Very often we see fans trumpet horses, especially young ones, when they are undefeated or have a good record. This usually tends to be premature. On this blog I rarely get caught up on horses and their records - some got mad at me last year for not yelling from the rooftops about Deweycheatumnhowe, or Donato Hanover for example. In all honesty I have only seen three horses this decade who I thought deserved shouting from the rooftops - Rainbow Blue, Somebeach and Muscle Hill. I am happy with those three choices and to this day I believe that all three are special.But I am really close to adding one more to the list - One More Laugh.
This Ray Schnittker trained McArdle gelding has flashed as good a speed as you could ever hope to see. And most importantly he does it in the right way; like he has no bottom.
Cases in point, August 28th, a PASS race at Pocono. He breaks stride in the soup, goes 27.4, 27.4 to catch the field and comes home in 28.1 to win by four, on a track a second off. A week later he gets stuck in no mans land in a 27.3 third quarter, circles the field and wins in 51. A week later he comes home in 121 and change parked to win in a WR 149.2 (yes, a tricked up track, but still impressive). A week later he paces a middle half of 54 flat and still comes home in under 28 seconds to win easily in a track record at the Meadows. Keep in mind, the Meadows in October is not the Red Mile or the Meadowlands. He has yet to race on a mile track.
I don't think I have typed such words on two year old speed since speaking of Somebeachsomewhere in 2007. Horses are supposed to get tired when given these uneven fraction trips (especially around three turns), and only the superstars can win and make it look easy.
Will he be the next one? I have no idea. He is a gelding so he had some issues (I bet they regret that now), he is not huge, he is a McArdle out of a Sportsmaster mare so he does not have Rich n Elegant or Classic Wish type blood. And obviously, with an improving breed and the speed needed now, these horses last a lot less time than they used to. All those can be question marks.
But on pure speed and talent he is certainly one I will be watching week in and week out. We might be looking at something special.
Photo courtesy the Meadows
3 comments:
Actually, they probably don't regret gelding him. Look at Lucky Jim; if they didn't geld him last winter we probably wouldn't be talking about him.
We should be thankful he was gelded. If he turns into the next real thing we should have him around for quite a while.
I,m thrilled he,s gelded . That means Hanover ain,t gonna buy him and he can race past 3. Hope he breaks all the world records .Runs in the Jug .Wins from the 8 hole.Makes 9 million and retires as a 8 year old to the horse park in Kentucky with all the other champions.
How about some credit for the guy who turned you on to this horse?
;-D
Seriously, I've seen every one of this guy's starts, he's so wicked fast and does it so easily. I know people aren't high on the McArdles, but he was a tough, fast horse, and One More Laugh's dam Fancy Creek Funny was a hard-knocking mare who made 400k racing in overnights in the late 90s and early 00s.
Post a Comment