Even if To Honor And Serve was fully cranked and had preps in him for this - The other speeds were herding there way out going into the first turn - and he got caught miserably wide around that first turn on what was a solid early pace being set by a very sharp horse.
When he was struggling to go with a perfectly positioned Soldat - and a good closing sprinter like Gourmet Dinner was positioned so perfectly and about to come by him on the turn- it's when horses can just hit the reset button and plain quit...even fit ones going 9fs off a layoff.
To me - that was the exact race I wanted to see if I was going to like anything about To Honor And Serve going forward.
If Soldat wasn't involved in that race - To Honor And Serve gets to control the pace rating just off that silly Maker longshot ... Dominguez's hand is forced to move early on Gourmet Dinner - he is sent along to confront a fresh To Honor And Serve on the turn - and he gets shrugged off in the stretch. To Honor And Serve wins the race and does it by putting late margins on the field...and his reputation grows.
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