Stay Thirsty - still playing Rodney Dangerfield
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He can beat two Triple Crown race winners and the Haskell
winner in one race. He can beat the horse that went on to win
the Wood Memorial. He can beat the winner of the Dwyer Stakes. Stay Thirsty is
not the Rodney Dangerfield of the Pletcher barn, he is the Rodney Dangerfield
of racing.
Here is a horse that has beaten the Kentucky Derby winner, Preakness winner, and Belmont winner in one season and gets no respect. Instead, two of the very horses he beat are being considered the top of his division, while he is not. Animal Kingdom has one grade one win and a grade three. That gives him a total of two graded stakes. Stay Thirsty has a grade one, a grade two, and a grade three to his credit. This gives him three graded stakes to his credit. Edge, Stay Thirsty. Both have finished ahead of the other and both have a grade one win at a track that is prestigious. Tie. Overall Stay Thirsty gets the edge because of the number of graded stakes wins.
Shackleford and Stay Thirsty have faced off four times, in the Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby, Belmont, and Travers. Shackleford finished ahead of Stay Thirsty in the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby, but later down the road Stay Thirsty edged Shackleford in the Belmont and Travers. Head to head match ups ends in a tie. Now we go to performances in graded stakes. Both won or placed in five graded stakes, so again, a tie. The final tie breaker goes to number of wins in graded stakes. Shackleford has one, the Preakness. Stay Thirsty has three, the Gotham, Jim Dandy, and Travers Stakes. Edge goes to Stay Thirsty.
Amazing that Stay Thirsty has the best merits of any Classic winning three year old, but merits no respect from the racing public. Steven Crist wrote that the award of Three Year Old Male was between Caleb’s Posse and Animal Kingdom, when Animal Kingdom has the least credentials of the three Classic runners.
Caleb’s Posse, who Crist mentioned, is a two time grade one winner and has won or place in six graded stakes races this year, as opposed to Stay Thirsty’s one grade one and five graded stakes placings. The two never met head to head, so one would believe it would be Caleb’s Posse who gets the edge. He has the edge over Stay Thirsty in graded stakes wins, graded stakes placings, and grade one wins, but there is one problem. Racing has a stigma. Caleb’s Posse has never won a graded stakes beyond a mile, and that may cost him the championship.
Is it right that there is that stigma? No it’s not, but unless racing changes drastically, it will always be there. So, with these facts in mind, why did Crist name Animal Kingdom over Stay Thirsty, when the latter has the best credentials? Is it that he only was able to dominate in New York? If so, I must ask, did any other horse dominated in the division the way that Thirsty did? Did they dominate in another state or in multiple states? The answer is no. No other horse could dominate in just one state or multiple, giving Thirsty the edge, despite dominating in just one state.
So, with those final thoughts, I’ll conclude by saying Crist is dead wrong. The award is not between Animal Kingdom and Caleb’s Posse. If Caleb’s Posse does not win the award then it should go to Stay Thirsty. He raced and dominated the tracks than more than any other classic runner. He has been in the shadow all year long. It’s time to let him out and give him the respect he deserves.
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