I don't have any issue with the races or the conditions of them.  That is out of everyone's control ( I think ).    his Belmont was what 2:28?  That is respectable. He did get away with some soft early fractions.   I did not like the tactics with RH, they did not need to do that.  I view that different than running a rabbit.  Rabbits do not directly interfere with paths or alter them, just add some pressure.  I had mentioned when it was announced he was entering RH about him interfering with Shared Belief, not once but in two races.  I think that is classless.  I think Vino was the only one who was able to give him a little bit of a challenge.  I have to watch replay again, I have read some things that they may have cut off Tenfold and let Gronk skip through a hole because of it.

My biggest issue, I am not sure what others here think, but I have often mentioned how he gets horses to run farther than their pedigree suggest to me.  None of his recent ones looked like standouts from a traditional pedigree standpoint that I have seen in the past.  Since 2105, he has had three once in a lifetime horses.  AP did not wow you looking at him, but watching him run in person did to me.  Did not see Arrogate in person.  I've never seen a horse in person with the muscles Justified has.  

I couldn't be happier for Mike Smith; to me that's what makes this TC special.   American Pharoah's TC was so much more emotional because he was the first in such a long time.   It's natural not to feel the same level of excitement and awe over something which just happened - at least it feels that way to me.   Would I have been crushed if Justify lost and my potentially "huge" super paid off?  Nope, not at all.   Whereas with Pharoah, I would have been crushed.   I would hate for the TC to become commonplace because of one trainer's superiority and Baffert is, by all accounts, superior.   So the best horses will naturally come to him.   

Yeah.The best horses and the best vets

There's an article in the NY Post quoting Gary West saying he didn't like how Restoring Hope was used. Repole also said Castellano ignored instructions.

But really with Noble Indy, how can you co-own a horse with a group going for a Triple Crown and say you're going to use the horse to spoil that bid? Nonsense. Repole should've found another 3yo if that was his goal.

I know exactly what you mean, my friend.  A big YES for Mike.  A true great in the irons & by many accounts a truly great human being.

Slew is my favorite race horse & I'll feel that way until my ticket is punched.  So, while I admire what Justify accomplished in such a compressed time frame the fact he's an undefeated TC champ, while I don't begrudge him, doesn't feel the same for me.  Frankly, the way I feel about Slew, it couldn't feel the same.

Restoring Hope certainly wouldn't have finished in another zip code behind if he had run his own race instead of being sent with the purpose of interfering.  For all we know, he may have landed ITM.  Who can say?  I suspect the only people who still don't see what actually happened were those people peppered throughout the crowd wearing those silly crowns.   

If Geroux pulled that trick in Europe he would probably get suspended

High symptoms of EPO use or another synthetic undetectable comes to mind.  Clearly, the cat is not above it but so are a lot of others not above it.  I think you & I talked about this.

I'm not a Baffert fan & it's a shame because the guy is talented.  However, I can't forget the 7 horses that dropped dead on him.   I mean, by the time the death toll hit 3 which indicates a trend, I would have suspended everything until I got down to why this was happening in my barn.  But no, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Not to stop before that is plain wrong & shows what kind of character is behind the slick exterior, IMO.

I don't care about the exterior stuff.

Fully agree, man.  Would any of us like it as we watched the race if Hope was our horse?

Very stupid of Repole to open his big mouth.  In a way it was asking for a hatchet job even if he was being honest.  Would have been wiser to say, "oh no, we're not going to try to run with the speed of the speed.  That's suicide... We'll track"

I still remember back in Left Bank days and TAP.  Two young fillies also after running huge figs.  Lost respect for him then and BB when that stuff about those seven and traces of rat poison not used at the track.  EPO was mentioned in that post I saw on TG, mentioning that left hind foot (non dominant rear)  would be used to inject in the toe, then re-shod so it is not detected.  Possible irritation he was showing for that "scratch" right after the KD.

I watched the replay finally, whoever I saw elsewhere that wrote the RH interfered with Tenfold on the second turn, I did not see it.  I think Tenfold ran up on him a bit but RH had no place to go as he was in between two other horses and did not move in front of him.  I did see him pin in NI around the first turn as NI went inside when RH went way wide trying to fan him out.