Irish Sports
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Without a doubt STS has shown himself to be an amazingly versatile top class racehorse at distances from one mile to 12 furlongs. Is it the fact that he kept reproducing the goods that make people see him as a superstar rather than one individual race/rating that sets him apart? Would he have beaten Generous in the Irish Derby or King George? His fans will all say no doubt but do the figures agree? It's funny how people dismiss ratings yet the whole horse racing game is built on the foundations of the rating system. When we place a bet in a handicap and our fancy is running off a mark of say 80....if that same horse was running off 70 in that handicap i doubt whether we'd be so dismissive of handicappers and their ratings. For what it's worth i think Sea The Stars was at his best in the Irish Champion Stakes....and while i agree with people who say that it's not his fault he hadn't the calibre of horse to carry him to a bigger rating ....the flip side of that coin is that we cannot be sure that he would have been able to produce a higher rating anyway. How could we be sure? I also think the Timeform figure of 140 is inflated. I think the official mark of 135 is much nearer the mark.
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Ratings have relevance in handicaps only. When is Sea the Stars going to run in a handicap? Why does it matter what he is rated?
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The Arc
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Irish Champion.
BUT ..... I thought Giants Causeway was a great horse, and he only got a rating of 126 just because he was a battler and normally won the race by the minimum distance. He won 5 G1's in a season and but for a drop of the reigns he would have won a Breeders' Cup Classic on 'real' American dirt. I dont think Sea The Stars (140) over 10 furlongs was 14 better than Giants Causeway! |
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Dont laugh, I honestly believe that his best run was in the Juddmonte. Murtagh rode the perfect race on MCM who traded at 1/3 in running. Winning cosily by a length in a course record time despite being 2L down on a track that perennially suits the one in front. That was the day that convinced me he was the real deal.
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And MCM was well below form at L`town. On the subject of ratings. It appears to me that all these highly rated animals of yesteryear were quite simply overrated and for the last decade have been underrated.
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Guineas, Derby, Irish Champion & Atc.
How can you choose? |
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valid points gs
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Thanks toby
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I'd go for the Eclipse @ Sandown.
He had to take it up much further out than ideal (but was travelling so well he had to). He was then challenged by RVP & Conduit & managed to run away from both of them. That was an awesome performance in that he had to quicken three times. |
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thegalwayman 05 Oct 20:31
Ratings have relevance in handicaps only. When is Sea the Stars going to run in a handicap? Why does it matter what he is rated? They are are an indicator of just how superior he is to his peers.Also enables some comparison across generations on the assumption that the handicapper is a trusted judge surely. Always find it interesting to look at the hadicap ratings in hall of fame in cheltenham of top chasers and hurdlers over the years. |
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The Arc was his best ever, no doubt about it. And how the handicapper said he ran 4lbs below his best is an utter joke. He came from a near impossible position and beat a so-called fitter and better prepared Fame And Glory further than he did at Leopardstown. And that was after his far from clear run!
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Agreed, COM2.
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[i]
Betfair Customer Services 05 Oct 14:06 Sea The Stars is being lauded as the greatest racehorse to grace the Earth and he may well be but the bare facts and figures of the form analysis of his historic win in yesterdays Prix de lArc de Triomphe suggest he hasnt yet proved it. That accolade is held by Sea Bird II, winner of the Arc in 1965 and rated 145 by Timeform. Sea The Stars continues to be rated 140 by the Halifax-based organisation. Timeform has been assessing the merits of racehorses for more than 60 years and in that time has rated only Sea Bird II (145), Brigadier Gerard (144), Ribot (142) and Mill Reef (141) more highly than John Oxxs Irish-based champion. |
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His next one. :^0
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Firing Blanks ?:| :0
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