Excuses, Mea Culpa's, Excuses
The fizzing sound would be the air going out of all four tires. But, do last Saturday's RR prognostications- in which I whiffed zero for three -affect me in the least? Please note the usual array of excuses. Let's take 'em one at a time, and thank KH and anonymous for their comments, though that equibase thread failed to come up:
1. Street Sense: Correct, almost. Wonder if I've ever seen a track record achieved in such non-chalant fashion. This was a fairly easy race for Street Sense who just galloped along till the 3f pole then put in a fairly nice 3f run to the wire. The powder puff horses (the power puff trainer's horses) were all done by the 3/16 pole, and Any Given Saturday was pressed to the limit to keep up with Street Sense breezing the final 3f. The race was entertaining, but, I'd avoid putting too much stock in it. Slight miscalculation by RR on this one. Emphasize "slight". They probably needed the 3f run from Street Sense. Any Given Saturday? I'd love to have him. He's that trainable sort that could go on. It'll be interesting how both Pletcher and Nafzger proceed. RR kudos on the preps for this race to both trainers. There's a new-old gang in town.
2. The Rebel: . My qualification on this race, I thought Curlin was the Lukas trainee. I really did. Just from the pre-race mug shot I'd surmised Curlin head and shoulders above the Oaklawn contingent. This race I did call despite my mix up in identifying the trainer. Please note my thoughts on Asmussen and his "last year's" Derby preps below. There may be a little more to Asmussen than meets the eye. Would love to root for Teuflesberg, but the handling is suspect. I place little stock there. Curlin in average fashion beat a field that was done at the 3/16. Nice, nice ride by Alberado.
3. San Felipe: Very impressed with Cobalt Blue even considering the slightly odd action. O'Neil has been identified as a dangerous trainer--part of the new-old gang. This is a strong, fast horse that looks to be tough. nice training job. Text message to Bob Baffert: Bob, you might want to study these new-old guys. Pass it on to Zito and Lukas.
My overall conclusions: Most talented horses: Cobalt Blue, Street Sense, Stormello (look out for him), Scat Daddy, Ravel. Best trained horses: see above, and all others trained by Pletcher and O'Neil.
And how about the Winstar Derby where the whole field including the winner barely made it to the wire!
Conclusions from examining last year's Derby Past Performances--I looked at number of breezes, distance and speed, and races from March 1 to the Derby. Obviously the galloping info is ommitted: Soft trainers: Albertini, McGlaughlin, Holthus, Matz--look at Lawyer Ron's training to explain the performance. This horse was a man amoung boys and ruined by his trainer. Most consistent, logical training performance to produce the fittest horse: Baffert, Asmussen. Barbaro's training is the head scratcher here. Most of the trainers last year were breezing or racing once a week, which I consider interesting. The frequency was appropriate. The length, time, distance, and probably off day galloping frequently was otherwise.
Today's Training: and, let's make it official. the first little tick buddy of 2007 has just been flicked off the RR forearm. This was after the first insect sighting of the season on 2/26/07.
3/17/07: Day 3 Burch aborted due to horse jumping fence. 6-7 min walk under tack.
3/18/07: steam emanates from the RR ears. Stayed up too late Saturday night and got up too late Sun. morn to do the training and keep other commitments. Had to take the German visitors on down the road. The RR personal discipline needs to be tightened considerably if we're going to make the derby.
3/19/07: Day 3 Burch: The horse was placed in the Astride paddock with two oldsters and got in several strong riderless runs. As noted a week ago, the little dude (like a lot of small horses) is quick and fast. He was removed from the paddock after I thought he'd gotten enough work due to the conditioning. Passed on tack work after driving all night which is part of the chain of events caused by the aforementioned discipline problem.
1. Street Sense: Correct, almost. Wonder if I've ever seen a track record achieved in such non-chalant fashion. This was a fairly easy race for Street Sense who just galloped along till the 3f pole then put in a fairly nice 3f run to the wire. The powder puff horses (the power puff trainer's horses) were all done by the 3/16 pole, and Any Given Saturday was pressed to the limit to keep up with Street Sense breezing the final 3f. The race was entertaining, but, I'd avoid putting too much stock in it. Slight miscalculation by RR on this one. Emphasize "slight". They probably needed the 3f run from Street Sense. Any Given Saturday? I'd love to have him. He's that trainable sort that could go on. It'll be interesting how both Pletcher and Nafzger proceed. RR kudos on the preps for this race to both trainers. There's a new-old gang in town.
2. The Rebel: . My qualification on this race, I thought Curlin was the Lukas trainee. I really did. Just from the pre-race mug shot I'd surmised Curlin head and shoulders above the Oaklawn contingent. This race I did call despite my mix up in identifying the trainer. Please note my thoughts on Asmussen and his "last year's" Derby preps below. There may be a little more to Asmussen than meets the eye. Would love to root for Teuflesberg, but the handling is suspect. I place little stock there. Curlin in average fashion beat a field that was done at the 3/16. Nice, nice ride by Alberado.
3. San Felipe: Very impressed with Cobalt Blue even considering the slightly odd action. O'Neil has been identified as a dangerous trainer--part of the new-old gang. This is a strong, fast horse that looks to be tough. nice training job. Text message to Bob Baffert: Bob, you might want to study these new-old guys. Pass it on to Zito and Lukas.
My overall conclusions: Most talented horses: Cobalt Blue, Street Sense, Stormello (look out for him), Scat Daddy, Ravel. Best trained horses: see above, and all others trained by Pletcher and O'Neil.
And how about the Winstar Derby where the whole field including the winner barely made it to the wire!
Conclusions from examining last year's Derby Past Performances--I looked at number of breezes, distance and speed, and races from March 1 to the Derby. Obviously the galloping info is ommitted: Soft trainers: Albertini, McGlaughlin, Holthus, Matz--look at Lawyer Ron's training to explain the performance. This horse was a man amoung boys and ruined by his trainer. Most consistent, logical training performance to produce the fittest horse: Baffert, Asmussen. Barbaro's training is the head scratcher here. Most of the trainers last year were breezing or racing once a week, which I consider interesting. The frequency was appropriate. The length, time, distance, and probably off day galloping frequently was otherwise.
Today's Training: and, let's make it official. the first little tick buddy of 2007 has just been flicked off the RR forearm. This was after the first insect sighting of the season on 2/26/07.
3/17/07: Day 3 Burch aborted due to horse jumping fence. 6-7 min walk under tack.
3/18/07: steam emanates from the RR ears. Stayed up too late Saturday night and got up too late Sun. morn to do the training and keep other commitments. Had to take the German visitors on down the road. The RR personal discipline needs to be tightened considerably if we're going to make the derby.
3/19/07: Day 3 Burch: The horse was placed in the Astride paddock with two oldsters and got in several strong riderless runs. As noted a week ago, the little dude (like a lot of small horses) is quick and fast. He was removed from the paddock after I thought he'd gotten enough work due to the conditioning. Passed on tack work after driving all night which is part of the chain of events caused by the aforementioned discipline problem.
posted by rather rapid at
10:43 PM
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2 Comments:
It appears we agree on something; the talented Street Sense. I am a bit surprised that the so-called experts are so cynical about this horse.
Hi John. Superb stuff on your blog about those Marlborough Cups. Can we also agree this might be as interesting a derby as we've seen in a while. Currin, Nafzger, Pletcher. Ooops. Did I omit McPeek :)? Street Sense actually looks to me as if he could use a two more races. But, then who am I to question Nafzger.
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