Funny that you use the words toying around and I used the words having a ball out there. I just really didn't expect that kind of an effort and it really blew me away, especially the way that he did it. I had always thought of BC as a workmanlike horse who I had labeled in my own mind as a "grinder" type without the tactical speed or burst of speed necessary to be top caliber. He also always needed to be ridden to give his all in his prior starts and didn't strike me as a particularly "happy horse" out there.
They opened the gates and I had very low expectations for the race, I thought it would be a rather boring affair. I lost my mind as they entered the far turn and the horse was obviously having a blast and Johnny had a hammerlock. He just looked like a completely different animal. Johnny V kind of confirmed what I thought I had just seen when he stood up before the line and vigorously pumped his fist. He wins huge races all the time and doesnt always react like that. I told the guy next to me that it must have felt as good to Johnny as it looked to me because his reaction was definitely the reaction of a guy who has just discovered that he has a very good horse to ride.
I love the sport and really was upset that the Travers had appeared until yesterday to be on the verge of becoming an anticlimactic formality for Bernadini. The Travers should always be much more than that. If Pletcher decides to run the horse in the Travers, it should be a nice show.