8/30 (SAR): Personal Ensign (G1)

[The Indomitable DrugS]

You disagree with the number yesterday?

It wasn't an easy day to make figures and their was a split ... but I think it had to be in the 112-to-115 range.

And there were no smoke and mirrors about the performance.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

You disagree with the number yesterday?

It wasn't an easy day to make figures and their was a split ... but I think it had to be in the 112-to-115 range.

And there were no smoke and mirrors about the performance.

Hard to imagine her, or that race, being in the same area code as the Lakeway 117, Sharp Cat 119 or Akinemod 119.

It's actually pretty stupid.

Come to think of it, Riboletta's pairs of 115, I just can't see that as being just barely better than Icon Project's 114.

You'd need an ice pick stabbed into your frontal lobes, hooked up to a power drill for some stirring, to really believe that.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Going back to '92 ...

Fastest Beyer ever in a 10 furlong dirt race at Saratoga:

Male: Point Given 117

Female: Silverbulletday 115

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Hard to imagine her, or that race, being in the same area code as the Lakeway 117, Sharp Cat 119 or Akinemod 119.

It's actually pretty stupid.

Come to think of it, Riboletta's pairs of 115, I just can't see that as being just barely better than Icon Project's 114.

You'd need an ice pick stabbed into your frontal lobes, hooked up to a power drill for some stirring, to really believe that.

Along this road of thinking, are you going to next suggest that Midway Road and his 124 aren't in the same class as Ghostzapper?

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Midway Road's 123 Beyer came at Keeneland.. where he was a monster .. and it came going wire-to-wire through soft early fractions over a speed biased track.

He proved what everyone knew, that the race was phony, when he regressed to a 116 Beyer in his very next start.

Where are the smoke and mirrors with Icon Project?

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Midway Road's 123 Beyer came at Keeneland.. where he was a monster .. and it came going wire-to-wire through soft early fractions over a speed biased track.

He proved what everyone knew, that the race was phony, when he regressed to a 116 Beyer in his very next start.

Where are the smoke and mirrors with Icon Project?

114.
Wolfson.

Dude, you know as well as I do that within a few more starts, she'll be toast.

Regardless, that number is stupid.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

114.
Wolfson.

Dude, you know as well as I do that within a few more starts, she'll be toast.

Regardless, that number is stupid.

The 114 reflects regression for every horse in the field she beat. It's not like they have her opposition running back to their typical numbers.


Swift Temper had run 104 and 101 in her last two. She gets a 94.

Morena ran a 93 last time. She gets an 86.

Miss Issela ran 94, 101, 102, 93 in her last four races .. she gets a 85

Weathered ran Beyers between 82 and 94 in her last 11 dirt races. She gets a 85

Sea Chanter ran Beyers between 91 and 95 in all 4 lifetime dirt races. She gets a 79. As would With Flying Colors. Unbridled Belle would get a 52.

[hockey2315]

I really don't understand why there's so much resistance to the figure in and of itself. The horse's performance warranted the fig - maybe even higher. It probably wasn't the easiest fig to calculate considering the weather, distance involved, etc... and like Drugs said - it's not as if the also-rans were given career bests. Not sure why the 114 was such a surprise.

I guess a lot of the odd responses come from a disdain for supertrainers like Wolfson, and I'm probably just as skeptical as anyone else when it comes to the unbelievable results that guys like him have, but the possible explanation for the fig does NOTHING to diminish the horse's performance. The horse ran an incredibly fast and impressive race regardless of whether or not it was under the influence of a banned substance or simply oats and water.

Like I said earlier, though. There's plenty of reason to believe that the performance we saw yesterday was simply a case of a very well-bred, talented horse doing what it was supposed to do.

She's by Empire Maker, who ran figs close to her's and who is out of one of the most productive dams of all time. He has already proven his merits as a sire.

Icon Project is out of La Gueriere - a grade 1 winner on turf who has produced a G2 SW on turf. That one sired multi-millionaire Honey Ryder. La Gueriere is also a 1/2 to $1.2M earner Al Mamoon among a few others, including Lost Soldier - Lost in the Fog's sire who has also produced some other ok horses.

They paid $775,000 for a reason.

Now despite all the turf success in her pedigree, she clearly prefers dirt.

In her three dirt races she has a romp in the mud first off the lay-off in a race that deserves an asterisk but still signaled her affinity for the main track, then an ok second while running against the grain on a track that horses often love or hate, and then her most recent effort third off the lay-off with a better trip and at a distance she's clearly bred for and cares for.

Can't we just be happy that another monster has emerged on the scene?

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Along this road of thinking, are you going to next suggest that Midway Road and his 124 aren't in the same class as Ghostzapper?

I would never dare, since MR came back and ran a 116 next out.