[banter]

Polytrack or no, I was impressed with Hard Spun's run today. The early splits were fast but he went right with the leaders, rated kindly off them, and pulled away easily when asked.

One measure of HS's success might be the good showing of Joe Got Even, who gave his usual game effort. Despite his liking for and familiarity with Turfway, and despite his experience in large congested fields, Joe was no match for the winner. Still, his connections should be pleased, as should those of Catman Running, who defeated JGE last out.

The horses who really turned in unimpressive outings, besides the already-mentioned Forefathers, were Casse's Approval Rating, Terranova's Sports Town, and Pletcher's Bullara, who proved themselves unable to keep up with the likes of Hard Spun. The latter two were run off their feet by the early pace. They're decent horses, and they'll come back to run well, but today's race showed that they should be competing in lower class brackets.