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#2
07-31-2023, 10:18 PM
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You'd think the Phipps Stable's biggest fan would have figured out the trainer pattern long ago.
Shifting his top 3yos to the turf in the summer has long been a tendency of McGaughey since at least the '90s. Lure, Strolling Along, Point of Entry, Boisterous, Parading, etc... General Jim is by Into Mischief, a superior turf sire, out of a Curlin mare (Curlin being a superior turf sire by superior turf sire Smart Strike). The dam's 3 career victories were all on turf & the female family includes the closely related Monorail who won her one & only career start which came on turf & turf graded stakes winner Tasha's Miracle. 
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#3
08-01-2023, 09:03 AM
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Given that there will be some genuine pace in the Jerkins, you would think he has a better shot than going in the HoF. Carl is going to win the HoF for Chad. Point had won his Mdn on dirt, not the Pat Day mile. Lure could run on anything. He was just fastest on the turf.
Makes zero sense unless you are trying to get Don Adam to move on
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#4
08-01-2023, 10:12 AM
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Quote:
First off, there's nothing stopping Shug from running the horse in both races. This race is Friday August 4. The Jerkens is Aug 26. Have a heart. Secondly, they are running the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby August 5, which means this race is a consolation race for those turf 3yos not established enough to go there. And yet the purse for this race is a whopping $500k. Why not take a shot? Meanwhile you're on about Carl Spackler winning this race. If he was half the horse he was touted as when he broke his maiden, he would be in the Saratoga Derby. Instead, he bombed unceremoniously in the Derby day turf race & vanished off the face of the earth. Now he returns 3 months later & has the extreme outside post to deal with. Even if he is talented something went awry & he is quite vulnerable here. As for the Jerkens, which he can still run in, you toss out the lazy comment that "there will be a ton of speed" that I guess automatically means he will capitalize on & swoop the field to victory. Of course, some of that speed have registered BSFs to the tune of 110, 109, & 106 (New York Thunder, Arabian Lion, Fort Bragg) should they choose to run. Lure had the same career trajectory as General Jim, looking like a strong dirt sprinter/miler type in the spring before bombing in the exact same race (the Riva Ridge/Woody Stephens) before switching to turf. All he did was win the BC Mile later in the year. I would have thought you'd be predicting this move after his clock was cleaned in the Woody Stephens...
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#5
08-01-2023, 10:46 AM
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Why did I even follow this rabbit hole?
I finally looked at the horse's full record. General Jim is 2 for 3 on the turf already including black type & owns a win over the course. Yeah, Shug is losing it. I'm sure the owner is worried sick about how his horses are being managed. Maybe he should try McPeek next...
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#6
08-01-2023, 11:16 AM
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After winning the Swale and Pat Day Mile, including beating Fort Bragg it makes sense to go in a G2 turf race all because he handled the turf previously? I don't get it. Shug must love the way he is working on the turf, and I get he handles the turf, but now he has to face good turf horses. He can win sure, but we know he can win graded dirt races. I understand the Jerkins is 3 weeks but after 3 turf works and a decision to migrate to turf that seems unrealistic.
I will be at track for the race and I look forward to being wrong about him. I find it nuts. Given the weather forecast perhaps it comes off and he gallops?
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#7
08-01-2023, 12:19 PM
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If you want to distill it to a fine point....Fort Bragg is progressing & General Jim is on the decline in terms of the 3yo dirt sprint division.
What's the excuse for the Woody Stephens performance? Why is facing marginally good turf horses---again, its a consolation race for horses not good enough for the Sar Derby--more perplexing then facing those 3 triple digit Beyer horses I mentioned in a Grade 1 3 over weeks from now? Also, now you're saying "he can win" & yet your confused why they would enter him for a $500k pot against non-Grade 1 horses? Have a brain...
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