Corinthian - YES
 

Oh, how I like this horse. He worked 6 furlongs in 1:13 at Palm Meadows on Wednesday. I am really looking forward to his return to racing. He could add some excitement to the older horse division this year.

ditto
 

He was my derby horse last year, and I never did get on the Barbaro bandwagon until it was too late. I hope they straightened his head out, he has plenty of talent. I'd guess they'd try to find a NW type race to get him started though and not try to do to much too soon. I think Belmont should suit him fine later on though.

I assume you know that he ran once this past summer. They brought him back and ran him once in an allowance race at Saratoga. He didn't run very well and then they laid him up again.

Clearly you are kidding. This horse will have zero impact on the older handicap division. Maybe he will add some "excitement" to 30k claimers towards the end of the year.....if he is still running....he ran one good race where things kind of fell into his lap.....

Yeah me too I see him as a one turn miler maybe within a Grade 3 win by years end at best. He really hasn't done enough to get on my radar as far as 4 year olds go. Steppenwolfer is the one I want to watch mature this year. Jazil is another who is going to have a great year i think.

Yeah...Corinthian was a one/two race wonder...his comeback at Sar was bad..don't see him being much at all

Not sure what's up with Steppenwolfer.....scratched out of his comeback race on the grass and was never heard from again...not a great sign....was kind of a suck up closer last year at OP....but I suppose he could make some noise if he's healthy....will see him in the Oaklawn series for older horses....

Jazil definetly might be a serious threat...his comeback race at AQU was perfect....did what he had to do and closed for 2nd....unfortuneatly he will always need some sort of hot pace to run into...but I am a fan of the horse...

The Donn should be a great race in a few weeks....too bad sweetnorthernsaint is running the weekend before....woulda liked to see him go vs invasor and premium tap......not sure but is Jazil going in The Donn?

Oh yeah, I remember that day quite well and so does my wallet because it was empty.

I read somewhere that Steppenwolfer is at Oaklawn and is being pointed to the Oaklawn Handicapp April 2nd I believe. I could be wrong on the date. But I read where he is doing great and the trainer is excited about his return to the track.

Find a consistent bottom level claimer to follow this year, it will be more rewarding...

Yeah, that's correct. Being pointed to the Oaklawn series. Here's the article:

http://www.drf.com/drfNewsArticle.do...0&subs=0&arc=1

He is doing the Essex/Razorback/OP Handicap thing...

His trainer ALWAYS says the horse is doing great...its not like Peitz has a huge stable of good horses...so of course when he has a decent horse he is gonna make some noise....

I tend to not rely on what trainers say....I am sure Peitz is a nice guy...but really couldnt care less what he says

Yeah....most likely Steppenwolfer will suck up some more 3rd palce checks this year....

talking about claimers....how about a horse named EASY GRADES.......won 3 opt claimers in a row at LRL.....I told you he would be a great horse....

If I'm not mistaken I cashed some tickets on that horse at Churchill or Turfway in the past several years.

Who has? The Essex and Razorback will be good tests. If he can't step up and win one of them then he isn't half the horse I think he is. If he can then I think he has as good a chance as anybody not in the the top three you mentioned and as we've learned from past years the chances of the top three in January being among the top three come BC Day are slim to none and less than that when none are geldings and all three are going to Dubai. A lot of people made the mistake of assuming that because he was a closer he'd like more distance last year. This is a one run closer that seems like he will be most effective around 8.5 to 9 furlongs.

As far as Corinthian goes, to suggest that he'll be in claimers because of his allowance comeback in ludicrous, he practically flipped over in the gate. The horse is loaded with talent, he just needs to get his head on straight. He'll never be in claimers since he's worth more than $100,000 as it is. If they gelded him I bet he'd be a top horse but chances of that happening are less than Discreet Cat running in the BC Classic ten months from now. More than likely he's still a headcase and is retired to stud. If (and this is a big if) he does get his head on straight though it would be quite foolish for people to overlook him.

once upon a time older horses like cigar used to run at oaklawn. it's a shame that it's lost some of its luster, but too much competition for the top older males this time of year.
but at least we still have the apple blossom--and of course more emphasis was put on the three year old preps.

I'm more excited about the prospect of seeing how good Achilles of Troy is than I am about watching either Steppenwolfer or Corinthian.

Bullet work yesterday.

--Dunbar

No, he's going to the Gulfstream Park Handicap in March. Einstein may also be making his first (depending if Pitts preps him on turf or dirt) start on dirt in this race as well.

He got a very quick pace in that comeback....and still was soundly beaten by a horse who brought a 2-for-19 career record into the race.

There are some positive things "fans" of Jazil could take out of it, such as...the time of the race did come back alarmingly fast, the track did seem to be carrying speed later on in the card, and it was a useful return race to move forward off of.

However, anytime a Belmont Stakes winner is soundly beaten by a 2-for-19 horse, in an N2X Alw race, over the AQU Inner dirt---I'd be a little hesitant about calling it a "perfect comeback race."

The problem a horse like Jazil is going to have is small fields that lack speed. Older horses are constantly facing 5 or 6 horse fields in these races and it hurts a horse like Jazil.

I agree about Jazil. Though he earned my respect, I don't think too highly of him. He can run all day, but will be a slave to the pace at anything under 10f.

He reminds me a lot of his mother....an overrated slowpoke who always takes money, and almost always finds one or two better than herself.



Her "win" in the Demoiselle, with the 68 Beyer, was total bunk. The stewards had no right to dq Tutorial that day.

Interesting how the dams of this year's Classic winners were battling it out as maidens too.

I know.

Barbaro's dam and Jazil's dam weren't all that much race horse...they both were fairly useful types who were lucky to be in such a weak crop.

Bernardini's mother was a damn good horse however.

I am surprised you would write all this stuff, that is basically wrong, in light of the fact that you are not following Aqueduct at all. I realize the new feisty DrugS is looking for action but why do it in a way that embarrasses and demeans your immense handicapping talent?

They need to send her back to A.P. Indy - pronto. Last two foals, both fillies were Storm Cats.

More amusing is Il De France (out of Cara Rafaela) has foals by Dynaformer and Seeking the Gold.

It's kind of a joke with Kiri and I. EG was my horse for the derby yrs ago. I believe he had a very tough trip in the SA Derby....Stevens almost fell off the horse. Horse ran bad in The Derby and then again...and again.......I caught a lot of **** for backing the horse.....well.....EG has turned out to be an ok Opt Claimer.....bringing in a decent amount of checks...

Corinthian has never really run a "great" race......until he does I dont think much of him. The claimers thing was sarcastic.....of course they wont let him go in a claiming race.....even if thats where he will be the most competitive down the road...

I totally agree. Sure, he has some ability, but nowhere near what people were saying ( and apparently still are ) after his win in the very bad Fountain of Youth last year. While he is a bit of a bad actor, there have been many of those in the past, and it isn't a viable excuse for his real problem....a reasonable case of the slows.

There are only two horses returning in the older male division that have run a great race and one that has run a very good one in Premium Tap. Behind them it is pretty wide open.

True, but Corinthian is behind quite a few at this point. You can say the potential gap isn't that big, but considering he ran a couple fair races a year ago, and one terrible race six months ago, I would say Corinthian is more than a longshot, and really just one of those names people like to say " what if " about....when really they should be saying " never was ".

What makes you think he doesnt have the ability that some believe he may have? What has the horse done wrong? Granted he hasnt dont much to pop your eye balls out. But he only has 5 starts. 2 wins (3 if you get past the DQ) and 1 place and one poor performance in his comeback race this summer when he almost flipped at the gate. I really think the jury is still out on this horse.

I believe there is a lot of talent there if he can ever harness his energy into the race rather than wasting it all pre-race. Unfortunately the only way that is likely to happen is with the ultimate equipment change which is doubtful to ever happen. More than likely he'll never show that talent and will fit perfectly with your notion that he never had much to begin with. But then again, there is always the chance he does get his head on straight. At the very least he will be interesting to watch in his first two races back.

Dollar Bill was faster than Steppenwolf.....he just had the misfortune of being ridden by Pat Day.

I love Steppenwolfer. My WPS bet on helped me to break even in the derby. I left out Bluegrass Cat in my tri. DOH!

Sorry, I'm not a built-in-excuse guy. You either think he will do well or you don't.

I don't. You seem to feel regardless of what he does you are correct...you are not.

By the way.....any other Jimmy Jerkens horses you have unrealistic expectations about that I need to be aware of?;)

I think that is a fair comparison. But Dollar Bill always found himself in some sort of trouble. He could be in a walkover and he would prob run into the rail.