Yankee Bravo

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

Usurp has faced some decent horses throughout his career but note that he had a 6 month layoff from 2 to 3 followed by an 11th month layoff after a handful of starts at 3.

While he hasn't missed much time this year (aside from a 2 month break after his comeback win), there are red flags starting to pop up. First, Ron Ellis is quoted as saying he came out of his work prior to the Pomona race "a little funky". In that race he got out horribly going into the first turn and finished up the race short strided (whereas he usually fought gamely--even when losing--in prior starts). Either he was hurting, didn't particularly care for dirt, or both.

In his last 2, he has not shown his customary :44+ speed and has finished off the board. Given that he finished in the exacta in 7 of his first 9 starts while racing on the front end, this doesn't bode well.

In addition to dropping down a level today, he also does not have a recorded breeze since his last race.

If he is able to hold up for a few more races, it would be interesting to see how he handles two turns, given his pedigree (his 2nd dam is a Grade 1 winner BTW).

Hey its risky but horses with issues are the ones that can turn out to be the most profitable or on the other hand the biggest disasters. If there is nothing to fix they usually wind up deteriorating in form anyway.