2/19- (SA): San Luis Obispo, San Carlos (G2's); San Vincente (G2)

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

The Factor could contend in the King's Bishop if they don't cook him before then. . . The second-place finisher is a very intriguing derby prospect.

I'm not sure about that - the horse who went with The Factor finished last by 18 lengths ...

They went 1:07 1/5 for 6fs - and the final 1/8th of this race was run in 13.03 over a race track that is obviously yielding crazy fast times. I thought Sway Away got a great setup and his late run was an optical illusion as they crawled at the end.

Speed is typically leathel in Derby preps at 8.5fs or 9fs. Everyone is so worried about finishing up well at the tail end of those races - and no early pressure leads to the superior horses at shorter distances dominating.

Look at the Risen Star - a lot of naturally very fast horses - and they loaf early. Machen lost the Risen Star Stakes because of the tactics used in his N1X alw win. If Howard didn't try to transform him into something he's not - he wins that alw race by 20 lengths on an easy lead - and wires the Risen Star yesterday. Instead he puts an anchor to him and earns a 24 pace figure in his alw race. Now, he's got to try winning the Risen Star closing wide into a soft pace against a pace aided horse like Mucho Macho Man who was super in the Remsen.