[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

They also would be wise to watch the replay, before hastily coronating El Gato Malo as the standout out West (there are several good colts here this winter), where they would see 3 horses going balls out from the bell (Denman even comments that MSW Sierra Sunset was "hard ridden" to keep contact at the 3/8s pole) and stopping to a walk at the 1/4 pole (again noted by Denman). Whether or not the adjusted internal fractions play along with the idea of a crazy speed duel, fact is 3 talented horses hooked up very early in a two turn race and burned each other up, setting it up for another very talented horse who had good foundation and was capable of relaxing the first part of the race.

Some of those Santa Anita results are a bit tough to swallow, kind of like this year's BC. It wasn't shocking that El Gato Malo won yesterday, just as it wasn't shocking when Curlin won the Classic, but the manner in which they won in such high profile races seems a bit anomalous (and I understand that EGM previously had two runaway victories over lesser company).

How he's evaluated after this race probably depends on your opinion going into the race. Going in, I had him as easily the best 3yo in California so nothing he did yesterday changed that opinion. I don't think there are any really good ones out here after you get past him and Colonel John, as far as Classic prospects go. I also didn't feel that the speed duel was as pronounced as some others think it was. Sure, they were going fast but I didn't think it was insanely fast and I thought that the leaders were doing it well within themselves. Sierra Sunset was hard ridden to keep up but I don't think it's cause they were going to fast, rather I think it's just that he's not as fast as they are. The race did set up perfectly for El Gato Malo though. There is no denying that fact. But I hope people don't totally write off the result. It's sort of like the 2004 Kentucky Derby. So many people were quick to write it off as a result of the track conditions and failed to recognize that the two most likely horses to run 1-2 did just that. I think that when track or race conditions yield results that aren't expected, that's when they should be taken with a grain of salt.