Thoroughbred racing is not static. It cant be, not when the participants -- equine and human -- are made of flesh, bone, and blood. By definition, over time, performance will change.We got a perfect illustration of this over the summer thanks to Beholder and Stellar Wind. Beholder, a three-time Eclipse Award winner, and Stellar Wind, the best choice as champion of a 3-year-old filly division that lacked a real standout, met for the first time last June in the Vanity Mile. Beholder was making her second start of the year and Stellar Wind was making her first start as a 4-year-old, meaning it could be said Beholder had a conditioning edge a recent race will often afford. Beholder won the Vanity by 1-1/2 lengths over Stellar Wind, but the contest really wasnt as close as the win margin would suggest. Beholder was far from fully extended to prevail.These two met for a second time nearly two months later in the Clement L. Hirsch. It was the first outing since the Vanity for both. Beholder went to the lead and controlled a comfortable pace, a huge tactical advantage over Stellar Wind, who was being hard used at an earlier stage in the race than she would have been under different circumstances just to stay in touch with Beholder. Yet despite having the demonstrably tougher trip, Stellar Wind admirably persevered, wore down Beholder, and got the best of her by a half-length. And as was the case with the win margin in the Vanity, Stellar Winds win margin in the Hirsch did not really do her justice.Beholder came back to finish a game, if soundly beaten second in the Pacific Classic to California Chrome, finishing ahead of some other good males, while Stellar Wind sat out and awaited her third meeting with Beholder in the Zenyatta Stakes early this month.If the Clement Hirsch was an indication that Stellar Wind had loosened Beholders grip on the older dirt female division, the outcome of the Zenyatta offered proof that a passing of the torch had indeed taken place.In a race very similar to the Hirsch, Beholder tactically controlled the Zenyatta pace while Stellar Wind was hard pressed to stay with her. Stellar Wind was doing the dirty work, not allowing Beholder to shake loose, which would very likely hand her the race, and keeping her honest at an expenditure of her own resources. Stellar Wind, who was also wide on the first turn, again had the much tougher trip. And again it didnt matter. Beholder ran great, as she always does. Stellar Wind just ran better, winning by a neck, and again being better than just a neck would suggest.As noted, this game is not static, and all of this comes to mind because I see a situation analogous to the above example in the biggest stakes race on Saturday, the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies on the turf.Since last fall, Catch a Glimpse has been the best grass filly of her generation in North America, winning eight straight races on grass since switching to the surface in her second career start in August of last year. Among the big races she won were last years Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies, the Penn Mile over males, the Belmont Oaks in game fashion. And along the way, Catch a Glimpse elicited favorable comparisons to Tepin, last years Eclipse Award winning turf female and, like Catch a Glimpse, a member of trainer Mark Casses barn.Time and Motion is a contemporary of Catch a Glimpses, and though a respectable fifth to her in the Breeders Cup last fall when still a maiden, no one considered her an equal. At least not at that time. However, Time and Motion has improved steadily this year, and changed her frame of reference to Catch a Glimpse over the summer. Time and Motion was a gaining second to Catch a Glimpse in the Belmont Oaks, beaten just a half length, and in August, Time and Motion handed Catch a Glimpse her first ever loss on turf, beating her in the Lake Placid Stakes.The Lake Placid was run in a similar manner to the Clement Hirsch involving Stellar Wind and Beholder. Catch a Glimpse, with better early speed than Time and Motion, controlled a comfortable pace, giving her a huge tactical edge over Time and Motion, who was put into a drive at least an eighth of a mile earlier than she would have been under different circumstances. Yet despite Catch a Glimpses big pace advantage, and Time and Motion having to make a sustained, grinding run, Time and Motion caught Catch a Glimpse in time to win by a neck. And sorry of you heard this before, but again in this instance, the win margin was not really indicative of the relative performances of these two that day. First by a neck doesnt really do Time and Motion justice.Catch a Glimpse will control the pace again Saturday in the QE II, and she will again be bet over Time and Motion. And no one would be surprised if Catch a Glimpse gains revenge on Time and Motion because, well, shes still a fine horse. But if you watched the Lake Placid with an understanding of all the factors in play, it is difficult not to think that when it comes to 3-year-old turf fillies, there has been a change at the top, and Time and Motion is, now, the better horse. Joe Klecko Womens Jersey . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Mark Gastineau Jersey . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. http://www.authenticnyjetspro.com/Quinnen-williams-jets-jersey/ . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Wayne Chrebet Youth Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Wesley Walker Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. When a season starts to slip away, as it has for many teams around the league right now, it breaks your soul as a player. The energy level in the building dips, the attention to detail falls off, the game prep starts to feel like homework. You start looking toward the offseason, just hoping to make it through the rest of the games healthy.I experienced it firsthand back in 2003 as a member of Steve Spurriers Washington Redskins. After a 3-1 start that included a win over Tom Brady and the Patriots, we were talking big at the beginning of October: playoffs, Super Bowl, Pro Bowls. Hey, everyone wanted in on this thing. Jump on the train.But success in the NFL can be so fleeting. We lost the next four games and never recovered. From 3-1 to 5-11. Brutal.Theres a reason coach Hue Jackson got visibly emotional while trying to describe how the Browns still havent won a game this season. Remember, these dudes on bad football teams -- coaches, players, executives -- theyre all human. And when the wheels start to loosen on a season and eventually fall off, theres nowhere to hide.I still remember a Sunday night game down in Miami when we blew a big lead. It was our sixth loss in seven games. The winning touchdown? The Dolphins caught us in a blitz, and I was left to make the tackle on Ricky Williams. But that didnt happen. Nope. Instead, I took a stiff-arm to the face as Williams walked in for the score. Good-bye.I still remember traveling to Chicago in Week 16, with Spurrier promising us an extended Victory Monday if we won that game -- three days off heading into the final week of the season. He threw a carrot out there for us, doing anything to buy a win. Didnt work. Paul Edinger kicked a game-winning field goal with five seconds left to beat us.I still remember Week 17, when we got shredded in our final home game by the Eagles. 31-7. In my opinion, Andy Reid called off the dogs in that one. He took it easy on us. Philly couldve scored 40 or maybe even 50 if they wanted to.That Eagles team went to the NFC Championship Game. Our squad? We went home.Yeah, we had some injuries. But so did everyone else. Thats life in the league. Talent? There was enough in our locker rroom to win.ddddddddddddCoaching? I loved the defensive staff. And while Spurriers stock as an NFL coach never recovered, Im not going to blame him. No way. Sure, I didnt agree with some of the structure of his program or the style of practices we had late in the season, but Spurrier didnt get stiff-armed by Ricky or smoked by Keyshawn Johnson on a post route in a blowout loss to the Bucs. Nope. That was me.A lot of us had an idea that Spurrier wouldnt be back the next season once the calendar flipped to December. And a lot of us were right. Owner Dan Snyder replaced Spurrier with Joe Gibbs in the offseason. And I would say uncertainty surrounding the head coach had an impact on the locker room, practice and our overall game prep as we finished out the year.Things just started to drag a bit. The pace of practice slowed down, the film study slipped and the game plans got lighter. We became that team sleepwalking through the daily routine. It was now work at the facility. That excitement of getting a fresh game plan? Thats for the playoff teams, the contenders. Ive experienced that excitement. And its great.But we didnt have that anymore. It was gone. Just like the energy in the building. That stuff quickly evaporated over the last month and a half of the season. Now we were just football zombies throughout the week. Clock in and clock out. Take some notes, and head home.Game day? Yeah, we still played hard because you have to in order to survive an NFL Sunday. You go out there soft, and youll probably end up on the cart with an injury. This game is too fast and too physical to walk around on that field like you dont care. Plus, we all knew we were basically auditioning for next season and the next head coach in Washington. Better put something good on tape, right?I often say that NFL seasons are fragile. And when the team breaks -- or shatters into a thousand little pieces like it did in 2003 -- you dont recover as a player. You just try to survive.ESPN.com NFL analyst Matt Bowen played seven seasons as a defensive back in the NFL. ' ' '
