Saturdays Top Performers ?
 

Curlin was super....
That frankel filly is ok.
Gravitational.... i think thats it.... he was sharp and looked like a winner every step of the race.
Hystericalady

YOU!

of course...:D

:$:

That Tiznow horse in the Jefferson Cup looed good. He beat little but he rebroke in the lane for a 1/16 and then eased to the wire. He looks ready to try better.

Does anyone think that Eistein put in a hell of a performance? I remember a few posts that began with "why" and "poorly handled" I think he made a real good showing for himself.

Not really that impressed. . . he ran a similar race to his race in the Donn probably. I liked Tizdejavu in his last race but was shocked by how he ran today. Granted, he did get an easy lead, but the way he opened up was pretty impressive and wasn't something I was expecting. Gravitational ran pretty big too - he might be one to watch. I wish Hystericalady and Ginger Punch had run in the same race. . .

I think there is some short sightedness when it comes to this race and what they were trying to do. I think this was a test to see how he would do against the "rest" of the handicap division. Curlin does not look like hes pointing towards the BCC and who knows about BB. So seeing the classic is being run on the turf, oh I mean polytrack, I think this is a good sign that they might and I mean might, try pointing this horse to the classic if they can get a similar field minus Curlin.

Then shouldn't they have run him on poly?

No, the top handicappers aren't racing on poly and if he can beat them on their own turf, no pun intended, then im sure he will have an easier time with them on poly. I believe a poly with be thrown in the near future. Maybe the pacific classic?

No. He wasn't even close and he got 10 pounds. He has a chance at a turf Eclipse and they are running him on the dirt. Makes no sense. He can't compete with top dirt horses and the Donn showed that.

This doesn't make sense. . .

Are you talkin about a race that happened back in January? And yea he wasnt even close yesterday but nobody was or could be. I liked the run he made in the stretch.

That doesnt make sense. Explain???

Because beating horses on dirt and beating horses on poly aren't the same thing. You automatically assume that he'll take to the poly and be better on it than on dirt. And, besides Curlin, the top older horses ARE on the poly - Heatseaker and Tiago. Those are the ones he'll have to beat (but won't be able to) in the classic - not the great Barcola and Grasshopper. And I can't even understand the rest of your post - but if you're saying he'll be going to the Pacific Classic you're way off. Not that I wouldn't put it past the connections to make a stupid decision like that from their jail cells, but I'm pretty sure he'll be running in the Arlington Million where he belongs.

February, but yes. He is a grade 1 turf horse and basically a grade 2/3 dirt horse that was easily handled yesterday. If you want to try to steal a grade 1 dirt race for breeding reasons you don't do it with Curlin in there. The Suburban is in 2 weeks and they could have tried that. He might actually be able to beat the mediocre horses that will show up for that. He probably should have run in the Manhattan last week.

Um yea you are correct. I said "maybe the Pacific Classic?" So that does mean I said he will definately be going to the Pacific Classic. Im only stating that IMO this might be the reason they raced him yesterday. I dont know what the connection are going to do and neither do you. But if I had a decent horse with alot of ability I sure as hell would like a shot at the most prestigious rece in the world. If they dont want a shot at the classic then racing him yesterday was the dummest move of all time.

The whole handicap division is loaded with grade 2 or 3 horses or worse NW's running in Grade 1's. And their intention was not to beat Curin yesterday it was to run exactly the way he did. "Big Picture"

Tiger Woods

He can't run in New York because of license issues with his jailbird owners.

sure wasn't phil

Cushion track is not Polytrack. Poly was designed for turfers in GB to work on when the gallops were wet, and to race on in the winter when the turf is 'way too soft to race on. Cushion has a completely different origin, and seems to play much more like traditional dirt.

All of it is crap to me anyways. So now instead of track bias we need to handicap which type of wax they are running on too? What ever happened to dirt and turf. All of these non horsemen intellectuals are overthinking and ruining the game.

They ran him there because there were few options available especially so with his ownership situation and the fact it was a big money race. You may be correct in that they may point to the classic but that was not the intention of running in this race but may be a result of it.

Who outside of curlin are the top handicappers?

altho there are various brand names, i'd imagine that when someone says cushion, poly, tapeta, they're talking about an AWT. at any rate, they're all NOT dirt.

on dirt? lol that's an incredibly short list. it includes:





as for AWT, i'd imagine heatseeker and tiago would be first to be mentioned.

As opposed to the compelling question of Einstein running on polytrack, I would love to know where Curlin will run next assuming he has the same ownership issues in NY that Einstein does and he surely wont be pointed to synthetic track races which rules out California? Maybe the Arlington million or Islen?

guess it depends on whether or not they can get the new york license snafu taken care of. but it's a good question.

if they really want to run him on turf, surely they would stay in country and try it first, rather than the arc be his first time?? but that begs the question...if he can run on turf, can he run on poly? of course the two don't always go hand in hand...

I am not sure that they can get the license thing cleared up in NY. I mean the guys in jail arent getting out anytime soon. Unless Woodbine creates some kind of special turf race I just dont know where they could possibly run except for Arlington or Monmouth.

France.

Do you think he will only use one prep in france before the Arc and not run in the US again?

The Prix Neil?

i'm not too sure about what is going on with their license..didn't pay much attention as i really don't care or feel bad for them. horrible, isn't it?:rolleyes:

yeah, pretty much leave mth and arl--i just think if they're seriously thinking grass later this year (i wonder just how serious they are?), against europes best, they should try him on it a lot closer to home first.

The funny thing is that even if by some chance he likes the grass, and ran in the Arlington Million and won, he would still get his head handed to him in the Arc.

Believe me, I would admire them for going, and think it would be neat....but he would get positively drowned. You really need to be at the Arc and see them hosing down the course to appreciate how different the racing is over there.

They've mentioned the Prix Foy as a prep for the Arc.

Who's the last US based horse to try the Arc?

At least I think I know. Hint.....though only Chuck will get it.....his trainer was a wild man.

NO, NOTHING SPECIAL...curlin was never asked, and einsten barley outfinished a 20-1 shot, who is really just a horse for the deleware course

i disagree.

I think there are some interesting questions that may arise if he doesnt run again in the US. Namely can a horse who only runs one time in the US be named Horse of the year if that race is not a BC race? If he were to run in the Arlington million or another US turf race and win would he get support for turf champion off of one race? If BB were to come back and win the Travers would he get enough support for HOY?

If Curlin is HOY with only one US win then the Eclipse awards become even more meaningless. There is a precedent for being turf champ with one turf win but I suppose it depends if there are others with multiple turf wins. As for Big Brown, if he wins the Travers, another horse will have to do something exceptional to beat him for HOY. Of course, I look forward to our first Polytrack HOY. I'm sure Michael Dickinson would vote for him.

A Penna, Sr.?