I think Wise Dan has clearly demonstrated he has the versatility to compete against the best horses in the game across all surfaces at middle distances.
However, I also think we are so used to trainers not knowing their own horses well, we assume that's true of all trainers.
To me, Charles Lopresti seems to be a trainer of extraordinary talent. Just look at the job he has done with Successful Dan also. Amazing!
I don't think the winning streak (he's already lost a bunch of races) or HOTY have anything to do with the thinking of Wise Dan's connections. They have to know this campaign won't get him HOTY again or even enhance his reputation a great deal.
My guess is that the connections think Wise Dan does NOT want to go further than 9F against the best horses in the country and they also believe they are competent enough to make that assessment without running him. So the Classic and Turf Classic are off the radar. Once you reach that conclusion, the best way to win the Turf Mile again (and some great horses have done just that) is to probably do exactly what they are doing, not bouncing back and forth between surfaces, running in the Whitney or Woodward or some Classic race on synthetic in CA etc...
The may be thinking along these lines.
It's one thing to throw your horse into a challenging situation that he's prepared to handle and has a decent chance to be successful at. It's another to throw him into a race you already know he can't win just because the fans want it.
I'm sure there are loads of people here that disagree with that assessment of Dan or feel like the horse deserves a chance to prove it on the track, but I really don't think the winning streak or HOTY have anything to do with their thinking. So what else can it be.
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