I think good horses are winning these races.

Einstein won big races on synthetic and turf he's ok at best. Rail Trip might be good, but lets see one more. I doubt Bullsbay is good, Macho Again is a joke. Who exactly is good ? Gio Ponti is really good on turf. There are very few horses in training right now that can be considered really good. Rachel, Zenyatta, Quality Road are all really good and I guess one day they all might be called great. Fabolous Strike is a really good sprinter. Indian Blessing is good and a past champion but shes way off form. Gio Ponti is good. Who else is there?

I think Bullsbay and Macho are both good. Don't know about Rail Trip. Quality Road still has something to prove. Capt. Candy Man Can is a good horse. Papa Clem, Munnings, if Musket Man comes back wee'll see. There are horses that could be O.K. Smooth Air is a joke. Can't believe he was the fav. There's less in Cali, so if the East Coast horses are bad that speaks volumes for the West Coast. Einstien beat them for crying out loud.

They really only have to be good enough to beat the horses who show up. And that is truly good enough. Give me full fields.

Ok I forgot Munnings, Munnings is really good.
Quality Road has something to prove, but Capt. Candy man is good? QR blew him away off the bench. QR is a freak and the most likely winner of The Travers. He is legit competition to Rachel, he might actually be her only competition on dirt.

Quality Road happens to be the only horse who's beaten Capt. Candyman Can this year. Of course, Theregoesslowslow and that pitiful Ward horse who Fat Man liked also finished ahead of CCC in the Ftn of Youth.

NT

I never said CCC was bad. Im just saying he's not close to QR.

QR might be that good. Travers might be the race of the year. I still think Mine That Bird is pretty good. He just needs the right pace, distance and ride. Travers comes to mind.

7f is Capt.'s distance. QR might be a freak. We'll see. Rachel never beat him.

I might be crazy about QR, but I think he has the same type of talent as any of the big time 3 yr olds in the past years.

Good stuff Hockey

Well done BD!

I thought the race was totally unbettable.

However, Jose Lezcano's ride on Smooth Air was one of the worst rides you'll ever see in a major race.

Bullsbay won the race with the dreamiest of dream trips ... and had Lezcano rode his typical smart race he would have been the one who inherited the dream trip. Instead he wanted to get pinballed in a 3 way pace battle - with two other faster horses - through very solid fractions.

Congrats Hockey.

I read this title and I thought it was going to be an obituary.

Great article!!

I have to admit that it was the first thing to cross my mind too.

Pleasantly surprised....

DAM, SORRY.

Dream trip of the century, dreamy ?

It was similar to the one Dare And Go got when he beat Cigar in the Pacific Classic.

Sitting a clear, cozy, and unpressured 4th well behind a hot fraction 3-way pace battle.


Basically .. the 3 speeds were certain to stop in front of Bullsbay. All he had to do was win what amounted to a 3 horse field against two plodders in Dry Martini and Macho Again .. while allowed an unpressured early lead against both through soft early fractions.

Lezcano should have been about five to six lengths off of the pace - while still five lengths in front of Bullsbay - thus giving him the dream trip. But, Tizway was pinballed at the start - so Lezcano panicked and used Smooth Air to prevent Commentator from having a walk in the park lead. But Tizway recovered quickly from the bad start and rushed up and forced the pace while bumping with Smooth Air repeatedly into the turn.

Very nice work!