By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com, AndyDisco on Twitter
I'll try to put the 116 in context a little. First, it's the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of the year so far. Second, Big Brown's highest career Beyer was 109. I pulled out the lifetime past performances for every Kentucky Derby winner since 1992 (Lil E. Tee) and checked out their Beyers- so every race by every Derby winner in the last 17 years. Of all of those races, only three horses have earned BSF's of 116 or higher (the 1992 winner, Lil E. Tee ran a 116 Beyer in the 1993 Razorback Handicap, 1997 Derby winner Silver Charm ran a 118 in the '97 Preakness, a 123 in the '98 Kentucky Cup Classic and a 118 in the '99 Santa Anita Handicap, Monarchos won the 2001 Derby with a Beyer of 116, and 2004 Derby winner Smarty Jones won the Preakness that year with a 118 BSF. That's the entire list- 4 horses, 6 times total.
I was looking over some other Past Performances I had laying around and came across the PP's of the 2006 Breeder's Cup Classic. That race featured notables such as, Bernardini, Brother Derek, Flower Alley, George Washington, Discreet Cat (he scratched from the race, but his PPs are still here), Lawyer Ron, Perfect Drift, Suave, Sun King, Perfect Drift and eventual winner, Invasor. That's a nice group. Here is how they fared in a similar evaluation (based on their career PP's up until the Classic)
Bernardini- 117 in the 2006 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and a 116 in the Travers that year.
Brother Derek- Career high of 108
Discreet Cat- Career high of 115 (at that point)
Flower Alley- Career high 112
Lawyer Ron- Career high 105
George Washington- raced in Europe where they don't use BSFs. But received a timeform rating of a 132 and one of a 129, which translate to right around the 116s BSF mark. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Perfect Drift- 117 in the 2003 Stephen Foster
Invasor- career high 113
Lava Man- 120 2005 Hollywood Gold Cup
The 2008 Whitney Handicap featured exactly one horse who has ran a 116+. Commentator had topped that figure 3 times up to that point. The career Beyer high for the field in the Travers of that year was 106 (Harlem Rocker). None of the horses in the 2008 Arlington Million have come close to a 116.
Oh these are all male horses by the way. None of the horses listed has been female. To mix in some gender-based perspective: the high BSF for the (female) horses in the 2006 Breeder's Cup Distaff was Fleet Indian's 112. No other filly or mare had topped 105, and the highest BSF for a horse in the 2008 Beverly D. (also a race for fillies and mares) was 108.
Female horses just do not run 116's.
I'm T.R. Slyder, and that's how you Tangueray.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Some Context for Rachel Alexandra's 116 Beyer Speed Figure
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6 comments:
So if female horses dont run Beyers of 116, what do you make of Zenyatta running a 122 Beyer in The Apple Blossom Handicap last year? In fact looking over her lifetime Beyer's she's posted Beyer's over 116 3 times.
It was meant as hyperbole and not an edict of truth. Had I felt that females have never bested that mark I would have mentioned how it was the highest BSF ever for a female.
Also please consider my audience. I'm a horse racing fan, but a lot of my readers are not. The whole reason I wrote this article was to make the BSF of 116 mean something to them. If you don't know what a BSF is, a 116 is meaningless. So in an attempt to drum up some enthusiasm among non-enthusiasts of horse racing, I thought mentioning the rarity of her achievement would be effective. By saying, "females don't run 116's" I wanted to effectively say, "this basically never happens, that's why you should be pay attention and/or get excited"
Had I been writing for readers with more familiarity to the sport, I would've phrased it differently.
Zenyatta received a 104 BSF in the Apple Blossom, not a 122. Her highest BSF was a 108, which she received in the Clement Hirsch and Lady's Secret last year. This is cited in many articles. You may be looking at the weight assignments.
http://www.gogreyhounds.com/columns.aspx?view=955&author=JonWhite
This is a different anonymous, but I may as well make a correction as well.
Invasor's highest BSF was in the Classic. A 116 as a matter of fact.
He also won 11 of 12 races, 9 grade ones and ran the second fastest Dubai World Cup ever.
Give the guy some love.
Totally agree with the gist of the article -- Rachel is very special. Beyer himself wrote an article in the Washington Post a few days ago in which he said if she wins the Woodward, she's one of the best fillies ever.
Oh, and Zenyatta has almost zero chance at HOY.
I appreciate your readership and the comment, Anonymous #2. I wasn't trying to hide any info about Invasor, as I mentioned I was just going through the (literal) handful of Past Performances I had laying around my apartment. The PPs I had for Invasor were for the BC Classic (11/4/2006), so my info on him was admittedly incomplete, but I wanted to share what I did have.
Thanks again.
Zenyatta did not run a 122 bsf. It was 108 for the apple blossom. Nice try though.
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