Originally Posted by Pointg5

Anyone know what Joint Effort has been up to?

I doubt she makes the Distaff, but that's a CD specialist if I ever saw one...

Originally Posted by Cunningham Racing

I think they are freshening here...don't think shes hurt but I'll find out....She is also a one-turn specialist though too, so I doubt the 1 1/8-mile BC Distaff will be to her liking IMO..

Originally Posted by repent

yeah, I get your point,
but I would not compare Islington's 2003 campaign to what OB has faced this year.
she ran in the POW, Eclipse, Yorkshire Oaks, and Irish Champions before coming to the BC.
remember, a back problem kept her out of the King George that year and gave her a bit of a break.

OB has been in Hong Kong(2x since last year's BC), the Coronation(shirocco race), POW, Nassau, and the Irish Champions this year.
plus, she is going to run again before the BC.

you might be right, I just think its going to be tough for her to do as a 5YO what Islington did as a 4YO considering the difficulty of her 2006 campaign.
If she does, she is the definition of a supermare.

Alexandrova is in really good form right now and might be a little sharper for the BCFMT.
at least that is what I am counting on.


Repent

Originally Posted by Pointg5

I agree about the 1 turn, but she did not run well going 1 turn at Belmont...I don't think she would have a shot to win, but 2nd, 3rd, or 4th would not be out of the question, considering her love for the CD surface...Like I said, doubt she would run in the Distaff, but your post about looking for odd horses to run 2nd got me to thinking about her...

Originally Posted by repent

see.
I dont even think of the Preakness when thinking Bernardini.

its Saratoga.

He was never asked at all in winning 2 of the most historically significant 3YO races on dirt.

this horse is a total freak.
he is what I think Mineshaft would have been if allowed to run on dirt as a 3 YO.
only difference is that this horse really has more natural speed than Mineshaft did.

there are no holes in his game.
any pace scenario is fine b/c he will just adapt.
hes smarter and faster than his peers.
at least the ones he has run against so far.

Repent

Originally Posted by Cunningham Racing

Good stuff...

If I were forecasting a TRI, I would key Bernardini and try to beat a hard-campaigned Invasor, who will be hard to kepp of the board IMO if right, in the second spot with a real sleeper at a price that could get a good trip and love Churchill Downs....the first horse that comes to mind right now is Bright One if he were to run well in the Indiana Derby and show that 1 1/4 miles won't be an issue for him...he'd be 25-1 or more in the Classic...Good Reward could also close in for a piece at a price stretching back to around two-turns at 1 1/4 miles...I knew he'd run bad in the one-turn Brooklyn...Sweetnorthersaint has the ability to be my EXACTA hotrse but who knows where hes at right now in his training...Discreet Cat completes the exacta and may even challenge for the win with his best effort if he goes - but he won't...

Don't like Lava Man (pace, fade), or Sun King, or Flower Alley, or Premium Tap, or Jazil or really any of the Euros...jus don't see any prospects that asre either SUPER classy over there or have a maintrack pedgiree like Giant's Causeway did....If any have a shot it would be David Junior just because he is a Pleasant Tap but ALL of his Appleton family on the bottomside is grass..

Lawyer Ron wold be interesting to hit the board IF he steps forward and wins the Super Derby nicely...mostly the interest here is that he trains at CD and that is his home....I guess Buzzard's Bay is just done...Magnum is okay when he was a closer and sucked when they took him out of his gama and started putting him up on the pace....Cindago isn't ready yet....everything else out on the west coast is not much...

Hell, who have I left out?

Originally Posted by kentuckyrosesinmay

If Pletcher throws Flower Alley in the race...beware. If he is entered, he will be ready...

Originally Posted by Cunningham Racing

That would be cruelty to animals for Pletcher to run this horse, who is clearly done and disinterested in racing, against a monster like Bernardini in the Classic...I doubt Pletcher does it...he got a good enough account of Bernardini's ability first hand when his star 3YO broke down trying to keep up with him....

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Was he also ready for a big effort when entered in the Woodward...or was that just a fake out?

Flower Alley's career is over. It was basically over when he didn't show up until half the year was over.....but now it's official. He couldn't beat two fat guys in a horse suit.

Originally Posted by Cunningham Racing

Exactly...everybody called me crazy and synical at the time when I stated that something was worng with Flower Alley earlier this year for him to start so late....people defended Pletcher saying that it was all scheduled, but i know what I saw wit my own two eyes when he was training the two weeks before the Derby...

When they didn't point him towards the Stephen Foster - the prestigious Grade 1 race at the same track the Breeders' Cup was going to be run at this year - I knew something wasn't right....that was as losical a start as any for a campaign for a 4yo horse that you felt was the incumbant handicap division leader...

he would have had a half-year off had he pointed for the Foster - more than enough freshening for a strong campaign....the fact that a horse of his stature had to come back in a weak contest at Monmouth WAY late in the season told me that he wasn't the same animal too....

Originally Posted by zippyneedsawin

Are you sure OB is running again before the BC? I can't find it but I think I read an article quoting Ed Dunlop saying OB would get a break and then head to the BC. ( I hope she gets a little break)

Originally Posted by SundayStar

she's scheduled to run in a stakes race on the arc undercard.

Originally Posted by Cunningham Racing

Hell, why not just run in the Arc?

Originally Posted by Cunningham Racing

Hell, why not just run in the Arc?

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Was he also ready for a big effort when entered in the Woodward...or was that just a fake out?

Flower Alley's career is over. It was basically over when he didn't show up until half the year was over.....but now it's official. He couldn't beat two fat guys in a horse suit.

Originally Posted by Cunningham Racing

Oh, I forgot to mention:

Giacomo...no shot, Second of june..game but not good enough, Suave..actualy interesting with his best but he is too inconsistent for me and i doubt that he is a fighter...he should have beaten Magna Gaduate at CD in last year's Clark and was puerly out-gamed to the wire when he had aim and went by on the outside...but he likes CD and gets the distance..a little interesting underneath, Super Frolic ran huge in this race last year at like 60-1 but his best only puts him in TRIS and SUPERS, all of John Ward's horses are under-experienced and over-matched...


OH, I ALMOST FORGOT PERFECT DRIFT!!! - who I actually like to hit the board with Leparoux but he cannot win....Here is my TRI now:

Bernardini / Perfect Drift / Invasor

..as for last place finisher...well, you never know what cheap speed will be thrown in to the wolves and fade to last, but I really think Shirocco will run horribly on the dirt....Seek Gold might be the worst horse in the race, but his plodding style and the fact he'll get the distance and likes CD will allow him to pass a few tiring horses in the stretch....

:D[/QUOT

not sure if your being sarcastic about drift, i assume not but does he deserve to be in the bcc? i know he does but want your take since im debating this on another thread and i see you have him in your tri........and thats what i said about suave before also, inconsistent but if he he feels like running can run a huge race.

Originally Posted by Cunningham Racing

Oh, I forgot to mention:

Giacomo...no shot, Second of june..game but not good enough, Suave..actualy interesting with his best but he is too inconsistent for me and i doubt that he is a fighter...he should have beaten Magna Gaduate at CD in last year's Clark and was puerly out-gamed to the wire when he had aim and went by on the outside...but he likes CD and gets the distance..a little interesting underneath, Super Frolic ran huge in this race last year at like 60-1 but his best only puts him in TRIS and SUPERS, all of John Ward's horses are under-experienced and over-matched...


OH, I ALMOST FORGOT PERFECT DRIFT!!! - who I actually like to hit the board with Leparoux but he cannot win....Here is my TRI now:

Bernardini / Perfect Drift / Invasor

..as for last place finisher...well, you never know what cheap speed will be thrown in to the wolves and fade to last, but I really think Shirocco will run horribly on the dirt....Seek Gold might be the worst horse in the race, but his plodding style and the fact he'll get the distance and likes CD will allow him to pass a few tiring horses in the stretch....

:D