8/27 (SAR): Travers, King's Bishop, Ballerina, Victory Ride, Ballston

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

He seemed to run better when the pace was faster. His Haskell was great put the pace was punishing in the Preakness and he finished up there. I do think this will be his race to lose, but I think he needs to go 1:11 or faster to make it so.

My biggest pet peeve with pace setters is when the jockey backs down the pace and does a fantastic job of moderating the tempo, only to let the other horses get right up to his neck on the far turn, which basically eliminates the advantage. Rarely does a pacesetter lose the lead and then come back to win, unless you're talking about a significant class/ability edge.

I wish they would step on it a bit sooner, open-up and then in the stretch, when everyone is tired, see if they can hold off any closers... which is hard to do - pass horses when you're spent.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

My biggest pet peeve with pace setters is when the jockey backs down the pace and does a fantastic job of moderating the tempo, only to let the other horses get right up to his neck on the far turn, which basically eliminates the advantage. Rarely does a pacesetter lose the lead and then come back to win, unless you're talking about a significant class/ability edge.

I wish they would step on it a bit sooner, open-up and then in the stretch, when everyone is tired, see if they can hold off any closers... which is hard to do - pass horses when you're spent.

I thought that was where Quality Road went wrong last year and got caught.

[ellpol]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

My biggest pet peeve with pace setters is when the jockey backs down the pace and does a fantastic job of moderating the tempo, only to let the other horses get right up to his neck on the far turn, which basically eliminates the advantage. Rarely does a pacesetter lose the lead and then come back to win, unless you're talking about a significant class/ability edge.

I wish they would step on it a bit sooner, open-up and then in the stretch, when everyone is tired, see if they can hold off any closers... which is hard to do - pass horses when you're spent.

Since you call hundreds maybe thousands of races per year your assesment carries far more weight than the opinion of most other observers. Also since I agree with you 100% you must be right. Actually I have often mentioned that exact thing to several of my degenerate friends and they tell me leave the riding to the jockeys. I am printing this off so I can show them I am not alone. Thanks Travis.

[ateamstupid]

Pretty damn impressive race from To Honor and Serve.

[Calzone Lord]

Yep.

Likely ran a 105 Beyer there today and ran hard the whole way. Slevin had a dream trip and got drowned -- and he's a horse who ran in the 89-to-92 range each of his last five outs. Third place was coming off of a 91.

I like Raison D'etat in the Travers. By AP Indy - Sightseek so distance not an issue.

[Dahoss]

What an eyesore that race was.

[JerseyJ]

Rattlesnake Bridge could have run him down if he didn't run like a drunk the last 1/8th of a mile.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Dahoss

What an eyesore that race was.

You can say that again. The contrast from a scintillating and brilliant King's Bishop to that staggerfest was unfortunate.