Posted on 06/04/2012 8:14:15 AM PDT by Hojczyk
The Belmont Stakes, the most eagerly watched horse race in America since crowds of the 1930s cheered on an unbeatable champion will be run on Saturday featuring a rags-to-riches combination of horse and jockey competing for glory.
Gutierrez is not allowing negative thoughts to undermine his enjoyment of his time in the spotlight.
"To be honest, I can't believe this is happening still. It's like a fairy tale," he said. "It gets a little bit nervous at times but I'll try my best to put that aside, because at the end of the day it's going to be just my horse and I.
"I just want to be at my best because my horse will be at his best and we're in this thing together.
"From the first time I met him, I knew he was the one. He's a fighter, he's got the biggest heart ever. He likes to win."
Like many top race horses, I'll Have Another is a descendant of the great Northern Dancer. Mr Sisterson claims the horse has great confidence on the track.
He said: "He's a really laid back character, nothing fazes him. It's only when he gets to the track that he becomes all business.
"You never know if you'll get a chance like this again, so you just take as much from it as you can. We're just excited, just really confident, being in this position."
Not everyone agrees that Gutierez is a shoe-in to take I'll Have Another to the Triple Crown.
Kent Desormeaux, the last rider to attempt the Triple Crown, in 2008, told the Baltimore Sun that the rookie horse and rider didn't have a hope at the Belmont Stakes, widely seen as the most challenging of the three races.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Some horses prefer one racing surface over another. After a race, you’ll hear jockeys say that the horse didn’t like the “feel” of the track. Sometimes this is just an excuse, but some horses do run better on grass or in mud than others. Most trainers will ship their horses to the next track ahead of time to give the animal a ‘feel’ for the surface. Tracks tend to be deeper near the rail which slows a horse down. There are also better “racing lanes” on a track, where water drains away more quickly, leaving a faster surface.
Thanks, I’m always amazed at how little I know and how much there is to learn.
I wish I had believed this when I was a kid.
Thanks
I guess what so amazes me about this is the Horses are so powerful and yet takes so long for them to fully recover from the effort the put out on a race.
I wonder what the equivalent would be for a human? What action would they have to engage in which would take a month to recover from? The first thing coming to mind is a prize fight but that’s physical abuse in the sense people are whaling on each other while a Horse race is more akin to a foot race. Do long distance runners take a month to recuperate fully? I have no idea but it is very interesting and I thank you for your answer.
totally agree about the "modern" horse, not the same as earlier horses like Forego and Kellso.
I can only guess that running a marathon or scaling Mt. Everest would be equivalent. In my opinion, horses are coddled too much. If not for the speed they’re expected to go at, American horses would race more often. Some do, but horses of Triple Crown caliber make more money at stud than in racing, so the incentive is to baby them. Not that long ago, Standardbreds, or Harness racing horses would run heats, sometime 2 or 3 in ONE DAY. The Grand National, in England, is 4 miles over 30 fences, but the average speed is much slower.
Either way, RTRiches had 5 weeks off before the Belmont. I got to see Forego and Willie Shoemaker at Delaware Park in 1976. It wasn’t a race, but a post parade, with him cantering in front of the grandstand. The track gave out baseball hats with Forego on them in yellow and white. Unfortunately, I no longer know where the hat is. —SIGH—
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