I'm concerned about Commentator on that track, to be honest. Love that guy and concrete Charles Town scares me with his known fragility. I trust that Zito wouldn't send him if he felt the same way, however.

Big day for the local horses.

Nice to see Commentator just did edge out that Steph Beattie trained horse who had trouble in like 3 different spots...for 4th place.

Local form means a ton in day to day racing there- nothing different with the big boys I guess. Commentator looked good for a half and then when the 3rd turn came up he had a "what am I doing" look. That Researcher is just a freak on that track.

you should have heard the cheers go up when Researcher took the lead and then when he got back to the winners circle....... very nice crowd tonight at CT.:tro:

Very fun evening at CT tonite as I was able to hook up with M & M Tide, and BT and his buds. The big races did not disapoint.

And big thanks to Mr Byk for his call on Ea. Helped closed the evening with a healthy exactor.

Guess he wasn't FAST ENOUGH. :rolleyes:

Has Commentator possibly lost a step? I mean he's 8 years old now....

He looked plenty fast to me. He got the lead and it wasnt like that race was devoid of speed.

9f is THREE TURNS at charlestown. Could it simply be that he didnt like the configuration of the track?

He didn't have much fight in him when he got past, you'd think he would hold on for a piece of the tri atleast.

No legitimate prep, hard to go nine panels w/out a prep against stakes company, even though its a three-turn race.

Maybe it was the 3 turns, the track, running at night, I don't know...he didn't look right. It happens to all good horses sooner or later, they lose the appetite to run competitively. The layoff didn't bother me, he's always been a horse that fires off the bench and the less racing he does the better he seems to do. It will be interesting to see where Zito goes from here with him.

No fight? He put away mast track and then Magnum (both stake horses). What does that say for them? Besides the winner, the horses that beat him closed late and were never threats to win. The winner is a total monster at that track as evidenced by the fact that he broke his own track record for the distance last night.

There was nothing wrong Commentator last night...just seemed like it was one turn too many. He looked fine in the paddock before the race thats for sure.

At 6/5 most people would have expected more from him than what he showed last night. It wasn't like they were going outlandishly fast on the front end. He's a better horse than that. Look he's been a great horse and who wouldn't like what he's done in his career, but it was a simple observation and wasn't mean't in a derogetary way. Let's critique performances without getting defensive, that's what we are here for, to learn and discuss.

Not that it really matters, but I thought they said Researcher was just a bit off his track record.

I agree on Commentator.

first off a layoff, and three turns? i think a loss can be forgiven here. too soon to say he's lost a step, he's only eight.

The horse who's last race was BY FAR the fastest on everyone's figures won.

The Steph Beattie 50/1+ longshot who ran a troubled 5th actually had the 2nd fastest last out Beyer.

But I know .. adjusted final time speed figures are for idiots .. and I'm one because they are about 11th or 12th in my list of handicapping factors that determine who I'm likely to bet in a race.

I don't understand the love affair with this horse. It's that bogus SPEED number thing. When he gets a speed favoring track and no pace pressure he wins. And he even runs fast doing. So what? Pressure him a bit or put him on a fair track against horses and he folds like a punk. Like last night, losing to horse I'd had a tough time remembering (assuming I'd heard from them, that is).

We'll get NYRA to massage a track for him real soon. He'll be back.

I'm thrilled to hear it. Should I make HIGHEST LAST OUT BEYER my key play from now on? Bet that'll produce a positive ROI.

After all the **** I've read here about this horse, how fast he is, and, remarkably, even how game he is, it's a pleasure seeing him get dusted. Same **** with Indian Blessing.

Nothing more, nothing less.

As for the bolded statement:

I've been reading your posts for quite a while now; here and at PA. I'd venture that the majority of them have "Beyer' in them. Most of your points involve these numbers. My point is that there's plenty of money to be made without them; especially on artificial surfaces. While you have much to say about these surfaces, you apparently don't play them much. I find that interesting.

Once Researcher got past him, he was obviously discouraged(the politically correct statement), as for last race beyers or last 2 races beyers. If only it were that easy.

first they announced he'd broken it , then corrected it, Researcher only missed by 3/100's.

i thought Commentator looked goodn until about the 1/8 pole when he was passed. then it was like he just stopped.