2/26 (GP): Fountain of Youth, Hutcheson, Davona Dale (G2's)

[The Indomitable DrugS]

A typically useless jockey and trainer quote.

I think the R Heat Lightning comparison he makes was because she was 4 wide chasing a fast pace in her prior start. He wasn't on Devil May Care last year for her 3yo debut at FG - I think Castellano was - but that was the same type of thing. DMC chased a very fast pace four wide through the 1st turn - and when she couldn't go with inside horse on the far turn she hit the reset button and fired on the airbreaks... I think she was like 5th by 12 in that race.

Mine That Bird was 4th or 5th in the Sunland Derby when wide and chasing a very fast pace. Sure, his Derby was a fluke - but he just missed in the Preakness - and a lot of people thought he was best in the Belmont.

Archarcharch was hung wide against a fast pace in the Smarty Jones when he faded. There's hundreds of big form reversals I can think of that come from that type of races. A lot of times though - the big form reversal only happens if horses can comfortably relax early on next time out.

It's the exact opposite in slow paced races. You want to be a wide presser in those type of races...especially with inferior horses inside of you. You have complete and utter control of the race from there.

That's why I don't even bother watching a race until I feel comfortable that I can gauge the pace. The same wide pressing position that can be an absolute dream spot in a slow paced race - is a horrid spot in a fast paced race.

What's interesting about this years Fountain of Youth is that there are mixed signals on how fast the pace actually was - it was 30 points faster than the alw pace - but very oddly it graded out a lot slower than I expected on my par chart. And even the final time figure has question marks. It looks cut and dry in the 106-to-109 range to me.