Sarge: "Alydar would have won the Triple Crown if he knew how to change leads"

[Zippy Chippy]

I thought this was a very interesting discussion he was just having.

How much quicker would your stretch be if you did change leads?

[bisket]

like day and night quicker

[Robert Goren]

Figuring out how to get a horse to change leads can move a horse up several class. I believe Jack Van Berg's dad use to claim a lot of horses that wouldn't and he had some success at getting them to do it. No, I don't know his secret.

[Zippy Chippy]

like day and night quicker

In a stretch run do you think it could be matter a couple of lengths? It must be frustrating for trainers that can't get great horses to change leads.

[Show Me the Wire]

Figuring out how to get a horse to change leads can move a horse up several class. I believe Jack Van Berg's dad use to claim a lot of horses that wouldn't and he had some success at getting them to do it. No, I don't know his secret.

Buzz them and snap their necks :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[bisket]

In a stretch run do you think it could be matter a couple of lengths? It must be frustrating for trainers that can't get great horses to change leads.
more than that. this is hard to believe. jocks can get horses to change leads alot of times by yanking them in the direction of the lead you want them to change to.

[affirmedny]

I thought this was a very interesting discussion he was just having.

How much quicker would your stretch be if you did change leads?

And I would have been in the major leagues if I could hit a good curveball...but I can't, so I'm not........

[andymays]

And I would have been in the major leagues if I could hit a good curveball...but I can't, so I'm not........


For me it was the friggin slider!

[bisket]

And I would have been in the major leagues if I could hit a good curveball...but I can't, so I'm not........
for me it was the beer and whiskey ;)

[Robert Goren]

And I would have been in the major leagues if I could hit a good curveball...but I can't, so I'm not........ For me it was that 70 mph fastball.:D

[Robert Goren]

for me it was the beer and whiskey ;) That didn't stop Mickey Mantle.

[BombsAway Bob]

That didn't stop Mickey Mantle.
Yeah, it did...

[OTM Al]

Jorge Velazquez told me the same thing. Loved the horse but said he was kind of dumb. Sometimes he would get him to switch but then the horse would switch right back. He really would fight Jorge over this. Can't remember what race it was but he said that once he got him to switch and it was an easy win.

[Valuist]

Yeah and if Steve Bartman doesn't interfere with the foul ball, the Cubs win the 2003 World Series, or at least get there.

Maybe, maybe not.

Fact is, Alydar didn't change leads. I'm sure there's some excuse somewhere from the Easy Goer fans that he should've beaten Sunday Silence every race.

He didn't. End of story. Reality always trumps fantasy.

[Overlay]

Perhaps Alydar could have won the Triple Crown, but to me the situation that year did not have a "loser" (except perhaps in monetary terms). Affirmed won it, but I don't see how you can think of him without favorably remembering Alydar, also. (The way they're usually mentioned in the same breath, it's almost as if "Affirmedandalydar" were the name of a single horse.)

[Spalding No!]

Jorge Velazquez told me the same thing. Loved the horse but said he was kind of dumb. Sometimes he would get him to switch but then the horse would switch right back. He really would fight Jorge over this. Can't remember what race it was but he said that once he got him to switch and it was an easy win.

The Travers.

[Nets]

Perhaps Alydar could have won the Triple Crown, but to me the situation that year did not have a "loser" (except perhaps in monetary terms). Affirmed won it, but I don't see how you can think of him without favorably remembering Alydar, also. (The way they're usually mentioned in the same breath, it's almost as if "Affirmedandalydar" were the name of a single horse.)

Which speaks to how the world views things. You are either the best or you stink. Every big race we tend to trash so many horses because they can't/don't win. Yet these same horses are way above just about the entire race horse population.

Of course I am biased, being a life-long Buffalo Bills fan. No one remembers that they won 4 consecutive AFC championships, only that they lost 4 consecutive Super Bowls. Did they stink? Hardly. Did they ultimately fail? Definitely. But, I had many. many enjoyable game days during that run. Just as the owners and fans of high profile horses have.

A missed field goal or running into an even better horse should not take away all that has been accomplished. Just my opinion.

Gary

[affirmedny]

The Travers.

Whitney maybe, he was 2nd across the line in the Travers. hard to call that an easy win.

[nijinski]

This thread gives Jorge Velasquez a sigh of relief.

[Spalding No!]

Whitney maybe, he was 2nd across the line in the Travers. hard to call that an easy win.

A DQ is the easiest win there is.

Ironically, Affirmed stayed on his left lead in that one. I guess he didn't need to switch to beat Alydar...so long as he was able to try and put Alydar over the rail.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Rare to hear this about a good horse.Many horses get put on the "No bet" list when you recognize this problem in the stretch.I was a tot when Alydar raced.But knowing the history,if this was true,what a monster he would have been.