Hard Spun's had four siblings - and all of them looked a little better on dirt.
Do you people realize that the Breeders Cup Classic is being run at Monmouth Park this year?
If it was run at most any other track - I think a rational case could probably be made for opting for another spot.
Cable Boy, Stormello, and Flying First Class are speed sprinters - I don't think they will be there to harass Hard Spun again...and make him rate - and no good horse looks any more uncomfortable rating than Hard Spun does.
He'll be vulnerable in the polytrack race at TP off his quick early - moderate late race on the sharp cut-back in the King's Bishop. I hope he runs VERY dismally in the TP race - and is "inexplicably" wheeled back to run in the Classic.
I'd love to get a big number on him come race day....and the worse he runs at TP - the less respect he gets from other riders in the race - the more likely he will be unpressured. And, as expectations lower, the more likely he is to finally be ridden correctly and with the proper tactics - and that is by gunning him to the lead (like in the Derby) and hoping the Monmouth Park track is as kind to one-dimensional speed as it was for the vast majority of the summer.
A real good performance by Hard Spun at TP - especially if it comes without being sent - is the absolute most discouraging thing someone who's intruged by him as a Breeders Cup Classic prospect would want to see.
|