Now that the breeders cup is over, what do you think happened to Street Sense?

Question

Why do you think Street Sense finished so far back in the pack?

Answer 1

I don't think he liked the track surfaces. He ran over a sloppy track once and finished third. Going against these top colts in the country, he probably was going to come in maybe third or fourth. Street Sense just did not have the kick he usually has. It is going to be sad to see him leave the racing world for stud. Calvin Borel and Carl Nafzger couldn't have done a better job than what they did. Curlin was amazing in this race! He just handled the track real well. I was dissappointed in Lawyer's Ron's efforts. He didn't kick in at all. Curlin is amazing!

Answer 2

He's been retired to stud.

Answer 3

he had a long year....going back to last years breeders' cup win, so

he was due to throw in a clunker, at least we can say' if was a

off track, when they meet again i hope it's on a fast track, but a

true champion shows up on any racing condition!!!!

Answer 4

Monmouth is a tough track to run at.  I think the owners of Street Sense should have considered running in a race at Monmouth over the Summer, especially since he didn't run in the Belmont.  Yes, the slop may have had a part, but Street Sense's best races were at Churchill Downs.  I would say a combination of slop and not having the home field advantage did him in.

Answer 5

Calvin said he was struggling a little with the slop.  He managed it a lot better than Lawyer Ron and Any Given Saturday, but if you watch the video of Curlin and Street Sense coming around that last turn, you can see that Curlin's travelling a lot easier than Street Sense.  if the track was dry today, I think Street Sense would have run a lot better...  it would have made it an interesting race.

I'm sad that Street Sense finished his career with this loss.  this is the worst result he has ever had in his racing career.  This year he hadn't finished worse than 2nd!  Given a dry track, I don't think Awesome Gem would have passed Street Sense.  But then Lawyer Ron and Any Given Saturday would have run a lot better too.  I know the surface was fair, but it wasn't really representative...  given another track or just a drier day at Monmouth, the results would have been different.  it's really disappointing that this excellent crop of horses had to face off in the slop for the most important race of their careers...  it's disappointing because we still don't know who is actually better than who...  we'll never see Street Sense actually take on Lawyer Ron and we don't get to see how a more developed Any Given Saturday would have come out against the triple crown horses of his year.

Kudos of course to Culin who was certainly the best horse today and looked like he would have been best horse no matter what...  i just think it would have been nice to see what would have happened over a surface that all the horses could handle.

Answer 6

His peak form (and possibly maturity) was at late 2, early 3.

Horses mature at different rates.  The most precocious 2 year olds are hardly ever the best 3 year olds (hence the "Juvenile Jinx" that Street Sense was the 1st to break).

In contrast Lawyer Ron was better at 4 than he was at 3.  

But in Street Sense's case, it's simply that he was better than Hard Spun and Curlin in the Spring.  Remember that Curlin and Hard Spun weren't in the '06 Juvenile.  Curlin himself was UNRACED at 2, and now he will be Champion 3 year old and Horse of the Year.

By fall of their 3 year old season, both Hard Spun and Curlin were better horses.  Simple as that.

Answer 7

The slop - and just plain tired. The TV commentators mentioned before the race that no horse has won the Ky Derby and the BC Classic in the same year.

PS: did anyone else notice that hardly any of the California polytrack horses did well at all? Early on, we saw that and freely tossed them from the picture - Lawyer Ron included.

Answer 8

I don't think he liked the slop. Even some of the better horses (i.e. Lawyer Ron) couldn't run optimally in those conditions. If the track had been dry, I think he'd have done better. I don't know if he could have pulled off the win, Curlin was amazing, but I think he'd have finished better. At least ahead of Hard Spun. :)

Answer 9

I think he just tired and Curlin is just better!

Or he was too good for too long!

Answer 10

That kind of a sloppy surface did not help a rail running closer like Street Sense.  Maybe he wouldn't have won on a fast track, I don't know, but when he made his move you could see Hard Spun move ahead of him on the rail and slow his momentum by kicking mud in his face.  Not claiming foul on Hard Spun, who once again ran a creditible second and was clear of Street Sense, but getting mud in his face for two turns didn't help his cause.  He was in there with a shot, the others just ran better.  Curlin should've wrapped up horse of the year with that run.

Answer 11

he broke out at the start to bad?