3/11-12 (SA): SA H., Kilroe, Tr. Bend (G1's), Felipe (G2); Santa Ana (G2)

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by taxicab

Ann Arbor Eddie could be a sleeper,he caught a surface he didn't handle in his last..........plus,he's really improved when getting a distance of ground.

Not sure if it was the surface. Gutierrez gave one of the worst rides of all time last out. Sent the horse to the lead the first part, then allowed the colt to fall back on the backstretch, then inexplicably sent the horse back to the lead with an early bid right into the teeth of the pace. The horse fought hard through the lane and was DQ'd for his efforts when he got tired lugged out.

That said, despite the gut-busting effort, it was predictable that Reddam et al. would want to wheel right back without letting the horse recover. Expecting the horse to go backwards, especially with no whiff of a jockey change anywhere in sight.

And somebody please explain to me why the cross country ship to run Bluegrass Envy in this spot...........easily wins the award for the stupidest move of 2017.

If I had to guess, Bluegrass Envy might stay in CA post-race, as the owner has several horses there, most noticeably Imperative who runs in the Big Cap later on the card.

Dortmund loses the hood,so you would expect him to sit........will he grass ?

Dortmund only wore blinkers for his last 2, which appeared to be a desperation move on the part of Baffert when the horse's form was tailing off (or he just wanted to soften up California Chrome in the race before the BC).

The Big Cap sure has a lot of grass friendly types in it.
Two ways to look at it:
Midnight Storm skates with no other early lick in the race.
Shaman Ghost just ran behind Arrogate & Gun Runner.
Pick your Poison.

I'll take a flyer on Hi Happy. Some improvement in his last start from his US debut and now adding Lasix first time. He won some important races in Argentina.

[NTamm1215]

Jon White took the prudent approach and stayed on the fence with the line. I had Ring Weekend a little high given the expected race dynamics, but I think Dortmund is going to go off lower than 4-1.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

Jon White took the prudent approach and stayed on the fence with the line. I had Ring Weekend a little high given the expected race dynamics, but I think Dortmund is going to go off lower than 4-1.

Dortmund is not going off at 4/1, more like 5/2.

I am on the Ring Weekend bandwagon as well with the race dynamics. Guess we should all save our money.

The real question is what Bolo shows up, the one that is overly aggressive and fights to settle or the one who when he does runs like a legit grade 1 horse. Even his last race he was acting goofy in the first turn.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

The real question is what Bolo shows up, the one that is overly aggressive and fights to settle or the one who when he does runs like a legit grade 1 horse. Even his last race he was acting goofy in the first turn.

He seems at his best first off the layoff. That last race was fairly unimpressive, he looked dead in the water on the far turn and then suddenly resurged. What A View was really smoking up front and Conquest Enforcer has wilted against his elders in 3 attempts, so the race looks like it fell apart late. That makes Ring Weekend, a dead closer, even more suspect (never mind the barn's 0-for-16 record at the meet).

That said, its basically the same field, but that just pulls me towards the new shooters. Flamboyant has had a nice tune up race and is training forwardly. He got some fast paces last year over this course and delivered. The cutback might be a little sharp but if the race collapses again with all this pace, it probably won't be an issue.

[10 pnt move up]

thats a real good point about the last race and ring weekend.

just not sure about flamboyant but hey he should be a nice price.

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

thats a real good point about the last race and ring weekend.

just not sure about flamboyant but hey he should be a nice price.

Flamboyant has some really sharp workouts of late but he is scratched. Would have been a great value play

[taxicab]

I'm certainly not Splitting the Atom here.
In review:
The Calif. 3yo Spring Classics run certainly appears to be in jeopardy this year.
There's very little left standing....
Considering how poorly Gormley ran yesterday, I wouldn't be very high on American Anthem next week in Hot Springs.
Unless Royal Mo is a runner,it's slim pickings out West.
So Calif/New York look dry 3yo Colt wise.
Considering what happened in the Honeybee yesterday,you really have to wonder if the Don Alberto bunch are starting to eye the Santa Anita Derby.........Unique Bella would be eighty cents on the dollar{or less} in that race.......right ?

Masochistic couldn't of had it any easier........trending way down.

Real nice training job by Mandella........Bal a Bali looked like something inside the final Pole.
What a View ran lights out,nice type........tough beat.
Dortmund........back to the drawing board,I guess he got something out of the race......maybe ?
If Ring Weekend wasn't a gelding,they probably would of retired him after yesterday.

That's two Gr. 1's in his last four for Shaman Ghost.......good for him.

King Jerry has another nice 3yo Filly(how many is that now ?),Sircat Sally took a pretty solid version of the China Doll and did it with class.
She's undefeated and making every challenge look easy.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by taxicab

The Calif. 3yo Spring Classics run certainly appears to be in jeopardy this year.
There's very little left standing....
Considering how poorly Gormley ran yesterday, I wouldn't be very high on American Anthem next week in Hot Springs.

I think you might be to quick to jump to that conclusion. American Anthem improved so much between his first two starts it should be interesting to see how or if he continues to develop.

As for Gormley, who knows what happened with him? Mastery is so much better than him as of yesterday that you cant really gauge his performance in respect to American Anthem's ability also.

American Anthem, even before yesterday, had tons more upside than Gormley.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

I'll take a flyer on Hi Happy. Some improvement in his last start from his US debut and now adding Lasix first time. He won some important races in Argentina.

His Nacional on dirt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inAGVZwFt2s

[RHT2004]

Love Isotherm

[cakes44]

Certainly worth a shot.

[taxicab]

I'm talking myself on to Twentytwentyvision in the Big Cap.
I'll have to drop one off of my P-4..........probably the speedball.
This move backfires every single time........at least I'm used to it.