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  #1  
Old 04-15-2007, 09:45 PM
SilverRP SilverRP is offline
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Believe me, I've watched that race over and over. He rushed up (if you could call it that) and sat right of the very slow fractions. He really likes to settle back and make one big run, so maybe he was out of his element. The next thing I noticed is just as he switched leads he gets sandwiched. Now, whether or not he could have done enough to get up is in question. I know many people have written him off, but I'm really not wanting to.
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Old 04-15-2007, 10:04 PM
BPLichorowiec BPLichorowiec is offline
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I'm still a huge fan and see no reason to change your feelings about him after this race. He was out of his element being right off the pace and then got squeezed out of the race. He did look done at that point and apparently Nakatani felt the same way. He only had 2 works since his huge move in the lewis, so he might not have been ready for a big effort. I'll be following his workouts over the next 3 weeks and see if how he trainis.
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  #3  
Old 04-15-2007, 10:09 PM
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zippyneedsawin zippyneedsawin is offline
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I don't understand.. didn't GH have to take up in mid-stretch when Tueflesberg bore out? He probably still doesn't win, but I'd say he lost all chance when that happened anyway.
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Old 04-15-2007, 10:13 PM
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ateamstupid ateamstupid is offline
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I never liked him, simply because I think O'Neill is one of those trainers whose horses don't do anything out of their respective elements. I didn't see a ton of excuses for him in the Blue Grass. He had to steady while he was tiring and it probably cost him fourth and that's it. Street Sense had to switch leads and was interfered with and he still only lost by a nose. I think Great Hunter at anything less than 15/1 in the Derby is an underlay.
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Old 04-15-2007, 10:57 PM
hockey2315 hockey2315 is offline
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Great Hunter is a good poly horse and seems to like Keenland. . . The fact that he ran such a clunker there is a red flag for me. . .

And if you watch the head on replay, Dominican also lost ground when Street Sense moved over on him- so I disagree with the assumption that SS would've won without the interference. . .
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  #6  
Old 04-15-2007, 11:31 PM
SilverRP SilverRP is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hockey2315
Great Hunter is a good poly horse and seems to like Keenland. . . The fact that he ran such a clunker there is a red flag for me. . .

And if you watch the head on replay, Dominican also lost ground when Street Sense moved over on him- so I disagree with the assumption that SS would've won without the interference. . .
I see what you're saying about GH running well on the Poly. But, wasn't it a rain soaked surface? Don't know much at all about the Poly, but it was such a weird race. Could it be from the Poly being soaked earlier in the day? Or is the Poly the same dry vs. wet?
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  #7  
Old 04-15-2007, 11:41 PM
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zippyneedsawin zippyneedsawin is offline
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GH ran OK at Churchill too though, didn't he?
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Old 04-15-2007, 11:59 PM
jpops757 jpops757 is offline
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Lets dont be to critical of some of the top colts. Remember, the goal is the first sat in may. If I dont play Greathunter it want because of what he has shown or not shown. It will be because I like another better, To just toss almost any of the top colts at this time is not very good capping, Sometimes a horse has a bad race. Im sure some of them will have a bad one in the derby.
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  #9  
Old 04-16-2007, 03:33 AM
GPK GPK is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zippyneedsawin
GH ran OK at Churchill too though, didn't he?

Zip...

Great Hunter has yet to race at Churchill.


I was a bit surprised to see GH just off the pace. Best I can figure is that since he had the widest post and starting so close to the turn, maybe Nakatani didn't want to be caught 5-6 wide going into the first turn. The fact that Tueflesburg cleared so quickly just to the inside of him could have helped in making the decision to take advantage of that scenario and move GH up and closer to the rail???? Who knows though...


All in all...a complete toss of a race. I do think GH will be best served with his "one big run" tactics in the Derby, although he will need some luck in making his way through traffic, with what appears to be another large Derby field.
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