The Return of Declan's Moon
 

I believe that Declan's Moon is supposed to make his return on Sunday at Hollywood Park.

1st at hwood
 

Race Type: Allowance Optional Claiming
Breed: Thoroughbred
Age Restriction: Four Year Old and Upward
Purse: $55,000
Distance:Six And One Half Furlongs
Surface: Dirt
Post Horse Name Age Sex Weight Jockey Name Claiming Price
1 Yes He's a Pistol (FL) 4 Colt 123 Patrick A. Valenzuela $100,000
2 Desert Boom (CA) 6 Gelding 114 Juan Ochoa $0
3 Seattle Buddy (KY) 4 Colt 118 Martin Garcia $0
4 Declan's Moon (MD) 4 Gelding 119 Victor Espinoza $0
5 Areyoutalkintome (CA) 5 Gelding 121 Tyler Baze $100,000

Welcome news.

I hope all of his maladies are in the past. He should be around for a few more years.

Great to see him back.
Although, it's a pretty ambitious spot for being out for so long.
I Can't wait to see how this horse runs.

An ambitious spot? This is the easiest spot that he could come back in. He's not eligible for anything else. He has no conditions left. He's won 5 races. They had two choices. They could have brought him back in a stakes race or they could have brought him back in a classified allowance race like this.

Yay, I'm so happy - he was such a talented two year old. I actually never thought he'd make it back. By the look of his works, though, Moon is better than ever. I hope so; as a gelding, we could have some fun with him. Thanks for posting!

I realize his options were limited. but for a small field, I think this is a pretty tough group to face. Considering he's never faced older before and has only raced once in the past 20 months.

Can't wait to see the '05 Derby winner back in action..

This is a very tough spot for a horse coming off this type of layoff. Bunch of hard knockers, game old campaigners. I'd be shocked if they beat Areyoutalkingtome. Anything 2/1 or higher on this guy is a gift.

I agree that there are some hard-knocking horses in here, but this is the easiest condition that is available for DM. It's tough to even get these races to fill. They had to keep it a secret that DM was even going to run in this spot because if they let it be known that they were going to enter, then the race probably would not have filled. As it is, it's only a 5 horse race.
With regards to Areyoutalkinto me, I don't think he's doing too well right now. He's actually entered for $100,000 in this race. I doubt they would be willing to lose him for $100,000 if he was doing well. I think he has very little shot of beating DM.
I think DM will win the race. He can sprint and I think he's just too classy for this bunch. I heard he's training great. I saw him the other day and he looks great. He's much bigger and stronger now.

I dont know what you guys are wanting from the horse. I dont think the connections are all that worried about winning this race. This is the only race available for him. The connections have bigger goals on down the line for DM. This race is just to get him used to racing again, get him acclamated to competing again. They really had no other options.

100K isnt exactly chump change. And the chances of being claimed for 100K are a lot slimmer than being in for say 25K or 30K. Not sure that this is as much of a red flag as you may think. I think this horse absolutely jogs in here.

I'm glad to see DM back but I don't think he can win this.

I think that DM will jog here. I don't think you realize how good he is. He is a great horse and he is training great. He has plenty of works too. He's not going to be short. He's shown he can sprint. You are totally underestimating DM. DM was running faster as a 2 year old than your horse has run as an older horse. If DM loses to Areyoutalkintome, that would be a huge surprise to me.

Yeah, I know what you mean. There's no way that a super-star can beat some $100,000 claimers. LOL. Where do you guys come up with this stuff? I could understand if you said that he's no lock here, but to say that he can't win is absurd. He's much better than these horses.

I never said Declans Moon could not win this race. I just said I have a very strong opinion on one of his competitors, who I think will win this race rather easily.

D Moon
 

I think he inhales this field and spits out the bones.

Me thinks Ellis would wait till Del Mar if he didn't think DM had the chance to put a dent in one of the big ones down there.