Informed Decision goes two-turns on Tuesday
 

The two locally stabled Grade 1 stakes winners on the grounds (Informed Decision and Hooh Why) are both entered.

The cool thing about this race is that it will be Informed Decision's first try around two turns and obviously first career start in a synthetic route.

She's sired by 2000 Ky Derby winner Monarchos out of a His Majesty mare that was a slowpoke closing router.

His Majesty has sired horses like 1981 Kentucky Derby winner Pleasant Colony, two time Man O' War and two time Sword Dancer winner Majesty's Prince, 1991 champion turf horse Tight Spot, and turf marathoner Cetewayo.

That's a real route distance pedigree top and bottom and Sheppard isn't exactly a sprint trainer.

Informed Decision is 9-8-0-1 lifetime on synthetic tracks - with 7 Graded Stakes wins, and two victories over the mighty Ventura in Grade 1's. Her only defeat on a synthetic track came in her first start off of a 5 month layoff - when she had zero published works showing on her form.

She is marooned all the way outside in the 4-hole ... any time you draw something other than Post 1 or Post 2 at Presque Isle it's a tough wide draw and you are really hung way out there.

I don't usually give a crap about weights, but how the hell does she get in at 112?

Non winners of $18,000 at one mile or over in 2010 get in at 112lbs.

Nice work by fellow DT poster Gotodubai for getting a good field together in this spot. A champion and a G1 winner in an ungraded stake at PID, fine work indeed. The stakes co-ordinator at PID simply ROCKS!;)

LMAO:zz:

6 scratches and Informed Decision crawls wire to wire to win over Hooh Why. I wonder where she goes from here?

Hopefully for her sake she is RETIRED.

Why does she need to be retired?

Shes a former champion who is barley beating GARBAGE. If she rolled tonight, I could have saw them trying the Personal Ensign. Like Doug said she is bred to go long, but tonight does not make me feel confident about her moving forward. Her Arlington race also was nothing special, and the race before was just OK.

hooh why is garbage?

Tough crowd.

She hasn't been as fast in some of the same races as she was last year -- but she's still winning Stakes.

Some people enjoy campaigning their horses for the sake of sport, not to maintain some win/loss record.

I hope she runs in the Ballerina.

NT

Why NT, so you can crush her to win?

No, so I can bet against her, I think she's been a complete mediocrity this year. I was willing to forgive the Madison but the Humana Distaff was bad, the Chicago Handicap was worse and you can't take much from tonight's race. She'll be bet because of her reputation and I've never considered her to be much on dirt.

NT

http://www1.drf.com/news/article/115150.html


sheppard sounded happy enough, and ntamm gets his wish.

So NT, in other words, your saying..... At one point she might have been really good on synthetics, never on dirt. This year is not that point, she has been bad this year vs bad competition and if she was your horse you would save face and retire her, but you want her to run so you can bet Franny Freud and make money?

Franny Fraud? No thanks, she'll be exposed three weeks prior in the Test.

NT

I'm sure it's killing them seeing her run slower and still make $180,000 on the year. :rolleyes:

this is tantalizingly close to the dread 'i wouldn't mind owning her' post. :D

j/k'ing ya.

I know what she is bred to do and all.
But just maybe J. Shepard knows what he is doing...:rolleyes:
Anyone that knows what a sprinter and what a router looks like physically, knows she is a 1 turn mare.

Sorry, it's just the retire them because they are not as good and/or can be bred for more money mentality that is killing the sport. So she may not win the Ballerina -- thank heavens they are willing to enter her!

(oh yeah and run her on a surface which is not her best in that race and they tried a new distance today)

yeah, i thought the retirement remark was ridiculous. they wanted to see if she could go 2 turns, and found a good place to find out. it worked out well for her and them. why trying something different, with a win to boot, should bring about her retirement is beyond me.

Wait a minute... They found out tonight she could go 2 turns? Ok...
Thats good, on to the Personal Ensign off tonights romp.

Sightseek I get your point, a lot of them do retire to early. I guess its nice to see her running still.

...where did i say they found out she could go two turns? they tried it in the right spot, and she won. glad you paid attention to the drf link and comment i made about ntamm getting his wish, as ID next goes in the ballerina.

The pace was entirely too slow tonight to make anything of the race.

You can spin it the good way and say 'she rated so kindly - how many top sprinters in history could go that slow early without pulling the jockey out of the saddle? Her final quater mile was sensational for a stretch-out given the speed of the track and she galloped out like a horse who was just starting to find her best a 1/16th of a mile after the race was over'

You can spin it the bad way and say 'she walked on an uncontested lead and beat nothing in slow time over a track very favorable to her running style'

The reality was that it was nothing more than an entire field in a furious 2.5 furlong sprint after walking early. Nothing at all was learned other than the fact that Informed Decision is capable of going extremely slow if rated and unpressured.

It's hard to "roll" a field when you go that extremely slow early - especially on a synthetic surface. Even on dirt it isn't easy.

Look at Quality Road's comeback race this year in the Hal's Hope. He rated so kindly on the lead through a 25.15 first quarter (Maiden fillies going the same distance on dirt that day went a 24.41 first quarter and 3 of them were within a neck of each other through that 1st quarter)

The result was Quality Road beating bums like You and I Forever and Congressional Page by less than 3 lengths in the Hal's Hope - and running a mere 103 Beyer figure.

You figure Strawbridge has ever worried about 180k since he was 9 months old? What do you figure his yearly expenses are worldwide for horses. Include training vets transportation and purchases.. 10mil? You think he has ever won 10 mil in a year..maybe a few but not to many

That also supports my point about them doing it for the sport of it.

Everything he (strawbridge) does in racing is for the sport of it and it is plainly obvious

I love the guy, even if he's the luckiest guy in the world... not only because he's a great owner, but because he saved the Buffalo Sabres.

Sharp dresser too.