2/25 (FG): Risen Star (G2), Mineshaft, Rachel, FG H. (G3's)

[my miss storm cat]

Nice fields and great betting races!

I'm not sold on El Padrino. Maybe that's foolish.

Hoping Mr. Bowling does well but Shared Property is the one I keep looking at...

The two Dorochenko runners? Ummm, why are they here?

[Left Bank]

I was hoping El Padrino would lose.Rosie and Mark Valeski gave it one hell of a shot!

[Linny]

On paper El Padrino should have crushed them. He crushed all but Mark Valeski who was dead game inside the winner while exchanging contact. While El Padrino may be a nice one he's not yet any kind of sensation in my book. Last fall he had some serious work on his legs before the Remsen, which I think he may have been rushed to make. His slop return was a monster but he's bred to move up on wet going and did. Maybe he bounced today and will run a monster next time.
Mark Valeski impressed me in defeat, moving up in class and getting a "gut check" race. When it come to the Derby, I like to see horses looked in the eye (figuratively and literally) and not back down. I don't know if he's going to prove on par with the top of the clas, but he showed class today.

[Thunder Gulch]

Speaking of El Padrino's legs, I haven't watched the replay, but didn't he stay on his left lead way too long?

[El Padrino]

excelent time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by El Padrino

excelent time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can also note that he went only about 2 lengths faster than the 3yo fillies in the Rachel Alexandra did at the same distance.

The horse who finished 4th by 6 lengths took 9 tries to break his maiden and was 87-to-1 as a part-of-entry.

It was an acceptable performance for a Top 5 Derby contender because the come-home time was fairly strong and the trip the winner had is a tougher one at Fairgrounds (probably the most inside friendly dirt track in the entire country meet in and meet out over the last couple years) than at other tracks.

However...he's going to have to run a whole lot better than that to get a blanket of roses ... and Pletcher 3yo's who start early in Florida and move-up are lucky to be holding form by May...let alone breaking through it. Also, the sire of this horse raced just six times and gets a lot of unsound horses .. the dam only raced once ... as last year showed so glaringly, health is more important than anything with these young and underraced horses who appear more and more fragile as a group all the time.

[Calzone Lord]

Speaking of health...it might be a good idea for the new connections to give Table Three Ten a few months off and point her to a summer campaign.

She was so impressive in her debut as a speed-sprinter for Stidham. She reportedly got sick and missed a few weeks of training. She unimpressively won her comeback for Motion at 3-to-5 odds.

This is what the clocker reports wrote about her workout before todays race:

Palm Meadows

Finish: 1:02.23s - NAMASKARA and TABLE THREE TEN worked from the pole on the main. Surprisingly Nama was going better of the two and Ten was being pushed a bit. Went in 50 flat and 102.1.

The weeks of missed training due to illness... having to be pushed to keep up with a plug like Namaskara in her most recent workout ... and now getting beat 7+ lengths in the Rachel Alexandra while showing none of her speed. No sense ruining a good prospect trying to make the Kentucky Oaks.

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Also, the sire of this horse raced just six times and gets a lot of unsound horses .. the dam only raced once ... as last year showed so glaringly, health is more important than anything with these young and underraced horses who appear more and more fragile as a group all the time.

Speaking of El Padrino's sire Pulpit and Pletcher ... there was a gruesome breakdown of a Pletcher/Pulpit horse in a $7,500 N2L claiming race in the last at AQU today.

Hopefully Cornilio Velasquez is ok. He went down very hard and took someone else with him.