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Originally Posted by Cajungator26
Well... one thing I WILL watch for is the horses coming over last minute from Keeneland. Pletcher didn't have a real final work over Churchill's surface with any of his horses (besides Sam P., right?)
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Good point, in the past, many trainers preferred to stay at Keeneland where it was a bit quieter and prepare for the Derby. Now, with the poly surface, things will probably change. It use to be something to look at...when a horse got to the track and whether he/she worked over it, then along came DWL and we heard "D Wayne off the plane" as he and others shipped in race day and won stakes all over the country. Poly is the future I suspect but many have pointed out that since a horse moves over it easier, they don't get the stamina (and possibly two year olds don't get the muscle/bone development) that horses working on dirt do. Carl had Street Sense at CD and it certainly didn't hurt. I will watch to see when he ships to Pimlico.
Regarding the angles, as Skippy said...they are helpful when used properly. I used them as I always do and still ended up with the winner as one of two horses I bet, last year I had Barbaro despite them...they are considerations/information not absolutes...a good horse can overcome trends, a great horse will overcome most anything. Saying Curlin disproved anything is ridicious, the 5LT race and 2yo race angles say "no horse has won"...Curlin didn't win...end of discussion! In fact he wasn't a serious factor. Yes, he had a rough trip...every year we hear from all the losers how rough a trip they had...it's part of the race!