B. Tagg Conclusions; Robert LaPenta

We'd presume the Funnycide Derby was the finest horse racing moment for Barclay Tagg, and Tagg has three nice Derby prospects this year. And so, we watch this Tom Smith like character (trainer of Sea Biscuit) prepare his horses as one of three TC trainers this year that appears to "get it" with respect to training, and these would be Tagg, Asmussen and Kathy Walsh. We always need to consider Plecher, of course. There are some trainers here unknown to me. So far I'm unimpressed by that group.

Will Tagg win the Derby, or at least be competitive? Or, more relevant for the blog subject of the moment, will Tagg get all three of his horses to the Derby and will they survive the Derby to race again? I'm always wary of athletic trainers/coaches/managers who display personal traits of obliviousness, inability to take the logical path, or recognize obvious cause and effect. I've related, in Tagg's case his use of a muzzle that restricts breathing, but also the Sally Jenkins "Funnycide" book relates several acts with respect to Tagg that leave one scratching one's head. Thus, the way I evaluate Tagg, we have an abnormally intelligent, inquisitive trainer with somee character flaws that may bode ill for his charges.

On the other hand, do we have the "new" Barclay Tagg this year? Tagg's training has of late exceeded by leaps what I've noticed him doing in the past, and so, we watch with interest. Ultimately, a lukewarm guess, Tagg will do something stupid that will screw it all up. Visualize a Tagg runner nosed out at the wire at Churchill Downs, lol. Hopefully they'll come back healthy!

ROBERT LAPENTA: This fellow has caught a lot of unjustifiable flack the last few days. How quickly they turn on you, eh, Robert? Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Identity
Solutions, horse racing with Rick Pitino starting in 1998, and of late investing large amounts in selling and development of young racing stock. Do we need more men like this in our sport?

But then, it seems, in a moment of honesty LaPenta with respect to War Pass uttered the word "fever" spurring the usual gross overreaction from every mother in America. Hopefully, Robert, a graduate of Iona College, takes this all in stride. (Postscript: I just read Dan Liebman's Blood Horse Commentary about the situation. Needless to say, my own comments fail to look at this from the bettor stand point. Liebman's point that illness for such an overwhelming favorite should be disclosed is something I overlooked at the time of the post. In the chaos of preparation, doubt disclosure occured to either LaPenta or Zito. Should a big time trainer be more aware and tuned>per Liebman, probably. Personally, I decline to make a bfd about it because they said the horse was not sick and apparently missed zero training.)

The more curious thing though, remains how the LaPentas of the world, through all these years can continue to watch the likes of Nick Zito beach their horses. In this case, we have Zito with 3 TC prospects giving all of them together exactly three fast works since 2/25. It's March 20 today folks. Unless he has a black hole for a brain, will LaPenta figure out what is going on here?

Training:
Nice riderless fast romp in the Astride Paddock last night as it was still too muddy in the rest of the farm. Nob was suffering severely from his weather related arthritis, and so we passed on tack work in deep mud, for what little that would have accomplished. 3 works out of the last six days since Friday. They were all fast, and so, I'd say we're on the launching pad with our training as the weather has suddenly taken a turn for the good.