Wow

[The Indomitable DrugS]

The trifecta of insanity:

Step #1: Employ Rajiv Maragh to ride your one-dimensional closer for the first time in a dirt route

Step #2: Add blinkers to sharpen his speed - because you wouldn't want him to relax.

Step #3: Instruct Rajiv to send him early and try and press the pace.


Yes - this brilliant gameplan only resulted in a 22 length defeat in a race where the winner got just a 106 Beyer... yet, Lukas isn't satisified with that. He wants to try him in sprints now:

Mine That Bird raced closer to the pace than he had in his previous starts, but he still finished last. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said he may shorten Mine That Bird up in distance to seven furlongs or a mile.

"We got part of what we wanted, but we didn’t get the finish," Lukas said. "I loved the way he laid into the race and showed that speed and everything. That was a new dimension for him, but we didn’t get the finish we wanted. I may try him short. . . . We’re trying different things. He’s a gelding; we’re going to have to make him useful."

I'm surprised he didn't try to wheel him back into a steeplechase race.

This horse is 1-for-12 dating back to his 2yo season - with two defeats at Sunland Park and one at Mountaineer. He's finished 5th or worse in each of his last 5 races. His only win over that stretch - a 6.75 length Kentucky Derby score under a rail skimming Borel ride after losing contact with the field early on.

Take him way back early - let him settle - and if the pace is fast up front - he'll be rolling by all the stoppers late. Not exactly hard to figure out this horses's game.