Harlem Rocker
 

This is a very serious 3YO.

was thinking the same thing myself.
that was a very nice looking performance.

May make the Preakness extremely interesting.

He inhaled that field and won laughing....and J Be K is no bum.

23.91 with a tail wind? (at least cross wind)

Wow great insight. A horse beats 3 others and now is serious. Then again, we are grasping for any hint of talent from any 3 year old this year. It is slim pickings out there.

If only Stronach ran his racetracks half as well as his breeding operation.

He went into this race with a form fairly similar - if not a little more impressive - than the one Bernardini took into the Withers...and now will take the same kind of form into the Preakness. He's not a son of A. P. Indy and might not be open to the same kind of development Bernardini was...but he's run outstanding again.

In that allowance win one back prior to today, Samba Rooster is a real horse - who was exiting the most vicious pace of the meet going a mile at Gulfstream, and he got it all his own way and Harlem Rocker just flat wore him down stylishly.

This race is a big stepping stone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcC3hCMoUFQ

me and my friend were in otb watching and it was amazing effort, my buddy says, can he finish in 134 and change i was like i doubt it.... freak

wow.. just watched the replay. that acceleration seemed effortless!

Stick a fork in him.

R.I.P. Harlem Rocker.

VERY impressive . . . I think I read, though, that he's being pointed to the Queen's Plate. Kind of a waste of time if you ask me. Could have a very legit shot in the Preakness.

He's part of the Adena Racing Venture II. The folks that bought into that have to be thrilled.

preakness yes!
 

thanks for this post cause sometimes i see something that i think is special and... well i just remind myself that i have no clue!

any comments on Desert Key's race? was it as fast as it looked? thx!

Considering it was only 3/5 or 4/5 faster than $10K claimers went in the opener I wouldn't get too excited but it was very good for a maiden winner.

From DRF:
 

"While the Withers did produce 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini, Harlem Rocker is most likely going to target the $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes at Woodbine on June 1 and then the $1 million Queen's Plate on June 22."

http://www.drf.com/news/article/94050.html

I hope they change their minds. . .

Loved him today, and thought he was the 2nd best 3YO at GP this year, but the Lit De Justice on the damside doesn't scream distance.

Stronach has some breeding operation, and that isn't even including the Ghostzappers which haven't hit the track yet. Macho Uno sweeps the 3YO stakes today... and Milwaukee Brew got a stakes winner today at Calder, on top of it all.

Harlem Rocker got a 106 Beyer.

Tricky track, as the first two races ( at 6F ) were outrageously fast, then the track may have slowed down. Still, could J Be K have gotten a 100 or so? He looked to really be struggling a bit the last eighth.

Regardless, I will be very surprised if he doesn't go to the Preakness.

Hope you're right . . .

Harlem Rocker went 3 1/5 faster than the horses in the 4th race, which is around 40 points, maybe 42, so assuming the track didn't change that race got a 66 or so....which probably makes sense especially considering the trouble the winner of that race had at the start.

Not sure if you're replying to me - but I was referring to the Preakness thing - not questioning the fig. 106 sounds about right to me. . . Obviously VERY early to speculate on but I wonder how hard he'd get bet in the Preakness with such a high fig.

I was just pontificating into space.

I guess it depends what happens next Saturday. However, considering what we've seen already, and also considering Harlem Rocker has high profile connections, he can't be too big a price.

What did Red Bullet pay in the Preakness....6:1?

Not hard at all... the last two sharp winners of the Withers that went on to the Preakness (Scrappy T, Bernardini) went off at 20-1 and 12-1, respectively. If you like him that day, you will get a decent price.

I think people forget how well Scrappy T ran in the Preakness because of the collision with Alex and the ensuing amazing recovery- he blasted the front runners and had a clear lead at the top of the stretch. What an incredible race that was!!!

He's about as likely to be double digit odds if he goes in the Preakness as I am to dunk on LeBron.

6-1

I know ... I bet Scrappy to win that day. I was pissed that he didn't win, but then I was happy to see such a great race. Alex displayed amazing athleticism that day ... :cool:

I'll get you a trampoline.

Agree though- I'm guessing 6-1 to 8-1 is about right.

Too funny ...

It happened right in front of me... I still can't believe it to this day he actually stayed up. Looking at the photo in "The Greatest 100 Moments in Racing History" right now actually. Had a big exacta box Alex-Scrappy so I was happy. :cool:

The only way he will be that high is if someone explodes in the Derby...and even then.

Red Bullet got drowned by FuPeg in the Wood, FuPeg jogged in the Derby, and yet Red Bullet was still 6:1. It's probably not unfair to compare most of this year's Derby to FuPeg's competition.....but Harlem Rocker will be coming to the Preakness ( at least theoretically ) with a very hefty fig...and Todd Pletcher's hefty profile.

Honestly, unless Big Brown dominates the Derby, this horse could be 4:1. Close your eyes, and think about this........everyone will love him. I'm regretting starting this thread already.

I bet! :)

Red Bullet was also trained by Orseno... a fine horseman but not exactly a high profile guy.

Nah, this thread was warranted- keep in mind the people on here are sharp and see all the angles relative to the Preakness public, which has a strong favoring towards horses that ran in the Derby (which was the point of my note on Scrappy T and Bernardini, both who came in with similar Withers results as Harlem Rocker, albeit against stronger Preakness fields).

While I was impressed by the horse's first two races, especially the second, when he ran down a loose Samba Rooster, I'm not as quick as some to make him a strong Preakness contender for a number of reasons:

1) This was the 1st time he was actually behind and between horses, and he seemed to have difficulty with this; on the backstretch, early, his footwork was off, and he might've been on the wrong lead

2) He was worked over in the stretch alot more than his previous races and while he showed signs of wanting to drift in in the previous races, while nonetheless running straight in the lane, today, he drifted in badly late, having to be pulled off by Coa, and switched back lefty late, as well ---not exactly signs of a horse that wins easily

So, while the race was a new experience for him (running behind horses), he also seemed to take a step back in terms of footwork. Going two turns might present a new challenge for him.

Moreover, I don't think the runner up wants a mile and that ridiculous 1st qtr says as much negatively about the runner up as it does positively about the winner.

He was definitely green . . . may have room for improvement. . .

By the way, did you know he's still running??

I was gonna say.

The horse has yet to go two turns.
He has run down some very fast paces.


I do like how he can relax behind horses well
for only 3 races. And he has had an easy time
at the end basically cruising home without effort.

Two turns... Seems to me you gotta see that first.
Or the others are just so weak...

Hard to speculate as to his Preakness odds today. It all depends on next Sat. If someone dominates (BB maybe or possibly a resurgent Pyro? Col. John decides he loves dirt?) he gets "the aura" of invincibility. Bernardini was a big price because he was taking on the second coming of Man O' War in Barbaro, who had by then already been canonized. (2000 was the same w/FuPeg and RB.)

I do however see this as more of a chaos Derby (like Giacomo's or Charismatic's) which could yield an oddball winner thus lowering the price on Harlem Rocker in the Preakness.

Yep, he's still in my stable mail.