Dominican
 

I guess he deserves his own thread now.
My gut instinct is to dismiss this horse as a poly specialist because he is now 3 for 3 on the poly and 0 for 4 on the dirt.
Does anyone see it differently than that?
Is there ANY chance he is a factor in three weeks?

He's got a really strange stride. I doubt I'll use him in the Derby...

I think he's a toss, never been better than 3rd on the dirt. His form wasn't terrible on dirt but not good enough to run better than 7th or 8th in the Derby.

Looks to me that any horse in the starting gate at CD could be a factor this year...Dominican certainly now deserves a shot. Don't know what you can say about a grade one race that goes 26 for the first quarter....this was a mess. Street Sense ran well but had a clear shot and didn't impress...I simply don't know!

I just believe that closing into those absolutely ridiculous fractions right past 2 of the colts supposedly at the top of the class is something that warrants serious consideration for the derby. No matter what surface, his peformance today puts him into the thick of it in my opinion. I also had him pretty big today so I might be a little biased this soon after the race.

I think Dominican wins the triple crown.

*jumps*

May be able to get up for a 3rd or 4th in the Derby but like said horse has a terrible looking stride and a few closers going in the Derby. If CQ is ok and no problems he is a much better bet as a closer

Hard to justify him either way at this point. Very strange race that needs to be replayed a few times before forming any strong opinions on the runners.

His stride isn't terrible... just different. Not really turfy looking with high knee action, but he strides out kind of flat kneed. I don't know what to make of it really. :confused:

I think all you can really do is go back and watch his 2yo races and then watch his 3yo races and see how much you think he improved on the poly and try and add that on to his dirt figures to see how that fits. Not an easy task.

It looks like he keeps his legs really straight? There was one clip in his workouts this morning on TVG that looked nice and smooth and the rest of the time when I watch him run it's puzzling to me too.

Same way I saw it. I guess it doesn't really matter as long as the horse is comfortable (he appeared that way today. :) )

Stride looks like something is wrong with front left leg but does not seem to bother him. I like the horse just not near level of others.


Just lets not talking about how better he is than Street Sense-- if there was not jam SS would have won the race

I totally suck handicapping the poly, so it will take even more work for me.:o

I will watch this race quite few times tonight though, before really forming an opinion. I have been high on Great Hunter for quite a while now...anxious to see how he comes out of this race.

Well, he is 2-2 since being gelded.

He is a total toss in the Derby.

Who isn't?

That isn't really horse racing......

Can you imagine if they run the Breeders Cup over that joke of a surface?

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in the Commonwealth all exited one-mile turf races in there last start.

Than you have the Blue Grass....where a horse gets off with an uncontested lead through 26 and 51 fractions, and can't run a straight line through the stretch....while a deep closer rallies past two serious Derby horses to win.

How exactly did the 4th place finisher not get DQ'ed....once Prado started hitting him left handed, he came out SEVERAL paths, and clearly fouled Great Hunter. That was pretty amusing.....it made the whole race look even more absurd than it was in the first place.

Cory was on Great Hunter and he said after the race that "it was no big deal", Great Hunter appeared finished anyway but it sure looked bad on TV.

One thing I like about him is that he seems to have push-button speed, and I disagree that he's just a polytrack horse. He ran a big third in the KJC at Churchill last fall.

Frankly I don't see where Street Sense had any excuse (aside from the slow pace obviously).

Well he could have complained and given me the difference in his 10% cut. :rolleyes: I thought T should have come down too.

I don't think Borel was told to win this no matter what either...

Obviously the rider will say that....his horse clearly wasn't winning, and getting moved up from 5th to 4th means nothing to him.....and probably nothing to any bettors either---except those played the superfecta.

That is a no doubt about it DQ....you can't come out several paths and foul a horse like that....and not come down.

Somer....I don't really think Nafzger is worried about losing this race or looking for an excuse. It's well documented he doesn't want to win all the races....just the right races. Highly doubt SS was cranked for today when the "right race" is just a few weeks away.

Oh, I agree...I was just responding to an earlier post that indicated SS had a rough trip...I didn't see that!

Obviously you are wrong cause he wasn't taken down!:rolleyes:

Teuflesberg should have been taken down... clearly. Great Hunter probably wasn't winning either way, but being bumped like that didn't help.

I guess you had a "little guy" Kentucky trainer 4th and a "big name" California trainer 5th....but the stewards can't forget there was a superfecta in that race.

I guess Fifth-Third bank and a very tiny fraction of superfecta players were affected any by it...and no one else.

What's ironic is, how stewards NOTORIOUSLY focus and overrate on fouls commited in the stretch run--as opposed to fouls commited in the early stages of races (when the impact is more severe)

However, in a race where they go 26 and 51 early on---and get the last 3/8ths in 34 and change---getting fouled in the stretch run is more severe than getting fouled in the early stages.

All kidding aside, I agree it sure looked like a foul to me too! By the way, they announced on TV that the owner of Great Hunter had reached an out-of-court settlement with the bank so possibly it no longer mattered to them. Great Hunter is safely in the Derby field so the only ones effected were the exotic betters...still, sure looked like a foul!

The real reason is he was drained by the all out effort in the TB Dby.

Thought about that the other day. Do they run Breeder's Cup in Calif. ever? Is it just a matter of time before they run one on poly?

Yeah it sounds bad...

Frankly, I think if they run this race again on any surface Dominican beats these again. Probably with ease.

Great Hunter is a poorly conditioned horse. Sure, he was banged around slightly. He had nothing left either way.

And Street Sense was trying to win. Could be over-rated or just plain shot from a tough effort coming off a long layoff. Horse had to have issues in the first place to be laying off since November.

Dominican would have beaten these by 10 if he had another furlong.

I wouldn't be surprised to see either SS or GH (or both) bow out of the Derby.

Perhaps the most utterly ridiculous comment in the history of the internet.

Lucky for you he will get to prove your point in 3 weeks. There will be another furlong. I will be shocked if SS or GH bow out.

So, do you think this is the year that the Bluegrass produces a Ky Derby winner?

Perhaps you missed his Jazil was the decades best Belmont winner comment a few months earlier?

I have to assume the Beyer figure for Domincan will come back in the high 80's or low 90's.

My Typhoon, who came from mid-pack into the teeth of 50 and change fractions, ran a final time that represents a figure 13 points faster.

Perhaps the Bluegrass figure will be inflated a little by the figure maker because of the comically slow pace....though it was far from the only very slow pace at KEE yesterday.

Curlin's number should come back in the 104-to-107 range...which will make him the horse with the top figure around two-turns come Derby day.

Darrin Miller on ATRAB Friday
 

Here's the link to listen to trainer Darrin Miller, who I've talked to several times since Lane's End Day. Dominican should not be dismissed as a Poly horse. He's had a variety of issues in his PP's including the entrapped testicle/ridgling scenario restricting his stride and Robby Albarado restricting his success.. This is a very nice horse.

Miller starts the segment..
http://www.attheracesandbeyond.com/stream/41307b.mp3

Listening to you Sat AM reinforced my feelings on the Bluegrass and made me mor confidant in using him for a single in my pk 4. Thanks.

i missed that, but will laugh now, since i couldn't then....

In fairness there once were people touting Tapit for the derby.:)