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Originally Posted by Bold Reasoning

I agree with you on all points. I would just like to add in Mineshaft and his connections here. They took considerable heat for not running their horse in a West Coast Breeders' Cup; it was not the shipping, but the destination that was the problem. The connections just do not run in California. The connections are East Coast in their thinking; they are old guard who thought winning Grade I's at Belmont spelled champion. Until rather recently champions were crowned there. Slew O' Gold is an example of that; he almost owned fall championship races at Belmont and he had the Eclipses to prove it. I would be very surprised to see Bernardini run on the West Coast, if he runs next year. The Breeders' Cup is in the East next year anyway.

That is soo true. Fair or not races won at the two big NY Tracks weigh in the most. If you want an example of how important a win at Saratoga is just look at the standings in each of the divisions. Just look at Discreet Cat. He may be a monster but he is still to race in any major stakes here stateside and his win in an allowance race at Saratoga put him in the top ten 3 yr olds.