...and its on to Belmont

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by cj

I still remember Normandy Invasion skipping the Preakness for no real reason. That didn't work out very well. I realize it isn't the same thing since he didn't win the Derby, but he would have been one of the top betting choices.

Porter said there was a debate about even running in the Derby because the horse supposedly lost about 200 pounds between the Wood and Derby. Now that the Derby was done, and he didn't win, they wanted to get him back into the condition he should've been in instead of racing back in 2 weeks and losing more condition.

I don't remember what happened after that (did another problem crop up?), but you're right in that he never lived up to the hope his Derby inspired.

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by cj

I still remember Normandy Invasion skipping the Preakness for no real reason. That didn't work out very well. I realize it isn't the same thing since he didn't win the Derby, but he would have been one of the top betting choices.

...and just think, had they struck while the iron was hot and won one of the classics with Normandy Invasion, a son of uber-sire Tapit, the horse would be standing at Lane's End or Claiborne for over $50K, but instead he's a non-stakes winner standing for not even a tenth of that somewhere in upstate NY (I have know idea if it's near Saratoga Springs or Mechanicville).

From the sound of it though, Normandy Invasion was a horse not easily kept together for whatever reason. That could be the deal with Cloud Computing, too.

Whatever it is, this "5 weeks" trend is pretty much ruining the Triple Crown. This is just one more instance. I won't even begin to rail against the knuckleheads who run in the Derby and skip the Preakness year in and year out.

I'm with whoever suggested bringing back the $1 million bonus points thingy from the 1980s. Or maybe Stronach can forego a couple of million from the Pegasus debacle and put his own bonus between the Derby and Preakness. Let's not forget, the Preakness field this year was rather ho-hum itself and didn't appear to be particularly contentious for those of us who forgot that Todd Pletcher was the trainer of Always Dreaming.

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

I don't remember what happened after that (did another problem crop up?), but you're right in that he never lived up to the hope his Derby inspired.

The connections of Normandy Invasion opted out of the Preakness less than a week before the race saying they were "being conservative; no other reason he couldn't run back".

They kept harping on having a "fresh" horse for the Travers and then ironically had to back off in July because of a rotten hoof (supposedly). Even then, he was still being targeted for the Pennsylvania Derby. However, the wheels really must have come off at that stage because he got the ole' "sent to Winstar Farm" therapy--never a good sign.

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by Spalding No!

The connections of Normandy Invasion opted out of the Preakness less than a week before the race saying they were "being conservative; no other reason he couldn't run back".

They kept harping on having a "fresh" horse for the Travers and then ironically had to back off in July because of a rotten hoof (supposedly). Even then, he was still being targeted for the Pennsylvania Derby. However, the wheels really must have come off at that stage because he got the ole' "sent to Winstar Farm" therapy--never a good sign.

I knew I heard the issue with the weight, so went googling.

DRF article:

“Winning the Preakness would be great; running second or third wouldn’t do us any good at all,” Porter said. “And it might not be any good for the horse. The risk/reward [factor] is what it came down to. I said the risk/reward in the Preakness doesn’t make any sense. We need to give the horse time off; let’s get some weight back on him.”

SI article:

"He's training well and eating well," Porter said of the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby. "Everything is fine with the horse. The two weeks is a little quick coming back. He needs to put some weight back on, so we decided to wait."

I can't find where the weight loss was more exact, but I know I read somewhere that it was 200 or 250 pounds, which isn't just a little light but instead bad condition. It may've been on Porter's website.

Reading more I see that it was a foot abscess that struck next.