Quote:
Originally Posted by RolloTomasi
The main track seems to have gotten quite a bit faster in the past week. However, Royal Ship was making his second start back after a brief layoff during which he was gelded. He got one of the worst rides of the year from Mike Smith in the Frank Kilroe last out (broke sharp, strangled to the back of the field, nearly pinballed between horses on the first turn, no effort to get position heading into the stretch, flew home late with too much to do).
A bit much from Country Grammer first off an 8-month layoff in a two-turn stakes, but he was transitioning from 3yo to 4yo and traded decisions last year with Mystic Guide who has upped his game this season. I presume Baffert has superior numbers off layoffs and a whole bevy of ex-NY allowance horses have become world-beaters in California over the past decade.
That said, if Independence Hall's effort was used as some sort of barometer, that's a mistake. The jock clearly wrapped up on the horse at the 1/16th pole (never mind that the horse gave up the ghost at the 1/8th pole) and allowed him to gallop the rest of the way. He was not "racing" when he hit the wire.
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I actually bet Royal Ship in his first three starts in this country. Guess who I needed this time?
I’m not saying a 10 plus point bump isn’t possible but it’s pretty tough to improve off Chad Brown