Big Brown LOST, PERIOD!! He couldn't handle the heat and the distance without drugs. That's why they run the Belmont. Deal with it. The media is always looking for excuses as to why their hype was wrong.
Huge Huge Zenyatta fan but in that feild I think she would have been 2nd maybe even 3rd to Citation and Cigar Affirmed was a nice horse but there is no way he was as good as Citation, Ruffian and Cigar
Took me a while but I think I figured it out... Tom Durkin at the 1/16 pole: "First Dude... is deputy!" Deputy meaning second-in-command which he was at that point in the race... At first, I thought Durkin lost it but he pulled it off. Not easy being a track announcer trying to not just call the right names but make your calls above all accurate, descriptive and memorable in one shot, no retakes.
This was the year anabolic steroids were banned in New York he had to go off of them but was on them for the Derby and the Preakness look it up it is a fact
What was the mandate to schlep a critically ill child to & fro races. Admittedly, the story is remarkable, but the one who was likely not all cognizant of the situations, was Cody.
Who would have figured that a Horseplayer would have much more class than one of the top owners in the sport. (I am sure you all know who I am talking about regarding which owner) Horseplayers get a bad rap from most everyone and well trust me as a Horseplayer myself there are some pretty rough characters but notice that Paul Calia did not drop one F Bomb in his acceptance speech and kept it in the time frame out of respect for the Eclipse Awards guidelines. I know it is common to use profanity at a racetrack but to do it on a national platform such as the Eclipse Awards and with young children present and even right next to you. That to me is just having no class nor is it being respectful for that matter. So thank you Paul for making us Horseplayers proud with your acceptance speech.
She is the FIRST WOMAN OF HORSE RACING!! But she was raised by two experts: her Father and Mother. She stepped up at a bad time and made it happen. She took on the pressure created by her own family and the male dominated Horse industry. She had to syndicate her horse to save the farm. She did the DO OR DIE! Fired a corrupt trainer and hired people she could trust. No one can measure the amount of pressure she had to endure. Much respect to you Penny and GOD BLESS YOU!!! Her heart was as big or bigger than BIG RED!!!
I'm sorry, but I think the Dormans have absolutely exploited this nice gesture Mott, Godolphin and Make a Wish provided. They have been in the winners circle and now CLAIM the award. Cody's Wish is NOT THEIR HORSE. Talk about taking advantage of a situation. I feel bad for the child, and it was a nice photo op of the horse and child, but this is not a feel good story to help horse racing's reputation, this is a family who totally took advantage of people's kindness. For me, and I'm sensitive and have a heart, and I felt the comments of the horse winning and the child's last day and how it was spiritual, but other than that, no. Maybe if they didn't schlep the kid across the country to take over the winners circle and blanket, thereof, and photos of them with NOT THEIR HORSE, he might still be alive. Sorry.
Actually he was pretty shitty to his daughter on stage and if that what it takes to get the industry I’ve spent my entire life in kick started let it die. Absurd behavior by Mike Repole, in front of his daughter and family.
With his daughter right next to him. Poor child. To be unfortunate enough to have a father that would do that in front of her. Such a contrast to Kelly Dorman.
Poor child?? What? Cause he dropped a f bomb . Wow- From my position I saw a girl who hugged her dad and a family of three who are always together at the track. That’s not a “poor child “ that’s a darn good dad.
From my position childcare professional, with a degrees in Childhood Development & Family Studies, who has had hundreds of children directly in my care for the last 35 years I can say unequivocally that he is bad father because he is teaching his daughter that such language is acceptable when it’s not. They are at a awards ceremony that celebrates an entire sport/industry. An elegant black tie affair with the most prominent players in attendance & that’s being broadcast live to the world. Yet he uses such crass & low language. He has taught his daughter that it’s acceptable to use such language under such circumstances when it’s clearly not. It’s rude, disrespectful & low class to use it at all. So when she starts dropping the F bomb at school or at the homes of her friends or at parties there will be consequences for her & she'll wonder why, after all her father said it during his speech at the Eclipse Awards. Plus her father also taught her that the rules & guidelines don’t apply to them when he brazenly turned the timer around & ignored the time limit for acceptance speeches. Repole is a setting a terrible example for his child. He’s teaching her bad behavior that others will not put up with, especially from a child, so that when she goes out & acts the way her father acts others will reprimand or reject her & her crass behavior. So yes she most certainly is a poor child to have a father who can’t be bothered to set a good example for her & teach her acceptable behavior. I also have sympathy for those that will have to deal with her when she acts the way her father acts.
@rotseri1. I never said she was “ruined”. Why don’t you take your own advice & stop being a moron yourself. I said she was learning bad behavior was acceptable because of her father’s example, which was going to lead to unpleasant consequences for her. And, yes, my opinion is valid because I deal daily with children behaving badly because they are just imitating their parents. It’s also my experience that people who defend & excuse bad parenting do so because they themselves are parenting in a similar manner.
Will never get over how terrible of a ride P-Val gave Sway Away. Dudes makes his move on the backstretch while going 6+wide then can’t even keep the horse in a straight line on the stretch!
Many years ago my boss claimed a horse for 25k no foot problem but badly cracked heels all around. Before going to track every day we massaged petroleum jelly . Later found a topical ointment that worked wonders. Long story short ,he became a solid handicap 🐎 who won a bunch of races & worked 7/8ths with AP Indy and only got beat a length His name was Our Homeboy. Little things can stop a train. Old timers used to say.
I was on the Great Lakes on the ship Reserve ( sister ship to Edmond Fitzgerald ). It was a exciting race and when Secretariat won 🏆 I had tears in my eyes 👀.
Not believing a word the jockey says in this interview, it just doesn't make any sense, I really hope someday we hear the truth about this performance, Big Brown deserves much better from all of us, kudos to him
Ruffian was a genuine freak, in the CCAO she went 1½ miles in her front running style was 3 to 6 lengths ahead of the competition and still pulled away to win like a secretariat finish. All the while never being tested at such distance. #4 horse right behind kelso no questions
So sorry for your loss. Anyone could see you love your horses. I cried after the race. I know how much a horse gets inside of your heart. When my Smokey died I could barely do anything. I was with him his whole life from his birth to his death, back in 1988. I still miss him all the time. It's so hard to lose them because they take a huge chunk of your heart with them. I know it's been many years, but my deepest condolences to you and your crew.
These races ain’t legit baby… Rachel Alexandra beat nobody in the Preakness and Affirmed get her to spit the bit and quit much earlier, 3 year old Big Brown and Barbaro ain’t beatin older Cigar the way he was… I love Zenaytta but she doesn’t catch these monsters
❤ THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS EPIC LAST RACE. SECRETARIAT....❤ ALL HEART AND SOME FAST LEGS.....AND GREAT JOCKEY....BET HE NEVER WENT THAT FAST ON ANY OTHER RACE HORSE. I HEARD HE COULD GO 5O MPH.AND I'M PRETTY SURE SECRETARIAT MAY HAVE GONE THAT FAST AT THE BELMONT. SO GLAD SECRETARIAT WAS ABLE TO GIVE TRIBUTE TO CANADA. I LOVE THIS RACE....IT SEEMED LIKE HE WAS JUST GETTING STARTED....I BELIEVE HE WANTED TO RUN FURTHER IF THEY WOULD HAVE LET HIM. GOD BLESS YOU ALL & ALL OF THOSE WHO MADE SECRETARIATS LIFE A LIFE OF ADVENTURE AND LOVE. GOD BLESS ALL THE HORSE RACING FANS TOO. R.I.P. = RACE IN PEACE : BIG RED. LOVE AND PRAYERS. P.S. MY LATE SON HAD BOUGHT A PAIR OF COWBOY BOOTS WHEN HE WAS OUT WEST. I LOOKED AT THE NAME ON THE BOTTOM OF THE BOOTS IT SAID......"ARIAT". AND I HEARD SOME ANOUNCER AT ONE OF THE TRIPILE CROWN RACES RECENTLY SAYING THAT THEY NAMED A BRAND OF COWBOY BOOTS AFTER SECRETARIAT. NAMED "ARIAT". ZACH LOVED THOSE COWBOY BOOTS. AND I LOVE THAT SOMEONE MADE COWBOY BOOTS IN HONOR OF SECRETARIAT. MAY THEY BOTH MEET EACH OTHER IN HEAVEN AND RACE IN PEACE TOGETHER.
I often think they retired him too soon, though I understand their reasoning. Risk of injury, he'd make more money as a sire, etc. But at 3, he had a couple of years of growth and development ahead of him. As great as he was, how much greater could he have been?
