Street Sense sharp in drill
 

As reported by Chuck at Churchill.. Derby winner drilled 5f in a little over 1:00.0 and looked great. Last 1/8th in under :12 and gallop out in :24+ (via Neil Howard's stopwatch).. Hasn't lost any weight according to Chuck, and appears to be maintaining form going into Saturday..

And now the DRF report: http://www.drf.com/news/article/84916.html

More importantly, what did Calvin Borel have for breakfast and how are Carl Nafzger's bowels?

This is what we get when you wake up mornings before 10:30am...

(But good questions and I'll check on the breakfast/bowel issues..)

Please let it be Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

no no no. Wheaties!

Both of you are nuts... Cocoa Puffs are the way to go! :p

Wheaties is the breakfast of champions!

But I like Boo Berry cereal. It is my fave!

If anyone remembers, Bob Baffert tried to bring Point Given to the Derby fresh with only two preps so he would have enough left to finish off the Triple Crown. It didn't quite work out, at least somewhat due to his foolishly choosing to start from the parking lot instead of the inside. The horse certainly had plenty left to win the last two legs.

Well, it looks like Nafzger and Street Sense pulled off Part A of the Baffert plan.

Didn't Monarchos start from post 16, and PG start from post 17? I think PG was a little short because of the two preps and a little too close to the pace... I don't think the post position made much of a difference.

I would say being parked wide around both turns while near a blistering pace at least somewhat contributed to the defeat. Monarchos and Point Given in no way ran similar races.

Yeah, well Monarchos made the fence by the first turn.

Where exactly was Point Given that the post didn't matter?

Why does Point Given's ongoing and career-long hoof problem(s) never get brought up in discussions of his great campaign?

As well as Gary Stevens rode thousands of races the 2001 Derby was not one of his finer performances. It's a shame, though, because he was so much better than everyone else in that crop.

NT

Is this grammatically correct?

It is good enough in NATO.

Start with that stuff and I may delete my membership from here... ;)

And the White House.

Ok, somewhat I suppose... but he was just 3-wide on the first turn.

NATO standards are at least a little higher.

Are we talking about Point Given or Gary Stevens here? :confused:

What other jocks come from Stevens' crop?

horse.

NT

Is this your last post?

We live in hope.

1) Reese's Puffs are far better than Cocoa Puffs and Wheaties. They are like crack cocaine to me. If you have never tried Reese's Puffs, I advise you keep it that way.

2) I thought Steve's question about Point Given's feet was written with perfect grammar. Did I miss an error?

3) If I were to argue that Fusaichi Pegasus, Smarty Jones, and Point Given represented our best shots at a Triple Crown winner in the last 10 years, would I get laughed out of the room?

I'd say no on the latter two, yes on the former.

War Emblem was better than Pegasus. I'd even put Empire Maker, who I disliked a lot, ahead of FuPeg.

If Fusaichi Pegasus handles the swamp at Pimlico and finishes first instead of second, I think he trounces Commendable and the rest of the worst field ever assembled for a Belmont Stakes.

If he wins, I seriously doubt the Belmont field would have been so weak. I don't, however, agree it was the slop that did him in.

Really? War Emblem?

Maybe he's just one of the horses I most disliked over the years. He always seemed like a beneficiary of circumstance, the big Beyer over one of the world's most speed-favoring tracks, then a Derby filled with average horses (save Medaglia d'Oro who was a no-show that day), then a performance in the Belmont that would have been bad even if he had been on all four legs coming out of the gate.

Count me among those who think FuPeg was WAY better than War Emblem.

NT

Well, he won two legs of the TC, FuPeg one. He also went on to take the Haskell, while FuPeg won the Jerome. War Emblem earned figures as good, actually better I think, then FuPeg.

As for the Belmont, the break is the most overlooked form of trouble in racing in my opinion. War Emblem had zero chance after that break.

I forgot one other horse that may have had the best chance to win the TC the last decade...Ghostzapper.

I respect your opinion. While I think to a great extent FuPeg was a beneficiary of circumstance in the Derby, I still think he was the best in that race. Undoubtedly the best horse born in 1997 was Tiznow, but unfortunately he was not around to contest the TC.

I completely agree on Ghostzapper though. The 2003 3YO bunch would have had a run for their money.

NT

The FuPeg argument is a little like my argument that Bellamy Road was the superior horse of that crop. I can't back it up with facts particularly, and the other side can do a better job of that, but it's just my opinion. FuPeg was overrated, no doubt, but he was also pretty good. He was basically done in by physical issues, perhaps partly because he was excessively babied, and I happen to agree with Justin that he didn't handle the track at Pimlico at all in the Preakness. I am loathe to use that as an excuse but in watching that race it seems painfully obvious to me.

War Emblem's faster numbers were somewhat circumstantial, though I guess his Preakness win was totally legitimate, so I suppose the argument is at least fair. But, even though FuPeg ultimately was a disappointment, drowning El Corredor and Albert the Great ( who won the Jockey Club by 10 a few weeks later - he forgot to bounce ) in the Jerome off a four month layoff was pretty damn impressive.

To me, Silver Charm and Touch Gold could both have won the Triple Crown against some of the crops we have seen in recent years. I think a sound Touch Gold was better than Smarty Jones.

I know what you're saying as far as ability relative to the crop, but he wasn't ready for the rigors of the Triple Crown. Hell I don't even think Frankel knew what he had at that point.

I loved his quote after the Belmont- "Empire Maker is the best horse I've ever trained", and I'm thinking (after seeing Ghostzapper's return to the races in an electrifying performance) "he isn't even your best 3YO"

I do have a soft spot for War Emblem. I love horses that just go from the bell and dare you to get them.

I forgot about Silver Charm, he does make the decade cutoff. Touch Gold may have been better, but he was good for very short spurts of time and had way too many physical problems. I think even Free House could have won the TC in a few of the years this past decade. He was pretty darn good as well.

Captain Bodgit was no slouch either. That was an outstanding group. Hell, Pulpit was damn good as well.

I always liked Harlan's Holiday and i'm excited about his babies.

Too funny.

.....because most fools dont believe in nagging injuries, they always think the trainer is lying.

b.t.w......curlin will win or run 2nd to s.s.
carry on.:)

When are they drawing this race card anyways?