2/5-6 (SA): Las Virgenes, Thunder Rd, Strub; San Antonio

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by freddymo

FTFY

I was wrong works for me when I realize I am. Give it a try it frees the soul.

Hah! You "fixed that for me"?

That was one of the biggest butcher jobs in the history of embedded quote posting on the internet.

Yeah, Twirling Candy would have sat 5th in the Donn, what...4 or 5 lengths off the pace?

His running line in that race would have been:

3-1/2 3-nk 1-hd 2-hd 6-9

[knickslions2]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

Hah! You "fixed that for me"?

That was one of the biggest butcher jobs in the history of embedded quote posting on the internet.

Yeah, Twirling Candy would have sat 5th in the Donn, what...4 or 5 lengths off the pace?

His running line in that race would have been:

3-1/2 3-nk 1-hd 2-hd 6-9

Wow..you really think TC would have finished 6th in that race? Lay off the sauce

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by knickslions2

Wow..you really think TC would have finished 6th in that race? Lay off the sauce

Glad you haven't picked up on any of the hyperbolic tongue-in-cheek back and forth between Freddy and I.

As it stands, Twirling Candy was beaten about 4 lengths by Richard's Kid in the Goodwood when only having to tussle with perennial bridesmaid Crown Of Thorns early.

It's not ridiculous to presume that having to fend off the bulldog Morning Line and pesky has-beens Rule and I Want Revenge after chasing Square Eddie early would have seen him give way even more severely than he did at Hollywood Park.

Not to mention, he's a sensationally overhyped racehorse, the kind jockeys (especially Kent Desormeaux) love to completely stop riding when they are beaten.

[Indian Charlie]

Rollo, I think it is premature to write off a horse based on one race, namely the Goodwood.

Perhaps he just didn't fire his best race that day.

Or, perhaps, as Freddy said, it was a learning experience. Keep in mind that he was still a pretty lightly raced 3yo at that point going against much more experienced older horses.

His overall race record, minus the Goodwood, shows a horse that is still on the improve.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Rollo, I think it is premature to write off a horse based on one race, namely the Goodwood.

Perhaps he just didn't fire his best race that day.

Or, perhaps, as Freddy said, it was a learning experience. Keep in mind that he was still a pretty lightly raced 3yo at that point going against much more experienced older horses.

His overall race record, minus the Goodwood, shows a horse that is still on the improve.

I'm not trying to write him off at all. He's probably a superior sprinter/miler. But he has yet to prove himself a superior two-turn horse, much less the "best horse in America".

Beyond 8f though, I think he's quite vulnerable. He's had two cakewalks, the Del Mar Derby and the Strub, and one schooling in the Goodwood. From my viewpoint, he ran the same race in the latter two. The only difference (unless you want to bring up surface) was the competition. In that regard I don't think you can say he's "improving" based on his flashy Strub win. Any other manner of victory in that poor edition of the race would have actually exposed him.

Unfortunately, even if he avoids the dreaded "minor setback" that leads to retirement, he'll probably only get one true acid test this year (of course, the end-all BC Classic) to prove his worth. One look at the San Antonio group (how the hell did Aggie Engineer become an odds-on stakes horse? This time last year I would have expected him to be running in high-priced claimers) foretells the events of this spring/summer at Hollywood and Del Mar.

All that aside, given the race setup, how do you think he would have fared in the Donn?

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

I'm not trying to write him off at all. He's probably a superior sprinter/miler. But he has yet to prove himself a superior two-turn horse, much less the "best horse in America".

Beyond 8f though, I think he's quite vulnerable. He's had two cakewalks, the Del Mar Derby and the Strub, and one schooling in the Goodwood. From my viewpoint, he ran the same race in the latter two. The only difference (unless you want to bring up surface) was the competition. In that regard I don't think you can say he's "improving" based on his flashy Strub win. Any other manner of victory in that poor edition of the race would have actually exposed him.

Unfortunately, even if he avoids the dreaded "minor setback" that leads to retirement, he'll probably only get one true acid test this year (of course, the end-all BC Classic) to prove his worth. One look at the San Antonio group (how the hell did Aggie Engineer become an odds-on stakes horse? This time last year I would have expected him to be running in high-priced claimers) foretells the events of this spring/summer at Hollywood and Del Mar.

All that aside, given the race setup, how do you think he would have fared in the Donn?

I haven't watched the Donn, but knowing those horses, I gotta believe something is fishy with them getting a higher BSF than TC got in the Strub.

Without having seen it, I could see the pace being an issue like you said, but I'd have been shocked to see him run 6th by 9.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

I haven't watched the Donn, but knowing those horses, I gotta believe something is fishy with them getting a higher BSF than TC got in the Strub.

Without having seen it, I could see the pace being an issue like you said, but I'd have been shocked to see him run 6th by 9.

What the heck does the Strub fig have to do with the Donn fig?