Hard Spun and Street Sense

Nice race yesterday! Did Hard Spun like polytrack or did Street Sense simply get outfooted?

Wish I had access to HS pps and that we knew exactly what the horse has done over the last month, for it looked as if Larry Jones, whom I have consistently blasted as an idiot on this blog, had his horse ready for peak performance.

Since HS training is unknown I'm unable to comment except that it looked like a nice training job.

SS on the other hand appeared to me handicapped by his trainer's lack of attention to every detail. I've observed over time that Carl Nafzger is a good instead of great trainer. You see this in his book "Traits of A Winner" and if you closely follow the SS training since January 1. Nafzger compared to his contemporaries does so many things right imo, but a lot of times Nafzger will also produce the big "huh".

Hard Spun has been the occasional beneficiary of very fast breezes or races. SS on the otherhand, though his breezing and racing have been text book consistent, has rarely to never seen faster than a twelve second furlong. The big races will expose you, and so when SS yesterday was called on for a little speed he came up empty, and instead performed exactly to his training in :12s.

It will be interesting what they do with SS to the Breeder's Cup. Nafzger certainly is smart enough to see exactly what happened, and we'll see whether he adjusts.

Training:
In the spirit of taking things one day at a time, Wind after a warm up had a strong 1.6 mile gallop at the farm this morning in mostly :14s and :15s. Legs were stone cold. The little bit of early heat in the condylar area about the right fetlock is gone! And, we're getting down to the nitty gritty in the next two breezes scheduled for Tues. and Friday. Thurs. is a dark day that we plan around. The weather absolutely has to hold, and I'll expect a much improved 5f breeze Tuesday. Art last night galloped a strong 2 miles riderless with the oldsters and some tack work.