12 that voted for Street Sense though.. that was a bloody impressive move down on that rail.
So impressive it blew Denman's mind and he couldn't speak the horse's name except in hushed reverence
---at least that's what I'm assuming happened since I didn't hear him call the horse's name out for aeons. I bet the microphone just didn't pick it up. 
Yup.
Did it just take him forever? I was trying to figure out, since I couldn't keep the silks straight at that moment, who was coming through on the rail. All I could figure out was there was a clear leader and it wasn't any of the horses being talked about. I just knew for sure it wasn't Circular Quay since he's chestnut.
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana"
Heidilady wrote:Did it just take him forever? I was trying to figure out, since I couldn't keep the silks straight at that moment, who was coming through on the rail. All I could figure out was there was a clear leader and it wasn't any of the horses being talked about. I just knew for sure it wasn't Circular Quay since he's chestnut.
I think he just didn't seem him until the colt hit the lead and drew off. To be honest, I didn't see him either. It reminded me a lot of Giacomo in the Derby... I was so busy watching what was going on in the lead, he was there before I even saw him make a move and figure out who it was. G did the same thing... I was watching the race and let out a "WHO THE HELL IS THAT?" when I finally realized someone snuch through and was closing (scared the hell out of the mutts).
The thing people forget when they start talking about how a race caller missed something like that is that we are watching a nice wide screen shot and can see the whole field... they're looking through binoculars and maybe only see the 3-4 horses they are focusing on as they are calling position.. so if he's already called the first and second horse and shifted his focus to a horse on the outside to identify and call their position, it's possible that he misses an inside move that is just out of his line of sight.
Seriously, next time you go to the track, watch one race with a pair of binoculars and the second without them. It's kind of like watching the split screen telecasts.. you get the top shot of the leaders and the lower shot is the wide shot of everyone... if you don't have that wide shot and only see the first 2-3 horses, you miss the horse picking off horses from the back of the pack until he swoops by you and you're left wondering where the hell he came from.
The one knock on Denman is that he tries to give every horse in the race at least two calls, something most American callers don't do (he's finally stopped trying to call finish positions for everyone like he did when I was a kid). American callers call every horse once at the break, then focus on the first 5 horses and any horse they see making a move for the rest of the race. That's fine in 1-7 horse fields, but it's tough to do with 14 horses. Yeah, Denman's had 20-some years to get used to smaller fields, but he's still S.African trained and he calls races like the Euros do. I prefer his (and the Euro) method to most American callers. I tend to lose the horse I'm watching in packs so if I hear a call, I can pick that horse back up.
Yeah a lot of people on this other board were furious that he didn't mention Pine Island breaking down and I pointed out that I didn't even catch that she had until he talked about her and Fleet Indian being pulled up. I turned away for a couple seconds and then looked back without knowing anything was amiss.
I saw Fleet Indian from the shoulders down as she pulled up at the back of the pack on the turn but I told them that if people watching the television screen could miss Pine Island from a really wide shot, the guy with the binoculars probably had no idea anything had happened. I'm sure with 14 horses if he missed one he might not realize which one and he does have to finish calling the race so he can't sit there pondering it.
I saw Fleet Indian from the shoulders down as she pulled up at the back of the pack on the turn but I told them that if people watching the television screen could miss Pine Island from a really wide shot, the guy with the binoculars probably had no idea anything had happened. I'm sure with 14 horses if he missed one he might not realize which one and he does have to finish calling the race so he can't sit there pondering it.
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana"
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geowarrior
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I actually thought Denman was nervous - his first Breeders Cup call and a lot of media attention on the change. I was annoyed when he mispronounced Miesque's Approval and did not identify Street Sense, but not so much that he missed the Pine Island breakdown as there were two breakdowns round that turn as well as having to keep up with the leaders.
He was very quick however to notice that Bernardini was being pressured more than might have been expected.
I think, like everything else on ESPN, that he will learn from his mistakes and improve.
As for most convincing win - Street Sense. Game performance - Film Maker - a great mare who is unfortunately a contemporary of an outstanding one.
He was very quick however to notice that Bernardini was being pressured more than might have been expected.
I think, like everything else on ESPN, that he will learn from his mistakes and improve.
As for most convincing win - Street Sense. Game performance - Film Maker - a great mare who is unfortunately a contemporary of an outstanding one.