Najjaar
 

Just missed at Keeneland in the 5th. I think he was 5-1 and obviously next time expect him to be shorter. He closed into very soft fractions while going wide on a track that has seemed to favor inside speed (the winner went wire to wire). He lost by a nose and seems to be a logical play next time out.

It feels like the track is a bit fairer today than it has been at points in this meet. The horse did well to just miss though, however I like a different horse coming out of this race.

Travel Advisory was moving well and was just inside of Najjar coming into the stretch. Najjar was kept clear and Manny Cruz (please,please,please go back to Calder) on Travel Advisory tried to split horses and got totally shut off. I don't think he was winning the race anyway, but he seemed to be moving with Najjar. He ended up 10th and the chart comment is "failed to respond" so I'm kind of interested in seeing where he shows up. His turf races before this were solid, so maybe next time on the grass at Churchill with a better price than he would have been normally based on today's 10th?

That was a good catch on Travel Advisory, although the only way you could have seen it is if you were focusing on him (because you bet him?).

I originally thought Najjar would have won on a completely fair surface, but after watching the replay, you were spot on about Travel Advisory. I was thinking about betting him, but post 12 and Kellyn Gorder firing 2% at Keeneland kept me from taking the plunge.

I liked him also, which is why I was focused on him. No bet though.

Hossy I do think the track was a littler fairer yesterday as well. Prado came from last driving down the middle of the track in the 3rd to win. But the thing about the 5th race was the pace was slow (Kent pretty much stole the race on the lead) and if you look in the lane it seemed like everyone else was just spinning their wheels and not making up any ground. Then you had Najjar flying from the outside just missing. I was just impressed that he closed so well into a relatively slow pace while battling a track that has been pretty speed biased (especially for horses on the inside).

As far as Travel Advisory goes, that's a great catch. I know I missed it the first time around. The real shame is that there seemed to be a big hole there. Not sure what Cruz was thinking, it was such a poorly timed move when he finally decided to hit that hole and by that time it closed and he was sawed off. Hell, he would have been better waiting the extra second and then just swinging around the horse that eventually sawed him off. He wouldn't have had to check and would have had a good chance of hitting the board. Hopefully his price drifts upwards a bit next time out. But it really was a horrible unconfident ride by Cruz. I guess he gets away with that at Calder when he only has to deal with 4-5 other horses in the race.

Here's a replay of the race if anyone's interested.

http://replays.robertsstream.com/rac...1110191517KED5

Hey golfer,

Guess I wasn't the only one....

The Trakus details from the race show Najjaar covered a whopping 63 feet more than Captain Ben, the winner, and still lost by only a head. 63 feet = about 7.4 lengths.

Najjaar covered his final quarter in 23.49 seconds, which was fastest in the field of 12. Captain Ben had the second fastest final quarter after setting the early pace, but that was only 24.07, 0.58 seconds slower than Najjaar.

Quite simply, anyone who bet on or TOUTED Captain Ben was quite fortunate, and just because the track was playing a little bit more fairly, doesn't mean it still wasn't favoring speed.

Stop it.

Look either the track is screwed up or the timer is, because the $10K claimer Baby Afleet set a track record in the last race. In fact the last 2 races were both track records, although I'm sure they haven't run that many 1 5/8ths on the main.

You think the heavy rains have had anything to do with it?

I think they're ignoring you......why?

Both Najjaar and Travel Advisory are back on Saturday in the 7th at Churchill on dirt. Not really sure why they both aren't running in the 6th on the grass.

Looks like Travel Advisory went through the sales ring at Keeneland since his last. Maybe that explains the decision to run on dirt although it still seems like a questionable move.

Doesn't look like there's much speed in the race, that might favor Travel Advisory who looks like he might be able to run on the lead (based on his turf race 2 back). Najjaar probably isn't going to get any kind of set-up for him.

I think I like the Margolis horse second off the layoff and adding the shades. He was wide the entire way and looked to run on his wrong lead for half the stretch last out and wasn't disgraced. Should be near the front, but I'm guessing his price will be very short.

I know this is a trip thread, but you guys are talking about a race I looked at for a while. I like 3,6,7. I prefer the 3,7 at those ML's. Both trainers are as good as it gets second time out.

Margolis horse eased

Najjaar 3rd at 5-1, with no pace to close in to.

Travel Advisory scratched - maybe looking for a spot on the lawn.

1-2. The horse I bet runs second though, typical.

He's actually entered at Mountaineer on dirt tomorrow night. His trainer seems intent on not running him where he doesn't belong.

Currently 2/5 with 5 MTP.