10/1 (BEL): JCGC, Beldame, JHTC, Vosburgh, FlwrBwl (G1's), Kelso (G2)

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by helicopter11

Not sure if he could have anything different to make it even close. Fast pace, closed fast and fell short

You don't need to make your move on the turn like that at Belmont. It takes great energy from the horse and almost never works. And to then try to stay inside assured a loss of momentum if they couldn't get through, and bingo. I don't think Jackson Bend beats Uncle Mo anyway, but he was excellent again today and not necessarily used to best advantage by Nakatani.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by Kasept

You don't need to make your move on the turn like that at Belmont. It takes great energy from the horse and almost never works. And to then try to stay inside assured a loss of momentum if they couldn't get through, and bingo. I don't think Jackson Bend beats Uncle Mo anyway, but he was excellent again today and not necessarily used to best advantage by Nakatani.

True enough I suppose. I'll stand by my belief though that Nak thought he was giving his horse his best chance of winning.

All in all, I'll give JB credit. He ran a huge race. Of the races I saw today, his was the best, most surprising performance.

I also think Stay Thirsty ran a bigger race than I expected. I figured him not hitting the board.

It was stunning seeing Flat Out not being the heavy favorite.

[Dahoss]

After seeing how poorly Blind Luck ran today and considering she also missed whatever race over the summer they were going to run in, you have to give Havre De Grace a lot of credit. She came back from that grueling Delaware race and has run two very sharp races.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

I also think Stay Thirsty ran a bigger race than I expected. I figured him not hitting the board.

It was stunning seeing Flat Out not being the heavy favorite.

As in the Travers, Stay Thirsty looked like he was backing up on the turn, but once again when asked and hard ridden, he responded to persevere. He's an interesting horse.

Andy tweeted too about Flat Out being shockingly underbet. The Scooter factor?

[OldDog]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Andy tweeted too about Flat Out being shockingly underbet. The Scooter factor?

Possibly. Funny how ESPN's people were wondering if they could get Scooter back on after talking to Harrington. I'd love to hear Scooter on ATR Monday, but doubt he'd have a lot more to say than what we heard this evening! Old school, man of few words. But when he was speechless, my eyes almost got wet. Maybe his wife will come on ATR with him?

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by Kasept

As in the Travers, Stay Thirsty looked like he was backing up on the turn, but once again when asked and hard ridden, he responded to persevere. He's an interesting horse.

Andy tweeted too about Flat Out being shockingly underbet. The Scooter factor?

I don't think a lot of Stay Thirsty. He seems like a grinder to me. I've seen grinders like him run like that. He's a horse with no acceleration!

As for Flat Out. I guess it's the Pletcher vs Scooter factor. Stay Thirsty has been the hype horse of the summer.

I found it amusing that off of a single grade 1 win and the grade 2 win that people were making into a grade 1, that he was being touted as the top 3yo.