*Official Triple Crown Thread*

[nullnor]

per NPR http://www.wbur.org/npr/151756328/a-...ifferent-color

only 8% of the horse population are white.

famous white horses include:

George Washington's.
Robert E. Lee's
Lady Godiva's.
one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (pale horse)
the unicorn.
In the book of Revelation, armies of heaven will descend astride white horses.
in the movie Armageddon Bear wanted to stay in the Lincoln bedroom of the white horse (house) heh
Pegasus
Lone Ranger's horse.
William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings 1066
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Joan of Arc
El Cid
Napoleon
Lt General U.S. Grant and Methuselah

Billy, the white horse, helps clear the Wembley pitch during the 1923 FA cup final



Xerxes who reigned from 485 to 465 BC
the Celts goddess Epona.
the Patron Saint of England St George.
Archduke Charles 11 and his Karst or Lipizzans.
Hopalong Cassidy.

[johnnya24]

If by White's you alse include Gray's, the most famous has to be Dessie ... Desert Orchid. The most popular horse of my lifetime ... in the UK anyway. Timeform ranked him as the 5th best National Hunt horse of all time.


YO! Sup?

[nullnor]

i mentioned this before http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20...s/ratliff-text

and national geographic is really a great magazine.

Miraculously, Belyaev had compressed thousands of years of domestication into a few years. But he wasn't just looking to prove he could create friendly foxes. He had a hunch that he could use them to unlock domestication's molecular mysteries

Domestication.

They tend to be smaller, with floppier ears and curlier tails than their untamed progenitors. Such traits tend to make animals appear appealingly juvenile to humans. Their coats are sometimes spotted—piebald, in scientific terminology—while their wild ancestors' coats are solid. These and other traits, sometimes referred to as the domestication phenotype, exist in varying degrees across a remarkably wide range of species, from dogs, pigs, and cows to some nonmammalians like chickens, and even a few fish

but what about horses? i have a theory. why is it that black cats exist in superstition folklore while white ones are inclined to be called or named fluffy?

horses are just so different. what type of nature or process causes a horse to retain it's wild traits while still acquiescing men to ride them? a most strange animal. the one animal able to hold onto both wilderness and domestication at the same time. the very definition of strong.

if a dog is in between the world of beasts and men resulting in increased empathy, the horse is its partner but without the exaggerated emotions. horses also understand our world, but they seem to be more serious about their business or affairs.

...i say this to my cat every time i come home from work. she always wants to go outside. and i say, you have business or affairs to attend to? everyone morning each night must me inspected. a cat must attend to it's own world, while a dog or horse first attends to ours. yet all three are caught in between both.

[nullnor]

If by White's you alse include Gray's, the most famous has to be Dessie ... Desert Orchid. The most popular horse of my lifetime ... in the UK anyway. Timeform ranked him as the 5th best National Hunt horse of all time.

yes!

im also hoping for some input from revo too.

[johnnya24]

yes!

im also hoping for some input from revo too.

A gray also won the Grand National this year ...

[nullnor]

A gray also won the Grand National this year ...

that's a great video. but i also find it interesting that 3 horses were still trying to win after losing their jockeys.

[nullnor]

i keep watching it over and over. why did guy that in the lead keep pushing his horse and then fall off it?

it's like watching Matt Damon in the movie Rounders, in the world series of poker, and bluffing Johnny Chan.

The poker room at the Mirage in Vegas is the center of the poker universe. Doyle Brunsen, Johnny Chan, Phil Helmuth - the legends - consider it their office. Every couple of days a new millionaire shows up wanting to beat a world champion. Usually they go home with nothing but a story.

[johnnya24]

A gray winning 2012 Grand National. This race was total carnage ... 2 horses had to be put down for the second year in a row, including the pre-race favorite Syncronised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur_hgbhX5gg

[johnnya24]

that's a great video. but i also find it interesting that 3 horses were still trying to win after losing their jockeys.

Horses are pretty stupid animals. They are the blondes of the animal world. Plus they are pack animals, they like to run, and will always try and follow the herd. In a race like the Grand National, the free running horses can cause chaos because they never jump the fences straight.

[revo]

yes!

im also hoping for some input from revo too.

I was just coming here to post a thread on the Derby.....nice to see one up already.

Here's the prospective field, with graded stakes earnings:
1 – Hansen - $1,550,000
2 – Daddy Long Legs - $1,294,030
3 – Union Rags - $1,170,000
4 – Dullahan - $855,000
5 – Creative Cause - $836,000
6 – Gemologist - $703,855
7 – Sabercat - $701,429
8 – Take Charge Indy - $698,400
9 – Bodemeister - $660,000
10 – I’ll Have Another - $601,000
11 – Daddy*Nose Best - $545,558
12 – Liaison - $393,000
13 – Alpha - $380,000
14 – Prospective - $367,327
15 – Trinniberg - $324,500
16 – Done Talking - $311,000
17 – Went the Day Well - $282,000
18 – Rousing Sermon - $270,000
19 – El Padrino - $250,000
20 – Optimizer - $184,708
21 – My Adonis - $140,000

Bodemeister may have the best pedigree for the distance......Gemologist is not getting a lot of respect despite being undefeated.....I'm still leaning towards Creative Cause or Union Rags.....

[nullnor]

Horses are pretty stupid animals. They are the blondes of the animal world. Plus they are pack animals, they like to run, and will always try and follow the herd. In a race like the Grand National, the free running horses can cause chaos because they never jump the fences straight.

Watch Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies on PBS. See more from Nature.

im pretty sure this is the video i was looking for. it's not embedding right but the link to the original works just as good and worth it.

[ManCalledFoot]

Since Secretariat started it in seventy-three:

Secretariat
Seattle Slew
Spectacular bid
Sunny's Halo
Swale
Spend A Buck
Sunday Silence
Strike The Gold
Sea Hero
Silver Charm
Smarty Jones
Street Sense
Super Saver

So surely slip a sawbuck on...

Sabercat

[nullnor]

johnny, welcome to north america and our horses.

Since Secretariat started it in seventy-three:

Secretariat
Seattle Slew
Spectacular bid
Sunny's Halo
Swale
Spend A Buck
Sunday Silence
Strike The Gold
Sea Hero
Silver Charm
Smarty Jones
Street Sense
Super Saver

So surely slip a sawbuck on...

Sabercat

it's foot again!

[nullnor]

i like that jumping stuff tho. Desert Orchid is awesome... horses should jump in addition to racing.

[johnnya24]

johnny, welcome to north america and our horses.

it's foot again!

National Hunt (jumps & hurdles) are much more popular in the UK ... I don't ever remember seeing a US race over hurdles or fences. That said, there is much more money to be made from flat racing, because the Stallion's aren't gelded and are more valuable at stud than racing.

Then again, we have the best racehorse in the world right now in Frankel. This will be his last year before he is put out to stud. He is coming back from injury, but I'm sure they will take no chances. Wiki says his bloodstock value of £100m could be a conservative estimate.