Connemara
Moderators: Roguelet, hpkingjr, WaveMaster
Re: Connemara
UmmYeah wrote:Anyone else see the debut of Lion Heart's little brother yesterday in the 10th at Turfway? Pretty darn impressive...
Heard about it. Seems like buzz is making the rounds pretty quickly. Who's gonna buy him first? IEAH, Darley, or Jackson? I'm only slightly kidding. Maybe in this economy people will be less likely to go flying around throwing money at stallion prospects.
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana"
I think he's owned by Coolmore, so I doubt this one is for sale. But I do know what you mean. If he were a homebred from a small operation, I bet he'd already be sold.
You should try to find a replay of the race. I think calracing.com might have it, even though it was at Turfway. The chart says "broke slow" but that is the understatement of the year. He was basically left at the gate, spotted the field about ten lengths, raced wide on both turns, and then pulled away convincing. And that was his debut. If he stays healthy, he could be special.
You should try to find a replay of the race. I think calracing.com might have it, even though it was at Turfway. The chart says "broke slow" but that is the understatement of the year. He was basically left at the gate, spotted the field about ten lengths, raced wide on both turns, and then pulled away convincing. And that was his debut. If he stays healthy, he could be special.
Yeah, I'd bet the Coolmore folks were thinking of the place in Ireland. That's what I thought of first, but then I'm not too horse-knowledgeable outside of thoroughbreds. Still, surely *someone* at Coolmore must have known of the breed when they picked the name. But then, if he can run like that, they can call him Donkey, for all I care.
Connemara is a place in Ireland
(in Irish: Conamara), which derives from Conmhaicne Mara (meaning: descendants of Con Mhac, of the sea), is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway or south west Connacht. The Conmhaicne Mara were a branch of the Conmhaicne, an early tribal grouping that had a number of branches located in different parts of Connacht. As this branch of Conmhaicne were located by the sea they became known as the Conmhaicne Mara, i.e., of the sea. Connemara lies in the territory of Iar Connacht, "West Connacht", which is the portion of County Galway west of Lough Corrib and the portion of County Mayo in the barony of Ross. Connemara was traditionally divided into North Connemara and South Connemara. The mountains of the Twelve Bens and the Owenglin river, which flows into the sea at An Clochán/Clifden, marked the boundary between the two parts. Connemara is bounded on the west, south and north by the Atlantic. Connemara's land boundary with the rest of County Galway is marked by the Invermore River (which flows into the north of Kilkieran Bay), Loch Oorid, (which lies a few miles west of Maam Cross, and the western spine of the Maumturks mountains in the north of which the boundary meets the sea at the Killary a few miles west of Leenaun.
This guy's entered in Saturday's Cal Derby at Golden Gate. Even though he hasn't run in over three months and this is his stakes debut, I imagine he'll be favored and should be able to handle this field.
Far be it for me to question a trainer that has been as successful as Pletcher, but this will be Connemara's third race, on three different tracks, all synthetic. If this horse is really being pointed to the Triple Crown, why would you ship him to yet another synthetic track?
Far be it for me to question a trainer that has been as successful as Pletcher, but this will be Connemara's third race, on three different tracks, all synthetic. If this horse is really being pointed to the Triple Crown, why would you ship him to yet another synthetic track?
GGF went from 14 nominations down to 6 entries by draw time. I imagine they think it is easy pickings, and assuming he wins, that would set him up nicely to take the El Camino Real Derby, which is graded stakes earnings for the all-important KY Derby.
"When I am on my deathbed, I imagine I will say, 'Thank God I did that'" - Arthur Hancock, on buying back Gato del Sol from Europe after Exceller was killed in a slaughterhouse in Sweden.