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Originally Posted by freddymo
I think Munnings is a fast G1 quality sprinter.. Rachel crushes fields.. The Haskel will come back with a very big BSF. I have nothing against Mine That Bird at all.. He is certainly a honest horse and his trainer isn't exactly HOF material..
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I'm not suggesting that she's not a special filly, but isn't everyone getting a bit carried away? Putting today's race in context, she had exactly two horses to beat. The first was Munnings, a legitimate sprinter with whom Pletcher was taking a shot by running in a stallion-making race on a typically speed-favoring oval. When the rains came, Pletcher didn't get the track he was looking for, and over which Munnings was not likely to carry his speed 9F (and it will now be back to the original plan and the King's Bishop).
The second horse to beat was Summer Bird, who received a highly questionable ride from Desormeaux. Not only did Desormeaux take this horse out of his normal style of running, but he rushed up on the worst part of the race track. Off that trip, he'll be tough in the Travers, but he had no shot today.
Rachel got a perfect stalking trip on the best part of the race track. Since most media types declared that, if she won the Haskell (a premise that I don't agree with), she'd lock up HOY, I'm now sure that her connections will take the path of least resistance. I'd bet that she has two more races this year: the Personal Ensign and Beldame.