[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

The odd thing on paper going into this race was that the majority of the field both pedigree- and stylewise had the look of milers. Muny (by Najran), Dixie Chatter (Dixie Union with Phone Chatter on the bottom), Gio Ponti (Tale of a Cat), Sailor's Cap (Distant View), and even Albahri (Bahri) had pedigrees geared towards a flat mile. In that regard (and main rival Madeo not getting to run), I don't think Court Vision overcame very much despite the slow pace.

Recordwise, Gio Ponti saw out the Virginia Derby, but won by a diminishing margin after sitting behind a slow pace (just as Cowboy Cal et al. did today). He gave it up in the Jamaica after hitting the front, too. I don't think the trouble he had down the lane cost him, he never made a serious bid. He's dubious at 9f or beyond at this point, IMO.

Sailor's Cap saw out the distance on off turf, and he seems a cut below anyways. Cowboy Cal looked good at 9f as a 2yo, but he is winless this year, often on the bench, and has lost ground down the lane in all his 3yo starts. I wonder if he won't switch to the main for the Strub series to find his best.

Madeo got an odd ride. At no point was he allowed to accelerate (even down to the wire) and was kept between horses throughout. It didn't look like he was on anyones heels at any point so I'm not sure why Smith didn't try and "make his own hole" (not that that wouldn't have gotten him into real traffic problems). The thing that sticks out, though, is that Madeo has now started 4 times on the turf. In 3 of those (including today) Smith has held him in the back of the pack. All 3 times, the horse has had trouble getting through the field. The one time he kept the horse in midpack (the Del Mar Derby settling 4th on the inside IIRC), the horse made the lead at the top of the stretch and kept on to win smartly.

I disagree with you here Rolo. Gio Ponti's dam was by Alydar and his best win by figure and grading was at 10f. Albahri has plenty of stamina on the bottom as well and he had just won consecutive races at 1 5/16th and had never raced at less than 1 3/8 befoe today. Midships dam was by saddlers wells and he had raced his last 7 races at 10f or longer.