2/16-18: Carlos (SA); Bertie (GP); Gen George (LRL)
 

8th (4:00) San Carlos H. (G2)

7 Furlongs (All Weather Track) | Open | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $150,000

1 Soul City Slew Baze M C 113 L
2 Men Only Garcia M 113 L
3 Circular Quay Smith M E 117 L
4 Greg's Gold Espinoza V 119 L
5 Surf Cat Solis A 118 L
6 Johnny Eves Bejarano R 118 L
7 Cooperation Baze T C 113 L

2/18 (LRL): Gen. George H. (Gr. II)
 

8th (3:53) General George H. (G2)

7 Furlongs | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $300,000

1 Lord Snowdon Rose J 113 L
2 Bustin Stones Dominguez R A 115
3 Premium Wine Rose J 113 L
4 Throng Prado E S 115 LA
5 Ryan's for Real Caraballo J C 114 LA
6 Divine Park Garcia Alan 117 LA
7 Marvel Wood Rose J 109 LA
8 Stormin Normandy Velasquez C 113 L

2/17 (GP): Hurricane Bertie (Gr. III)
 

8th (4:42) Hurricane Bertie H. (G3)

7 Furlongs | Fillies and Mares | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $150,000

1 Linda May (ARG) Castro E 115
2 Cher Ami Smith A E 118 L
3 Bereba Cruz M R 115 L
4 Lady Marlboro Coa E M 119 L
5 Sugar Swirl Castellano J J 121 L
6 Silver Knockers Velazquez J R 116 Blk-On L
7 V. I. P. Princess Velasquez C 115 L
8 Change Up Desormeaux K J 118 L

I thought Lady Marlboro was very impressive in her last race.

You must have really dug Scat Daddy in the Derby last year.

Going with Surf Cat one last time and putting him on top of Circular Quay.

I think Surf Cat drowns this field and I am highly dubious of any pletcher horse off this long and with the track closings hard to believe he is ready to run.

Great call 10 pnt

Damn....another of my old favorites makes it back to the winners circle today.

Atta boy S.C.:cool:

just watched the replay....man I have missed seeing that beautiful stride of his. I hope this is a sign of good health and a good year for him.

As maybe Surf Cat's biggest fan, I was not impressed today. He didn't look like the Surf Cat of old to me. Solis was getting into him to get him into the race. The old Surf Cat would have been dragging Alex along with him and would have blown by them in the blink of an eye instead of just grinding them down. I was glad to see him win a race finally but either it's running on junk or he's lost his old brilliance but that wasn't the same horse that made me think he was arguably the best horse in the country in 2006.

You can count me among his biggest fans as well. He certainly isn't the same horse that he used to be. He simply hasn't displayed that powerful kick he used to uncoil, since returning from injury. But, if im not mistaken, he also hasn't run on dirt since his return either. Could be the synthetic that he doesn't like, could be he has lost a step or it could be a combination of both.

Either way, I loved seeing that long stride of his coming down the lane yesterday...and yes, the old Surf Cat, on dirt especially, would have blown away that field. Glad to have him back in the winners circle though.

Yea, the injury cut this horses ability big time, that being said it was really a pretty bad field, Johnny Eves at 8/5 was crazy and Gregs Gold has not been as good as advertised in my book, and as I pointed out it was more likely Circular Quey had three legs instead of four.

I find it very hard to knock a horse like Greg's Gold...

Why, he is a nice little horse but hardly a world class sprinter.

HOLY CATFISH!

Yeah, that three race campaign in 2006 that culminated in May was impressive. Come on, it's not like there was a horse that was undefeated in America and won four Grade Is or a Derby winner by open lengths who happened to be undefeated or a 3YO who blossomed into a multiple Grade I winner and was beaten in the BC Classic by the Horse of the Year.

NT

The question is, where does Surf Cat fit amongst:

1. King Glorious
2. Java Gold
3. Lammtarra
4. Smarty Jones
5. Go for Wand

NT....he was a 4YO in 2006. In 2005 he was one of the best 3YO's in the country. IMO, where they made the mistake with him as a 3yo, was running him in the Pacific Classic against older.

I'm confused... why on earth was it a mistake to run him against older horses?

Right, I know. What I was referring to was the mystifying statement, albeit an opinion that he was the best horse in the country in 2006 and a shortened season kept him from accomplishing something great.

I was endeavoring to also point out that there were some pretty talented horses that ran in 2006.

NT

Ok, I see now where K.G. stated he was the best horse in 2006. I thought you where referring to his 3yo year....sorry 'bout that.:o


MMSC....just my personal opinion is all. Not quite sure he was ready to take on the likes of those in that race. Berrego turned out to have a very solid 2 half of the year in 2005. Just think he needed a touch more experience than he had going into that race. But what the hell do I know...im just a golf pro:cool:

:D

Yeah well I'm just a pretty-horsie-girl-wanna-be-capper so what do I know. :p

I just tend to think if you've got a really good 3YO (which he was) you should go for it.

Girls against the boys, younger against older, etc.:)

Bernardini blossomed in the second half of the 2006 season. Invasor did the same thing. Barbaro was overrated from the start. Surf Cat, in the first half of 2006, ran as well as any horse in the country. There weren't that many that were able to combine the ability to excel in sprints and routes. I'm sorry that I didn't include the statement "in the first half". Maybe that would have cleared up some of the confusion. At the same time, I do not believe that Bernardini, Invasor or Barbaro could have beaten him under a mile. It's my belief that he'd have a better chance of beating them at 10f than they would have of beating him at 6.5-7f. For some people, the best horses aren't necessarily the best at 9-10f. For some people, they would rather have a horse that has more versatility.

Barbaro was a good horse but I think he was far from proving himself as the superstar that his fans made him out to be. Granted, his Derby was an awesome, overpowering performance. But I think that if people judged Barbaro without all of the sentiment that comes with his story, they will find quite a few horses that were as good as or better at their best than Barbaro was. That begs the question of whether or not we saw Barbaro at his best? There's every chance that he could have shown even more. But strictly based on fact and not speculation, I think he was overrated.

Look out.

Secreteriet bashing is next.

Still missing it DaHoss? Comparing Barbaro to Secretariat.

First of all Meridian, nobody is bashing Barbaro. Saying that I don't think he was as great as the media and his fans made him out to be is not bashing. Bashing would be saying that he wasn't any good. I clearly said that he was a really good horse and that there was a chance the had he continued on, we could have seen him be even better.

I don't think that Barbaro's Derby was as good as Smarty's Rebel, Preakness or Belmont. So I don't agree that he was at least as impressive on the track as Smarty was. And even if I were to go along with you on that, it was still one great performance compared to three for Smarty. Outside of the Derby, Barbaro had a string of rather ordinary performances, IMO. I'm sure part of that was by design. No need to empty the chamber during the prelims. But part of what separates the stars from the superstars is even when they aren't emptying the chamber, they still put in superstar efforts. Smarty's Rebel, Secretariat's Gotham, Sunday Silence's SA Derby, for example.

I was only kidding.


About Secreteriet.








Tardy Jones is another matter.

He was good...but people crank him up above his accomplishments.

He was no Bernardini.

Wow. While I can appreciate the view that Barbaro is thought of too highly by some because of his story and the fact that we didn't get to see his flaws the rest of that is nonsense. If you think that Barbaro's Laurel Futurity was ordinary you are absolutely nuts.

Holy Bull was a great horse. On accomplishments + ability, I would have to rate him top five. Understand something. I KNOW that my list is more subjective than objective. I base it more on the talent that I think that I saw than on what they actually accomplished. For that fact, I have absolutely no problem with anyone that ranks Barbaro that high. But I think when we get to being more objective than subjective, we'd realize that my list would have to change....and so would a lot of other people's.