Tonalist
 

It got lost in the Derby hoopla, but wow, was that a terrific return performance at a distance that's probably not ideal for him. He looked like he would be last for most of the race but just blew them away late. Andy was saying this too, but it'll be interesting with Shared Belief's issues what kind of push he can make in the older male division.

:tro:

and no comments about Bayern either....

Who was prepping off a long lay off which sidelined him from going Meydan?

Doubt anyone really thought that was a target race.

Tonalist was pretty damn good, at first I was wondering if the horse broke that way or Bravo meant to take that far back by design. But when he asked he came on very nicely. I'd prefer for him to be up closer for the bigger races

Bayern probably bled or something, I was told by a friend that Baffert wanted to run Bayern in the Alysheba first and all of a sudden went for this softer spot because he needed to run him somewhere even if he wasnt quite ready

most impressive horse of the day, looks unbeatable at Belmont.

Bayern is going to the Met.
I believe Maragh was more concerned about letting Juba get away early then he was with Tonalist running them all down. I kinda felt like him engaging Juba handed the race to Tonalist. Clearly he was the class of the field, but it's understandable to think he might have needed one.

Bayer's two starts at CD have been awful.

He is probably my favorite horse right now, but he is the definition of all or nothing. I think yesterdays race will do him a world of good when its all said and done. I think he fires a top effort in the Met.

I don't know man.

I just watched it, and to me it looked like he was ridden hard pretty early.

I don't really get what people love about this horse.

I really hate to agree with you, but yeah, if a right Bayern and Tonalist show up for that race, we'll see just how unbeatable Tonalist is at Belmont.

He was all over him out of the gate. Then the 3,5 go after the 2, like he was Bayern and the horse to beat. IMO this intensified Tonalists run/kick.
That 2nd quarter certainly helped Tonalist.

I'm glad you finally got a brain.

Yeah, a 111 Beyer at a suboptimal distance first off the layoff. What's to like?

I get that it wasnt the target. Been following racing long enough to know stuff like that. But i doubt where he ended up was expected either.

Most of the horses in a race don't live up to expectations.