Rapid Redux Retired

[tbwinner]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horse-racing/preakness/bs-sp-preakness-notes-0518-20120517,0,5175873.story

[Some_One]

In other words: there are no more soft spots to extend the winning streak.

[OntheRail]

I hope he has a long and happy retirement. Was a thrill to watch his 22 in a row. :)

[Robert Goren]

Starter Handicap conditions have always been a mystery to me. I am not sure exactly how they work and have heard conflicting explanations from people who ought to know. What I suspect is that he is no long eligible for most of them and they do not want to run him for price. It is unlikely that they could find any non claiming events that he is eligible for and he'd have a decent chance of winning. I hope they treat him right in his retirement.

[JustRalph]

Maryland State Taxes is putting everybody out of business

[Tom]

You bunch of NY wanna be's..... :D

Seriously, placing a horse where he can win is a crime?
Duh.

If it is so easy winning 22 in row, even cherry picked races, have at it.

[Bruiser1]

In other words: there are no more soft spots to extend the winning streak.

Not true. He would have been eligible for easy assignments including conditioned claiming races, if the owner desired.

I'm happy to see this guy retired with his record and health intact. Great move by the connections. Too seldom is a gelding retired at the top of his game.

[onefast99]

Starter Handicap conditions have always been a mystery to me. I am not sure exactly how they work and have heard conflicting explanations from people who ought to know. What I suspect is that he is no long eligible for most of them and they do not want to run him for price. It is unlikely that they could find any non claiming events that he is eligible for and he'd have a decent chance of winning. I hope they treat him right in his retirement.
Sometimes races are made around the horses eligible conditions even if it means making one up, its called race the horse and people will bet!

[GaryG]

He is going to Kentucky Horse Park. 22 in a row is quite an accomplishment. You see other horses dominating in starters races but not to this extent. I am sorry to see so many negative comments about this warrior, I suppose due to the cynical nature of horseplayers. Now you can be a horse again RR. :jump:

[Robert Goren]

Sometimes races are made around the horses eligible conditions even if it means making one up, its called race the horse and people will bet!I have told that starting in a starter handicap race is consider the same as starting for a claiming price by some people and told it isn't by others. Lets say the conditions say started for a claiming price of 5k or less in 2011-2012. If a horse never ran that low a price in that time frame, but has run for in starter handicap in the time frame, is it eligible or not. I have been told by people affilated race tracks both yes, it is and no, it is not. Maybe it is in some places and not in others. Maybe they make the rules on the spot. That being said, I have hard time believing that anyone was making up rules for RR. His win-place pools weren't that large and the show pools always lost money for the track. He was not that big of a draw. For most of his races last year I spent staring at pool numbers because I was betting against bridge jumpers, so I know the kind of money he was drawing.

[Saratoga_Mike]

I have told that starting in a starter handicap race is consider the same as starting for a claiming price by some people and told it isn't by others. Lets say the conditions say started for a claiming price of 5k or less in 2011-2012. If a horse never ran that low a price in that time frame, but has run for in starter handicap in the time frame, is it eligible or not. I have been told by people affilated race tracks both yes, it is and no, it is not. Maybe it is in some places and not in others. Maybe they make the rules on the spot. That being said, I have hard time believing that anyone was making up rules for RR. His win-place pools weren't that large and the show pools always lost money for the track. He was not that big of a draw. For most of his races last year I spent staring at pool numbers because I was betting against bridge jumpers, so I know the kind of money he was drawing.

No is the answer at most east coast tracks, but Andy Serling indicated the answer is yes at NYRA tracks (and he had verified it with the racing sec).

[Tom]

I have a problem when the full, entire conditions are not listed in the PPs.
It is an insult to people betting the race.

It's like buying a bowl of soup and telling the waiter it tastes like crap, and he says, "Oh, we put crap in it, just not on the menu."