2/22 (FG): Risen Star (G2), Mineshaft, FG, Rachel Alexandra (G3's)
 

8th (3:55) Bayou H.

About 1 1/16 Miles (Turf) | Fillies and Mares | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $60,000

1 Class Included Bridgmohan S X 120 L
2 Masquerade Geroux F 114 L
3 Starstruck (IRE) Graham J 119 L
4 Street of Gold Hernandez B J Jr 111 L
5 Twirl (IRE) Albarado R J 115 L
6 Channel Lady Clark K D 117 L
7 Agressive Elegance Landeros C 112 L
8 Awesome Flower Talamo J 115 L
9 Eden Prairie Napravnik R 120 L



9th (4:25) Rachel Alexandra S. (G3)

1 1/16 Miles | Fillies | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $200,000

1 Army Reznikov A 116 L
2 Streaming Garcia M 122 L
3 Shanon Nicole Albarado R J 118 L
4 Untapable Napravnik R 122 L
5 Got Lucky Smith M E 116 L
6 Ria Antonia Talamo J 122 L
7 Express Model Graham J 116 L



10th (4:55) Fair Grounds H. (G3)

About 1 1/8 Miles (Turf) | Open | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $150,000

1 Mister Marti Gras Bridgmohan S X 116 L
2 Skyring Pedroza M 114 L
3 Ground Transport Guidry M 113 L
4 Daddy Nose Best Napravnik R 123 L
5 Gentleman's Kitten Talamo J 116 L
6 Potomac River Vargas J P 118 L
7 Hard Aces Albarado R J 115 L
8 Slip and Drive Graham J 115 L
9 Unitarian Smith M E 116 L



11th (5:25) Risen Star S. (G2)

1 1/16 Miles | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $400,000

1 Albano Clark K D 116 L
2 Rise Up Melancon G 120 L
3 Flat Gone Landeros C 116 L
4 Vigorish Pedroza M 116 L
5 Bond Holder Gutierrez Mario 122 L
6 Gold Hawk Nakatani C S 116 L
7 Interchange Baird E T 116 L
8 Hoppertunity Garcia M 116 L
9 Intense Holiday Smith M E 116 L
10 Son of a Preacher Mena M 116 L
11 Quick Indian Hernandez B J Jr 116 L
12 Xtra Luck Eramia R E 116 L
13 Commanding Curve Albarado R J 116 L
14 Vicar's in Trouble Napravnik R 120 L
AE Emmett Park Graham J 116 L
AE Teniente Coronel Bridgmohan S X 116 Blk-On L



12th (5:55) Mineshaft H. (G3)

1 1/16 Miles | Open | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $150,000

1 Micromanage Smith M E 116 L
2 Grand Contender Graham J 117 L
3 Afford Hernandez B J Jr 113 L
4 Ground Transport Guidry M 115 L
5 Mister Marti Gras Bridgmohan S X 116 L
6 Stephanoatsee Eramia R E 112 Blk-Off L
7 Prayer for Relief Nakatani C S 121 L
8 Bradester Napravnik R 114 L
9 Fordubai Albarado R J 117 L

Bond holder is out of the risen star

He wasn't going to beat the rising star in Rise Up

I find it interesting that Pletcher sends Intense Holiday here instead of keeping him at Gulfstream for the Fountain of Youth. So in his last 3 races he's finished behind Havana, Honor Code and Cairo Prince. I think Pletcher is gauging how he really stacks up, and crazy enough I think he gets a little class relief going here. It's "put up or shut up" time for this horse, and I think he delivers with a monster effort and wins.

I think Vicar's in Trouble's post position is overblown. If he breaks alertly, I think there's only 3 speed-balls to his inside that could cause him trouble. So as long as he breaks alertly, he can settle in behind the pace only 3-4 wide into the first turn. He'll have first run at the leaders going for home and he'll be as dangerous as ever.

I think Hopportunity will be dangerous. He's improving and he lost to Bayern in his career debut while not breaking alertly. So I think he fits in with these and will be flying late.

Quick Indian is a sentimental play I'm using underneath. He's owned by Canterbury regulars Dan Lynch and (owned/trained) Merrill Scherer. This race is a "next logical step" for him after breaking his maiden and winning an AOC at Fairgrounds last out. He's not worse (on paper) than any of the other fringe players in here, so why not?

But in Conclusion I really think Intense Holiday gets back on track in here and wins

Anyone know why Son of a Preacher hasn't worked since 2/2?

How many more preps for Ria Antonia before the Derby?

Didn't lift a hoof today.

Intense holiday was solid in getting up..albano also very game..nobody else did squat

I'm only quoting myself, because I DIDN'T play today. Which is the way it always goes. If I actually put my money where my mouth is, Intense Holiday would've run 4th again lol.

It was a mistake trying to rate Rise Up. The horse spent more energy fighting it than it's worth.

I guess they had to find out sometime.

Too early to give up on Vicar looked menacing but flattened out

He's a miler at best, and probably just an OK miler.

Yes I posted on this earlier and for some reason it was taken down. Hell I am not the one who said they were pointing towards the Derby. They were. Yet mentioning the idiocy is taboo. So be it

He won as an underlay.

Disagree. He was about right. The two morning line favorites are not very good. Bullet Bobs horse was the underlay.

maybe a little, but I knew once I saw his PPs and the rest of the field's, that he'd be nowhere close to the 8-1ML odds given to him. In all seriousness I tweeted that I thought he'd be about 5-1.

The one thing I will say watching the replay-
as big of a race as Albano ran, Intense Holiday was boxed in by Vicar's in Trouble the whole race going into the final turn. Smith had to wait for Rosie to make a move on Vicar before he could move Intense Holiday. I think Intense Holiday could've won this a lot easier if he didn't have to wait.

Also... crazy, but I'd like to see Gold Hawk get one more chance. He was positioned well, and had 2 chances to put in a closing run. But on the first chance he was in tight when Vicar closed to the outside of him (granted if the horse had some killer instinct he could've bulled through easy). Then when he tried to uncork his run again, Intense Holiday came in on him a little. He wasn't gonna beat the top 2, but I think if he had a slightly cleaner chance at the top of the stretch he could've ran with Vicar.

Just saying he might be eligible for improvement with a slightly cleaner trip at the top of the stretch and some maturity.

Anybody who uses TimeformUS had to like Intense Holiday. Why everyone was enamored with Hoppertunity off that perfect trip is beyond me.

Two words.

Bob

Baffert.

Actually, all you had to do was put your smug/snide opinion in the place already established to share it as opposed to your usual 'look at how clever I am' thread start. If you don't like it here, you can get the phuck out because you add virtually nothing.