could someone explain how mambo is a 96, and pyro is 101
i want to learn

Outside of him the older division on dirt is a bunch of festering turds.

nm i understand the 96 i was misreading it, i thought his race was 142 and change, now i see the times

Sounds like you're ALMOST ready for a conceptual shift. A handicapping revolution of sorts. Shake free from the shackles of figures all together.

Damn, may need to give her plenty of time to recover from her near 70....

i had a feeling that there would be some comments about Curlins beyer, being only 105. he only ran the last two furlongs and that was plenty. if you consider all the factors, it was a very strong perfromance.

It was as good as it needed to be. Every race seemed to have a slow pace on sat but the foster was a waltz for that kind of race. He was clearly better than that bunch of bums that lined up against him. The scary prospect for next year is that this group of 3 year olds sucks and the best of them are almost assuredly retired at the end of the year. This years handicap horses (a guess that is an outdated term also) are as bad as any I can remember and next year may be worse. It is not out of the realm of possibility that a horse will be claimed and win a graded stake next out. Maybe a grade 1.

next years handicap division?? now that is a scary thought, I don't even want to think about. i can envision a revitalized Perfect Drift coming back and towering over all of them.:eek:

His past form would make him a solid top 3 in the division.

I don't think the pace was that much of a factor in Curlin not being able to run to his best form.

Mambo in Seattle rallied from 7th to win an 8.5 furlong ALW race with a 96 Beyer earlier on in the card - closing into fractions of 25.65 and 49.72 in a race void of pace.

All the other two turn dirt route races all featured pokey fractions as well. You don't exactly have to do much to beat horses like Einstein and Grasshopper on the dirt.

I had a hunch that they would split the variant in the 8.5 furlong races and 9 furlong races - but they didn't.

You must not have been following Del Mar that closely the last few years.

Pure As Gold won the Grade 1 Bing Crosby at 23/1 first off the claim in 2006.

MiS was only 3.5 lengths behind at the quarter and that race was contested early and with multiple moves, setting up nicely for a last runner.

Of course, this would require a non comprehensive view of pace.

The quarter was in 25 3/5ths - I would really hope he was only 3.5 behind.

You are very astute.

Thank you kindly sir.

I think every horse in the race that year was an ex-claimer. Maybe not Battle Won, who eventually descended into the mid-claiming ranks this winter.

Did Bordonaro run for a tag early on? Perhaps MCL?

Not that I necessarily disagree with you, and maybe with the use of synthetics out west it ultimately means little, but I have to say that the CA division is pretty solid this year. Neither Heatseeker, Tiago, or Surf Cat have missed a beat all season long and up until he got hurt, Monterey Jazz was a prominent force himself. Old-timers that try hard like Lava Man and Big Booster (and perhaps Perfect Drift) add a little more depth and there are a couple of horses that may improve like Champs Elysees, Monzante, and Neko Bay.

At the same time, praise should be given to Dan Hendricks for his handling of the good turf horse Daytona, who has butted heads without a break since last October, and even after a big Grade 1 victory last out, is still pointing for a Grade 2 target in the next couple of weeks rather than staying in the stall awaiting something like the Eddie Read or Arlington Million.

Yep. Ran in a couple of starters as a result. Don't know if he won first time out.

Here are the winning Beyer Speed Figures for last week's stakes races:

Note some revised figured since this morning's list..

*Stephen Foster (CD): Curlin (S. Asmussen/R. Albarado) - 110
*Postponed (Bel): Mint Lane (J. Jerkens/E. Coa) - 106
*Ponche (Crc): Rockerfeller (M. Wolfson/J. Santiago) - 106
*Obeah (Del): Unbridled Belle (T. Pletcher/R. Dominguez) - 104
*Ogden Phipps (Bel): Ginger Punch (R. Frankel/R. Bejarano) - 103
*Unbridled (Crc): Golden Spikes (M. Wolfson/E. Trujillo) - 103
*King Glorious (Hol): High Standards (M. Jones/J. Rosario) - 103
*Battlefield (Mth): Call My Bluff (D. Ryan/P. Cotto Jr.) - 100
*Round Table (Hol): Cedar Mountain - Ire (N. Drysdale/A. Quinonez) - 100
*Scottish Monk (Bel): Tam Lin - GB (S. bin Suroor/J. Castellano) - 100

*Fleur de Lis (CD): Hystericalady (J. Hollendorfer/G. Gomez) - 99
*Affirmed (Hol): Two Step Salsa (J. Canani/V. Espinoza) - 99
*Northern Dancer (CD): Pyro (S. Asmussen/S. Bridgmohan) - 98
*Jaipur (Bel): First Defence (R. Frankel/J. Castellano) - 97
*Carter McGregor Jr. Memorial (LS): Gold Coyote (W. Calhoun/B. Walker Jr.) - 96
*Papua (Bel): Stormin Normandy (R. Dutrow Jr./C. Velasquez) - 96
*Jefferson Cup (CD): Tizdejavu (G. Fox/G. Gomez) - 96
*Alphabet Soup (Pha): Auction Watch (S. Hendriks/K. Carmouche) - 95
*Spend a Buck (Mth): Cool Coal Man (N. Zito/E. Castro) - 95
*U Can Do It (Crc): Dixie Dreamer (M. Wolfson/J. Bridgmohan) - 94
*Mint Julep (CD): Dreaming of Anna (W. Catalano/G. Gomez) - 94
*Susan's Girl (Del): Weathered (K. Grusmark/A. Napravnik) - 94
*Oakland (GG): Bonfante (R. McAnally/F. Alvarado) - 93
*Great Lady M. (Hol): Silky Smooth (J. Mullins/R. Bejarano) - 93
*Floor Show (Del): Magical Forest (J. DeMola/R. Dominguez) - 92
*Free Press (AsD): Ronaldino (T. Jordan/A. Cuthbertson) - 92
*Eatontown (Mth): Social Queen (A. Goldberg/J. Lezcano) - 92
*Big Bubble (Crc): Mysterious Peintre - Fr (M. Wolfson/E. Trujillo) - 91
*Budweiser Emerald (EmD): Nationhood (M. Chambers/S. Martinez) - 91
*President's Cup (Lnn): Out Gamble (C. Washburn/Y. Yaranga) - 91
*Bernie Dowd (Mth): Luna Park (J. Tammaro III/C. Marquez Jr.) - 90
*Regret (CD): Pure Clan (R. Holthus/J. Leparoux) - 90
*Herald Gold Plate (StP): Teagues Fight (D. MacDonald/S. Heiler) - 90

*Sydney Gendelman Memorial (RD): Acts Like a King (K. Nemann/N. Solomon) - 89
*Georgia Oaks (Crc): Alpha Charmer (P. Gleaves/M. Cruz) - 89
*Acclaim (EvD): Ide Like a Double (B. Gilbert/K. Clark) - 89
*Ballade (WO): London Snow (J. Charalambous/S. Bahen) - 89
*Zadracarta (WO): Becky Sharp (A. Smith/R. Landry) - 88
*Jostle (Pha): Dulce Realidad (R. Vega/J. Flores) - 88
*Cyclones (PrM): Red Hot N Gold (K. Von Hemel/T. Thompson) - 87
*Minnesota H.P.B.A Mile (Cby): Lemonlime (A. Granitz/W. Martinez) - 86
*Bold Ruckus (WO): Stuck in Traffic (N. Gonzalez/D. Clark) - 86
*John D. Marsh (Cnl): Frisky Thunder (J. Murphy/E. Camacho) - 85
*Strawberry Morn (Hst): Lady Raj (T. Taylor/M. Gutierrez) - 84
*Alberta Derby (StP): Arkhill (C. MacPherson/R. Walcott) - 82
*Leave Me Alone (Crc): Orinoquia (R. Garcia/E. Nunez) - 80
*Victoria (WO): Southern Exchange (G. De Gannes/J. Jones) - 80