Not saying he's up to it but in other parts of the world, they know how to train horses to be ready off of long layoffs like this. I have this feeling that if he loses here, it won't be because he's not fit.

lol it would be funny if he wins the BC Classic in his 3rd start.

Japanese trainers arent the best at it though,,

I love this horse and I think he's talented, but his owner is insane. I trust the horse to be fit, but not fit for a race like the Classic. What is the point - he's going to get thrashed, very likely. I think he can develop into a very good horse next year, so why not run him in a lesser stakes.....? Well, I guess I can answer my own question; the owner's ego is too big to allow it.

Be even funnier if he grabbed a quarter again the morning of the race and had to scratch :p ..
(Well not for the horse of course but the owners.)

I'll tell you why I think this is silly. First, either he's fit to run 10f or he isn't. The company he'll be keeping won't have anything to do with his level of fitness. It will be the deciding factor in whether or not he can win but not how fit he is. Second, why would losing here stop him from being a good horse next year? If that's the case, should every horse that loses in the Classic retire immediately because they no longer have a chance of being a good horse next year?

How long was Deep Impact's layoff before his very strong Arc run?

we had better have 14

from 25th June til the 1st October..

certainly all the very good Japanese performances outside of Asia that I can recall have come with the aid of a prep, the ones that havent gone so well have come without a prep..

Well he does have AP Indy in his blood and both of his siblings won the Belmont, so the distance should be up his ally if he's ready. I can see him running a 100 beyer here or so, which probably won't be good enough to win, but maybe in the money.

LOL on the Poly, a 100 beyer is winning the race by 15 lengths. :p

Oh come on...I realize synthetic figures are lower but I believe in the BC Classic a 105-110 will take it.

I wasnt being very serious LOL. How many triple diget beyers have been run on synthetics though?

AP Indy retired years ago and I don't see what he did on the track having any factor in this race.

Just a guess but I'd actually think the Beyers will be much higher for the BC. The synthetics equalize all horses. So when you have low level horses only running a second slower than stakes horses it is tough to give the stakes horses a big figure and then have to give the low level horses a 90+ figure. When you have a card predominantly made up of stakes horses though then it is easier to give bigger figures since the horses on the card are all capable of running 90+ speed figures.

that makes sense. Its funny we are having our championship race run on a surface that makes slow horses look faster and fast horses look slower.

Go Between or Well Armed wins Classic :tro: :zz:

Casino Drive is running Sunday after all, per DRF.com.

Optional Claiming race.

Good points....I suppose I'm overplaying the "he'll have his confidence crushed " card, lol.

I just found out per the DRF that he's running on Sunday - that makes me feel a lot better.

Sunday:

8TH (4:00)

1 1/16 Miles (All Weather Track) | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Allowance | Purse: $52,000

Post # Horse Jockey Weight Claim Price Equip. Med.
1 Dakota Phone Bejarano R 120 L
2 Casino Drive Espinoza V 116
3 Gregorian Bay Garcia M 120 L
4 By Spot (BRZ) Valdivia J Jr 120 L
5 Informed Gryder A T 120 L
6 Sensational Score Rosario J 120 L
7 Asperity Sorenson D 120 L

Well have you ever seen an AP Indy relative not like a longer distance? If AP Indy specializes in producing long distance runners and Better than Honour has produced 2 Belmont winners already, odds are Casino Drive's best distance will be longer.