Older horses 2024

[tachyon]

Let's give a special shoutout to Komorebino Omoide, a 4 y/o colt by California Chrome o/o Decennial (Trippi) who was bred in Japan by...Perry Martin and brought to the United States.

Awwwww.... ''Komorebi'' - ''no'' - ''Omoide'' !!!!!!

I don't know how to translate the Japanese word ''Komorebi'' into English.
But I can swear that it's a beautiful name.

[Mylute]

Awwwww.... ''Komorebi'' - ''no'' - ''Omoide'' !!!!!!

I don't know how to translate the Japanese word ''Komorebi'' into English.
But I can swear that it's a beautiful name.

The way I understood it (when I first learned about this colt) is that it translates to a statement like, "I remember seeing sunbeams shine through the trees."

[Mylute]

8 y/o entire Five Star General (Distorted Humor - Party of Interest) successfully defended his title in the Longacres Mile Handicap.

Clovisconnection (Vronsky) was second and Slew's Tiz Whiz (Slew's Tiznow) was third.

[tachyon]

Awwwww.... ''Komorebi'' - ''no'' - ''Omoide'' !!!!!!

I don't know how to translate the Japanese word ''Komorebi'' into English.
But I can swear that it's a beautiful name.

The way I understood it (when I first learned about this colt) is that it translates to a statement like, "I remember seeing sunbeams shine through the trees."

Someone quoted ''komorebi'' as an ''Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures''.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/11-untra ... _b_3817711

''Memory of the Long Beams of Sunlight in the Forest'' might be fine as a literal translation for ''Komorebi no Omoide''.
But I think that the memory in this Japanese passage must be picturesque, nostalgic and sometimes fantastical.

Let me post another images of ''komorebi''

[CoronadosQuest]

Saudi Crown won his return race in the R.A. "Cowboy" Jones at Ellis Park. Cox says he will probably keep Saudi Crown at a mile distance, so I assume that means we may see him in the Dirt Mile.

https://www.drf.com/news/saudi-crown-en ... es-triumph

[Squeaky]

Kingsbarns retired to Spendthrift with strained ligament in left foreleg.

[Squeaky]

Arabian Knight retired. Bob says “ just not back to where he was last year and running out of time. I don’t want another Arrogate situation.” https://www.drf.com/news/arabian-knight ... -dale-farm

[Curtis]

Arabian Knight retired. Bob says “ just not back to where he was last year and running out of time. I don’t want another Arrogate situation.” https://www.drf.com/news/arabian-knight ... -dale-farm

Or Bayern, Collected, West Coast, Mor Spirit, Mucho Gusto, etc.

[Squeaky]

Bob does not seem to excel at keeping his older horses going for very long.

[Curtis]

Bob does not seem to excel at keeping his older horses going for very long.

He gets them to reach their potential but the peak tends to be short. He’s done well keeping geldings going, ie Game On Dude and currently Du Jour. Bob effectively campaigned Hoppertunity as one would a gelding, so he has the ability. I remember when he couldn’t get Mor Spirit back, Baffert said something along the lines of, he burned himself out in the Met Mile. Despite the fact that he won, Bayern probably should have went in the Dirt Mile in 2014 and then the Classic the next. But you never know if they can hold their form.

[Izvestia]

Oof. A spotty race record on that one.

[CoronadosQuest]

Bob does not seem to excel at keeping his older horses going for very long.

He gets them to reach their potential but the peak tends to be short. He’s done well keeping geldings going, ie Game On Dude and currently Du Jour. Bob effectively campaigned Hoppertunity as one would a gelding, so he has the ability. I remember when he couldn’t get Mor Spirit back, Baffert said something along the lines of, he burned himself out in the Met Mile. Despite the fact that he won, Bayern probably should have went in the Dirt Mile in 2014 and then the Classic the next. But you never know if they can hold their form.

He did well with a horse named Congaree too, one of the best horses to never get an eclipse award IMO. Midnight Lute, Silver Charm, and Real Quiet did well as older horses as well... or were we only naming horses that had short careers? Though I guess Midnight Lute was sort of like Ghostzapper... fast but ran very few times during a long career.

[Tessablue]

He did well with a horse named Congaree too, one of the best horses to never get an eclipse award IMO. Midnight Lute, Silver Charm, and Real Quiet did well as older horses as well... or were we only naming horses that had short careers? Though I guess Midnight Lute was sort of like Ghostzapper... fast but ran very few times during a long career.

I mean, most of those examples are close to 30 years old, and Real Quiet also didn't make any starts past June of his 4yo year. Baffert is extremely good at getting a horse to peak, and extending that peak across campaigns is just not in his wheelhouse. He has twelve 3yo Eclipse awards but only a single older horse award, and that came in a very unusual year with a horse who was pretty mediocre by his standards (Improbable in 2020). He's just not a trainer you use if you're looking to develop an older horse.

Between his connections and his horrendous action, Arabian Knight never really had a chance of succeeding this year. I would not be shocked if there was little intent of racing him again after his last start, regardless of how he was training. It is what it is.

[CoronadosQuest]

He did well with a horse named Congaree too, one of the best horses to never get an eclipse award IMO. Midnight Lute, Silver Charm, and Real Quiet did well as older horses as well... or were we only naming horses that had short careers? Though I guess Midnight Lute was sort of like Ghostzapper... fast but ran very few times during a long career.

I mean, most of those examples are close to 30 years old, and Real Quiet also didn't make any starts past June of his 4yo year. Baffert is extremely good at getting a horse to peak, and extending that peak across campaigns is just not in his wheelhouse. He has twelve 3yo Eclipse awards but only a single older horse award, and that came in a very unusual year with a horse who was pretty mediocre by his standards (Improbable in 2020). He's just not a trainer you use if you're looking to develop an older horse.

Between his connections and his horrendous action, Arabian Knight never really had a chance of succeeding this year. I would not be shocked if there was little intent of racing him again after his last start, regardless of how he was training. It is what it is.

Fair point about Real Quiet but to be fair, Congaree and Game On Dude could have easily won that award. Not many people keep top 3 year olds around as 4 year olds these days. Also, National Treasure isn't retired yet. He could still win the award lol just because he threw a clunker in the Whitney doesnt mean he is trash now.

Congaree at 5:
At 5: 1st Carter H.(G1,Aqu), Hollywood Gold Cup H.(G1,Hol), Cigar Mile H.(G1,Aqu), San Antonio H.(G2), San Pasqual H.(G2,SA); 2nd Santa Anita H.(G1), Kentucky Cup Classic(G2)

Game On Dude:
At 5: 1st Hollywood Gold Cup(G1), Awesome Again S.(G1), San Antonio S.(G2), Californian S.(G2), Native Diver S.(G3); 2nd Pacific Classic(G1)
At 6: 1st Santa Anita H.(G1), Hollywood Gold Cup(G1), Pacific Classic(G1), San Antonio S.(G2), Charles Town Classic(G2); 2nd Clark H.(G1)

[Tessablue]

National Treasure isn't trash, but he also isn't very good, and it would be very surprising if he even ran in the Classic. The Whitney pretty well exposed him as a horse who needs a comfortable trip to run his best, especially going past a mile.

Congaree had a wonderful career. Game on Dude did as well, but he lost two Classics as the clear favorite and was not necessarily facing the best of his generation in most of his races. I'd expect there to be exceptions in a 30+ year career, but I don't think exceptions make the rule in this case. He's just not an older horse trainer, especially not in recent years. That's fine, it hasn't slowed him down. The industry barely cares about older horses at this point. But I can't feel in any way surprised when one of his horses with bad action and a history of layoffs retires at 4 under less-than-transparent circumstances.

[Diver52]

National Treasure isn't trash, but he also isn't very good, and it would be very surprising if he even ran in the Classic. The Whitney pretty well exposed him as a horse who needs a comfortable trip to run his best, especially going past a mile.

Congaree had a wonderful career. Game on Dude did as well, but he lost two Classics as the clear favorite and was not necessarily facing the best of his generation in most of his races. I'd expect there to be exceptions in a 30+ year career, but I don't think exceptions make the rule in this case. He's just not an older horse trainer, especially not in recent years. That's fine, it hasn't slowed him down. The industry barely cares about older horses at this point. But I can't feel in any way surprised when one of his horses with bad action and a history of layoffs retires at 4 under less-than-transparent circumstances.

It's hard to train older horses when most of your best younger horses are retired. Care to do a similar analysis for Pletcher?

[Tessablue]

Pletcher didn’t train Arabian Knight so I don’t see how he’s relevant here, but sure. He’s won four 3yo Eclipse awards (all fillies, five if you count turf) and six older horse awards (eight if you count turf). I would argue that he is not very good at keeping his top male 3yos in form throughout the year- in fact, he’s pretty terrible at it if you look at his TC trail horses- but he is quite skilled at figuring out placings for his older horses and developing them. Tapit Trice, who has an outside shot at Older Male this year, is a good example of a horse who developed from a good 3yo to a much more mature 4yo. Vino Rosso is the archetype.

The fact that Pletcher has never won a 3yo dirt male Eclipse is actually pretty wild (and maybe Fierceness breaks that streak this year), but both trainers tend to start each year with some very good older horses. Baffert just isn’t great at getting those horses to the Classic in their best form, as evidenced by the fact that he’s never won it with an older horse but has lost it with a lot of low-priced horses (off the top of my head: Game on Dude x2, West Coast, Arrogate, McKinzie, Improbable).

He’s won it with plenty of 3yos, and there’s certainly no shame in being the best there is at the most important division in the country. And owners certainly know what they are getting when they send a horse to him. Maybe those same owners are doing their older horses a disadvantage by insisting that they run in the expensive Middle Eastern races. But either way, if I was the owner of a nice horse whom I wanted to see race in G1s at ages 4 and 5, I know who I’d choose…

(Bill Mott, of course)

[Curtis]

Bob does not seem to excel at keeping his older horses going for very long.

He gets them to reach their potential but the peak tends to be short. He’s done well keeping geldings going, ie Game On Dude and currently Du Jour. Bob effectively campaigned Hoppertunity as one would a gelding, so he has the ability. I remember when he couldn’t get Mor Spirit back, Baffert said something along the lines of, he burned himself out in the Met Mile. Despite the fact that he won, Bayern probably should have went in the Dirt Mile in 2014 and then the Classic the next. But you never know if they can hold their form.

He did well with a horse named Congaree too, one of the best horses to never get an eclipse award IMO. Midnight Lute, Silver Charm, and Real Quiet did well as older horses as well... or were we only naming horses that had short careers? Though I guess Midnight Lute was sort of like Ghostzapper... fast but ran very few times during a long career.

I was naming horses that had fairly short peaks, went to the sidelines and then didn’t come back the same.

[Curtis]

Pletcher didn’t train Arabian Knight so I don’t see how he’s relevant here, but sure. He’s won four 3yo Eclipse awards (all fillies, five if you count turf) and six older horse awards (eight if you count turf). I would argue that he is not very good at keeping his top male 3yos in form throughout the year- in fact, he’s pretty terrible at it if you look at his TC trail horses- but he is quite skilled at figuring out placings for his older horses and developing them. Tapit Trice, who has an outside shot at Older Male this year, is a good example of a horse who developed from a good 3yo to a much more mature 4yo. Vino Rosso is the archetype.

The fact that Pletcher has never won a 3yo dirt male Eclipse is actually pretty wild (and maybe Fierceness breaks that streak this year), but both trainers tend to start each year with some very good older horses. Baffert just isn’t great at getting those horses to the Classic in their best form, as evidenced by the fact that he’s never won it with an older horse but has lost it with a lot of low-priced horses (off the top of my head: Game on Dude x2, West Coast, Arrogate, McKinzie, Improbable).

He’s won it with plenty of 3yos, and there’s certainly no shame in being the best there is at the most important division in the country. And owners certainly know what they are getting when they send a horse to him. Maybe those same owners are doing their older horses a disadvantage by insisting that they run in the expensive Middle Eastern races. But either way, if I was the owner of a nice horse whom I wanted to see race in G1s at ages 4 and 5, I know who I’d choose…

(Bill Mott, of course)

It’s splitting hairs, but I’d choose Mandella. Your horse would be based in the east though, so I get it. The key might be not to give Baffert the horse until June of it’s 3yo year.

[Squeaky]

National Treasure isn't trash, but he also isn't very good, and it would be very surprising if he even ran in the Classic. The Whitney pretty well exposed him as a horse who needs a comfortable trip to run his best, especially going past a mile.

Congaree had a wonderful career. Game on Dude did as well, but he lost two Classics as the clear favorite and was not necessarily facing the best of his generation in most of his races. I'd expect there to be exceptions in a 30+ year career, but I don't think exceptions make the rule in this case. He's just not an older horse trainer, especially not in recent years. That's fine, it hasn't slowed him down. The industry barely cares about older horses at this point. But I can't feel in any way surprised when one of his horses with bad action and a history of layoffs retires at 4 under less-than-transparent circumstances.

Read that as per Bob NT going to Dirt Mile not Classic https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/s ... n-jerkens/