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Ghostzapper Does it Again in Met MileMet Mile G1, Belmont Park, May 30, 2005 Ghostzapper, the reigning Breeders' Cup Classic (Grade 1) champion, has done it again, this time in the Metropolitan Handicap G1, known to horsemen as the Met Mile. Despite not racing for over 7 months, since his Classic victory that propelled him to horse of the year status, Ghostzapper was in prime form. At first it looked like the five year old male was vulnerable coming out of the layoff. He was 10 lengths back at the 1/2 mark, behind some blazing fractions of 22.4 and 44.4 seconds at the quarters. After the 1/2 however, he exploded to take the lead by 3/4 of a mile, and drew off to a convincing 6L lead against some of the top sprinters and milers in the country. The last time he was that far back in any race was in September 2003 in the 6.5f Vosburgh G1 sprint, also at Belmont. That race began his current 6 race streak of wins in graded stakes races that has established him as the top dirt thoroughbred in America. In his next race, Ghostzapper returned from a 10 month layoff to win the Tom Fool Handicap (G2, 7f) again at Belmont, without much difficulty on Independence Day 2004. Thus there was reason to believe he would be fit to run on this Memorial Day. Silver Wagon picked up the pace for 2nd as the longest shot in the field at 35-1, followed by Sir Shackleton, Pomeroy, second choice Forest Danger at 2-1 and Love of Money. Despite Ghostzapper's unplayable odds of 3-5, the presence of Silver Wagon created a healthy $2 trifecta of $175 for the 6-horse race. Incidentally a Ghostzapper with all with all $2 trifecta would cost $40. Hindsight is also 20/20. (Full results chart here) The Bobby Frankel trained son of Awesome Again, also a Breeders' Cup Classic winner, looks to be rather invincible at this point. His last 6 races, all wins, have come at distances of 6.5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 furlongs. Only his victory by a neck in the Woodward G1 came by less than 3 lengths. Clearly fast enough to win sprints, Frankel found by opening him up to the routes last year he seemed to be just as, if not more, effective. The mile seems like the ideal distance for this sprinting and routing fireball, a distance at which it could prove impossible to beat him in his top form, due to his running style and speed. Like most of Frankel's students, Ghostzapper likes to run early and stay within a length or two of the leader if he can't set his own comfortable pace. This style allowed him to set modest yet honest fractions in the Classic last October which rendered him uncatchable by the rest of the field. Frankel's last superstar, Medaglia D'oro, ran very similarly throughout his career, and eventually proved to be unbeatable at the distance of 9 furlongs. However, he normally finished 2nd in the 10f classic distance races, including his hard-fought 2nd in the BC Classic in 2003 and Dubai World Cup G1 last year. I consider Ghostzapper to also be vulnerable at distances of 10f and up. If he had been pressured on the front end of his BC Classic as his retired stablemate D'oro was, the outcome could have been different. I'm not going to take anything away from his current streak that includes 4 G1 races at various distances, but the next time this horse runs at 10f, opponents should press the pace or not even bother to run. Alas, we will probably not witness this, since it is clear that Frankel does not have to prove anything else with this horse. The son of a multiple G1 and BC Classic winner, having just won 4 G1's and a classic himself, it seems likely that this horse will retire very soon. He is obviously still fit to race and win just about any race he enters, but normally the owners vie for the stallion syndication when there's nothing left to prove on the racetrack. As a stallion, horses incur a much lower injury risk and provide a constant source of income via the stud fees, except in the rare cases of being infertile or asexual. However, continued racing from this fantastic horse is great for the horse racing industry and most importantly, the fans. Fans either love or hate an invincible champion, and they come out in droves to cheer him to victory or pine for his defeat. Keep racing him, Bobby and Frank. For all of us. Doug Cooke If you have any questions or comments about our content please email doug@ffreview.com |
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