The Greatest Of All Time

[missmacphisto]

My tribute to the horse who broke more records than any other in history, accomplished more, and became one of the greatest sports legends of all time. Check This Out!http://www.ocmuseum.org/articles/Man-O-War2.asp

"The Race Of The Century"

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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert

[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 12-16-2001).]

 

[kobayashi]

what's the deal with horse racing anyway?

i mean are there a lot of people who enjoy the sport in a puritan sense?
if so what is the attraction?

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against smileys

 

[missmacphisto]

Many people still love the sport, although it used to be one of the most popular, if not THE most popular, sport in the country.
It helps if you admire horses, but even if you dont have a fondness for them, you cant help but fall in love with the sport. It is beautiful, and the excitement, thrills, and suspense cant be found anywhere else. It truly is the sport of kings, although ordinary folks have always loved it too. These days, you dont even have to be rich to get involved, though it is still rather expensive at times.

Plus..these athletes dont give a rats ass about money, endorsements, or any of that crap. Most of them run just for the sheer enjoyment of racing.

Its simply fascinating. Too bad there arent any Great ones on the track like there used to be.
Jack Nicholson sat across from me on a train to Del Mar several years ago, and I see stars at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park all the time.
The tracks even broadcast messages from Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr after Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay Jr reached milestones.

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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert

[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 12-16-2001).]

 

[The Wanderer]

what about Secretariat and Cigar? where do they rank in horse racing history?

 

[missmacphisto]

Some say Secretariat was 2nd. Its impossible to say for sure of course.
Cigar may have been the best horse of the 1990's, but i dont know if I'd rank him as being truly "Great". Very nice horse though. Too bad he's sterile.

This is a pic of Man O War with his beloved groom. The horse was so attached to this guy, that when the groom died...Man O' War died a couple weeks later after having a heart attack.

Oh, and in the grooms will, he listed as survivors his wife...9 children...and Man O' War.

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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert


[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 12-16-2001).]

 

[OzAurora]

What about Phar Lap?????- htat was an Aussie horsey

 

[missmacphisto]

Here is a pic of Secretariat. As you can see, he is eerily similar to Man O' War

Many similarities between the 2. And both were called Big Red. Just watch the video or listen to the call of Secretariats Preakness and Belmont wins. Sends chills up your spine.

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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert

[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 12-16-2001).]

 

[missmacphisto]

OZ: Is this him???

He had a rather sad story if I remember right. Well, an incredible career, but it ended kinda sadly, didnt it?
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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert

[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 12-16-2001).]

 

[missmacphisto]

This is from a special edition of The Blood Horse magazine. Top experts named man O' War as the Greatest of the 20th century.

[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 12-16-2001).]

 

[OzAurora]

That could be a pic of Phar Lapp- I am not that big into horse racing, however I do know that Phar Lap was supposed to have been the greatest Aussie horse and one of the best in the world, and I think his trainer killed him or something like that when he was in America,,,,,,,anyway they are beautifyl animals, but sometimes I find that when I am watching a race I think it looks just a little cruel, I dont know all that whipping and stuff........but I must admit that I am quite ignorant as a whole about the practice......

 

[speedracer]

No mention of Duncan or Phar Fignewton?

 

[missmacphisto]

Originally posted by OzAurora:
anyway they are beautifyl animals, but sometimes I find that when I am watching a race I think it looks just a little cruel, I dont know all that whipping and stuff........but I must admit that I am quite ignorant as a whole about the practice......

It can be extremely cruel. Youre right. The whips, if used properly, arent too bad, but its what happens to the horses if they become injured or dont make enough money that gets to me.
There are apparently few rules regulating what becomes of them if they can no longer race or arent earning enough money.
If they get hurt in a race, many owners opt to simply have them put to death rather than spend their precious money(which they can well afford) to save them. And if the horses arent very fast...they can be sent to small, low quality tracks where they get treated terribly, raced even if they are injured or sick, and ultimately...sent to slaughter.
It made my friend give up her dream of being a jockey and get out of racing.
Stricter laws must be made and soon. The racing agencies are wondering why more people dont love the sport, but maybe if the public didnt see horses breaking down all the time, theyd be more into it. Too many of these idiots care only about the cash and not the animals or the people involved. But you'll find that anywhere, of course.

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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert

 

[DrTeeth]

 

[missmacphisto]

This is Ruffian, considered the greatest filly of all time. Walter Farley said she was more like his "Black Stallion" than any horse he had ever seen.
She was never beaten, died tragically after a match race. In that race,she wouldnt give up, was determined to win, and kept running...on a broken leg.

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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert

[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 12-20-2001).]

 

[zooropamanda]

isnt phar lap stuffed somehwere?

 

[missmacphisto]

Uhhh, dunno...I know Trigger and Trigger Jr are!

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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert

 

[scatteroflight]

Thanks for pointing out this thread, Miss MacPhisto! I love Man O'War.

I can't call myself a big racing fan, I don't normally follow it much and there are a number of things about racing I really dislike, but there's some great stuff about it too, and I'm just an all-round horse lover. Have you read Walter Farley's book about Man O'War? It's an account of his life written as a novel--the main character is a fictional groom who's with him from his birth. It is a really great book, I just read it again recently. I like it more than his Black Stallion books.

Secretariat is so beautiful too--those would have been great races to see. Apparently after Secretariat died and they did an autopsy, they found that his heart was a third larger than that of most other horses. It was a perfectly healthy heart, just very large. They thought that might have something to do with why he was so great

Although I don't know a huge amount about horse racing, I would agree that Man O'War was probably the greatest ever because in those days they had heavier iron shoes instead of the lighter aluminum shoes, the tracks are now faster, plus, he didn't just beat most of the horses he ran against, most of them hardly even gave him a run for his money. He was just so far superior. Wonder how fast he'd go if he was around today with the advantages they have now.

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See the bird with the leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colours came out

[This message has been edited by scatteroflight (edited 05-05-2002).]

 

[bono_man]

Originally posted by zooropamanda:
isnt phar lap stuffed somehwere?

Yes...he is lying on my rug, i use him to put my feet up.

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"Your sun so bright it leaves no shadows, only scars. Carved into stone on the face of earth"
- One Tree Hill

jonedwards80@hotmail.com

 

[~LadyLemon~]

My dad was at the Derby when Secretariat won...

 

[Angell]

Oh Miss Mac, Miss Mac, we must chat sometime! I think I might have spoken to you once or so in chat many moons ago (do you take hunter/jumper lessons, by chance?). Look me up on IM sometime....enterangell.
I am a huge horse racing nut--or I used to be anyway. Haven't had time (or reason) to follow much in the past several years. I, too am waiting for another superhorse. Its been 24 years since the last Triple Crown was won, and I'm wondering how long it will be before we see another. I'm beginning to think our hope lies with Bob Baffert--he's awesome!
I agree that Man O'War is the greatest of all time, simply because he was not only great on the track, but could reproduce his gift (unlike Secretariat who delivered disappointingly little). War Admiral won the Triple Crown, and Clyde Van Dusen was the last gelding to win the Derby in 1929 (actually--didn't one win recently? can't remember). I love Secretariat though--he was gorgeous. A physiological freak, but gorgeous--and what a personality! He won the Triple in unmatched style, the first in a quarter of a century (which I think contributred greatly to his "superhorse" status). I want to get a copy of the Time mag that he made the cover of!

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"Love is a verb..."
enterangell@cs.com