![]() |
Quote:
|
Lawyer Ron was overrated by some, but not by many who never considered him a viable Triple Crown horse. He could be a very good sprinter, however, and I don't think its a lock that LITF would drill him at 6f. Actually I'd like to see them both in a 6f race and I think LR would be better value than LITF.
|
Quote:
|
This is an update on a post I made last night. I had stated that using the Bris pace and speed analysis it is easy to see the actual facts about LITF’s performances. I contacted the people at Bris and they were kind enough to give me the numbers for LITF in the Smile, so it helps to complete the picture.
The line consists of four numbers defined below: E1-pace figure to the quarter E2-pace figure to the half LP-pace figure from the half to the end SPD-final speed figure This is a composite or average of all of LITF’s races. It shows his typical pace distribution early and late and total. E1 E2 LP SPD 95 107 92 102 Here are the lines from his last five races. E1 E2 LP SPD Finish race 93 111 79 95 eighth Smile sprint 88 103 102 107 first Aristides 101 110 81 96 second Golden Gate sprint (four horse field) 100 115 82 100 seventh BC - Sprint 94 103 105 109 first Bay Meadows Speed – five horse field Notice that when he runs an E2 pace figure that is higher than his average, his late pace and final time suffer. Not coincidentally these all occurred in big G1 events or when there is a horse that is faster to the half than he is which is the case in the Golden Gate sprint (Carthage). In the other races notice that his E1 and E2 pace were well within his target range and he was therefore able to come home strong and win. It is a textbook case of a horse being overmatched. His numbers in the Smile are remarkably similar to the BC sprint. If anything they were just slightly worse. So Rupert this is why I claim that he IS consistent because when he has things his way you can pretty much predict the outcome and also when he is facing faster horses you can also predict the outcome because his three loses have remarkably similar late pace numbers. They weren't horrible but you can definetely see where he has maxed out. For the record I’m not a shill for Bris but it is something that I use and find invaluable in deciphering the actual shape of the race. I have offered what I think is a solid, logical argument to explain his performances. On the other hand people come back with such statements as “he didn’t fire”, “he didn’t try”, “he is not himself”, “he is sore”, “he is tired”. I have to tell you I think the guy is firing and is trying; he’s running his balls off. He is just in too deep. |
Quote:
I, too, want a solid concrete argument from someone that claims this horse wasnt vastly overrated. Okay, for the final time, Name one grade 1 or 2 stake sprint that you are confident that LITF could win. Just one. And if you cant name one- he is overrated in regards to the hype and billing that he receives. It really is that simple. |
Quote:
As I have said .. it isn't the horse who is a fraud ... it's the wild overrating on the part of those who were unduly impressed by a winning streak achieved over less-than-mediocre rivals. Lost In The Fog is to be applauded for his ability to ship well and to hold his form well over a long stretch of time and many different racing surfaces. But he simply isn't fast enough or strong enough to win against good G1/G2 sprinters ... much less really good ones. He'd better not be around this Fall ... when Too Much Bling, Songster, Henny Hughes, Keyed Entry and the rest of this year's bumper 3YO crop ... mature into first-rate all-age sprinters. Retirement is best course for Foggy |
Quote:
Do you understand my point? Here is an anology. Let's say that a guy likes to bet football and he loves the Jets this weekend. The Jets lose. He also loves the Rams this weekend. The Rams lose. The third game he loves is the Eagles. The Eagles win, so he won 1 out of 3 games. He says after the game, "I knew the Eagles would win." In reality he didn't know the Eagles would win. He may have thought they would win but he also thought the Jets and Rams would win. If he's not a winning player overall, then I think it's silly for him to say I knew this team would win for these reasons. He didn't know the team would win. He was just as positive that the Rams would win and he was totally wrong. I think the same could be said about those pace figures. The figures said that LITF would lose those races and he lost. That doesn't prove those figures are reliable any more so than the Eagles winning proves that my football guy is reliable at picking winners. If you make a profit every year betting the horses by using those Bris figures, then they are probably pretty reliable. If not, then they are like anything else that works once in a while. A guy can say that he knew such and such a horse would win because the horse had the highest Beyer number. What about the other 8 races where the horse with the highest Beyer number lost. |
Quote:
|
Rupert Pupkin
As far as your question about whether or not someone has made money using BRIS figures ( personally I do NOT advocate computer generated numbers but to each his own ), I understand your point, but I will say that I don't know one successful horseplayer ( and I know many ) who believed the hype last year about Lost in the Fog. In fact, of the successful players I know, I actually ( mistakenly ) liked him more than any of them. I am also a successful horseplayer. I have made money in 14 of the previous 16 years and am well on my way to another successful year. So, if you want to equate successful horseplaying to validity on opinions about LITF, I would say the recent post by Bold Brooklynite pretty much hits the nail on the head. He is a very talented horse but neither as good as his popular reputation nor as good as the top sprinters annually.
Did he run his best race this past weekend? Probably not. But, I would say it is a fairer estimation of his true relative ability, as was his BC performance, than the estimation he seemed to earn while valiantly beating up on vastly inferior competition. Nobody seems to be saying he's a bum. He's hardly that. But, without a very favorable pace scenerio, he is unlikely to be able to handle the top ten sprinters in the country. |
Quote:
By the way, when LITF went :43 1/5 and ran in 6 furlongs in 1:07 1/5, I know it was at Golden Gate. But still, who could have beaten him that day? If Taste of Paradise went up there for that race, do you think he would have run 1:07 and won the race. I don't think so. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
I remember once when you were talking about sports, someone said that you probably don't even play sports. You responded by telling them that you are a good baseball player and had played at many different levels. That's not boasting or trotting your resume. That is simply defending yourself to someone whose assessment of you was incorrect. |
Quote:
I don't know how you can say that your friends' assessment of LITF was better than yours. Why would you think that? The fact that he lost one race at the end of a hard campaign doesn't prove anything. I'll bet that these same friends were constantly betting against him and were constantly wrong. Then when he finally lost, they probably said I told you so. And this year, the horse has had excuses. I don't think you can hold it against him too much that he lost his first race off the layoff. His race in Kentucky was huge. That was an awesome race. I'm not that big on figures but I'll bet that all the figures confirm that he ran a huge race that day. I know he ran a 111 Beyer. I don't know what his sheet number was but I bet it is was a huge number. Kelly's Landing is a very good sprinter when he fires. On his best day, he can compete with anyone. He ran huge that day and LITF still beat him. |
Quote:
i have read a lot of posts both here and elsewhere from rupert/richi, and this is the first time i ever saw his 'resume' for what it's worth. as for something else i read on here, yes, LITF did deserve the eclipse last year. and much like other horses who have won eclipses, he may not have been the BEST--but he was the one out there winning graded stakes all year, unlike bc sprint winner silver train for instance. as for him being overrated by the bettors, that happens all the time. a lot of horses get bet down due to name recognition alone. 'that horse was in the derby, bet him' for example. then of course you have bettors who go with the trainer, or the jock....regardless of the abilities of the horse involved. or those who go by what a horse did last year. we all know ability at two doesn't always show at three. however, i don't think people who have said they were a litf fan should get an eight page bashing from those who 'saw thru him'. nothing at all wrong with being supportive of a horse, altho i think there's a LOT wrong with people coming here after a horse loses and screaming you knew it all along....no one really knows what kind of horse a horse is, til he's done running. until then, anyone who chooses any horse is going out on a limb. after all, we all know it's a lot harder to pick a winner in a big field, than to pick a loser. the odds are ALWAYS in favor of those in the second group! as for fogs future, i'd like to see him try the turf. he's got the pedigree. i do think it's a shame that FOG is getting so much grief tho. last year he shipped all over and won all over, while many hot house horses didn't run as many times as i have fingers on one hand. |
I completely disagree.
First of all, my friends who properly evaluated him were NOT betting against him in the weak fields he faced, as it's all about relative ability. Secondly, he didn't just fail the ONLY time he met even a reasonably tough field, he was drowned. As for this year, he lost in essentially a match race in his return this year, as the third and fourth finishers in that four horse field are not even competitive in 25 claimers. Hardly an excusable loss for the supposed best sprinter in the country. As for his Churchill race, it was a decent performance at best, as all he did was stalk a very slow pace set by an overmatched horse and hold off an established mediocrity ( one who failed after having the race wrapped up in his previous start to the aforementioned overmatched mediocrity ). He did what he had to do, which is his greatest quality, but it was simply nothing close to a " huge " effort. And, let me go back to your opening paragraph and your comments about the people I know. These people are some of the most recognized names in handicapping in the game and, believe me, I have talked racing with them for years and respect their opinions greatly. I am not somebody who is even close to assuming someone is sharp because they write for a paper....I know these individuals are sharp because I have seen their results over many years. They are hardly the " I told you so " kind of people. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Lost In The Fog is a victim of his own reputation in some ways. Too much is expected from him. If one looks back over the last 25 years, you will see that the top sprinters lose often. It is so easy to lose a sprint race. All it takes is a bad break or even just a bad post position. I agree that LITF has not beat a quality field, and may never do so. He only has to do that once, and coupled with his other exploits, his career would be very satisfying. I feel sure he will be retired soon...again a victim of his own reputation because his connection fear his stud fee will suffer if they let him lose again. Assuming the horse is sound, I'd give him a short break, then bring him back in a couple easy prep races, maybe on his home track, then shoot for the moon in the BC sprint as his last race. Who knows, he might get lucky and go out on top.
|
Quote:
Yes the Bris numbers are very reliable. I have improved tremendously using them. Like I said they give you a view of the race that you cannot find elsewhere. I am not touting them as some kind of simple solution to picking winners. Like I said I also relied heavily on replays in order to come to an opinion about LITF’s true class. I use several tools when handicapping. The Bris numbers did not predict that LITF would lose. That was my conclusion after noticing the consistent pattern of his performances. By no means am I implying that these numbers lead me to easy winners and yearly profits, there is much more to it than just looking at numbers. In an earlier post you were trying to back up your assertion that LITF had as much early speed as any horse running by stating that he ran a 43.2 half mile and won by ten lengths at GG. If you want to talk about data that is unreliable, it’s hard to beat looking at raw times. Also I’m not implying that having an opinion that a horse will not win has much value. However when the horse routinely goes off at odds between 2:5 and 1:1 there is a great chance to make a nice score if you play the rest of the race or races correctly, but that’s no gimme. You can still screw it up like I did in the big pick five last week. I had 4 of 5, of course not using LITF, but I relied too much on Dubai Escapade so I didn’t have the winning combo. |
Quote:
BTW I think when you say "I did it in this thread but that was in response to someone telling me that I don't have any expertise in watching a race.", I think you are referring to something I said. I didn't use those words nor was I trying to imply that. I was trying to make another point and its not that important to review again. From reading your posts it's clear that you have expertise in watching a race. |
Quote:
... with just a handful of exceptions. Nice to hear from you again, War ... you fit in better here than there. |
Speaking of that "other" site ... I have a question ...
I publicly posted ... ten days before the BC Sprint ... that Lost In The Fog would crack and splatter in the final furlong of that race ... ... did anyone else make a similar specific prediction before the race ... on this site ... or any other one? Just curious. |
Quote:
The past is the past, winners picked...losers picked...none of it matters after the race. But you know that. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
I never said that LITF's going :43 1/5 at GG proved he was as fast as anyone. I know the track at GG is scorched and it is hard to compare to other tracks. But LITF has only run at GG a few of times. He's run all over the country. In every race he ever ran last year including the BC Sprint, LITF was always within a length of the lead no matter what the fractions were. I think he can pretty much keep up with anyone when he has it. There may be a few horses that have a little more early speed than him, but he has enough speed so that nobody is going to really get away from him. To me, a horse "not firing" is not a vague hypothesis. To be a successful handicapper, you have to be a good judge of this. We've seen many really good horses lose. When they lose, we always have to ask the question of whether they simply were not good enough or did they lose because they didn't fire. When Saint Liam didn't hit the board at Santa Anita, was it because he wasn't good enough or was it because he didn't fire? It may have been a combination of both. I would say he definitely didn't fire, but I don't know if he would have beaten Rock Hard Ten even if he did fire. You could argue that RHT wasn't that impressive that day. He only beat Congrats by about a length. Congrats is not a good horse at all. I disagree. I think Congrats ran huge that day. He's never been the same since, but that day he ran great. Anyway, you're not going to change my mind about LITF and I'm not going to change yours. And even though I'm confident that I'm right, it's possible that I have misjudged LITF. I've been wrong before and I could be wrong in this case. I don't think I'm wrong but it is certainly possible. There is a chance that the truth is somewhere in between. LITF may not have fired in those races but even if he would have fired, maybe he would have still lost. He may have finished much closer but he may have still lost. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
To me those results have everything to do with who he was facing and little or nothing to do with misfires. In every race last year, he may have been near the lead at the half, but only one time was he beaten badly at the wire. It was at the same track where previously in the year he took a liking to and won a G2 against 3yo's. Hmmm. What's funny is that I actually am the one that believes that he is running overall very honestly and consistently. Actually I very much admire this horse. OTOH you've got him mis-firing three of the last four races which describe a lesser horse in my opinion. |
Quote:
... has any horse who ever finished a distant sixth or ninth ever "fired"? The reason Lost In The Fog didn't "fire" in his two races against quality opposition ... is because he was too worn out by the other horses to do so. I wonder what psychologists have to say ... about this syndrome of denying reality by affirming reality? |
Quote:
A horseplayer's job is to make money. In order to do that they make judgements about races being run on a given day. I have often bet, and sometimes won money on, horses that I didn't even think were best going into a race. There are many odds-on horses that I bet against knowing full well they are the likeliest winners of the race ( they VERY rarely aren't ). The bottom line is cashing...ie. making money. Being right is for losers. Knowing how to make money by making correct relative choices, and betting them properly, is ALL that matters. On the point of LITF, if you choose to suggest that his ability is close to the reputation he gained prior to last year's BC be my guest, but it is a stubborn and difficult to logically defend position. I would guess you know that in this game it is very important to learn from your mistakes. There is nothing wrong with making incorrect judgements in individual cases, we all do it more often than not, but there is something very wrong ( and expensive ) about making the same mistakes over and over again. Luckily, one of the many great things about this game, is there are always future opportunities to correct mistakes of the past. How one deals with this ultimately seperates the winners and losers or the successful and unsuccessful. |
Quote:
With regard to LITF, I didn't particularly like him in the BC Sprint. I thought he was definitely one of the main contenders, but I was going to try to beat him. The horse I really liked was Atilla's Storm. He was 45-1. I bet on him to win and place. I also played some small exactas and trifectas using him along with Taste of Paradise, Imperialism, and LITF. I didn't use Silver Train. It wasn't that I didn't think he was good enough. I thought he was good enough. I had always liked him a lot. I liked him so much that he was actually on my watch list. The reason I didn't like him any more was because I thought there was something wrong with him. If my memory is right, I think he had been scratched at the gate by the vet a short time before the BC. I think it was in July or August. If LITF would have run his best in the BC Sprint, he probably would not have won. But I do think he would have finished very close. I think he would have definitely hit the board. |
When was the last time a sprinter gave at least 8 lbs to every other starter in a Grade 1 or Grade 2 race?
|
Ok, I'll offer my analysis on why LITF didn't win those three races. I have very good explanations on what happened to him.
BC SPRINT-No other horse in the BC sprint had traveled around the country and had a grueling campaign like LITF did last year. Just like LR did in the Derby, LITF was too weary and tired. That is why he gave around the final turn. I believe that the horse's physical problems are a direct result from this race because while the connection's intentions have always been noble, they went a step too far and pushed LITF over the edge. CARTHAGE-LITF was coming off of a huge layoff and was not fit. He ran into a monster in Carthage in which the trainer of Carthage specifically announced that this would be the only time he could beat LITF. LITF ran a good second to a horse that was 100% fit and ready for this race. SMILE SPRINT-LITF was never into the race. I don't know how this race can even be debatable. The horse was clearly not himself. You have to watch the races. I think the horse is having some serious physical problems combined with the fact that he didn't take to the track. Something was wrong with him. That is why he may be retired. I mean LITF was seventh at the quarter pole. In what other race in his career has he been seventh at the quarter pole and sixth at the half? NONE. This race can hardly be used to debate that the horse is not good against older quality sprinters. This particular race was clearly indicative of physical problems/not taking to the track. Not that he isn't good enough. The proof lies within the Aristrides. If LITF was not that good of a horse, the nice Kelly's Landing would have easily beat him. I am very confident in that althought like Rupert, I could be wrong. It definitely wouldn't be the first time. Also, LITF will never live up to the reputation that has been set for him. He was supposed to be an undefeated horse according to most. He is never supposed to get beaten. Hardly any horses throughout the history of the sport could have lived up the the expectations that have been set for LITF. I really like the horse and I hope they can find out what is wrong with him and fix it. He isn't one of the greatest ever, but he is definitely not as bad or a fraud like some of the posters are making him out to be. |
Quote:
|
Anyone ever notice how much ink LITF generates? Was there ever a more talked about and argued about horse? He remains a "star" if for only that reason alone. People will tune in for his races, some hope he wins, some hope he loses, but they will certainly watch when Fog runs, and that makes him a star in my opinion.
|
Quote:
You called Carthage a monster. Well the problem for LITF in the Smile is that there were 5-6 horse with Carthage type speed. LITF has never shown the ability to handle this situation. I don't know why it's considered not even debatable that he ran pretty much his usual effort considering the data I posted yesterday. It happens every day at every track and if you've been doing this awhile you'll know what I mean. Take any horse you want other than a superstar. If you keep moving them up into tougher and faster fields you will find a point where their performances start to decline both in terms of the running lines and the speed figures. Have you never seen a maiden winner with a huge figure like a 90 move up to alw level and lose a close battle to a seemingly much inferior horse. Why is it just assumed that LITF, if he fires, will win all sprints or at least be in the photo. Why is it? What performance has stamped him with such credentials? What top sprinter has he defeated? The best answer I can come up with is the Aristides when he beat Kellys Landing, a nice G2 or G3 sprinter for sure, but not one that is even ranked amongst the very best sprinters. Who you are racing against is of fundamental importance. FYI, look at the pace numbers I posted for LITF to the 1/4 and 1/2 in the Smile. LITF was running his normal pace to the 1/4 and faster than normal to the half. Bottom line he just doesn't have the tools to dominate a field like that. He has only one winning style. Why is it impossible to think that he fired his best shot and lost? |
And the ultimate facts ... not speculation or projection ... the ultimate FACTS are ...
In his entire career ... Lost In The Fog never won a race against open G1/G2 sprinters ... in fact ... in his two efforts in those races he finished sixth and ninth ... not even close. All the apologetics and 'splaining can't alter that. I arrest my case. |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:40 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.