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jognlope
07-20-2008, 05:44 AM
At Delmar. I thought it was yesterday and kept watching each race and not hearing his name, uuuurrrrh!! It's today.

MNslappy
07-21-2008, 04:49 AM
speaking of Lava Man....yeah he's a gelding, but man, I think it might be time for this one to head to the barn. It's been a helluva run, I never thought he'd finish up his career the way he did after coming back from Japan.

joanied
07-21-2008, 11:45 AM
I was sure sad :( watching the end of the Eddie Read...the old boy looked great until mid stretch, then he just faded... it was very hard to look at, at least for me. I hope he came out of it in good shape, and I'll be interested to see what Doug O has to say about LM's future. Hate to see him retire off this last effort, but maybe it's time to see if this great race horse might want to retire. He has secured his place in racing history...you can't ask for more than that.
Love you, Lava Man:ThmbUp:

classhandicapper
07-21-2008, 12:01 PM
Lava Man was never a good shipper, but he obviously likes to hear his feet rattle. CA is the last place on earth you want to keep a horse like that. They should either retire him or move him somewhere he can compete in minor stakes on dirt.

joanied
07-21-2008, 01:59 PM
Lava Man was never a good shipper, but he obviously likes to hear his feet rattle. CA is the last place on earth you want to keep a horse like that. They should either retire him or move him somewhere he can compete in minor stakes on dirt.

Do you mean that LM didn't like the surface? (I don't beleive he ever won out of CA???)
He looked so comfortable going down the backstretch...do you attribute his fade in the stretch to the surface? He can run on grass too.
Happy I'm not his connections right now...they have to decide what to do, and personally, if he has to drop down to minor stakes, then I'd retire the old boy...he's done enough...

classhandicapper
07-21-2008, 04:49 PM
Do you mean that LM didn't like the surface? (I don't beleive he ever won out of CA???)
He looked so comfortable going down the backstretch...do you attribute his fade in the stretch to the surface? He can run on grass too.
Happy I'm not his connections right now...they have to decide what to do, and personally, if he has to drop down to minor stakes, then I'd retire the old boy...he's done enough...

I don't think he was ever as good on turf as he was on dirt. In addition, I think he has clearly lost a couple of steps from his peak a few years ago. IMO, he had a short period a few years ago where he was as good as anything we had in the east. Now, at best, I think he could still win some Grade 3 or weak Grade 2 races on dirt if he was shipped out of CA on a more permanent basis and competed on a different circuit. That assumes the owners insist on still running him. Personally, I think he has earned a happy and comfortable retirement.

I think in some ways this highlights the issues with the artificial surfaces. I am getting less and less negative on them as they have been tinkered with and are performing a little more consistently. However, they are not a dirt substitute. If anything, they are a turf substitute. As such, that means there will be dozens of top dirt horses that would be better off leaving CA and dozens of turf horses that would be better off in CA because there may be more options.

JustRalph
07-21-2008, 05:16 PM
I think you have to look to Doug O'neill's problems more than the horses.

Just a thought..................


here is a horse who used to stay on the lead, way above his class level.

Then he stops like crazy. He is getting older I understand. But I think O'neil isn't training him like he used to...............

MNslappy
07-21-2008, 09:58 PM
in case you missed it...


http://racing.bloodhorse.com/article/46244.htm (http://racing.bloodhorse.com/article/46244.htm)



http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2008/July/21/Owners-ponder-the-future-for-Lava-Man.aspx

joanied
07-22-2008, 11:12 AM
Good link to the LM story via the TB Times... throwing a shoe probably didn't help him in the Eddie Read, but doubt it had anything to do with the quick fade out...
They say his retirement is UNofficial...but most probably we've seen the great horse race for the last time...they won't drop him down just to keep him running, but I'm sure one more race, with hopes it would be a winning race, is probably in the back of their minds. Owner would like to send him to the Kentucky Horse Park, Doug wants him as a stable pony... maybe they'll do what Headly did with Kona Gold...used him for a pony until he was told not to ride anymore, now Kona Gold is at the Horse Park and hamming it up...just saw an 'Inside Information' segment on him, and it was great...he loves the attention he gets at the Park, he's a star again!!
As mentioned...Lava Man has his place in race history, is one of the all time leading earners and has given his connections and all of us one hell of a run.