The CA 3yo crop is very suspect at the moment. The two principle colts, Klimt and Gormley, were absolutely buried in the BC on their home track. Big Gray Rocket was unceremoniously drubbed in the Champagne. Hot Sean was leveled in the Delta Jackpot (by a horse who wasn't in the same zip code as division leader Classic Empire). Klimt now has a new trainer and his form has gone in reverse, never mind his pedigree which is not noted for longevity.
For half a second, I was convinced that Mastery was better than all the grumblings after his Del Mar win when he showed an impressive stretch gear when taking the Los Alamitos Futurity. Then, Irap, the winless runner-up in that race, ran back in a soft maiden field last week and couldn't even hit the board.
As for the Sham, that was a gut-busting stretch drive, so even if those colts have improved, they could have easily left any reserve in the sea of mud at Santa Anita (despite what Steve Haskin has to say about Baffert's training methods). Compound that with those ubiquitous WinStar silks and one can foresee American Anthem traveling the path of many a Elliot Walden-directed classic contender, i.e. tossed into various preps on a whim before a total meltdown a week or two before the Kentucky Derby.
Beware the dreaded "We are turning him out at WinStar for 30 days".
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