[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

At the end of last season, I said that I thought First Dude had an excellent chance to be HOY this year. The horse that kept coming to my mind when I would watch him was Alysheba. Not that I thought the talent is comparable. It's not even close. It just reminded me of Alysheba before the Blue Grass, a horse with a lot of obvious talent that always had to be considered but that that I felt usually was his own worst enemy, could never quite figure it all out. Then it was like the lightg suddenly came on in the Blue Grass, even though he was dq'd, and he was a monster from that point on. He was 2-10 before the BG and 10-16 after. I felt like the light would come on with First Dude and with him having very little to beat, he'd turn those tough beats from last year into wins. I gave up after the Big Cap but Baffert has done a hell of a job with him and I'm glad to see him win one finally because I thought he was the best and most consistent of his class last year. With a win in the Pacific Classic, he puts himself right in the picture, if he isn't there already.

I'm getting this for you for Xmas.