Keeneland Spring notes

[philcski]

Day 13 4/21/10: Track played fair all day. No path or pace biases apparent.
ROBYN'S DREAM broke in air and rushed up to sit a good spot but the damage was done and the jockey didn't appear to persevere in the lane. Would draw a line through the performance.
CAJUN PRIZE got away with the most ridiculous fractions at the entire meet; 1:17 for 6 furlongs is trotter speed. Discount PROVE YOURSELF, who didn't even figure after being close to the front. Upgrade PROMISEI'LLBEHOME who was the only one who really did any running besides the winner. Bad race overall.
MUD CREEK got absolutely destroyed at the start, and never settled into stride after that. would draw a line through the performance. Upgrade FLASHY DREAM who made a nice midrace move before flattening out.
Very strong performance from MAID OF FLOWERS who went way too fast for this level and held well for 2nd. Should win next out at a similar level.
Roger Attfield continued his remarkable meet with a great performance from ERNFOLD, who was on her wrong lead half the stretch and still destroyed a decent field. Stakes contender in the future.
Awful race in the 7th where both the favorites were pulled up; would draw a line through the race and question the performance for everyone.

[philcski]

Day 14 4/22/10 Speed mildly good but not a conveyor belt. No compelling reason to upgrade or downgrade.
In race 1 the two firsters destroyed the field- in MCL races when this happens I like to mark against the remaining bunch because it means they're going to struggle to win anywhere outside of MNR or Ohio. Those were WAR SKY, LARRY APPEL, KARMA DISTRACTION, OLDBLINDNEDD.
Odd betting in the 2nd, as 5 of the 6 had run at the meet, 4 of those 5 well enough, yet the Tampa shipper goes off favored (and runs last). ALBERTA'S BOOK gets a fair track this time around and rolls to a $13.20 victory. Good performance from the 2nd and 3rd runners who dueled the entire way around FORTHEBOYSATTHEBAR and DANCING LYDIA.
Very slow and poor race in the 3rd. Downgrade all the runners beside the winner- LOOSELY, DARKEST HOUR, GERWINII, MEANDER, and DEWBERRY HILL.

Nothing interesting on the rest of the card, except LADY SHAKESPEARE is a very strong candidate to win the F&M Turf if she can continue on her current trajectory. That was an extremely good performance against a rival who had everything her way.