10/3 (MED): Meadowlands Cup H. (Gr. II)
 

8th (10:22) Meadowlands Cup H. (G2)

1 1/8 Miles | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $350,000

1 Da' Tara Garcia Alan 123 L
2 Timber Reserve Desormeaux K J 119 L
3 P V Lightening Dunkelberger T L 119 L
4 Anak Nakal Bravo J 123 L
5 Past the Point Velazquez J R 119 L
6 Actin Good Velasquez C 123 L
7 True Resurgence Sanchez J 119 L
8 Arson Squad Prado E S 119 L

Not a bad field, better than I expected. I think I'll make a trip over there Friday if anyone is thinking of attending.

Will also be there Saturday for the NHC qualifier.

What kind of conditions are these when the 3yo's are carrying 123 and the older horses 119?

Weights: Three year olds, 120 lbs; Older, 123 lbs; Non-winners of $100,000 at a mile or over since October 15, 2007 allowed 2
lbs.; $75,000 at a mile or over in 2008, 4 lbs.

I think the weights listed here are wrong. Back of the envelope should be:
1 Da' Tara Garcia Alan 120 L
2 Timber Reserve Desormeaux K J 119 L
3 P V Lightening Dunkelberger T L 119 L
4 Anak Nakal Bravo J 120 L
5 Past the Point Velazquez J R 123 L
6 Actin Good Velasquez C 121 L
7 True Resurgence Sanchez J 119 L
8 Arson Squad Prado E S 119 L

Wonder what kind of reversal of form we'll see here with Arson Squad, who not only gets off the synthetics where he has goose egged after being a double Grade 2 winner on convential dirt, but also goes to the barn of Rick Dutrow.

I like him tomorrow night as well. Last time we saw him on conventional dirt, he looked to have some promise. Like the aggressive spotting by Dutrow and the race appears to set up for him with Da' Tara, Timber Reserve and Past the Point likely to make the pace honest.

da tara a scratch, will run sunday in the jerome instead.

I pre-bet this race, thinking I wouldn't get home on time. Glad I went for PV Lightening(at this point, 20 mtp) instead of my other choice, Arson Squad, who is being heavily bet early. Some would say this is the smart money, I suppose

Timber Reserve is oscillating between even money and odds-on?

As Ice Cube put it so eloquently:

I don't know KARATE but I know KA-RAZY...

Always liked arson squad...i hope he does well.

Doesnt this race set up pretty well for anak nakal? There is nothing but pace in here and he is the only one coming from the back.

Im going to give him a shot at 7-1 over this questionable group of older horses.

Good luck all.

Yeah. Going with Arson Squad in a romp here. Looks good in the parade. Past The Point will should hold for 2nd.

Hope the limb holds up, cuz I'm going pretty far out there...

Like Surf Cat.

How the hell did that piece of garbage Anak Nakal get second? I could've sworn Timber Reserve won that photo for me.. Ugh.

In Headley's "defense", I don't think he cares for synthetics one bit. I wonder if he was younger, if he wouldn't start to ship his horses. Probably being defiant like the captain of a sinking ship or Charleton Heston or something.

Dutrow just said post-race that the horse will target the Clark.

Too bad, would have been interesting to see him in the BC Dirt Mile. That way, I could have figured out if the move up was cuz of the real dirt or cuz of Dutrow.

Because Timber Reserve is a whole bag of garbage?

The :45+ half mile fraction probably helped the 1-2 finishers, too.

Street Boss might be another Ghostzapper for all we know...

Surf Cat is the one that is most interesting to me. He clearly doesnt not have that powerful stride he used to have and I have always wondered if it was the synthetic or the injuries he has had....or a combo of both.

He ought to do something if he cares about his career (or his daughter's--his assistant), cuz how much longer will it be before his other owners begin to see the big picture.

In fact, this looks bad for every trainer in CA with "good" horses that don't put out.

I thought Surf Cat's last 3 races were good, though I think he doesn't want to go further than 8.5f. He was solid in the San Diego, was in contention but didn't see out the 10f of the Pacific Classic, and made what I thought was a winning move in the Goodwood before hanging down the lane. His only poor efforts were when he was contesting the early pace (Oak Tree Mile and Californian). Certainly he hasn't been running indifferently on them the way Arson Squad was. I think he's interesting in the Dirt Mile if allowed to settle well off the pace.

I don't think he ever won a route race that had decent horses in it.

Going back to Arson Squad, and the Danzig turf discussion, I wonder if Headley wouldn't have held on to this horse if he moved him to the grass. His sire Brahms is by Danzig, and Arson Squad's only grass start was the La Jolla at Del Mar a couple of years ago. He was an even 4th, but I remember him being a little closer to the pace then usual and possibly stuck inside waiting for room on the turn. At the very least, the turf was worth another shot at some point.

Would've been nice for Meadowlands to post anything beyond the first quarter fraction, but I don't want to ask for too much.

Yeah, I thought he'd crush that day, too. I thought it was just gravy that this horse happened to be a very good sprinter (see his first couple of starts) that could also stretch out.

Of course, at the time, I thought Brahms was going to be a big time sire.

He's in Louisiana now.

How does Headley not caring for the synthetics affect how his horses run on them? If he has one that likes it, shouldn't it still be able to perform on it even if Headley hates it and vice versa?

That wasn't the point I was trying to make and it was only a minor point at that.

Bruce Headley was called out for not shipping his horses where they can run on conventional dirt. A valid question in the face of his struggle to maintain his previous rate of success, not to mention the specific stakes-calibur horses in his barn that seem to have lost their top form since the CA mandate.

I only suggested that the reason had nothing to do with his being satisfied/pleased with synthetic surfaces. He was actually one of the voices against its installation to begin with.

Ok gotcha. I agree with you too. Remember back when Surf Cat was a 3yo and there was talk about sending him to the Haskell? I remember laughing then about it knowing it was VERY unlikely and sure enough, Headley ended up keeping him home and running in the Pacific Classic. And this was when we still ran on dirt out here.

I think the only time he's shipped is for the BC, those being Bertrando, Lakota Brave, Son Of A Pistol, Kona Gold, and Kalookan Queen.

Actually, he also ran Dispersal's full brother Disposal in the Kentucky Derby with just 2 starts under his belt. It was the same year that Bertrando should have gone (but was injured), so I guess he's not even immune to Derby fever.

I think Disposal might have run once or twice more after his drubbing at Churchill.

If anyone wants to shoot someone today, I'm a volunteer victim

I'd love to see Coco Belle return to real dirt as well. She could probably win the BC sprint.

What does all this do to the Eclipse Awards, if anyone give a crap about those. Turf has seperate divisions, but are we supposed to pretend that dirt and synthetic are the same? Keeneland this weekend, in addition the The Big M Cup, tells you all you need to know about the dirt/synthetic comapison.