Lava Man to the Clement Hirsch
 

From DRF.....


Lava Man's next - the Clement Hirsch on turf
By STEVE ANDERSEN

DEL MAR, Calif. - Lava Man, the leading older horse in California, is likely to make his next start in the $250,000 Clement Hirsch Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Sept. 30 instead of the $500,000 Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap on the main track on Oct. 7, trainer Doug O'Neill and co-owner Steve Kenly said on Friday.
O'Neill said that he has discussed plans for Lava Man in the last week with Kenly and co-owner Jason Wood following Lava Man's sixth consecutive stakes win in the Pacific Classic here last Sunday.

"I think the Clement Hirsch is more appealing," O'Neill said.

A decision to go in the Hirsch would give Lava Man a five-week gap to the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. O'Neill and Lava Man's owners would like to send the 5-year-old gelding to Churchill Downs in mid-October to acclimate to conditions there. Last fall, Lava Man was badly beaten in stakes at Belmont Park and Tokyo Racecourse, his only two starts outside of California in 2005.

"He needs to settle in," Kenly said.

Lava Man is unbeaten in two starts on turf this year, both at Hollywood Park - the Khaled Stakes against statebreds in April and the Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Handicap in June.

The Clement Hirsch will not be an easy spot for Lava Man. The Tin Man, who won the Arlington Million earlier this month, is also a candidate for that race.

i like their thinking...we all know turf is kinder to a horse. may this guy be around for some time to come.

I like their thinking...., a race at 10f is a better prep for a 10f race than a 9f one, even if it is on grass.

Looks like the East coasters has a new Champion with DC winning big today so I imagine that Lava Man is of no concern now.

I hope Lava Man stays health and they keep him on the turf.

Lava Man is a very good horse but one who needs things to set up just right for him. In California that happens all the the time. I just hope he wins the Clement Hirsch and heads on to the BC Classic with his win streak intact.
I believe he's a bet against at Churchill and the best part is he'll have a boat load on money wagered on him in all the pools.

The one big negative about running in the grass race is that he will probably have to face The Tin Man. I think The Tin Man is much tougher than anyone they would have faced in the Goodwood.

Even if he wins his next race easily, he won't be anything close to the favorite in the BC Classic if Bernardini keeps winning.

He'll take money and that's all that matters. I think Lava Man is a good horse but when he ships east and runs at CD I believe he will be a non factor. As long as he has the REP and takes money that will inflate the odds of the other runners including Bernandini.

If Bernardini keeps running the way he's been running running, you're not going to get any kind of price on him in the Classic. With Lava MAn in the race, maybe Bernardini will be 4-5 instead of 3-5. Lava Man won't get much respect. If anything, he will be an overlay. Every square in the world thinks that he can't run anywhere except for California. It's actually pretty silly. He ran two bad races last year after he was knocked out. Nobody knows if it had anything to do with being away from California. He lost by about 20 lengths in New York. Even if he is better in California, it's not by 20 lengths. He obviously didn't have it that day. He wouldn't have won that day if he ran in California in an allowance race.

Lava Man will be the overlay in the BC Classic, not Bernardini. I'm not saying that LM is as good as Bernardini. He's probably not, but I can't say that for sure. LM ran some freakish races. That turf race that he won by 8 lengths was awesome. His Gold Cup race last year last year was incredible. He has run some races that were very bit as frakish as Bernardini's races. The reason that I still would favor Bernardini over LM is because LM's last couple of races have not been quite as good as some of others. In addition, he's had a lot or races. I can't expect him to fire every time. Bernardini is fresh and is not overraced and that gives him a big edge IMO.

Every year it seems at this time there is a "dream matchup" on the horizon, horses headed to the BCC that the public is split on...which is better? So seldom do they both make it there...it is my greatest hope that both continue to win impressively and enter the starting gate with this same argument (who is better) still raging...it would be great for the sport! It's hard for me to get too excited yet though...still a long way to go! I love the story of Lava Man and think he is grossly underrated...time and time alone will tell!

And that's OK, Lava Man and The Tin Man need to earn respect.

Unfortunately, they will not get much respect by running against each other. And with each of them liking to run on or near the lead, they may be each other's worst nightmare.

btw, I very much liked (and agree with) what Somer and Rupert wrote.

--Dunbar

Lava Man might surprize you.