Preakness Field Taking Shape
 

Amen to that.

But on the flip side of this, perhaps we should make it easier on horses to win the Triple Crown. Fits right in with the "let's give every kid a trophy so their feelings aren't hurt" philosophy.... :D :rolleyes:

If this were the case winning a Triple Crown wouldn't be any big deal. Some Belmont's would be walkovers. How is that good?

I think he'd have a better shot in the Preakness to be honest, smaller field to navigate.

I would be shocked if Nyquist loses in the Preakness and probably equally as shocked if he wins at Belmont.

Only allowing horses that ran in the Derby to run in the other TC races, no
Only allowing horses that have points from the prep races, maybe.
Only allowing horses that have been nominated for the TC, sure

The points are only there to restrict the Derby field to 20. The Preakness never has that problem, why should Pimlico care about Derby points? Why would it sign on to something that could or would limit its field for no good reason?

Why is it so easy to forget that the Triple Crown is three individual events, it's not a Survivor series?

A true Triple Crown winner takes on all comers in all 3 of the TC races.
Limiting the Preakness or Belmont to just KY Derby runners would be pretty boring. Why would anyone want to see the same winner beating those it beat already in the Derby? Where's the challenge?

I believe Nyquist has an excellent shot at the TC this year (and not because of it's numbers). Its plain and simple this horse has Class and obviously the will to win. The only way he loses to Exaggerator is if the track conditions come up OFF. But then again we really have no idea how Nyquist handles an OFF track. Although some have said the surface in the FL Derby wasn’t particularly dry and fast.

I also believe that in order for Exaggerator to try and beat Nyquist he’ll probably have to run closer to the pace. He already tried that in the San Felipe and tired at 1 1/6 miles. I think the Desormeaux’s realize what the optimum running style for their horse is. Unfortunately, if the tracks in MD and NY come up FAST he’ll have no shot at beating Nyquist. Closers don’t fair very well in either race unless there’s a ton of early speed which doesn’t seem to be the case this year.
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How does the whole "Bounce Theory" play into these multiple repeat winners? Are certain horses just bouncers? Or do their Beyers or whatever have to be x higher than last?

It doesn’t play into it at all if the horse just keeps on winning!
I never believed in the term “bouncing”, but if there’s any truth to it I would think that it relates to when a horse runs a really competitive tough race (win or lose) and shows nothing the next time out.

Well obviously the stress of the previous race took a lot out of it's running capabilities. Today it goes even beyond that because these horses in N.A. are running with Lasix. So not only does the trainer have to concern himself with how the horse comes out of the race, he also has to wait for the horse to recover from all the fluid loss due to the lasix. That’s probably why the majority of trainers these days wait so long between races to run their horses. Of course this fluid recovery will also impact a horse’s workout efforts and schedule.

So I think there’s more going on then using a simple term like “bounce” as the description for the cause of a poor performance.
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Will we see a Sharp azteca in the preakness ? :cool:

The owners of the Pimlico and Belmont would probably cancel the race when only 5-6 horses show up. Unless you pay the purse money. It is ridiculous to place restrictions like that unless all 3 tracks have some kind of monetary agreement to do so. 20 horses run in KY Derby and 5 left for Belmont. Really? :bang:

Could end up with some speed in preakness

Of course there’s always a chance that a couple of early speed types will be entered in the Preakness. But we’ve already witnessed how Nyquist handled Danzig Candy @ 1 ¼ miles. So running in a similar fashion for 1 3/16 miles shouldn’t be an issue, and if there’s no early speed to speak of, Nyquist can simply wire them.
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IMO, Nyquist will either be 2nd for half a mile & then take the lead & win or wire the field.