What happened to all those Street Sense/Triple Crown/The next Secretariat, etc. questions ?

Question

So now we're going to compare Curlin to Native Dancer ???? Some people just don't get it.

Oh yeah, and where's the guy that was comparing Borel's ride aboard Street Sense to Eddie Arcaro aboard Whirlaway ?

Answer 1

Dreamers it happens every year after the Derby it has been so long since the triple crown has been won.Curlins a nice horse too but it is too early to tell how good truly great horses only come once in a great while and to be great you must win at 3,4 and as long as they let you race you must overcome all obstacles and win win win a loss may be forgivable but not twice.and you must be able to handle all tracks and conditions.Look at SpectucularBid record.that's great horse.

Answer 2

I think Street Sense is quite a nice horse, and I don't think his loss by a nose to Curlin in the Preakness is any disgrace.

I think the more relevant question is, will Curlin turn out to be a horse in the pattern of Native Dancer? The Dancer, if you remember, came into the Derby undefeated, lost the Derby due to a poor ride by Jockey Eric Guerin, then never lost another race.

Curlin went into the Derby undefeated but very lightly raced, and time after time the Derby has demonstrated that experience is so important for a horse that has aspirations to wear the roses. The crowd is huge and noisy, the start of the race is a rodeo, and for any horse that isn't on the lead or close to it throughout the race, it's an exercise in traffic avoidance. A horse can be a great horse and still lose the Derby through a combination of lack of experience and falling victim to bad racing luck.

I think the question we need to be asking at this stage is, how good is Curlin? I think we haven't had a chance yet to see the best from him. Street Sense will win his share, no doubt, but I think we've seen enough from him to know that on his best day, he is beatable. I'm not sure we'll be able to say that about Curlin when everything is over.

So now, on to the Belmont....

Answer 3

Street Sense is a good horse; but he is NOT in the same category as Secretariat - not by a long shot. Secretariat set three time records (the one at the Preakness was not allowed to a timekeeping malfunction) and won the Belmont by some 26+ lenghts.
By losing the Preakness by a head bob it takes Sense out of triple crown contention.

I personally don't think we will have a triple crown winner for another 5 to 7 years; if ever.

Answer 4

I don't think anyone compared him to Secretariat (even he got beat, so relax a little buddy). Street Sense got beat a nose by an improving horse who happened to tie the Stakes record, I don't see any discrace in that. Out of all the Derby winners in the past 10 years he had the best chance of them all to take the Triple Crown coming out of the Derby. Now like Karin said we shall see how much Curlin will continue to improve and hope he turns into something great, and Street Sense continues to be a hell of a horse as well. Seems like somebody doesn't like to play with Calvin, you gotta love the backstretch, always hating when other people do well. I'm sure you'd throw Street Sense out of you barn. Go be misrable somewhere else.

Answer 5

Secretariat may have set or equaled 3 Triple Crown race records out of 3 tries, but Street Sense still managed to set or equal Triple Crown race records 1 out of 2 tries.

Who knows how good Street Sense will be?

Anyway, to answer the question, people stopped asking if Street Sense would win the Triple Crown because he just barely lost the Preakness so now he can't win the Triple Crown, no matter how great he may turn out to be.

Answer 6

What I find scary is that Curlin had an awkward start(They say he stumbled, but.....), he was very green at various stages of the race, and "came again to boot, which by itself is difficult for a horse to do. Can anyone imagine just how Curlin will be once he puts it all together!? My friend thought that Borrell should have "drifted out" with Street Sense, to force Curlin wide. I agree with him that it would have likely reversed the order of finish, but I'm not sure that I would like to see a triple crown won on "questionable tactics.

Answer 7

Street Sense is a awesome horse who broke the Juvenile Jinx. But no I don't compare him to Secretariat or Whirlaway or any other Triple Crown horse. I really thought Barbaro would make it the Triple Crown!

Answer 8

For anybody to call Street Sense the next Secretariat is nuts. The last horse to come along that looked as promising as Secretariat was, in my opinion, Barbaro, who was dominant in the Derby and still pulling away at the wire. Of course, we'll always remember Barbaro as the beast of a horse who left all others in his dust. And likewise, people sometimes like to dream that "what if" dream....."what if Street Sense is finally the one?". It's natural to pull for a promising horse like Street Sense.....he gave us an awesome ride in the Preakness, even in defeat. It's easy to say it in hindsight, but just watching the Derby, it was clear that Street Sense was only one of 3 very good horses....not a clearly dominant horse. Then again, Sham gave Secretariat all he could handle in the '73 Derby.....who really knew what was going to happen in the Preakness that year? It's just a matter of hope/wishful thinking/waiting for the next immortal horse to appear. I wish Smarty Jones could've held on for one more furlong and captured the crown....what a story that would have been!

Answer 9

Hey, lighten up.
No one ever said that Calvin was better than Eddie A., just that he was a tremendous joc., which he is.
No one ever said that St. Sense was better than Whirlaway,
only that his running from behind style was reminiscent of the
great Whirlaway.
Now who would compare St.Sense to Secretariat?
Every race is different; Birdstone in '04, need I say more?
Chill!

Answer 10

i told every one of you that Street Sense was not going to win the Triple Crown. and you guys all kept yelling at me. i hated it but the truth had to come out! i told u guys that Curlin was going to win the Crown, and i was wrong, but hey, he won the Preakness at least. even though it was by a nose. life isn't always fair. now there's just the Belmont and if Curlin wins that... then u guys owe me! lol
and if he doesn't then at least he tried.
but the reason he is doing so well is because getting 3rd in the Derby helped him fix things that he didn't know to well. sense he is so new to this race thing.
so good luck all the horses and i can't wait for the Belmont!

-mel
RIP Barbaro