Lava Man---California Is His Home

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by moodwalker

37 lifetime races and 10 for his last 11 in stakes races and people will be talking about Pletcher and his bunch of speedsters who last for 10 lifetime starts hopefully.

Pletcher doesn't have a bunch of geldings does he? This guy would've been retired years ago had he not had his sack cut off. Get a grip.

[Left Bank]

My opinion,and I am entitled to one,Is he hasn't really raced against anything except Southern california garbage.Let's look at today's win.He beat:Two horses who just broke their third level allowance condition.Let's look at some of his other competition from his other races.
Brother Derek,Giacomo-Two of the most pathetic losers of late
Good Reward,Super Frolic-Gee,I don't ever remember either of them being big standouts in stakes company.
Ace Blue,Red Fort,Super Strut,Cheroot-Never heard of them
Magnum,Wilko-What has either of them done in the last couple years?
You look at his races where he gets some legitimate competition and he gets his ASS handed to him.
BUT,This is just my opinion.If I owned him,I would keep him there too.Nothing better than FREE MONEY!!!!

Originally Posted by Kimmeastar

My opinion,and I am entitled to one,Is he hasn't really raced against anything except Southern california garbage.Let's look at today's win.He beat:Two horses who just broke their third level allowance condition.Let's look at some of his other competition from his other races.
Brother Derek,Giacomo-Two of the most pathetic losers of late
Good Reward,Super Frolic-Gee,I don't ever remember either of them being big standouts in stakes company.
Ace Blue,Red Fort,Super Strut,Cheroot-Never heard of them
Magnum,Wilko-What has either of them done in the last couple years?
You look at his races where he gets some legitimate competition and he gets his ASS handed to him.
BUT,This is just my opinion.If I owned him,I would keep him there too.Nothing better than FREE MONEY!!!!

I agree with the level of competition point. He is amazing to watch in CA but who has he really beat? Looking back...King's Drama as of late may be the best horse he beat and that was on turf. I don't have the lifetime PPs so there may be some others I have missed.

But man do I wish I was in on that 50K claim

[Hickory Hill Hoff]

You know...the great Easy Goer never won outside N.Y. too.
He was great and right now you can't take anything away from Lava Man.

[Left Bank]

Originally Posted by Hickory Hill Hoff

You know...the great Easy Goer never won outside N.Y. too.
He was great and right now you can't take anything away from Lava Man.

WRONG! He won the Swale at Gulfstream going 7 furlongs and Blew them away!!! All the others were lost by a very small margin.See the lifetime past perf.thread.

[Hickory Hill Hoff]

Originally Posted by Kimmeastar

WRONG! He won the Swale at Gulfstream going 7 furlongs and Blew them away!!! All the others were lost by a very small margin.See the lifetime past perf.thread.

SORRY! Missed it...my bad, gotta give credit to the L-Man though

[smuthg]

Not only did he win ANOTHER Grade 1, he looked better in the after the race than I have ever seen him look... I hope he kicks arse in Dubai...

[jpops757]

I dont see any of these Eastern monsters chalanging this "softie" for 500k winning purse or e4ven tryin to get part of thw 1 mil

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Hickory Hill Hoff

You know...the great Easy Goer never won outside N.Y. too.
He was great and right now you can't take anything away from Lava Man.

easy goer won in florida--and that loss in maryland was so close--i doubt geography was the key between winning and losing at pimlico.

[Holland Hacker]

Originally Posted by Hickory Hill Hoff

You know...the great Easy Goer never won outside N.Y. too..

won the swale at Gulfstream - by 8

[Hickory Hill Hoff]

Originally Posted by SmartyZapper

won the swale at Gulfstream - by 8

Ya, I screwed up...missed that in the PP's

With that said, no one can take anything away from Lava Man from what he's done.

He may not win outside Cali...but he wins!

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Originally Posted by Kimmeastar

My opinion,and I am entitled to one,Is he hasn't really raced against anything except Southern california garbage.Let's look at today's win.He beat:Two horses who just broke their third level allowance condition.Let's look at some of his other competition from his other races.
Brother Derek,Giacomo-Two of the most pathetic losers of late
Good Reward,Super Frolic-Gee,I don't ever remember either of them being big standouts in stakes company.
Ace Blue,Red Fort,Super Strut,Cheroot-Never heard of them
Magnum,Wilko-What has either of them done in the last couple years?
You look at his races where he gets some legitimate competition and he gets his ASS handed to him.
BUT,This is just my opinion.If I owned him,I would keep him there too.Nothing better than FREE MONEY!!!!

IT'S A MILLION BUCKS. I guess if they thought it was an easy spot,then they would have come.

[POINTGIVEN1985]

Kimmeastar i agree with you

[Pedigree Ann]

My suspicion has generally been that it has to do with humidity. That is the biggest difference in running conditions between East/Midwest and West. Horses in general prefer lower humidity conditions; the only population of true wild horses was found near the Gobi Desert, after all. The escaped wild horse population in North America stayed pretty much in the low humidity high plains and intermountain regions - they didn't spread to the humid river valleys of the south and Midwest, although they had plenty of time to do so. Human intervention, by taking horses to more humid places (like the British Isles!), has selected for those horses that can tolerate more humidity in the air they breath, but the species preference still unlies these manipulated genes and can come to the fore.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann

My suspicion has generally been that it has to do with humidity. That is the biggest difference in running conditions between East/Midwest and West. Horses in general prefer lower humidity conditions; the only population of true wild horses was found near the Gobi Desert, after all. The escaped wild horse population in North America stayed pretty much in the low humidity high plains and intermountain regions - they didn't spread to the humid river valleys of the south and Midwest, although they had plenty of time to do so. Human intervention, by taking horses to more humid places (like the British Isles!), has selected for those horses that can tolerate more humidity in the air they breath, but the species preference still unlies these manipulated genes and can come to the fore.

It's not humid in Ky on BC Day. I truley think he can compete but he does seem to have trouble shipping and getting acculmated to this difference surfaces in a short period of time. If they were to bring him out East and leave him here for the spring and summer Stake races, I think he would be incrediable.

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER

IT'S A MILLION BUCKS. I guess if they thought it was an easy spot,then they would have come.

Exactly. What a bunch a crap about knocking his competition. There just aren't ANY top handicap horses ANYWHERE. Who are we comparing him to in the East? Corinthian? Hesanoldsalt?

If you had a top horse that could pick up a Grade I and the 600K for winning it, and Lava Man was nothing special, wouldn't you send your horse out to California? Gee, I don't see a stampede of the REALLY good horses.

--Dunbar

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

Exactly. What a bunch a crap about knocking his competition. There just aren't ANY top handicap horses ANYWHERE. Who are we comparing him to in the East? Corinthian? Hesanoldsalt?

If you had a top horse that could pick up a Grade I and the 600K for winning it, and Lava Man was nothing special, wouldn't you send your horse out to California? Gee, I don't see a stampede of the REALLY good horses.

--Dunbar

East----- Invasor, Bernardini(last year), Sun King, Premium Tap, Discreet Cat

Comparing the Grade 2 horses running in GP today is not exactly the best the east has to offer....But I do agree that you have to beat who shows up and he always does that....Keep him on the turf. I would like to see him in the BC mile.

[Scav]

You know, I was thinking about this today, fact is that we all bitch about not having good horses around long and we are getting to see Lava Man, who could essentially be around for 3-4 more years. (I doubt you will see him in a 4k claimer like Shake you Down)

I for one just want to see the friggin horse challenged, put 130 lbs on him, do something because he is just that much better then the competition out there. I would love to see some East Coast people take a shot at him but I doubt they will

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Originally Posted by Scav

You know, I was thinking about this today, fact is that we all bitch about not having good horses around long and we are getting to see Lava Man, who could essentially be around for 3-4 more years. (I doubt you will see him in a 4k claimer like Shake you Down)

I for one just want to see the friggin horse challenged, put 130 lbs on him, do something because he is just that much better then the competition out there. I would love to see some East Coast people take a shot at him but I doubt they will

Oh,he was challenged today.Either the track was a little heavy,or the weight(going 10f) that he was giving away....... is starting to get close to stopping him.As far as I am concerned,he felt the fatigue at the top of the stretch(when the Oneil horse in purple n' white was upside of him,)and he dug deeper.Oneil was a little worried about it in the post-race interview.He didn't just draw off today.They went with him when he tried to break away from them.Maybe that's what he was doing at the top of the stretch(he was irritated,and trying to figure out how to shake them.)

[alysheba4]

i dunno man...... i believe this is one of the truly incredible rags to riches story, a former cal bred claimer who now has about 5 mil. in the bank. wow.