Get your Sundial ready
 

They are about to run a Grade 1 going 10 furlongs at Del Mar.

I actually bet the race....I don't know what possessed me to do so...but I did.

I played an exacta box with Awesome Gem over Lava Man, Albertus Maximus, and Time Squared.

anyone who used 3rd or 4th tier 3yos from this crop of 3yos in this race truly needs their heads examined.

Then again, u could have said the same thing for anyone that bet Student Council. On this junk, u might as well take a shot at boxing the longest shots on the board and see what happens. It's a crapshoot.

I didn't "bet them" I used them with my key horse Awesome Gem...who plugged along happily for 2nd.....only not winning because I had a small win bet on him.

Did anyone catch the final time of this stellar race? I'm sure you could have timed it with a sundial.

true nuff KG, but still, i think i'm the only person remaining who thinks this crop of 3yos is just awful. the top 3 or so in the crop are pretty good animals, but beyond that, blech!

i think part of the reason the top few horses in this crop look so good to people is that there is such a profound lack of depth to this crop, they just standout over their competition so far.

i didnt say bet, i said used.

207.1

i used one mississippi after the two minute mark....thought i was going to get to eight mississippi, but they got to the line in time...

They must have really souped up the track for the big day....

I was expecting about 2:10 flat.

my over/under going in was 206.

i guess i'm not too smart either.

i bet on Student Council. i thought he looked good against this group, according to all the speed numbers i looked at. a solid well bred horse heading out to face a softer group? and at those odds? i didn't understand why he was ignored but i'm not complaining.

if you look at his pp's he has the type of runstyle that is good for poly. he runs at a high consistent speed, and he has endurance to boot.

is that allowable, saying on here you bet on a horse after the race?

He does have a good running style for poly. Hes a slow crow. Any east Coast open 50 claimer can win a Graded stake in California.

U aren't the only one. I think Curlin is really good. I think Rags is special. I think I underrated how good Street Sense is at his best. Any Given Saturday is looking really good. But that's it for me for this division.

He's been beaten by Throng on both the dirt and the polytrack at Keeneland.

Congrats to whoever had him....he wasn't for me.

His owners sold him. Even they had given up on him. This is more hilarious by the second.

Hes not for anybody who handicaps fast horses, because hes not a fast horse. Hes a mediocre plodder with no kick. He rolls up along Lava Man like hes Arazi.

That's what I liked most about Awesome Gem.....

no it is frowned upon by many, but then i've noticed that the same people that frown on it also will do in a cute way by saying "attn redboard alert"
i don't bother to do that because i frankly don't care what anyone thinks.

Gem ran well, its just disheartening to see horses like Student Council win grade 1 races. The only thing worse would have been if Juice Boat won

guys you are all really over estimating how good the west coast horses are,.

If Lava Man and Student Council had met on a dirt track today....at level weights no less, do you think the result would have been the same?

Nobody said they are good, they stink. I just cant stand to see a horse like Lava Man go 115 and not finish. Hes a notorious gamer, especially in Cali, especially when having things his own way. He got a perfect ride and was done mid stretch. Do you think hes better than Student Council?

Lava Man would have beaten him by 5 or more on the dirt TID

yes i do, at 10 furlongs, sure. Lava Man has been barely getting it done against horses like APxcellent and Big Booster.

Are u suggesting that every listed stakes caliber horse in the Midwest and East could have done this same thing? Are the California horses that bad?

no i'm not suggesting that, that would be dumb.
not every midwest horse has his talent or style, he has been steadily improving for a long time. his sheet numbers for his past two races are zero. the only other horse in the race that also had zeros was Awesome Gem.

no?
i didn't intend it for a person, i frankly don't remember who it was but i've noticed several people playing both sides of the so called no redboarding rule.

No, I didn't bet him but I like your thinking here. Generally, I do believe Midwest based horses go off at higher odds than they should when they go to EITHER coast.

thats right, and even though he races for Cerin now, in typical Neil Howard style this horse just kept getting incrementally better with age. If you can compete in Kentucky and Ark with Magna Graduate, Brass Hat, Wanderin Boy, etc you can compete with that group out west today.

If people go to the Thorograph website - this race was the freebee for the week, and the figures and analysis are still up - TG had the exacta, described the handicap division in the west for what it is (weak), and predicted Lava Man once again was a strong underlay.

Congradulations Arl Jim at least you got it

The racing on this stuff is just an eyesore. I hope others enjoy it, I'll stick to betting dirt and turf races. Between the O'Brien and Pacific Classic, I'm not sure which is the worst G1 I've seen. A photo may pronounce it a dead heat.