Perfect Drift is a multiple winner on turf, his only OTB finishes I believe have been in Grade 1s (a couple of Arlington Millions and Woodford Reserves). Off of that info, he's simply not a Grade 1 horse (at least on turf). Be that as it may, there's nothing to suggest he's a synthetic horse either, unless you call finishing 2nd to Stream Cat or Ball Four on the stuff evidence to the contrary.

Not only did he check at the quarter pole, he was in tight that whole final quarter of a mile. He didn't really have anywhere to go that final 1/16th of a mile. I think he had at least 1-2 lengths of trouble. With a clean trip, I think he would have had a shot to run 2nd.

In addition, a mile is not his best distance and this was a very fast race. All things considered, I think he ran great.

you seem to be one of the few that pay attention to minor details like speed. he attended the pace in a way that he hasn't done in many years. to me the improvement was striking.

Perfect Drift did not check at any point in the race. He moved inside entering the far turn, waited briefly entering the stretch, there was plenty of room inside Mast Track straightening up and his jock angled to the rail, grinded past that rival and Espinoza appeared to stand up the final yards at best because Hyperbaric put him away for 3rd money or at worst because he didn't like what he felt late. Certainly he didn't stand up because Ever A Friend (2 lengths in front of him) was blocking his path.

.....yeah, im funny that way hughhh.

Wasn't he 6 lengths out of it, behind 2 flights of horses, throughout the first 1/2 mile?

Did you watch the headon of the race?

I thought the old horse ran a pretty good race , looked like Victor could never let him get all the way wound up because of traffic problems ,but no matter how you look at it he ran better than the 15 to 1 that he went off at.
I think the old guy still has some wins in him maybe even graded one's ,one thing I know for sure is that he still enjoys training because about 4 days before the race he had me strung out like spiderman to keep him from taking off down the lane lol.

No. Did a turf clod hit him in the face or something?

details like lengths behind are meaningless unless put in context.

this is what really happened;
pace numbers to first and second call for Perfect Drifts last four turf races.

date........first call....second call
5-26-08......91..........104
5-6-06.......65..........85
4-13-06.....68..........78
5-7-05.......77.........95

No. Just getting a handle on where you stand.

Usually on the apron or somewhere in the grandstand. I learned my lesson a few summers ago at Del Mar about trying to stand in the middle of the racetrack facing the stretch.

The Del Mar Security team are good teachers...really "hands on"...

it was a sharp return race, thats all i'm saying. that combined with his prior class might indicate that he's got some better races in him than what we've seen recently. who knows what happens down the road but the trainer change alone is huge.

those are bris numbers by the way.

It was very slight, be he did slightly check turning into the stretch. In addition, he really didn't have anywhere to go going into the far turn. Victor was just sitting him waiting to find some room rather than gunning him and running up on heels.

He did have some room from the 1/8th pole to just passed the 1/16th pole but not a ton of room. But that final 100 yards, he didn't have anywhere to go. Victor stood up late for two reasons. He wasn't going to get third and he didn't want to run up on Ever a Friend's heels.

If you watch the head-on, you will see that things were tighter than they looked on the pan shot.

Overall, I'm not saying that the horse had a ton of trouble, but I think he had at least 1 length of trouble and possibly more. He only got beat for 2nd by 1 1/4 lengths.

I'm sure the connections are thrilled with the way he ran. The horse looks like he still has some run left in him.

Thats good news.
Its good to know the old guy still wants to run.
Its all he knows I guess. That and running 2nd and
third.
I will still remember him for pushing a weight laden
Mineshaft in a great race.

Didn't Ever a Friend massacre the Kilroe field and didn't Hyperbaric nearly run down Daytona their last race?? Maybe I'm missing something. Of course none of them are anything special...but I thought for the year 2008 it was a representative turf mile field for the most part.

ooooooooooooooooooooooo


PD will continue to burn money. I hope they drop him to a Grade III where he will really do some damage to his follower's betting accounts.

It was certainly an improvement over what he was turning in for the most part of last year. Of course, that isn't saying a whole lot.
I think it is possible that there might be at least a chance that he could return to the type of horse he was in '05 and '06....but he didn't really win any significant races in those years either.